External drive data recovery

[firestorm5]

Hi,

My dad has an HP SimpleSave and when he accessed it last all the folders where there but they all said they where empty. I found that very weird and since I didn't know how to load the external on GetDataBack I took it out of the casing and plugged it into my PC direct. Well now it said that the whole disk was empty, no folders or anything. Then after a little while the PC said the disk needed formatting, obviously I said no.

Anyways, I ran GetDataBack and it said it couldn't find any NTFS files and didn't get the data back. i have no idea what to try. I had never seen anything like this, where files deleted first and the folders just by reconnecting. i use to work as a techie at my university so i have seen my share of accidentally deleted files and corrupted file systems, but in my experience we always recovered the data.

I have no idea how to proceed, so I was hoping for some advice. Thanks for all the help.

Sincerely,
David

PS Two to three days before this happened there was a magnet about 2 inches away from the disk casing. The disk was used normally after that, but I thought I'd mention it.

[Touchclarity]

Pop it back into the casing and image it.... If successful, then run your data recovery tools over the newly created image... Would suggest using something more generic like R-Studio.

[warnerr]

That drive model may be encrypted- so out of case it would not be readable. DO NOT RESTORE ANY DATA TO THAT DRIVE! You may use Goback to restore data to another drive- likely easiest to do. If that is not an option CLONING drive to a blank drive is first thing to do. Use a product such as R-STUDIO (demo will show you what is there however product is not expensive) to scan Copy of drive. If files are there recover to host computer or another drive. Try and preserve origional drive without changing it to maximize chances for recovery until successfully completed.

[jono-ats]

That drive is encrypted. There is probably an Initio 1607E chip on the USB/SATA interface, which would be a confirmation.

[NeverSayDie]

Here is a basic data recovery flowchart using free programs.
http://fixit.litten.com/datarecoveryflowchart.htm

Since you've done some tech support, you should be able to get through the tutorials in it. Make sure you put it back in the enclosure first.

If the data is real important you should seek out a professional for help.

[RANT]On a personal note, I'd like to add that these automatic encryption chips are reminding me of 5 or so years ago when computer manufacturers like Dell were using HPA to hide system restore files on disks in lieu of giving the customer CDs. At first it seemed great but when the disks started to need to be cloned or repaired it was a mess. They stopped using HPA and have been using hidden partitions instead. Hopefully, the drive manufacturers will realize the problems being created by these auto-encrypting chips and offer an opt-in encryption that requires the user to be aware of a password for accessing the device and make it accessible from at least replacement enclosures if not a software solution for a direct connection to the motherboard.[/RANT]


James

[firestorm5]

Thanks for all the replies guys. I didn't know they where encrypting externals, since I always make my own and haven't kept up to date. I popped it back into the case and the folders weren't empty anymore, so I guess it must have been a communication issue between the external drive's card and the system. I'm backing everything up as I write on my redundant drives, and getting my dad a true backup solution.

@James: I remember those, they gave me a hard time with a few systems. Dell later provided us with some CD's that rewrote the info into the drives and everything worked nicely. I must say I agree, drives shouldn't be made in a way that yu can't service them if something happens, but one way, since they do break down and sometimes with very important things in them.

Also, I'll be getting R-Studio and keeping a copy of that flow chart for future reference.

[labtech]

Here is a basic data recovery flowchart using free programs.
http://fixit.litten.com/datarecoveryflowchart.htm

For newbies:

Although there seems to be "no physical damage" on a drive, one should still image the "failed" drive. So be aware of the risk you are taking when working directly on the drive. You will NOT be able to tell whether there is "physical" damage anyway. Even if there is no physical damage, the change of causing more non-physical damage is still relatively high due to user and non-user errors and actions.

Definitely do not agree with the chckdsk step, so recommend that chckdsk is not run. Maybe only after have exhausted all recovery/extraction possibilities and are not happy with the recovery results, then you can try chckdsk to see if results can improve. Otherwise you may have to do all work over again.

[Vulcan]

You've beaten me to it, labtech - I was going to say something very similar to your comments, about the previously linked flowchart (although I expect that flowchart was written with good intentions).

Following those flowchart steps may work fine for some cases, but will definitely misdiagnose other cases, leading to incorrect (or at least non-optimal) actions and potential unnecessary data loss.

[labtech]

:good:
(although I expect that flowchart was written with good intentions).
(

Definitely, no question, it was written with intention to help those that are budget oriented and do not have much experience and tools to do a proper recovery.

But yes, it could easily lead to more damage, so one should be cautious when performing the recovery when following the chart steps and be aware of the risks.