Oh Crap!.......

[MissionMan]

Have you tried undelete tools? there are some tools that allow you to recover data after it's been deleted and removed from the trash, I recovered data that was deleted 3 years ago on a drive I tested it with.

If it's for Mac, Data Rescue was the best tool I could find. If you are using Mac, send me a PM. I bought a software bundle that included it when I already own a copy so you are welcome to have the spare copy at no charge.

[ameerat42]

Geez, Karen! I hope you didn't have to pay (much) for the insinuation. (Also, they may have been less than competent!)
Did they listen to you? If you told them what you said here it's clear enough.

Anywhere else you can try? - Presuming the HDD is in the same state as before.

If I were more competent at this I'd offer to help, but I wouldn't dare. Anywhere else you can go?

Hope it fixes soon.
Am.

[ktoopi]

My husband took it to the computer guru at his office who said there was nothing on the drive in the first place and then took it to the computer shop his work uses all the time and they said the same thing and no they didn't charge thank goodness

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Also not sure I could recover anything from deleted files off my c drive as the hard drive is full again which is why I pulled out the external hard drive in the first place to empty my C drive ( photos ) onto it as it was only about half full or so I thought.

[ameerat42]

Hh(sigh)mm! A saga!! A stray thought entered as I re-read the whole thread. Did you originally put those images on SOME OTHER drive???
if so. if not.

Certainly now you'll be wanting to make space on the C: drive of your computer. I'd be putting that external HDD aside and using another one, I think.

Recently, $79 got you a 1TB WD Passport (USB3) from Officeworks. They may have gone up a bit again. If looking at these, look for the cheaper one that has NO software (of not much use)
on it. You pay a bit more for the S/W. Also a good brand I recently got was the Toshiba Canvio (same type as WD) for a like sum.

Sure is mysterious if you are certain you backed them up in the 1st place. I'd run a recovery prog over that one at some stage to see if you can
glean some file history from it.
Am.

[MissionMan]

My husband took it to the computer guru at his office who said there was nothing on the drive in the first place and then took it to the computer shop his work uses all the time and they said the same thing and no they didn't charge thank goodness

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Also not sure I could recover anything from deleted files off my c drive as the hard drive is full again which is why I pulled out the external hard drive in the first place to empty my C drive ( photos ) onto it as it was only about half full or so I thought.

You'd be surprised what you can recover from your C Drive. If you run a decent program on it, it allows you to copy them to an external but when I ran the test on mine, it identified twice as much data as the drive can hold. I know it seems impossible but there is electronic residue left behind when you overwrite data and it is still possible to recover it. Its one of the reasons why a secure erase requires you to overwrite the drive 7 times in a row to make sure nothing is left.

I'd also run one of these programs on your external as even with a reformat of the drive, you could still pick up any data that may have been overwritten.

I'm going to be in Sydney on Thursday next week so I'm happy for you to bring the drive to the hotel and we could run a test on it. Alternatively, if your C drive is a laptop, we could also test on that.

[ktoopi]

Very kind offer MissionMan.....unfortunately I am unable to get to the city on Thursday due to a prior engagement.....I'll be staying in the city next Friday night though!! LOL I'll get my husbands computer guy to do what you suggested and my C drive is not a laptop so not all that portable. I have copies of all the files I lost on DVD as I did do a second back up ......that is a second copy of almost all the files I lost! It seems that I didn't quite get around to copying 2011's photos to DVD as well so not as bad as it could have been!

[bricat]

Without being rude you have had 2 computer experts tell you there is nothing on the drive. So you have an empty drive to use(copy a few test files across first) and a "C" drive that needs some attention in an attempt to recover your data. As MM said you would be surprised what is left on your HD after you delete data/photo's. Good luck cheers Brian

[RubyKatz]

Firstly thanks Ktoopi for sharing the problem in the first place. This is something I always dread will happen, I have been backing up to different externals for awhile, I too many years ago dropped an external and paid the ultimate price, now when we travel with them I wrap them in bubble wrap. I learned many things in this thread watching the advice you were given, apart from the occurrence between the two members on the use of large font, this thread was very worthwhile. Putting all that to one side they each gave great advice too.

This is a lesson to us all, if you love it save it in several different mediums, I have reverse engineered your method, I didn't trust my DVD's would survive so I have transferred all that info onto externals, also I have copied old VHS movies to externals as well because they are fading and that technology will die out pretty soon.

A friend of mine shared a story the other day, they know of someone that keeps all their data on the jump drives, not so silly when you think of it, this way even though they are smaller than the large externals now being offered if there was a fault you would only lose say a months worth and not a years worth of data. I envisaged a fishing tackle box of some description for storage purposes, I guess it is worth a thought to attempt this method too just for peace of mind

[MissionMan]

Firstly thanks Ktoopi for sharing the problem in the first place. This is something I always dread will happen, I have been backing up to different externals for awhile, I too many years ago dropped an external and paid the ultimate price, now when we travel with them I wrap them in bubble wrap. I learned many things in this thread watching the advice you were given, apart from the occurrence between the two members on the use of large font, this thread was very worthwhile. Putting all that to one side they each gave great advice too.

This is a lesson to us all, if you love it save it in several different mediums, I have reverse engineered your method, I didn't trust my DVD's would survive so I have transferred all that info onto externals, also I have copied old VHS movies to externals as well because they are fading and that technology will die out pretty soon.

