WD Elements External Hard Drive Deleted all my Data!!! - Blu-ray Forum

Mystique · 08-09-2009, 03:58 AM

Omfg! My portable hard drive failed on me and it deleted 8 years of pictures. I freaking lost 8 years of pictures. I'm so freaking depressed!

I recently bought a WD Elements 1 TB portable hard drive and l transferred all my pictures onto there because I was running out of hard drive space. I look through it occasionally and then today when I accessed the portable hard drive, I looked through the two main folders and all the pictures were gone! I was like in complete shock! I don't know how or why they got deleted, on the hard drive it says 31 GB is used and there's 900 GB free so I don't understand what's wrong with it. The only problem I think what could have messed it up was that I unplugged it from computer because I had to install a new DVD-Drive in my computer, but I don't see how that would affect it.

I looked up those data recovery programs online, but I'm not sure if they work or not. Do they? What should I do? Can you guys help me out? I'm so sad....

slaizer2000 · 08-09-2009, 04:08 AM

no media is 100% reliable. You should always keep 2 copies and in different locations. Besides regular failures you can have fires/ floods etc. If it's that important then you need to have 2 copies at all times on 2 different media devices.

Mystique · 08-09-2009, 04:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slaizer2000

no media is 100% reliable. You should always keep 2 copies and in different locations. Besides regular failures you can have fires/ floods etc. If it's that important then you need to have 2 copies at all times on 2 different media devices.

I know, I know! I just didn't think it would happen to me, and it did and it sucks! I regret it so much! Is there anyway to recover it?

hiro1030 · 08-09-2009, 04:13 AM

Also, I think you need to click on the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon in your sys tray and then click "OK" before you unplug your USB connected device.

crackinhedz · 08-09-2009, 04:18 AM

did you connect the drive into the same usb slot each time?

...sometimes plugging into different slots can be buggy. I connected my brothers Passport drive into different slots, and sometimes it reads it, sometimes it didnt.

crackinhedz · 08-09-2009, 04:19 AM

but I also agree, you have to "safely remove" before disconnecting.

Mystique · 08-09-2009, 04:28 AM

The computer was off when I disconnected the hard drive and I plugged it in the same slot too! I don't know. The formatted the hard drive to NTFS. There is a pop up that says: Windows - Delayed Write Failed. Don't know if its corresponding to what though....

GoodToGo · 08-09-2009, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mystique

The computer was off when I disconnected the hard drive and I plugged it in the same slot too! I don't know. The formatted the hard drive to NTFS. There is a pop up that says: Windows - Delayed Write Failed. Don't know if its corresponding to what though....

On my WD external HD, I have it in Raid 1 setting so that even if one HD drive fails, nothing is lost. I think the data may still be around, look for it.

BLindsay · 08-09-2009, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoodToGo

On my WD external HD, I have it in Raid 1 setting so that even if one HD drive fails, nothing is lost. I think the data may still be around, look for it.

RAID is only posible with more then 1 drive, so unless the drive in question is actually 2 drives then that wouldnt be posible

however, i happen to work for a place that offers data recovery services so i know alot of the time it is posible to retrieve the information

Peanuthead · 08-13-2009, 09:19 PM

Have you tried installing that drive into a WinXp (or the like) pc and seeing if you can recover the data. It's possibly that a simple chkdsk will fix it. Otherwise you can try a drive recover piece of software as long as the drive isn't clicking or malfunctioning hardware wise (like a head crash).

bhampton · 08-13-2009, 09:34 PM

I recetnly wanted some data that was accidentally deleted from a USB drive.

I downloaded some freeware recovery tools and they totally found and recovered all the data. (And found lots of other stuff I deleted of course.)

I can go have a look at data recovery freeware to see if I can remember the name of the freeware that worked well.

EDIT - I used NTFS READER in the past on a hard drive that began to have problems making terrible noises and couldn't find data. And more recently I used Recovery here's a link...

http://free-backup.info/data-recovery-software.htm

EDIT 2 - On this page DiscDigger looks pretty good. (but I have never used it before.)

http://www.snapfiles.com/Freeware/sy...arecovery.html

-Brian

bhampton · 08-15-2009, 11:14 AM

I guess an update on the situation is not coming?..

Those data recovery free-ware tools worked for me.

