Thanks.

Problem is that I have a 2TB hard drive and DMDE is scanning about 60MB/minute. That means a scan of the whole drive would take about 2000 minutes which is a bit over 22 hours!

http://www.google.com/search?q=2+TB+/+(60+MB+per+minute)

(2 TB) / (60 (MB per minute)) = 23 days

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A backup a day keeps DR away.

I was able to use Puran file Recovery to recover a lot of files but for reasons unknown it has not recognized the directory structure or .MTS files which are my main concern,

First of all, you can use RSTUDIO open see if your data is still there, if RSTUDIO can't open, your hard disk might have BAD sectors

"...It is possible that I recently meant to format a thumb drive and picked the wrong drive number..." I've done that awhile also. Since then, I have given each internal and external device a unique name, or, recorded on paper, its given name via Windows' Explorer. And, I have given each partition that will accept a new name - a unique name. Here too, I have on paper the names of those partitions that cannot or should not be renamed.
Most of the time, during any usb or dvd boot, those unique names show up, and I know exactly what device and or what partition any particular program or utility is aimed at; because usb or dvd boots "scramble" the drive letter assignments.

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"Take care of thy backups and thy restores shall take care of thee." Ben Franklin revisited