Hey everyone! I'm in a bit of a bind and could really use some assistance with a data recovery issue. I was using SystemRescue to back up files from a Windows hard drive to another drive on my PC. I mounted both drives in a folder structure and copied the data piece by piece, then deleted the originals on the old drive. Now, when I try to access the new drive in Windows, there's nothing to see! I've lost so many important photos, and the old drive's data is gone too. When I boot it up again in SystemRescue, GParted shows that over 100GB are used, but doesn't display any files when I mount the drive. What can I do to retrieve my data? Or, is there a way to recover the deleted files from the old hard drive? Thanks!
5 Answers
If you're experimenting with data recovery, I recommend practicing these recovery steps in a VirtualBox VM first. It helps you get a feel without risking your actual data. Just a little prep can make a big difference!
It sounds like you might have run into some issues copying those files. If GParted shows space used, that's a decent sign! Here are a few tips: 1. Consider getting a professional recovery service, especially if those photos are important. 2. Avoid writing any new data to the drive, as it could overwrite what's been deleted. 3. Try mounting it read-only in Linux to check its state without making changes. 4. Double-check if what you copied could just be an image of the drive somewhere. In the future, use the 3-2-1 backup rule to prevent this from happening again! Good luck!
Always make sure to verify your backups before deleting originals! In this situation, if you're worried about losing those photos forever, maybe consider hiring a professional. They have specialized tools and expertise to recover data from drives where the files are marked as deleted but not overwritten yet. Just a heads up that overwriting anything can make recovery chances drop to zero.
I’ve got a few tools you might want to look into for recovering your data. Check out options like EaseUS, MiniTool Partition Wizard, and Recuva for NTFS recovery. Just make sure you’re using a different computer to install any recovery software to avoid overwriting your lost files. Also, avoid writing anything new to those drives. It might take a bit of research but finding the right software could save your photos!
Good advice on the recovery tools! If you have access to another computer, I'd suggest plugging your drives into that one to attempt recovery. Doing it from the original system risks overwriting your data, which could be disastrous.
Thanks for the suggestions! I’ll definitely try them out. I’m also careful not to write anything to those drives.