Hey everyone, I recently got my uncle's hard drive from his PC and I'm thinking about using it as extra storage. Before I wipe it clean, I wanted to check if there are any family photos, videos, or important documents that I can retrieve. I noticed it shows 663 GB worth of video files, but I can't actually see any of them. Could they be encrypted? Is there a way to bypass whatever's blocking me? Thanks for your help! (I have a feeling there's some interesting content here, but let's hope for the best!)
5 Answers
I'm sorry to hear about your uncle's passing. Just a heads up, unless he was really into family photos, there could be some questionable stuff in that 663 GB of videos. It's probably best to temper your expectations, but you know, you might luck out!
Where are you seeing that breakdown of video storage? If it's from Windows Storage, make sure the drive is properly mounted and check it in File Explorer.
Can you actually see any files or folders? What happens when you try to open them?
Forget about those videos! Just format the drive and repurpose it for gaming. You know you want to!
That's exactly what I was planning to do with it, haha! Now I can use it for my games.
It sounds like you might just need to adjust some settings to view hidden files. If you're using Windows 11, go to File Explorer, select View, and then check "Show hidden items". You can also try searching with the wildcard "*. *" to list all files.
I checked the properties and it does show up as 663 GB of videos. I guess I was just being too impatient because the drive took a bit to load but I can access everything now!
Remember, Windows can restrict access based on user permissions. There are programs that can help you regain ownership of files.
Haha, turns out it was just a lot of movies! I did get his collection of DVDs as well, so nothing too scandalous.