I had two USB drives containing the same files, but one was lost. I then flashed SteamOS onto the other drive because I planned to replace my SSD. I'm hoping the original files may still exist in another partition or somewhere on the drive. Is there a way to recover them? I'm new to Linux and PC gaming, so I'm not very familiar with data recovery.
3 Answers
Flashing SteamOS probably overwrote at least part of the old data, so it may not be possible to recover everything. Stop using the USB immediately, since any new writes can destroy more recoverable files. If the files are extremely important, a professional recovery service is the safest option. Otherwise, tools like PhotoRec may be able to recover files based on their contents, though filenames and folder structure might be lost.
Before attempting recovery, make a complete image of the USB and work from that copy. For example, you can use a command such as `sudo dd if=/dev/sdX of=backup.img status=progress`, making sure `/dev/sdX` is the correct USB device. Recovery attempts should be performed on the image or duplicates, not the original drive. TestDisk can sometimes reconstruct filesystem information, while PhotoRec searches for recognizable file types.
PhotoRec is worth trying, but it usually won’t restore the files exactly as they were. It may recover usable documents and other files, but you could lose the original names and directory layout. Scanning can take quite a while, especially if the drive is large.
The files aren’t critical—mostly old college work and a game I made. I’ll probably just hope the other USB turns up.