[narlus]

in an attempt to solve my backup problems, i created a much larger one.

long story short - I accidentally formatted a 2TB drive when i put it in my Drobo enclosure, and the external drive(s) that had the backup data are FUBAR (blinking lights, drive not recognized by the PC).


i have installed some drive recovery software, but the formatted drive doesn't have a logical drive letter associated with it, and so it's not visible on the PC. hence, i can't point the recovery software to that disk.



any ideas? you'd be my best friend forever.

 

[binary visions]

Try more than one recovery app. I accidentally formatted a drive once myself and it was recovered pretty cleanly, but the first app I tried (Recuva) didn't see it; the second app I tried did. The more sophisticated recovery software does not need a mounted drive on the computer.

Let me see if I can find that software name...

 

[binary visions]

I successfully used this before... You scan for free, pay to recover:
http://www.datarescue.com

 

[HardtailHack]

I like Recuva but it doesn't always find drives, EaseUS is another option and I think it will let you recover for free but to restore partitions and fancy stuff will cost money.

If EaseUS works there are always discount codes floating around if you decide to purchase, I like their software so I bought the recovery, partition and backup software.

 

[narlus]

thanks to H8R's comment on facebook, i am in the process of running the CG Security app PhotoRec. seems to be working but i can't see any actual files on the drive yet...maybe it needs to finish completely? that would be kinda weird though.

it's been scanning for 23 hr and has ~11.5 hr to go. says it's recovered over 50K of files, and the capacity of my drobo has been steadily decreasing throughout this, so fingers crossed that i'm actually recovering it.

one of the services quoted $700-2700 dollars, and the other was $190 per hour. yikes on a stick.

 

[binary visions]

Well, I mean, you could just say forget it and restore your files from your other backup.

You do have another backup, right? Maybe one that's not stored using a proprietary and impenetrable filesystem?

 

[SkaredShtles]

I'm kinda confused - backup data should be fairly low value... you should just be able to run a new full on the drive and carry on.

What am I missing?



Edit - ahhh... the 2TB drive wasn't the backup drive? Was it an actual data drive? And the separate backup drive failure was just a coincidence?

But yeah... what BV said. I have an internal backup drive that gets backups written regularly - then I have an external that gets a backup set copied to it occasionally and sent to a mate's house.

Reminds me... I really oughta do that.

 

[HardtailHack]

Since this is sorted I have a two part question, I run a SSD in my laptop and to do a backup I just clone it to a conventional drive. Could I have dramas because of the different ways the drives store their data?

I also have to reinstall two OSs soon anyway I want to be able to dual boot and want to run 7 on an esata flash drive and 8.1 in the machine. I have to install 7 first this time, installed 8 first last time which messes it all up and my computer wants to roll back to 7.
Will it work if I install 7 on a flash drive first?

 

[SkaredShtles]

Since this is sorted I have a two part question, I run a SSD in my laptop and to do a backup I just clone it to a conventional drive. Could I have dramas because of the different ways the drives store their data?

Nay... you shouldn't have any issues. Filesystem format is what's important - and they are the same.

I also have to reinstall two OSs soon anyway I want to be able to dual boot and want to run 7 on an esata flash drive and 8.1 in the machine. I have to install 7 first this time, installed 8 first last time which messes it all up and my computer wants to roll back to 7.
Will it work if I install 7 on a flash drive first?

Dunno. Good luck with that one...

 

[binary visions]

I also have to reinstall two OSs soon anyway I want to be able to dual boot and want to run 7 on an esata flash drive and 8.1 in the machine. I have to install 7 first this time, installed 8 first last time which messes it all up and my computer wants to roll back to 7.
Will it work if I install 7 on a flash drive first?

The improvements in virtualization means that dual booting is basically useless.

Install Windows 8 onto the hardware, install VMWare Player, and put Windows 7 on a virtual machine.

Also, SS: automate your off-site backup. Crashplan will do it to the cloud cheaply, or directly to another computer for free. Or, Bittorrent Sync is working very nicely to sync some folders from my girlfriend's laptop to the desktop - seems to be an excellent, free solution.

 

[HardtailHack]

BV, I have used a virtual machine but it still doesn't allow me to do what I want. My laptop has a slot in projector that only has drivers for 7 and running in a VM with the appropriate drivers does nothing. I can boot from esata port or a drive in the DVD bay but if it doesn't work it's a lot of effort for nothing.

I don't use the projector often and a HDD swap takes less than 5mins so I suppose I could just swap the drive out.

 

[SkaredShtles]

The improvements in virtualization means that dual booting is basically useless.

Install Windows 8 onto the hardware, install VMWare Player, and put Windows 7 on a virtual machine.

Also, SS: automate your off-site backup. Crashplan will do it to the cloud cheaply, or directly to another computer for free. Or, Bittorrent Sync is working very nicely to sync some folders from my girlfriend's laptop to the desktop - seems to be an excellent, free solution.

Ahhh... looks like cloud backup is actually reasonable now. I don't like the idea of changing to a new backup software, but this gives me hope.

I could always just go the point-to-point route... offsite location is a good friend that is fairly close. Might even be able to just do a direct-connect.

 

[narlus]

5 star rating for PhotoRec.


saved me from tearing clumps of hair from my head, and handfuls of $100 bills from my bank account.

 

[binary visions]

BV, I have used a virtual machine but it still doesn't allow me to do what I want. My laptop has a slot in projector that only has drivers for 7 and running in a VM with the appropriate drivers does nothing. I can boot from esata port or a drive in the DVD bay but if it doesn't work it's a lot of effort for nothing.

Not sure what you mean by "running in a VM with the appropriate drivers does nothing."

You should be able to pass any hardware item through to be mounted directly by the virtual machine, no? Especially if it's a slot in item, it should show up in the removable items.

Also, have you tried installing the drivers on W8? Even if it says they're not compatible, most of the time they work. If it has an installer program, you can right click / properties / compatibility and choose Windows 7 compatibility mode.

None of this is what you asked, I realize, but I've never installed Windows onto an eSATA drive so I don't have a direct answer... and some of these other things might be easier if they work for you.

 

[binary visions]

Ahhh... looks like cloud backup is actually reasonable now. I don't like the idea of changing to a new backup software, but this gives me hope.

I could always just go the point-to-point route... offsite location is a good friend that is fairly close. Might even be able to just do a direct-connect.

The one nice thing about the point-to-point is you can "seed" the off site location with your data by bringing it over on a drive so you don't have to wait for the upload to complete.

Also, what do you mean by "now"? Cloud has been $5 for like 5 years

But yeah, cloud is still good as a fallback. I encrypt mine so it's pretty secure, and the Crashplan app is excellent. Lots of control/flexibility in how often it backs up, when it backs up, whether and how many versions it keeps, etc.