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Author Topic: Crash! I May Have Lost 4 Years of Work!  (Read 7201 times)

Photolandscape

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Crash! I May Have Lost 4 Years of Work!
« on: April 15, 2007, 05:16:45 pm »

I was performing some long overdue file organization chores today. Basically, I was dragging files I'd saved off 4 different internal and external hard drives to a Seagate external Firewire 400GB drive that is about 1.5 years old and not heavily used. I wanted to begin to organize my files in order to then move them to a new Maxtor 1TB (2x500GB) drive that I plan to use as my primary backup drive, mirroring one drive onto the other. I am running Mac OS 10.4.9 on a Mac G5.

Things were going fine. I was getting impatient, so after a couple of hours of transferring files, I dragged three or four large files over the Seagate 400 icon and began transferring them simultaneously. Everything was fine, but I got a message about 1/2 way through transfering these files that the Seagate was full and could not copy any more files. I hit ok in the window that came up for each of the 3 files.

When I first tried to open the Seagate 400, and half a dozen times since, two things happen, either--1) the computer screen grays back (although I can see the list of files on the screen) and tells me the computer is shutting down unexpectedly, and tells me I must hold down the power button and restart my computer, or, 2) the window where my list of files should be is blank, although at the bottom it says that there is 798MB of room still on the HD (this gives me hope that the files are still intact and on the hard drive).

I am sick, I am distraught, and I am trying to figure out what to do next. This would be a huge loss for me personally, of course. I have roughly 20% of my files backed up on DVD's, but 80% reside on this Seagate HD which I can't open.

I also tried opening the drive by plugging it into my 12" Powerbook, but same thing happens.

I have relied on my fellow posters for important solutions in the past, and I will be eternally grateful to anyone who can suggestion a solution to this situation.

Thanks in advance.
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Ed Foster, Jr.

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« Reply #1 on: April 15, 2007, 06:12:49 pm »

Quote
<<snip>>
I am sick, I am distraught, and I am trying to figure out what to do next. This would be a huge loss for me personally, of course. I have roughly 20% of my files backed up on DVD's, but 80% reside on this Seagate HD which I can't open. <<snip>>
[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
OUCH!! - I know that must hurt and I feel for you.  The only suggestion at the moment that might help is to try and run a program called "DiskWarrior" and see if that will be able to rebuild your directories.  Try [a href=\"http://www.alsoft.com]alsoft.com[/url]

Good Luck,
Ed
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situgrrl

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« Reply #2 on: April 15, 2007, 07:48:15 pm »

A similar thing occured to me transferring MP3s around the place....including the disc space suggesting all of the files were intact - I ran a recovery utility that was recommended to me by my local Apple dealer - possibly DiscWarrior and recovered the files - though iTunes playlists and much of the re-naming I had done was lost.  I was using panther at the time.  I seem to remember that I recovered the files to a new disc and binned the old one.  Recently posts on this forum have suggested that the most reliable discs are those that are well used, it might be worth searching the forums for specific recommendations.

For the future, I decided I would only copy files up to the capacity of my RAM - however tedious - though my knowledge of computers is such that this is more of a hunch than based in science!

To my (limited) knowlege this is your best option and I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!  

Good luck
Charlotte

Ray

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« Reply #3 on: April 15, 2007, 07:58:25 pm »

I had a similar thing happen to me except the only thing I lost was my own time spent organising the images. They were all RAW files from my latest trip and I had them all backed up on DVD. The drive that failed was a LaCie 500GB BigDisk.

I tried rescue programs like Disc Warrior, and other trial programs that claimed to recover data, but to no avail. My files and folders simply couldn't be found, yet the drive was recognised in 'Device Manager' and showed up in 'Disk Management' as an unallocated disk which required initialising. (I'm on a PC of course).

In the end, after several helpful suggestions from kind members of this forum, none of which worked unfortunately, I simply returned the drive to the store and got a Western Digital replacement plus a credit for the price difference.

I made enquiries first about the possibility of the images being recovered by experts, but decided not to pay the A$650 asking price because, as I said, all those image were already as safe as houses on DVD.

