Converting RAW files?

[Milew]

Hello, I am new here and have a question. Late last year, I had a Western Digital 1tb drive go bad (I believe to a pwer surge). I was able to recover 900gb of files, but they will not open.

For example, on my HDD I had multiple folders of pictures. Now, the files all appear to be JPEG, but most of the files (JPEG) are anywhere from 10mb-5gb. I am guessing since some folders were that large, that is what it is seeing? But, when I open it it says unreadable format.


Is there ANY WAY that I could convert those files back to their original state? IF so, how? Is there any software that does this type of thing? I am on a PC windows 8 pro 64 bit HP pavilion elite.

[lcoughey]

So, you really didn't recover your data, if all the files are bad. I'd say that your best option is to send the original drive to a data recovery professional to see if they can do better. If you don't have the original, you are pretty much out of luck, I'm afraid to say.

[Milew]

So, you really didn't recover your data, if all the files are bad. I'd say that your best option is to send the original drive to a data recovery professional to see if they can do better. If you don't have the original, you are pretty much out of luck, I'm afraid to say.

Thanks, what would cause large folders containing 1000's of pictures just show up as one jpeg that is 2gb in size?

So, there is no possible way, or any software that could analyze the files to see if there is a way to get them back? I mean, the data recovery people obviously do something, with something that can bring this stuff back to life. Is it their software, tools, etc?

[Milew]

So, you really didn't recover your data, if all the files are bad. I'd say that your best option is to send the original drive to a data recovery professional to see if they can do better. If you don't have the original, you are pretty much out of luck, I'm afraid to say.

Thanks, what would cause large folders containing 1000's of pictures just show up as one jpeg that is 2gb in size?

So, there is no possible way, or any software that could analyze the files to see if there is a way to get them back? I mean, the data recovery people obviously do something, with something that can bring this stuff back to life. Is it their software, tools, etc?

[labtech]

There is something goofy going on.

The DR people would analyze the structure of the files on the original drive as they are on the drive. Depending on what the structure is like, they will extract it and verify its integrity.

There are sort of strange things that can happen based on unknowns.

[Milew]

There is something goofy going on.

The DR people would analyze the structure of the files on the original drive as they are on the drive. Depending on what the structure is like, they will extract it and verify its integrity.

There are sort of strange things that can happen based on unknowns.

Is there anything, any software that I can at least try to see if it can possibly repair these? Something is there, otherwise the fiels wouldn't so big in size

[Vulcan]

@Milew,

Something is there, otherwise the [files] wouldn't so big in size

Unfortunately your guess is wrong - it is quite common for file types to be wrongly identified, especially when using some specific recovery processes / techniques. There might be little (or nothing) usable in (some / many / most of) those files. Lots depends on exactly how those files were created.

Instead of asking how to "fix" those files (because you're making too many assumptions that this is possible), please go back to the beginning and for starters: (a) explain the detailed original problem behaviour with the drive, (b) explain who did the recovery (and, if that was you or a friend, then what software was used, and what records were kept of how that software was used) and (c) explain whether that original drive has been kept in the same state as when the problem started (i.e. not overwritten / lost / trashed etc.) so that another recovery could be attempted.

Without full, clear and unambiguous answer to all of those questions (and perhaps more questions later) you're just going to keep getting similar answers (or no more answers at all), due to the lack of explanation so far about how you got into the current situation.

@lcoughey & labtech: +1

[Milew]

@Milew,

Something is there, otherwise the [files] wouldn't so big in size

Unfortunately your guess is wrong - it is quite common for file types to be wrongly identified, especially when using some specific recovery processes / techniques. There might be little (or nothing) usable in (some / many / most of) those files. Lots depends on exactly how those files were created.

Instead of asking how to "fix" those files (because you're making too many assumptions that this is possible), please go back to the beginning and for starters: (a) explain the detailed original problem behaviour with the drive, (b) explain who did the recovery (and, if that was you or a friend, then what software was used, and what records were kept of how that software was used) and (c) explain whether that original drive has been kept in the same state as when the problem started (i.e. not overwritten / lost / trashed etc.) so that another recovery could be attempted.

Without full, clear and unambiguous answer to all of those questions (and perhaps more questions later) you're just going to keep getting similar answers (or no more answers at all), due to the lack of explanation so far about how you got into the current situation.

@lcoughey & labtech: +1

Ok, the drive was fine. This drive was loaded with family, friends, vacation, etc pictures. I am now aware of the importance of backup.

We had a storm, and it all of the sudden was dead, wasn't even recognized on the device manager, or anywhere for that matter.

I took it to work, my boss (IT director) used EASUS (sp?) recovery. Like I said, it read that there were over 900gb of data on the HDD. We moved it all to another drive. Also, when we first recognized the data, it still looked as I am explaining now. A few pictures were salvaged, but not many. They were all named somethig weird like FIL0 or something. I still have the folder with all of the FIL0 (jpeg) images in it.

[Vulcan]

Thanks. The answers to these earlier questions seem to be missing:

(b) explain who did the recovery (and, if that was you or a friend, then what software was used, and what records were kept of how that software was used) and (c) explain whether that original drive has been kept in the same state as when the problem started (i.e. not overwritten / lost / trashed etc.) so that another recovery could be attempted.

