If you are recovering files with recovery software, does the file being recovered get Moved to the new location or Copied?
I ask because if the recovery operation doesn't give me the results I want, I'd like to try again with different software. I won't be able to do that if the files have been removed from the disk.
I don't know of any legitimate recovery software that would attempt to move a file. Many times, the drive you are recovering from can't be written to or you are performing some forensic recovery, so there is no reason to try to write to that drive. What software are you using for this?
>there is no reason to try to write to that drive.
Of course, there are reasons not to write to that drive and some recovery software will not allow you to select the failed drive as a destination, but removing files is not writing to the disk.
What software are you using for this?
EaseUS. Curiously, and annoyingly, it's renamed all my recovered files to FILE1.mpg, FILE2.mpg, etc when none of them are mpg's. VLC Media Player can still play them and I can probably recover the names from a file I kept but it's going to be a long tedious job.
Next, I want to try taking the controller board out of an identical WD external disk and using on the failed disk to recover the data normally, just by copying it to a new disk. That way I might get the correct names and the extensions. Failing that I'll find a utility that can rebuild the FAT.
It would be a copy. A "move" is actually a copy and then delete. Recovery software would not purposely delete source data.
That renaming is typical of recovery software. Many times the files are just recovered raw without filenames. It also has to make a guess as to the general file type.
Ah, that sucks. Unfortunately, it's that much worse since it couldn't even see the partition.
Well, in the future, make sure to keep 2 copies of your important data on separate drives in separate locations. If the data is really really important, have an offsite or cloud backup.
>Well, in the future, make sure to keep 2 copies of your important data
It used to be 'make sure you backup' - now it's 'make sure you have two copies.' Why not three? Two could fail within days of each other if you bought the disks at the same time. I'm just being crappy because I feel crappy, you're right of course but sometimes it's just economics that keeps you from doing the ideal thing. Some say two copies in your house and another in your car in case of a burglary, where does it end?
I'm not finished yet, I've got Test Disk running and most of the partition programs can recover a lost partition and there's always swapping the bad controller board for a good one.
BTW: Is a virgin drive considered to be a single 'partition'? I always think of partitions as logical drives that you create.
I meant at least two copies. Of course, more is better.
BTW: Is a virgin drive considered to be a single 'partition'? I always think of partitions as logical drives that you create.
If you mean a drive out of the box, then there are no partitions on it until you create them.
All formatted drives have at least 1 partition. Partition is like the floor space, rather than a barrier between spaces.
>If you mean a drive out of the box
'Out of the box' doesn't say whether it's formatted or not.
* A formatted drive has a single partition unless you created more?
* An unallocated drive might be correct in thinking that it has not been formatted or initialized, though it might also be a formatted drive (my situation) in which case the partition is said to be 'lost' because it can't be found even though it's there?
BTW: Test Disk didn't find a partition after scanning all day. Without a partition the disk is essentially blank. However, EaseUS was able to recover 449 files after 5 hours of Scanning and 5 hours of Recovering and it didn't even mention a partition. The files were useless.
The next ridiculously long, disappointing and fruitless adventure is with Partition Assistant
Tomorrow, I'll tear the controller board out of an identical WD external drive and I'm willing to bet I'll see all files as soon as I plug the drive in.
Partition Assistant has examined 5% of the drive while I typed this message (and I'm fast) which makes it the fastest scan of them all so far.
>If you mean a drive out of the box
'Out of the box' doesn't say whether it's formatted or not.
Out of the box drives are unformatted unless specified. The manufacturer doesn't know what type of system the drive will be installed in, so they don't preformat drives.
* A formatted drive has a single partition unless you created more?
Yes. Note that Win7/8 will create a 100MB reserved partition also.
* An unallocated drive might be correct in thinking that it has not been formatted or initialized, though it might also be a formatted drive (my situation) in which case the partition is said to be 'lost' because it can't be found even though it's there?
Unallocated means the system doesn't recognize the partition. The data might be there, but the FAT with all the pointers is lost/damaged.
Easeus probably did a block by block scan.
Unfortunately it's sounding more and more like a bad drive. Good luck with switching the controller boards.
Switching the controller boards worked! It came up roses and I'm recovering all my files as we speak, 23 hrs remaining.
Earlier in this thread I mentioned a post on the web that said the controller does some sort of proprietary encryption. That could be why Disk Manager wanted me to Initialize the disk, it couldn't see anything without the controller board. I've also heard that you can defeat this encryption by formatting the drive as soon as you buy it, even though it comes formatted. I have not confirmed or proved anything in this paragraph but my results suggest it's true.
Good thing I didn't initialize, then I would truly have a data recovery issue on my hands and my experience with data recovery software was not good. I think I would have lost the data.
According to all my disk diagnostics, the 'bad' drive is in perfect health, no bad blocks or weak sectors, temperature well inside the range and a life expectancy of more than 1000 days. I haven't lost the files and the disk is still good.
I think that confirms that the controller boards are the weakness in the WD My Book (Caviar). It doesn't prove, but it does suggest that the controller boards are interchangeable, for example if you have two from the same batch.
This is a good solution to remember because it's seems to be a common problem. Most people who had this problem have sworn off WD disks forever, I'm joining that group. I don't like anything that makes me dependent on proprietary systems, methods or hardware.
I think the encryption issue is only with certain external drives, not all WD. I know the old laptop size external had a weird partition on it, but WD has done away with that now. You could always build your own external drive with an enclosure too.
>WD has better reliability than Seagate
I agree, but that's not saying much. When I bought the machine I ordered three 2TB Seagate drives because they used to have a good reputation and they all failed just outside warranty. I was really angry. I didn't know it but the SMART was moving data in the background until suddenly it couldn't find any more usable space and I had to rush to backup before permanent failure.
The WDs are probably fine without that little controller, mine is in perfect health after two or three years of constant use.