My policy is, to have everything backed up on at least 2 separate external hard drives as well as DVD. The only data at risk of loss are images I've recently processed which I haven't got around to backing up.

I would find it difficult to believe that your images are not recoverable by someone with the forensic knowledge and expertise. It's probably a matter of how much you are willing to pay.
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BernardLanguillier

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« Reply #4 on: April 15, 2007, 08:04:06 pm »

Don't know if there is Mac version of it, but on PC the software called Photorescue has saved my day more than once.

Regards,
Bernard

Nill Toulme

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« Reply #5 on: April 15, 2007, 08:28:12 pm »

There is indeed a Mac version.  It's saved me a time or two also.  I have to say it never occurred to me to try it on a fried hard drive (as opposed to a toasted CF card), but it certainly makes sense to give it a go.

http://www.datarescue.com/photorescue/

Nill
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francois

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« Reply #6 on: April 16, 2007, 03:59:14 am »

If you don't want to try to rescue your HD content by yourself then companies like Drive Savers can provide expert recovery services. Prices are not cheap but with 4 years of photo, it might be worth considering!
« Last Edit: April 16, 2007, 04:00:50 am by francois »
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Francois

wood

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« Reply #7 on: April 16, 2007, 06:58:49 am »

Hello,

If you really want recovery yours files, go to a professional, and he will recover all your datas.

Wood
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mahleu

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« Reply #8 on: April 16, 2007, 08:33:24 am »

Did you copy or cut and paste? If you were just copying (which you should have been in case of any kind of failure then everything should still be on the original drives. If not either get hold of R-Studio which is a professional level recovery software or get hold of a data recovery firm.

Don't panic.
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scott_dobry

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« Reply #9 on: April 16, 2007, 10:27:13 am »

Quote
There is indeed a Mac version.  It's saved me a time or two also.  I have to say it never occurred to me to try it on a fried hard drive (as opposed to a toasted CF card), but it certainly makes sense to give it a go.

http://www.datarescue.com/photorescue/

Nill
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[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=112590\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Ditto to PhotoRescue.  Saved me twice so far.
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Photolandscape

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« Reply #10 on: April 16, 2007, 10:28:26 am »

Thanks to everyone for the very helpful insights and responses. I tried to download DiskWarrior over the weekend, but as luck would have it, I can't open the downloaded file, so I am waiting to here from Alsoft so I can try it and see if that will work.

I'll keep you posted and thanks again for your help.

SP
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Photolandscape

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« Reply #11 on: April 19, 2007, 01:05:22 pm »

Quote from: Photolandscape,Apr 15 2007, 01:16 PM
I was performing some long overdue file organization chores today.

When I first tried to open the Seagate 400, and half a dozen times since, two things happen, either--1) the computer screen grays back (although I can see the list of files on the screen) and tells me the computer is shutting down unexpectedly, and tells me I must hold down the power button and restart my computer, or, 2) the window where my list of files should be is blank, although at the bottom it says that there is 798MB of room still on the HD (this gives me hope that the files are still intact and on the hard drive).

I have relied on my fellow posters for important solutions in the past, and I will be eternally grateful to anyone who can suggestion a solution to this situation.


__________

I am happy to report that Disk Warrior 4 came to my rescue and appears to have worked perfectly. It has fixed all the problems on my disk (mostly file directory issues), cleaned up everything, and I am back in business. There are a lot of files that have been moved into a folder of recovered items, and it will probably take me 4-5 hours to get everything back where it belongs, but at least it appears that I didn't lose anything except a lot of sleep and about half my mind over the past few days. Thanks for the assistance to everyone who responded. I've learned a lot of lessons and am putting them into practice.
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francois

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« Reply #12 on: April 19, 2007, 01:59:51 pm »

Quote
I was performing some long overdue file organization chores today.

When I first tried to open the Seagate 400, and half a dozen times since, two things happen, either--1) the computer screen grays back (although I can see the list of files on the screen) and tells me the computer is shutting down unexpectedly, and tells me I must hold down the power button and restart my computer, or, 2) the window where my list of files should be is blank, although at the bottom it says that there is 798MB of room still on the HD (this gives me hope that the files are still intact and on the hard drive).

