Can I recover music projects that weren’t included in my backup before a PC reset?
Asked by
CedarMoon47
I'm a young artist who produces music and writes songs. Yesterday I reset my computer after dealing with a virus, but I later realized that the Documents/Image-Line folder may not have been copied to my external drive. I'm not sure whether I forgot to include it or the backup failed, and I didn't verify the files before resetting the computer. Is there still a way to recover my project files?
Answers
Stop using the computer immediately and turn it off. Every new file, installation, or system activity could overwrite data that might still be recoverable. If the projects are extremely important, a professional data-recovery service is the safest option, though it can cost around $1,000 or more.
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If professional recovery isn’t affordable, work from a clone rather than the original drive. Remove the affected drive, connect it through an enclosure, and use a separate computer with a Linux live environment and ddrescue to make a full clone onto another drive. Keep the original drive untouched, then run a recovery tool such as PhotoRec against the clone and save recovered files to a different drive. File names and folder structure may not survive, but the project data could still be found.
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Before attempting recovery, check whether the external drive contains the folder or any older backup. Also consider whether the reset was a full reinstall or a less destructive reset, since that affects the odds. Unfortunately, because the backup wasn’t verified beforehand, there’s no guarantee the files can be restored, and continuing to use the computer lowers the chances.
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CedarMoon47: I didn’t verify the folder before resetting. I was overwhelmed by the virus problem and assumed the backup had worked, so I’m not sure whether I forgot to copy it or whether the transfer failed.