External Hard Drive Salvage?

[RZehr]

About 4 years ago the company IT guys cleared off my pictures from my work computer, and put them in an external hard drive for me.
I couldn’t turn it on this winter, so I took it to a local computer shop. They told me today that it is shot, and they couldn’t turn it on.
Anyone know a good suggestion on how to recover my data/pictures?

[Wayne in Maine]

About 4 years ago the company IT guys cleared off my pictures from my work computer, and put them in an external hard drive for me.
I couldn’t turn it on this winter, so I took it to a local computer shop. They told me today that it is shot, and they couldn’t turn it on.
Anyone know a good suggestion on how to recover my data/pictures?

IT guys are notoriously lazy!

External drives usually are simply a case, power supply and driver circuitry for a standard hard drive. Take the case apart and try inserting the hard drive as a secondary drive in a computer. If the drive itself is good you should get your pictures back. I'm sitting next to an "external drive" I salvaged simply by putting a new, bigger hard drive in it.

[Soloist]

I've had some success restoring data with harddrives that have "failed"
There are some recovery tools out there, but I've never used them so I'm not sure...

If you want I can give it a try next time we hook up, just get some desiccant packs, and two zip lock freezer bags for me.

[Neto]

Well, it's Thanksgiving day, I apparently have a cold, and I was doing some data cleanup on a secondary HDD in my computer. I had moved all of the files out of a subdirectory and wanted to just delete the now empty folder. Somehow I messed up and started a delete process for the entire containing folder, the one the empty folder was in, instead of just the one I wanted to delete. I had used the Shift + Delete process, so it is now all gone. (I cancelled it, but only saved two other subfolders.)

So, I guess I shouldn't have been doing this when I am not 100%. But I need to decide if I want to go to the time or expense (or both) to try to recover the files I deleted.

What data recovery programs do you all use for a case like this? (I DID stop changing any files on that drive, so nothing should have been written over.)

[ken_sylvania]

Well, it's Thanksgiving day, I apparently have a cold, and I was doing some data cleanup on a secondary HDD in my computer. I had moved all of the files out of a subdirectory and wanted to just delete the now empty folder. Somehow I messed up and started a delete process for the entire containing folder, the one the empty folder was in, instead of just the one I wanted to delete. I had used the Shift + Delete process, so it is now all gone. (I cancelled it, but only saved two other subfolders.)

So, I guess I shouldn't have been doing this when I am not 100%. But I need to decide if I want to go to the time or expense (or both) to try to recover the files I deleted.

What data recovery programs do you all use for a case like this? (I DID stop changing any files on that drive, so nothing should have been written over.)

I've used iBoysoft already and liked it but it's not exactly cheap. I think it might cost around $70 for a one month license.
https://iboysoft.com/

Also used Pandora and liked it.

Just double checking - I assume you did not have file history turned on and that you've at least checked for previous versions?

[Neto]

Well, it's Thanksgiving day, I apparently have a cold, and I was doing some data cleanup on a secondary HDD in my computer. I had moved all of the files out of a subdirectory and wanted to just delete the now empty folder. Somehow I messed up and started a delete process for the entire containing folder, the one the empty folder was in, instead of just the one I wanted to delete. I had used the Shift + Delete process, so it is now all gone. (I cancelled it, but only saved two other subfolders.)

So, I guess I shouldn't have been doing this when I am not 100%. But I need to decide if I want to go to the time or expense (or both) to try to recover the files I deleted.

What data recovery programs do you all use for a case like this? (I DID stop changing any files on that drive, so nothing should have been written over.)

I've used iBoysoft already and liked it but it's not exactly cheap. I think it might cost around $70 for a one month license.
https://iboysoft.com/

Also used Pandora and liked it.

Just double checking - I assume you did not have file history turned on and that you've at least checked for previous versions?

At the very likely risk of sounding stupid, I'm not familiar with File History. This is Windows 7 - I didn't say that before. I looked on-line, and it said to go to the folder where the files had been, go to the Home tab (which isn't there), and click History. There isn't any such place.
(I had already pulled the secondary drive, so had to shut down in order to check this.)

