Found my files, then they gone again !

[BlackBirdbaz]

Hello, I downloaded and purchased the software last night to look for files lost on a formatted drive. I ran the seach and found all my files but decided to do nothing and re run the scan today. having run the scan a 2nd time today it hasnt found anywhere near the same amount of files especially the ones I need like Excel and Outlook files, please help me as all these files relate to my charity work, many thanks

Barry Swallow

[GDH]

The golden rule of data recovery is that if you see your files get them off and backed up as fast as you can.

My guess is that you have lost the files from your C: drive and between your first and second searches the computer has been in use.

Continued use of the computer will change the contents of the C: drive. Microsoft Windows can dump data quite randomly on the C: drive if the computer is in normal continued operation. This is why you will often see us suggest that the problem drive be connected to another computer as the secondary drive.

There are some key areas of your drive that are important in data recovery. Of primary importance are MFT records for each file that contain the name and storage location of the data for a file.

If these MFT records get overwritten then you will notice a chance in the search results. ******ially you can still find the data for the files even if the MFT record for a file has been destroyed. You must run a "Complete File Search" for specific file types. The files found will no longer have their original names and will start with "Recovered....".

[BlackBirdbaz]

Thanks for the reply. I omitted to say that the drive in question wasnt my C Drive but my G drive, physical drive No 3.

It was formatted in error and has yet had nothing written back on to it.

However I am scanning the drive for the 4th time today and touch wood it seems to be finding things but thwy are all the current 6000 files found all the same file size of 1024kb ?

the scan has been going almost 3 hrs and is roughly 10% done so hopefully lots more files to come. The entire loss is somewhere around 17gb so how do you suggest i back that up, file by file or in one foul swoop to another drive ?

Sorry to sound dim, I am not really !!

Barry.

[GDH]

Now that I read your message again and say that it was a format related problem it is pretty obious that it wasnt your C: drive

It is good that the drive has not been touched.

A few quick questions....

1. Does the drive now have a new drive letter?
2. Does the drive contain a new formatted drive? or when you click on it does it ask if you want to format the drive?
3. Did you try a Fast Format Recover of the physical drive? If so, did it find any files?
4. What type of search are you running now, and what file types are being returned as 1024k.
5. Do you know if the drive was originally formatted NTFS or Fat32?

This should enable me to point you in the right direction.

[BlackBirdbaz]

Originally Posted by GDH

A few quick questions.....
1. Does the drive now have a new drive letter?

Answer = No, it remained the same.

Originally Posted by GDH

2. Does the drive contain a new formatted drive? or when you click on it does it ask if you want to format the drive?

Answer = No, the drive is fully accessible as it would normally expect to be.

Originally Posted by GDH

3. Did you try a Fast Format Recover of the physical drive? If so, did it find any files?

Answer = I think I tried all options without the same results as last night, but a scan has been going now for 5 hrs and isnt yet 10% complete but has found 7700 files so far. My concern is that all file sizes regardless of type are all 1024kb

Originally Posted by GDH

4. What type of search are you running now, and what file types are being returned as 1024k.

Answer = I am running the last of the 4 types of scans. File types include Cab, GIF, JPG, ZIP, HTML, Paint, Png, Text.

Originally Posted by GDH

5. Do you know if the drive was originally formatted NTFS or Fat32?

Answer = The drive was originally Fat32 and remains so

Many thanks for your time.

[BlackBirdbaz]

Just to update you, the scan continues and is about 25% done in 24hrs !!

over 14000 files found so far !!!

This must be a very thorough scan ?

Is it normal for all found files to be 1024kb ?

Regards


BBB.

[GDH]

Whilst the search is in progress please click on the OPTIONS button.

In the SEARCH tab, tell me what the settings are.

In the FILE TYPES tab, tell me what the settings are.

Thank you.

If you use MSN or Skype, please contact me.

[BlackBirdbaz]

The Search Settings are set at.........

Searching for deleted files is ticked

Trying to determine file types is ticked

Searching for lost files is ticked

Default file size is set to 1Mb

Searching for both FAT and NTFS

4 is the maximum partitions

Level of partition validation is set on the 9th marker

File types

Everything is checked !!



Having looked at all this I can see why its taking its time but the most files I am desperate for are .pst .xls .doc .pdf . zip amongst other normally used file types for images etc.


Would it be worth stopping this search after 30 hours and changing the settings to find what I am really in need of finding ?

Thanks again for your help

BBB.

[GDH]

Yes.

Stop the current search. Preview the files that have been found so far. If you find anyting useful, save the files.

Now close down Recover My Files.

Now start the program again. This time do the following:

1. In the first wizard window click on "Complete Format Recover". Click NEXT;
2. In the drive selection window put a tick next to the "Physical Drive" that is the same size as your problem drive. Click NEXT;
3. In the file type selection window make sure you have ONLY the following file types selected: .pst .xls .doc .pdf .zip .bmp .avi .jpeg (tick the three types of jpeg). Start the search.

Please send an email your contact phone number so that I can ring you and check up on the search.

Thank you.