Recover RAW files using linux/ubuntu operating system

bnthomason · 01 Dec 2021

Hello again. Got my PC up and running again yesterday.

My hard drive is not so functional tho.

The hard drive was slightly rewritten as a boot drive via Microsoft's Media Boot Tool. Only approximately 21 GB of files were overwritten, but that shouldn't be an issue, I think. The rest of the files are still there, existing on two seperate partitions (why 2, I have no clue, maybe it was because of a format split, I believe to changed from NTFS to FAT32)

I can use recovery software to find the files, but some of the files are renamed as a wierd random name.

I am hoping that using linux or an ubuntu variation will reveal the files inside in their "named" and "Folder" structure format like they were before, otherwise, it will take a long time to reorganize and put the files into their correct places in each folder.

Will this work?

Berton · 01 Dec 2021

Booting to a Linux LiveDVD or LiveUSB [I use Linux Mint] can at the least allowing copying existing files to a different drive large enough to hold them. Haven't had need for a recovery using Mint but there are free and paid programs available for recovering files but there's variables that affect that such as continuing to use the drive.

Last I tried recovery was on a 1TB USB HDD but nothing could be recovered, the interface device inside the USB case had failed, removing the drive from the case showed the drive itself was okay, just data couldn't be read.

jumanji · 02 Dec 2021

Hi @bnthomason,

Welcome to this your new thread

.

As per your first thread you "used media creation tool 21H2, it choose the wrong device, the D: Drive"

As per your first thread "What's even more strange that it now only hold 32 GB of data, and the mass storage of 4 TB is gone, wiped."

As per your first thread and on dalchina's recommendation you ran Recuva.

As per your first thread you have "scanned, but it returned 1024 files, all on D:\ Drive. I realized it wasn't properly scanning the Entire Drive. So I partitioned at least 2000 GB of the drive, but now I can't partition the rest, it's locked out, and I cannot do anything other than delete the drive or reformat it in disk management. Recuva doesn't recognize the drive, as it's a RAW type."

As per Berton's statement in that thread "The USB drive choice will wipe the drive completely and has a Windows formatting limit of FAT32 and which has a limit of 32GB in size, required for making bootable. I once made that mistake with a 64GB drive and got a single partition of 32GB, remainder was inaccessible by Windows even in Disk Management."

I gave you a questionnaire asking for more details (so that the most appropriate data recovery procedure can be tried ) which you did not answer. (Never mind.)

End of that thread.

And you have come here a second time seeking advice whether a Live Linux will help retrieve the data.

The live Linux also will not recognise your "RAW" 2000GB. RAW means that volume has lost its file system. No OS on earth will recognise a volume without a file system.

You, as the user, are free to try whatever you want to try.

If you want to use live Linux:

Click on this link to download lupu-528.005 https://distro.ibiblio.org/puppylinu...pu-528.005.iso . File size 132 MB

Using Rufus Rufus - Create bootable USB drives the easy way to create a bootable flash drive with that lupu-528.005.iso.

Follow my thread Lucid Puppy way to recover files from a non-bootable computer - Windows 10 Forums

( Note: This procedure is also applicable to data drives and external drives from which you want to recover the data. Choose that drive as your Source Drive and any other external drive - with sufficient capacity - as Destination Drive to copy files from the Source Drive)

Good Luck.

bnthomason · 10 Dec 2021

The files are definately raw, but still recoverable. I'm not sure using a recovery software is the answer, as I'm looking to recover specific files, and all the files are numbered, so I can't tell which file is which.

The drive does not accept checkdisks or convert, but the drive is 100% working. For some reason, when windows media boot tool made a new partition, it took the 4 TB partition out and replaced it with a tiny 32 GB partition, while the rest of the 4TB partitions were split into two volumes, what appears to be two 2 TB volumes. The data is accessible via recovery tool, but I don't like that method because the files will all be divided when recovering, and I cannot recover folders with files, just files (meaning, the file>Directory structure is all messed up). I need the files in their directory structure, not just the files (because some of the games archives I have for emulators, specifically rpcs3, have folders, and are not 1 file isos).

I need theses files like this because I just moved and have misplaced/lost my games I used to own (they were placed into another house during finding a place to live, and now, mysteriously, the box with not only the games, but the printer as well, is missing). Thus, I cannot just rip the games again, I would have to pay for the PS3 games again, and those games are worth like hundreds of dollars on the market now. Hopefully, there is at least ONE alternative to recover the files in their folder/directory structure.

EDIT: I was told by an IT professional that data recovery software uses a linux/unix engine and pulls data off that way via a backdoor to get into the lost files. I figured that, if this was true, and that the files are readable, I can forget the middle man and use linux/unix to do the hard work myself instead of paying big bucks on a software that doesn't even do what I want it to do.

Thanks for any insight and info.

bnthomason · 15 Dec 2021

Still need an answer for my questions.

Recover RAW files using linux/ubuntu operating system

Recover RAW files using linux/ubuntu operating system

So, no way to retrieve the files without a file recovery software?