-Brian

08-09-2009, 03:58 AM	#1
Mystique Expert Member Member since:Apr 2007 Location:Newark, CA Blu-ray collection:240 Blu-ray reviews:5 Trading Score:1	WD Elements External Hard Drive Deleted all my Data!!! Omfg! My portable hard drive failed on me and it deleted 8 years of pictures. I freaking lost 8 years of pictures. I'm so freaking depressed! I recently bought a WD Elements 1 TB portable hard drive and l transferred all my pictures onto there because I was running out of hard drive space. I look through it occasionally and then today when I accessed the portable hard drive, I looked through the two main folders and all the pictures were gone! I was like in complete shock! I don't know how or why they got deleted, on the hard drive it says 31 GB is used and there's 900 GB free so I don't understand what's wrong with it. The only problem I think what could have messed it up was that I unplugged it from computer because I had to install a new DVD-Drive in my computer, but I don't see how that would affect it. I looked up those data recovery programs online, but I'm not sure if they work or not. Do they? What should I do? Can you guys help me out? I'm so sad....

08-13-2009, 09:34 PM	#11
bhampton Blu-ray Count Member since:Aug 2007 4K collection:981 Blu-ray collection:2537 DVD collection:67 Blu-ray reviews: 6 Trading Score:18	I recetnly wanted some data that was accidentally deleted from a USB drive. I downloaded some freeware recovery tools and they totally found and recovered all the data. (And found lots of other stuff I deleted of course.) I can go have a look at data recovery freeware to see if I can remember the name of the freeware that worked well. EDIT - I used NTFS READER in the past on a hard drive that began to have problems making terrible noises and couldn't find data. And more recently I used Recovery here's a link... http://free-backup.info/data-recovery-software.htm EDIT 2 - On this page DiscDigger looks pretty good. (but I have never used it before.) http://www.snapfiles.com/Freeware/sy...arecovery.html -Brian Last edited by bhampton; 08-13-2009 at 09:40 PM.

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08-09-2009, 04:08 AM	#2
slaizer2000 Expert Member Member since:Mar 2007 Location:Mooresville, NC 4K collection:67 Blu-ray collection:1117 Trading Score:21	no media is 100% reliable. You should always keep 2 copies and in different locations. Besides regular failures you can have fires/ floods etc. If it's that important then you need to have 2 copies at all times on 2 different media devices.

08-09-2009, 04:13 AM	#4
hiro1030 Member Member since:Nov 2008	Also, I think you need to click on the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon in your sys tray and then click "OK" before you unplug your USB connected device.

08-09-2009, 04:18 AM	#5
crackinhedz Super Moderator Member since:Feb 2007 Home Theater Gallery:10 Blu-ray reviews:8 Trading Score:19	did you connect the drive into the same usb slot each time? ...sometimes plugging into different slots can be buggy. I connected my brothers Passport drive into different slots, and sometimes it reads it, sometimes it didnt.

08-09-2009, 04:19 AM	#6
crackinhedz Super Moderator Member since:Feb 2007 Home Theater Gallery:10 Blu-ray reviews:8 Trading Score:19	but I also agree, you have to "safely remove" before disconnecting.

08-09-2009, 04:28 AM	#7
Mystique Expert Member Member since:Apr 2007 Location:Newark, CA Blu-ray collection:240 Blu-ray reviews:5 Trading Score:1	The computer was off when I disconnected the hard drive and I plugged it in the same slot too! I don't know. The formatted the hard drive to NTFS. There is a pop up that says: Windows - Delayed Write Failed. Don't know if its corresponding to what though....

08-13-2009, 09:19 PM	#10
Peanuthead Member Member since:Feb 2009 Trading Score:4	Have you tried installing that drive into a WinXp (or the like) pc and seeing if you can recover the data. It's possibly that a simple chkdsk will fix it. Otherwise you can try a drive recover piece of software as long as the drive isn't clicking or malfunctioning hardware wise (like a head crash).

08-15-2009, 11:14 AM	#12
bhampton Blu-ray Count Member since:Aug 2007 4K collection:981 Blu-ray collection:2537 DVD collection:67 Blu-ray reviews: 6 Trading Score:18	I guess an update on the situation is not coming?.. Those data recovery free-ware tools worked for me. -Brian

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