Drive Recovery - Recovering 0 Byte File

[dormie]

Hi, I looking for some advice on recovering from a drive.

I had a spare drive crash that I'm trying to recover from. I can recover basically everything except the access database I was working on.... of course basically the most important file.

I can't access the drive through windows, so I've used a bunch of software utilities including; EaseUS, Recuva, TestDisk, Stellar Data, PhotoRec, MineTool, Wise Date. My best luck has been with DMDE where I was able to fine the file but it has 0 bytes along with a couple other with 0 bytes. I believe but not near 100% sure it's a corrupte/damaged MFT.

Things I've tried:
Chkdsk gives me an unable to access
EaseUs partition recovery crashes the system
MineTool partition recovery at the end said it couldn't complete

I've read a bunch and tried many things, I'm at the point of trying anything really. I'm not too worried about damaging it further as I'm not going to spend four figures paying to retrieve it.

As I mentioned before, I've found the file with DMDE and a couple others that I would like with 0 bytes, I'm not really sure what to do now....

Any help/direction or anything would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

 

[USAFRet]

If you've used all those tools and had no success, you're pretty much done at the consumer level.

 

[dormie]

Thanks, that's what i was worried about....

 

[S Haran]

Drives crash for a reason. Check the SMART status of the drive with a tool like CrystalDiskInfo. I suspect you are dealing with a failing drive.

Your best chance for recovery is with Pro help but if you don't want to go there try and make a clone image of the drive. Linux ddrescue is what I would use as it is designed to operate on failing drives.

If a quality image can be created then point your recovery tools at the image (avoid chkdsk).