[Milew]

Thanks. The answers to these earlier questions seem to be missing:

(b) explain who did the recovery (and, if that was you or a friend, then what software was used, and what records were kept of how that software was used) and (c) explain whether that original drive has been kept in the same state as when the problem started (i.e. not overwritten / lost / trashed etc.) so that another recovery could be attempted.

There were no records kept while doing the attempted recovery. It was just a "hey do you think we can try and recover my files?" Once he told me that the files looked unusable, it pretty much ended.

As for the drive, other than taking all of the data we found off of it, it is the same. It actually works, I tried to hook it to my PC and it read it as an empty drive

[Vulcan]

Thanks. Based on that info, I'm guessing that Easus performed a signature-based recovery (e.g. perhaps filesystem metadata was unreadable, or the metadata was corrupted beyond being usable by Easus, although that doesn't mean that another recovery utility would have the same result). As I said, this is a guess, as there isn't a record of which Easus options were tried, and what the results of different recovery options were.

(d) Please can you confirm whether this was an external or internal drive, when the original problem happened? If external, then what was the name of the WD enclosure type? Also, if it was external, was the WD drive left in that enclosure when the recovery using Easus was attempted?

You said that "A few pictures were salvaged" - if that means that they were fully and correctly viewable then that means we don't have any encryption. However if you mean something else by "salvaged" (e.g. perhaps you mean that the recovered files had a more sensible file size, but still no visible photo), then this topic may need to be re-visited. Therefore (e) please confirm exactly what you mean by "salvaged".

Your next steps depend on what risks you want to take with your data - DIY recovery attempts can make things worse, or even cause total data loss, due to human error, incorrect procedures, misunderstanding of recommendation from members here, sudden hardware failure, or just simple bad luck etc. etc. If you decide to accept the risks of DIY, meaning that the photos may be permanently lost due to your actions, then a typical starting point is to get another (minimum) 1TB drive, and clone the existing "problem" drive onto the blank new drive (which will be overwritten). Then put that original "problem" drive somewhere safe. That cloning process must be done in the correct direction (source to target) otherwise you will lose your data permanently. Some inexperienced people have cloned in the wrong direction, and lost their data. There have been many previous discussions about cloning utilities and the various pros and cons of different software, which you can find by searching the forum.

Then using another new / blank (minimum) 1TB drive (preferably larger, or using multiple 1TB drives), you can try different recovery software on that clone of the "problem" drive, to see how successful they are, writing the recovered files onto the additional blank drive(s) - different software often has different success rates. I don't have the spare time to "hand-hold" someone through this process, but other members might have that time.

However if the photos are important to you and you don't want to take risks then, due to your inexperience, you should consider using the services of a professional DR company. If you say where you are in the USA, and whether you're happy shipping to another state if necessary, then you may get recommendations from forum members here. Good luck with whatever you decide.

[Edited to add clarifications.]

[Milew]

It is an external WDBACG0010HCH-NESN this happened during a pwoer outage.
YEs, I could see some pictures as if nothing was ever wrong.
I am willing to try whatever in order to get something back-it isn't like I have much to lose.
It was in the factory enclosure when it blew and we took it out when attempting recovery.
The files are now on my desktop in a folder, you think I should try to move them back to the HDD? Or is there software that can scann the folder they are in now to see if it is able to get anything back the way it oroginally was? I really do not have the money for DATA recovery.

[Vulcan]

It is an external WDBACG0010HCH-NESN

Ah, that's a My Book Live NAS. Small NAS units typically don't use NTFS (or FAT) on their internal disks. This could easily explain problems using Easus.

YEs, I could see some pictures as if nothing was ever wrong.

Thanks - that eliminates transparent encryption, but that's used in USB-attached enclosures, and you've now explained that this is a NAS unit, so my hypothesis is a non-encrypted, non-NTFS filesystem being used internally in that NAS unit. I'm not an expert with these units (I work elsewhere in data storage, not doing DR on little NAS units), but everything I see points towards towards that situation. You can wait for a DR professional to reply, if you want another opinion.

it isn't like I have much to lose.

I disagree - one wrong decision and you won't ever have a second chance, even if you decide to save up and want to pay for professional DR in the future.
Of course it's your choice what risks you want to take, but saying that you don't have much to lose isn't accurate IMHO. Don't rush into a decision.

It was in the factory enclosure when it blew and we took it out when attempting recovery.

Understood - that fits with my hypothesis above.

The files are now on my desktop in a folder, you think I should try to move them back to the HDD?

No! Do not write anything back to the original disk drive, or you will permanently lose your data, if my hypothesis is correct.

Or is there software that can scann the folder they are in now to see if it is able to get anything back the way it oroginally was?

No. Your plan to try using the "recovered" files is wrong, as those files are (almost) totally useless, if my hypothesis above is correct. I've already explained one possible approach in my previous reply, if you accept the risks of DIY.

I really do not have the money for DATA recovery.

Even attempting DIY recovery is going to cost money for the drives that I mentioned before (unless you have suitable empty drives already), as well as buying suitable recovery software (e.g. R-Studio, UFS Explorer) if their trial version suggests they understand the filesystem used internally by WD on that NAS unit.

[Edited to add: I can think of alternative approaches, involving the NAS unit hardware itself, but I don't have time to describe those options to you as well. From a quick review, they have different (in some cases lower) chances of success and need some of the same steps I've described already in order to try to reduce the risk, so I doubt they are worth considering for someone without experience in this type of situation.]