lost 100 GIG overnight

[pianolearner]

Yesterday, I had 100 GIG worth of material on my 2nd hardisk. Today I switch on my computer and suddenly that drive has nothing! It is back to an original raw drive that needs to be formatted 

What happened?

[prometheus]

No idea. I would try to find out if the problem can be solved and the data can be retained  before formatting.

[counterpoint]

It could be that the file allocation table is corrupt and therefore the data aren't visible. But it is almost impossible, that all data are overwritten (because it needs much time to overwrite such an amount of data). There exist some programs, that can retrieve "lost" data by correcting the error in the allocation table.

Don't format the partition or do risky things, when you don't know, what's the case with your HD. Eventually you can get the data back from the actual state, but if you make changes now, the situation could get even more difficult or the data is really lost then.

[pianistimo]

this just happened the other day with a friend here on the block.  she said she felt like telling the dell people to give her a new computer and felt that somehow the computer had a shelf life that the sales people didn't tell her about.  not being a computer person - i really don't know if computers are bound to 'crash' after 2-3 years. 

my husband and son just take them apart with impunity and put things in and out - and turn them into rube goldberg contraptions.  i have no idea how to put something back together when i take it apart and often wonder what makes them so capable and me so incapable of understanding how computers work.  but, anyways - good luck!

[quantum]

Don't write anything to the affected hard drive, it could make your data even more unrecoverable.

First try swapping it into another computer to see if it will read. 

[pianolearner]

It could be that the file allocation table is corrupt and therefore the data aren't visible. But it is almost impossible, that all data are overwritten (because it needs much time to overwrite such an amount of data). There exist some programs, that can retrieve "lost" data by correcting the error in the allocation table.

Don't format the partition or do risky things, when you don't know, what's the case with your HD. Eventually you can get the data back from the actual state, but if you make changes now, the situation could get even more difficult or the data is really lost then.

I thought the same thing. I booted up with my Knoppix Linux CD and I couldn't access the data. The last thing I did was copy a few large Video files to it and it worked perfectly before I shut down the PC.

[bench warmer]

There's a chance the control cable (ribbon cable) is loose on the drive. Check that, it's the simplest thing to fix.  Always check the easy stuff first.

Good luck

[ahinton]

You've had some good advice here already but, if the worst still seems to come to the worst, go seek the advice of a data recovery company rather than give in and assume that all is lost.

Best,

Alistair

[counterpoint]

You've had some good advice here already but, if the worst still seems to come to the worst, go seek the advice of a data recovery company rather than give in and assume that all is lost.

Best,

Alistair

As thalbergmad said, they will be able to restore all his Schumann scores ...   

[Bob]

I've had luck getting stuff back with the C prompt.  Under the Start menu, go to Programs, then Accessories, it's the black C prompt.  A DOS simulator. 

Type these commands to move around...
DIR     That lists the directory.
CD\foldername     To move up to another folder.
CD\     That brings you all the way back to C:, the root directory.

If you find what you're looking for you can copy then somewhere else. 
Copy *.*  E:\
(Assuming E drive is where you want the info.


That's one idea at least.


I wouldn't write anything on the drive like the others say.

Try restarting.

Maybe an error check?  My computer, right click on the hard drive, go to properties,  somewhere in there is an error check option where you schedule the check for the next start up.


Of course, the easy way to just use your trusty backups which we all make all the time... :p


Maybe starting up in safe mode?

[shoenberg3]

Do system restore to the furthest date back possible.
Run-> msconfig -> system restore

[pianolearner]

Thanks for all the suggestions but none so far have been successful. I can't read or write to the drive because it says it doesn't contain a valid file system. I've tried Windows/Linux and DOS. It is like a virgin drive that needs to be formatted. I've never had this happen before. 

[ahinton]

As none of thee possible remedies has yet worked, I'd say it was time to call in a qualified technician.

Best - and best of good luck!

