Recovery Advice Needed

@WinTenUser,

Partition Recovery Wizard shows only the existing partition and does not give any other clue. So we shall leave it at that.

Do complete recovery with Disk Drill. Disk Drill free can only recover 500MB data. Did you buy a licence for USD89 to be able to copy all the files?

Once you complete recovery with DiskDrill, try the trial version of GetDataBack Pro and check whether it shows all your folders and files in the original structure. When you scan the 1TB disk with GetDataBack, it may show many partitions . Click on each and check. ( There are four levels of scan. straightaway select Level 4 scan) If it shows all your folders and files in their original foders/files structure, you can even open those files and check the integrity before buying a license to copy the files.This is the one we recommend when TestDisk fails to repair a corrupted MFT. GetDataback can recover all data in their original file/folder structure even when the MFT is corrupt. Data Recovery Software — Downloads

I know it is a bit late now, but going forward into the future, you can avoid the effects of this sort of error by ensuring you always have a backup of your data.

Ok, this error was human error and you are able (it seems) to recover some data at least. But what if the data drive had failed? You would have lost all the data.

So please ensure you always backup your critical data as a minimum.

[QUOTE=WinTenUser;2380169]Understood.
I have backed up so many drives, but this one drive I had not. Didn't have another drive to use for backup! Much of what was on the drive was expendable, but over time I kept putting more and more important files on the drive.[/QUOneed.
Yeah problem is a never ending circle - the more data you accumulate, the more backup storage you need.

In reality I bet most people will not ever need 90% of their backed up data.

In real life when data was on paper, you eventually had to become ruthless about what was kept as you physically ran out of storage space unless you paid a lot for more space (new shelves, filing cabinets, rooms etc).

With digital storage, by the time you reach limits of drive storage, you can buy much greater capacity at similar price that you paid years earlier. Consequently data is hoarded.

People now have thousands of digital photos but probably never actually LOOK at vast majority of them now.

One pc's hard drive now could probably hold all the worlds data from 25 years ago ha ha (ok just a wild guess but I bet it is not that far from the truth).

[QUOTE=cereberus;2380250]

WinTenUser said:

Understood.
I have backed up so many drives, but this one drive I had not. Didn't have another drive to use for backup! Much of what was on the drive was expendable, but over time I kept putting more and more important files on the drive.[/QUOneed.
Yeah problem is a never ending circle - the more data you accumulate, the more backup storage you need.

In reality I bet most people will not ever need 90% of their backed up data.

In real life when data was on paper, you eventually had to become ruthless about what was kept as you physically ran out of storage space unless you paid a lot for more space (new shelves, filing cabinets, rooms etc).

With digital storage, by the time you reach limits of drive storage, you can buy much greater capacity at similar price that you paid years earlier. Consequently data is hoarded.

People now have thousands of digital photos but probably never actually LOOK at vast majority of them now.

One pc's hard drive now could probably hold all the worlds data from 25 years ago ha ha (ok just a wild guess but I bet it is not that far from the truth).

It has been said: A cluttered desk, a cluttered mind. Well, that's me in a nutshell. I think I have enough data to go through and sort out to last me a lifetime of sorting, saving, deleting.

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jumanji said:

@WinTenUser,

Partition Recovery Wizard shows only the existing partition and does not give any other clue. So we shall leave it at that.

Do complete recovery with Disk Drill. Disk Drill free can only recover 500MB data. Did you buy a licence for USD89 to be able to copy all the files?

Once you complete recovery with DiskDrill, try the trial version of GetDataBack Pro and check whether it shows all your folders and files in the original structure. When you scan the 1TB disk with GetDataBack, it may show many partitions . Click on each and check. ( There are four levels of scan. straightaway select Level 4 scan) If it shows all your folders and files in their original foders/files structure, you can even open those files and check the integrity before buying a license to copy the files.This is the one we recommend when TestDisk fails to repair a corrupted MFT. GetDataback can recover all data in their original file/folder structure even when the MFT is corrupt. Data Recovery Software — Downloads

I did not buy Disk Drill Pro, just borrowed from a friend. I don't know that I would pay $89 for it, but I suppose if it was the only way to recover critical files, files that would cost $1K+ by sending it by mail for recovery then I might.
Almost done running "GetDataBack" We will see what it can reveal.
The GetDataBack scan is done and it really didn't reveal anything more than the previous software so I guess this is it for file recovery.