[Soloist]

Well, it's Thanksgiving day, I apparently have a cold, and I was doing some data cleanup on a secondary HDD in my computer. I had moved all of the files out of a subdirectory and wanted to just delete the now empty folder. Somehow I messed up and started a delete process for the entire containing folder, the one the empty folder was in, instead of just the one I wanted to delete. I had used the Shift + Delete process, so it is now all gone. (I cancelled it, but only saved two other subfolders.)

So, I guess I shouldn't have been doing this when I am not 100%. But I need to decide if I want to go to the time or expense (or both) to try to recover the files I deleted.

What data recovery programs do you all use for a case like this? (I DID stop changing any files on that drive, so nothing should have been written over.)

I've used recuva with some limited success, the free version works and I once deleted multiple recordings completely by mistake and had installed windows along with several other things before attempting recovery. I got one of the files restored so its possible this would do what you need with the free version.

https://www.ccleaner.com/recuva

[ken_sylvania]

Well, it's Thanksgiving day, I apparently have a cold, and I was doing some data cleanup on a secondary HDD in my computer. I had moved all of the files out of a subdirectory and wanted to just delete the now empty folder. Somehow I messed up and started a delete process for the entire containing folder, the one the empty folder was in, instead of just the one I wanted to delete. I had used the Shift + Delete process, so it is now all gone. (I cancelled it, but only saved two other subfolders.)

So, I guess I shouldn't have been doing this when I am not 100%. But I need to decide if I want to go to the time or expense (or both) to try to recover the files I deleted.

What data recovery programs do you all use for a case like this? (I DID stop changing any files on that drive, so nothing should have been written over.)

I've used iBoysoft already and liked it but it's not exactly cheap. I think it might cost around $70 for a one month license.
https://iboysoft.com/

Also used Pandora and liked it.

Just double checking - I assume you did not have file history turned on and that you've at least checked for previous versions?

At the very likely risk of sounding stupid, I'm not familiar with File History. This is Windows 7 - I didn't say that before. I looked on-line, and it said to go to the folder where the files had been, go to the Home tab (which isn't there), and click History. There isn't any such place.
(I had already pulled the secondary drive, so had to shut down in order to check this.)

If you right click on a folder and go to "Properties" is there a "Previous Versions" tab?

[Neto]

It searched, then showed the same as in your screen shot - No previous versions. I suppose that means I don't have it turned on. (EDIT: I checked a folder on the main HDD, and things DO come up there. I see that it is a part of Restore Points. I have that turned ON for the C drive, but apparently not for the secondary drive.)

My plan now is to do a fresh Windows 7 installation on another HDD, then install some trial versions of different recovery software. The thing is, I don't really know how much was in that folder. I had been merging folders & organizing files into various subfolders, and hadn't checked the Properties to see the folder size. Also, I DO have some of the lost files in other backups, but I hadn't created a master backup for some time. These are not business files, but personal stuff, mostly copied from internet sites over the last 10 or more years. The older stuff I have someplace else, but the more recent files had not been merged into the main backup locations. This is all stuff about my model of old car, a 46 Plymouth. I collect any pictures I see that I think might be helpful in reassembling it, because I dismantled it back in 80-81, well before digital cameras. So I didn't take very many pictures, had another parts car setting outside, and my Dad's input from his years of working in a Plymouth Chrysler Dodge DeSoto dealership back when these cars were fairly new. (Also, I didn't plan on leaving it apart for 40 years.....) One might think that these things would still be on the internet, but a lot of the pictures were from auctions, or hosted on PhotoBucket by now deceased car collectors. I also tried to access a few internet links to major old car magazines, and none of the ones I tried were still active. (These were from about 10 years ago, to like HotRod magazine, etc.)

[Neto]

I tried what I said I was going to do, but I would have needed to do so much updating to Win 7 before I could even start, so I installed Recuva Free on my main Windows drive. I haven't examined the individual files, but it appears that it did the job. (The others would show the files found, but you have to purchase it in order to actually get any of them.) There is a place in the settings for Recuva where you select a box to Restore Folder Structure. It's a real mess w/o that. (Did it first before I found that setting, not knowing that it wasn't going to do that automatically.) I might have lost a few files, and a lot of this I DO have in other backups, but that was hard to know w/o just doing it.

Thanks to all who helped me with this.