I have relied on my fellow posters for important solutions in the past, and I will be eternally grateful to anyone who can suggestion a solution to this situation.
__________

I am happy to report that Disk Warrior 4 came to my rescue and appears to have worked perfectly. It has fixed all the problems on my disk (mostly file directory issues), cleaned up everything, and I am back in business. There are a lot of files that have been moved into a folder of recovered items, and it will probably take me 4-5 hours to get everything back where it belongs, but at least it appears that I didn't lose anything except a lot of sleep and about half my mind over the past few days. Thanks for the assistance to everyone who responded. I've learned a lot of lessons and am putting them into practice.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=113293\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Glad to hear that DiskWarrior saved your photos.

 
« Last Edit: April 19, 2007, 02:00:39 pm by francois »
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Francois

Ed Foster, Jr.

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« Reply #13 on: April 19, 2007, 02:58:51 pm »

Quote
I am happy to report that Disk Warrior 4 came to my rescue and appears to have worked perfectly. It has fixed all the problems on my disk (mostly file directory issues), cleaned up everything, and I am back in business.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=113293\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
WHEW - I am delighted for you.  DiskWarrior is an excellent disk maintenance program that should be a regular part of your disk housekeeping chores.

Ed
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larryg

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« Reply #14 on: April 19, 2007, 03:36:12 pm »

I think I might get  Disk Warrior myself.  I have been in similar situations and dodged the bullet. You just can't be too careful/diligent.
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KAP

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« Reply #15 on: April 19, 2007, 05:38:19 pm »

Get Data rescue http://www.prosofteng.com/?gclid=CNv4677ez4sCFQrlQgodq1kJHw it's better than trying to rebuild anything, as I understand that can add to your problems. Data rescue just looks for files. You will need a large drive to recover to, but it's worth buying another drive to save 4 years.
I've used it with success on a couple of occaisons. I now use Aperture and the vault system, backing up everything twice and soon three times backup (thats four copies), on four different drives.

Kevin.
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fstop64

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« Reply #16 on: April 21, 2007, 06:25:52 am »

I had over the years what seemed like several external hard drives crashing. What I came to find out is that most the external hard drives don't have cooling systems built in to them. so the electronic components that run them burn out if left on all the time. I now only turn them on when I am using them.

What tends to burn out though is not the hard drive itself, but the electronics that make it operate. The hard drive in fact may be fine with all the information stored on it intact.

Here is what could be a quick fix if the hard drive is not responsive. Take the hard drive out of the exisiting case that it is in. If you go to an electronics store (CompUSA,etc) and buy an external hard drive case about ($30), plug the hard drive into the new case, snap it together and reattached to your computer. You may find that the hard drive is fine and you have not lost any information, it was just the operating electronics that burnt out.

The process is easy, it is unscrewing the original case, taking the hard drive out and plugging it back into the new exteral case and snapping it back together. You may be up and running again, with no lost files.

Good luck.
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Ray

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« Reply #17 on: April 21, 2007, 09:37:16 am »

Quote
I had over the years what seemed like several external hard drives crashing. What I came to find out is that most the external hard drives don't have cooling systems built in to them. so the electronic components that run them burn out if left on all the time. I now only turn them on when I am using them.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=113526\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

That's a good point. My LaCie BigDisk has a heavy metal case which is supposed to dissipate the heat and it gets very hot. After one of these hard drives gave me trouble, lost my data and returned it under warranty, I discovered when reading the manual that the maximum operating temperature is supposed to be 35 degree C.

There was many a time I forgot to switch off this drive after shutting down the computer. Temperatures in The Australian summer are often in the 30's. Inside my studio without air-conditioning, I wouldn't be surprised if the temperature reaches 35 C.
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Melorah

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« Reply #18 on: May 07, 2007, 05:00:06 am »

Good to hear that you got back your data.
Some times back I also lost my data due to software malfunction. I used Stellar Phoenix FAT & NTFS  data recovery software, got back almost 90% of my data.
I thanks to these data recovery software companies, they have really developed a very good utility. But to avoid such situations again I am keeping a regular backup.
Prevention is better than cure.
So the important point is to keep back on regular basis, as some times even these data recovery software are unable to recover the data in case data get over-written or get corrupted.
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