A friend of mine shared a story the other day, they know of someone that keeps all their data on the jump drives, not so silly when you think of it, this way even though they are smaller than the large externals now being offered if there was a fault you would only lose say a months worth and not a years worth of data. I envisaged a fishing tackle box of some description for storage purposes, I guess it is worth a thought to attempt this method too just for peace of mind

I'd make the suggestion that you create an online backup as well. Some of the online backup tools now offer the ability to have everything sent to them on hard drive and then it maintains the online backup after that using your internet connection. The problem with externals is that if your house burns down, you've lost everything because generally your external and your laptop/desktop are together.

[ameerat42]

I...The problem with externals is that if your house burns down, you've lost everything because generally your external and your laptop/desktop are together...

This is definitely a drawback!! And that's not to mention floods, earthquakes, meteorite strikes, and invasions of ooze-secreting toads! (Who'd want to clean up an oozed drive?)
Oh, and hacking of on-line data!

Only one conclusion, don't store ANYTHING

[MissionMan]

This is definitely a drawback!! And that's not to mention floods, earthquakes, meteorite strikes, and invasions of ooze-secreting toads! (Who'd want to clean up an oozed drive?)
Oh, and hacking of on-line data!

Only one conclusion, don't store ANYTHING

No need to be sarcastic. How about a pipe in your ceiling bursting and destroying all your electronics which happens often and has happened to someone in our apartment block during a heavy storm where the rooftop water drainage blocked and the ceiling collapsed? They lost every single bit of electronic data they have.

How many times do you see fires where people say they lost EVERYTHING including all their photos?

Using multiple locations to backup your data is not a ridiculous idea, nor is it expensive. A lot of companies offer free online storage or low cost ($5/month).

As for hacking, if someone wants to hack online copies of my photos, go for it or if you take the kinds of photos that you don't want leaked, don't put them in the cloud.

[ameerat42]

Sarcasm? That's not funny.
If my post was also not funny - a compendium of drawbacks of HDDs and a drawback of cloud storage doesn't have to be, I suppose - does it automatically become sarcastic?
(Can't a person list a drawback of a suggestion?)

Now, you posted two replies, so what is the answer, cloud, or no cloud?

[MissionMan]

Sarcasm? That's not funny.
If my post was also not funny - a compendium of drawbacks of HDDs and a drawback of cloud storage doesn't have to be, I suppose - does it automatically become sarcastic?
(Can't a person list a drawback of a suggestion?)

Now, you posted two replies, so what is the answer, cloud, or no cloud?

You used the sarcastic roll eyes (actually called "Roll eyes Sarcastic" if you hover your mouse above it) so yes, it does automatically come across as sarcastic.

On the answer of cloud or no cloud, the answer is both. My personal perspective is you need a combination of both. Yes, the risk of one of them getting completely destroyed is low, but would you really take that risk with something that is irreplaceable?

[Kym]

Keep a monthly hard drive copy of everything at work or grannies or anywhere "off site" - simple

[ktoopi]

Keep a monthly hard drive copy of everything at work or grannies or anywhere "off site" - simple

That's why I backed up to DVD as well as external hard drive......I keep the DVD's at my husbands office I am now looking into cloud storage as well

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Just a shame that I forgot to back up to DVD one years worth of photos!! The rest are recoverable

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Just a shame that I forgot to back up to DVD one years worth of photos!! The rest are recoverable

[MissionMan]

That's why I backed up to DVD as well as external hard drive......I keep the DVD's at my husbands office I am now looking into cloud storage as well

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Just a shame that I forgot to back up to DVD one years worth of photos!! The rest are recoverable

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Just a shame that I forgot to back up to DVD one years worth of photos!! The rest are recoverable

Only thing to be weary of with DVD is the dyes fade so they don't have quite as long a life as they claim and I would not rely on them as a long term preservation (i.e. more than 10 years) without moving them to newer media. Probably worth moving the data to bluray in 5-10 years and then to whatever newer technology appears after that.

[bitsnpieces]

I haven't read all the comments yet (don't have a lot of time) but just thought I'd throw it out there.

There is a virus/spyware going around in Asia (or at least Cambodia and Vietnam where I am) where it hides your files, and makes it look like there's nothing. Or, when you open the folder that's listed, it deletes it (but that's only a fake folder to scare you), etc
If the computer shows the harddrive with data on it, but when you go into it, there's nothing, then my guess is this could be it.

Check Show hidden files and uncheck Hide protected system files, you should be able to see the files now.
Use Avast to delete the virus/spyware (or any other program that is up to date)
Open up Command Prompt, type attrib -h -r -s /s /d h:\*.* (substitute h for the drive letter of your harddrive/memory card/etc)

All fixed

Good luck

[ameerat42]

Happened to me once. Years ago. Ta for reminding me.

[RubyKatz]

Also if you are into sharing, I am also saving copies and giving them to my siblings, so we all have a copy of my parents photos dating back to the early 20th century. They can then pass this legacy down to their children and this way it ensures the precious memories are all kept safe. Online storage areas bother me a little just because of privacy issues and ongoing cost. Not that I will ever be famous or take obscene photos that I am scared will be leaked to the media.