Globerunner513 Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 (edited) Hard drive failed in my computer a few months ago, just got around to putting it in an enclosure and tried to grab some stuff off of it. Kept it stored in a plastic case, and wasn't moved for almost that entire time. -connects fine, but will sometimes freeze windows. -when connected, shows the drive has the correct amount of data stored. (about 110gb) -can open and view folders, and some files/pictures stored outside of any main folders -"my documents", "my pictures", "my music" folders are all empty, but that is where the majority of the data should be. -checked settings for hidden files/read only. Anything else to look for? I'm assuming the data should be on the drive somewhere, since it doesn't make any noise and like I said it is almost completely full according to the computer I have it connected to. I've heard of the freezer trick, but I'm not sure if that is the issue I'm having. I'd appreciate any ideas the IT guys on the site have to offer Thanks! Edited October 23, 2011 by Globerunner513 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tecreatta Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 Mount it using a linux distro and just copy and paste. If your informations there you should be able to find it using nautilus or the terminal. There are countless live cds out there you can use to do this without installing the os on a drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jersey Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 Sorry to hear about your HD failure Globe. When it was failing, it may have run a checkdisk and relocated some of your folders/files to a safer spot on the hard drive. I would look around for folders named "found" or you could do a search on the drive for .mp3's, .jpg's, ,.doc's... maybe that would help you locate the missing data as well. Just be sure to select to search in subfolders, hidden files & folders under the "advanced options" when searching. GL. - Jersey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSM Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 Sorry to hear about your HD failure Globe. When it was failing, it may have run a checkdisk and relocated some of your folders/files to a safer spot on the hard drive. I would look around for folders named "found" or you could do a search on the drive for .mp3's, .jpg's, ,.doc's... maybe that would help you locate the missing data as well. Just be sure to select to search in subfolders, hidden files & folders under the "advanced options" when searching. GL. - Jersey Yep, search. More often then not "My Documents" is not where you think it is. Did you have multiple users on the machine? Each user will likely have their own folder. Which version of Windows did you have it on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aplyedmind Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 I had this happen to me It was called the windows fix disk virus. Search it on google. There should be something u can download to make them all reappear , and they Have another step by step method to make the Items visible again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLOZ UP Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Sounds like you may have had malware that made all your profile's documents hidden and/or system files. Turn on view hidden and system files from the folder options from Explorer, see if anything turns up. You should also be able to right-click on your documents/desktop/whatever folder and go to properties to view the size. If it's more than a few KB than there's something in there that's hidden. And you should do a checkdisk ASAP to attempt to move stuff of bad sectors, if there are a significant number. Typically your hard disk makes nasty noises when it tries to re-read sectors over and over again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSM Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 I just used this the other day on a laptop I picked up. Removed all kinds of things. AVG is awesome and FREE! http://www.avg.com/ww-en/avg-rescue-cd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Globerunner513 Posted October 26, 2011 Author Share Posted October 26, 2011 Thanks guys! Somehow, I plugged it into another computer and that particular time I was able to see and access everything. So i transfered everything I needed to another safe external hard drive and was able to save the stuff I wanted. Lesson learned though, I need to keep a backup! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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