Alistair

[pianistimo]

according to byte.com - 'if a client complains that their system's performance has taken a sudden hit, or that stability has suddenly become an issue, you're probably looking at a hacked machine, virus attack, or failing hardware.'

i hope this does not discourage you.

the only hope to speed up things is a tune-up.  they have some good ideas for tuning up that i can post later.  it's sort of read while you post for me.  i have no idea what i'm doing with computers.  they either work or they don't work.  when they don't work - i kick them.

ok.  here is better advice than kicking.  'before you tune up any PC, first back up the system's data.'  (don't feel badly - i rarely do this either).  if you're not using backup software, windows xp professional even includes a utility called 'backup' that can be deployed quite easily (taking about part of windows xp service pack, i think).  to open the backup wizart, click Start>All Programs>Accessories>System Tools.  then select backup.

for information on how to use microsoft's backup, see the company's windows xp backup made easy.  once you have performed this backup - you can move on to performance-improving tricks:

[pianistimo]

tip #1 - remove unused programs

1. click start, then click control panel
2. click on add or remove programs
3. scroll through the list and examine each program.  win xp lists how often a program is used and what day it was last launched. 
4. but do not remove anything labeled update or hotfix.  these are official windows updates and fixes.  leave them alone.
5. for each program you no longer want, click on the program's name,then click the remove button and follow the prompts to uninstall them.  it's that easy.

[pianistimo]

tip #2: free up wasted space

(deploying microsoft's disk clean-up tool)
1. open my computer, then right-click local disk, and then click properties
2. on the general tab, click the disk cleanup button.  disk clean-up will spend a few minutes examining your disk.
3. the disk cleanup dialog box shows your space on your disk that you can free up.
4. select the desired checkboxes in the files to delete list, and then click ok.  disk clean-up will spend several minutes clearing space.
(consider automating this disk cleanup process)

tip #3: defragment

winxp comes with a tool to defragment the data stored on disk called 'disk defragmenter.' commonly referred to as simply 'defrag.'

1. open my computer, right-click local disk, and then click properties.
2. on the tools tab, click 'defragment now.'  the disk defragmenter opens.
3. click the appropriate hard disk, and then click defragment.  disk defragmenter will start to work.  defragging will take from several minutes to several hours.
4. if the system has more than one hard disk, repeat this process for each hard disk in the system. 

tip #4:  disconnect unused network connections

1. open my computer
2. on the tools menu, click disconnect network drive
3. select the network drives that you no longer need.  then click 'ok.'


tip #5: remove unnecessary autostart programs (windows comes with the system configuration tool 'msconfig.exe' which manages the startup process.  this is how to start it and make the changes:

1. click start, click run, type msconfig, and then press enter
2. on the startup tab, you'll see a list of all the programs and processes that are set to run when winxp loads
3. clear the checkbox next to any item the user doesn't need.
4. click apply, and then restart the computer for the changes to take effect.

tip #6:  rejuvenate prefetch

1. access the 'run dialog' box by click start, then run.
2. type 'prefetch' (without the quotes) in the open text box.  then click ok.
3. press control A to select all the files
4. press delete.

there's more stuff - but this is enough for one day probably.

[ail]

Tell me more, please.
Is that the only HDD in the computer, or are you relying on an operating system on some other disk?
If your disk is the one that had the operating system, then it is strange. Perhaps it's as someone said before, the allocation table flipped. It might be a virus, looks like it.

Try to find another computer with an operating system on another hard drive, and put your disk as an auxiliary drive.
Then see if you can access it from the operating system without partitioning, formatting or changing file system.

If you can, copy everything to a backup device.

I find the whole thing strange and distressful, but I almost bet that the data are still there.

Alex

[jlh]

Something similar happened to me last year.  I had 2 HDD's and the one I reserved for storage just stopped working.  I lost like 60 GB of stuff I've collected over the past 6 years or so.  I still have the HDD and hopefully soon I'll be able to have someone retrieve everything for me, but for now I just started over.

[pianolearner]

Tell me more, please.
Is that the only HDD in the computer, or are you relying on an operating system on some other disk?
If your disk is the one that had the operating system, then it is strange. Perhaps it's as someone said before, the allocation table flipped. It might be a virus, looks like it.

Try to find another computer with an operating system on another hard drive, and put your disk as an auxiliary drive.
Then see if you can access it from the operating system without partitioning, formatting or changing file system.

If you can, copy everything to a backup device.

I find the whole thing strange and distressful, but I almost bet that the data are still there.

Alex

No, it is not the OS drive. I do a lot of video editing as a hobby and I use extra drives for capturing video. This was one of the capture drives. The night before I copied media from another drive to this one. I checked a few clips and they were fine. Next day I turn on the PC and the drive I copied to came up as if it were a new drive. In other words, it lost it's volume name there was no available space because it thinks it needs formatting. It does the same in another PC and even using Linux (which can read FAT/NTFS). Linux says there is no valid file system. Windows says "This drive needs formatting".

I still have the original Video on tape, but it just means many hours of work lost and hence many hours of work to get back to square one. Immediately after I went to Windows update and got the latest updates. It didn't appear to find any malicious software.

[ail]

I'm sorry, but then I don't know how I can help you :-(

Alex