Question External hard drive shows empty

[TeoTheGreek13]

Hello, to the community!

So, I probably messed up but I wouldn't really know because I'm not an expert on computers. So, here's my problem.
I connected my external hard drive to my laptop via USB but it wouldn't recognize it as a drive. It would only show up at Devices & Printers, so obviously I couldn't reach the files. I googled for a solution and came across a suggestion about assigning a letter to the drive. I followed the steps and added a letter (letter E in particular, for whatever it's worth).
Then it was recognized... but it was [censored] empty.

So, my questions are, did I messed up? Are the files still there? Are they retrievable?

PS: For whatever it's worth, a few days ago I connected the hard drive to PS4 and I think it proposed my a change in its format in order to read it and I pressed accept or something. I'm sorry, I can't recall exactly.

I hope y'all can help me out here.

 

[PC Tailor]

PS: For whatever it's worth, a few days ago I connected the hard drive to PS4 and I think it proposed my a change in its format in order to read it and I pressed accept or something. I'm sorry, I can't recall exactly.

This wipes the hard drive of any data. And would also explain why it lost it's letter designation and data.
When the PS4 wiped the drive, it formatted it, so that Windows wouldn't recognise it initially, and wiped the data on it.

 

[TeoTheGreek13]

This wipes the hard drive of any data. And would also explain why it lost it's letter designation and data.
When the PS4 wiped the drive, it formatted it, so that Windows wouldn't recognise it initially, and wiped the data on it.

Did I lost them permanently?

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

Did I lost them permanently?

Yes if you didn't keep any backups on a separate HDD.

You may be able to retrieve some files with partition recovery software but because it was formatted by the XBox at some point, that will further complicate things, and at the very least some of what is recovered will just be corrupted or incomplete files which will be unusable.

 

[PC Tailor]

Agreed with above.

Being as XBOX/PS4 only tend to do quick formats, likelihood is some of the data could still be recoverable, as it's not been covered up "heavily". But it's a hope.

You can always try Recuva to see if any data is recoverable, but again as Phillip has also said, it's just luck really.

 

[TeoTheGreek13]

Agreed with above.

Being as XBOX/PS4 only tend to do quick formats, likelihood is some of the data could still be recoverable, as it's not been covered up "heavily". But it's a hope.

You can always try Recuva to see if any data is recoverable, but again as Phillip has also said, it's just luck really.

Yeah, Recuva is working on it as we speak.

Damn man...

 

[TeoTheGreek13]

Yes if you didn't keep any backups on a separate HDD.

You may be able to retrieve some files with partition recovery software but because it was formatted by the XBox at some point, that will further complicate things, and at the very least some of what is recovered will just be corrupted or incomplete files which will be unusable.

Agreed with above.

Being as XBOX/PS4 only tend to do quick formats, likelihood is some of the data could still be recoverable, as it's not been covered up "heavily". But it's a hope.

You can always try Recuva to see if any data is recoverable, but again as Phillip has also said, it's just luck really.

ΙI used Recuva and it retrieved thousands of files. It says:
"Select the files you want to recover by ticking the boxes and then pressing Recover.
For the best results, restore the files to a different drive."

Should I wait to find another drive or it doesn't really matter?

 

[fzabkar]

You should never write recovered files back to the "damaged/corrupted" drive.

 

[PC Tailor]

ΙI used Recuva and it retrieved thousands of files. It says:
"Select the files you want to recover by ticking the boxes and then pressing Recover.
For the best results, restore the files to a different drive."

Should I wait to find another drive or it doesn't really matter?

It does matter, purely because how Recuva works is it can accidentally overwrite the data it is trying to recover. Basically you have deleted data to be recovered, then you could accidentally write over this data by recovering other data, and therefore cannot obtain the original data again.

So yes, do it to another drive.

You should never write recovered files back to the "damaged/corrupted" drive.

I believe we discovered the drive wasn't damaged, it just simply was wiped on a format.

 

[TeoTheGreek13]

So, is my drive useless now?

 

[PC Tailor]

So, is my drive useless now?

No, it appears you simply wiped it accidentally. Perfectly functional (if this is the case).
Just needs to recover the data to another drive, then you can transfer back to it.

 

[TeoTheGreek13]

Thank you to everyone for helping me.
Appreciate it!!

 

[PC Tailor]

Thank you to everyone for helping me.
Appreciate it!!

No problem my friend, glad we could help.
Just remember to select a best answer once you are happy so others visiting the forum can see the solutions you feel most appropriate.

 

[fzabkar]

When I said "damaged", I meant that the file system was damaged/corrupted, in which case you most definitely should not write to the patient drive.

Since you have formatted the drive, the OS believes that 99% of the user area is free space. This implies that any recovered files will be written back to this "free space", in which case they will randomly overwrite those same files that you are trying to recover.

 

[TeoTheGreek13]

Guys, how do I change my drive from appearing as New Folder to how it was originally appearing (Samsung M3 etc)?

 

[PC Tailor]

Guys, how do I change my drive from appearing as New Folder to how it was originally appearing (Samsung M3 etc)?

Not sure what you mean, can you elaborate?
Once you've recovered all the data onto another drive, you can just format it (where you can rename it) in Windows and assign a drive letter.

 

[TeoTheGreek13]

Not sure what you mean, can you elaborate?
Once you've recovered all the data onto another drive, you can just format it (where you can rename it) in Windows and assign a drive letter.

And how do I format it exactly? Sorry, but I don't know much about computers.

 

[PC Tailor]

And how do I format it exactly? Sorry, but I don't know much about computers.

You should just be able to plug it in on Windows, go to disk management, right click on the drive partition and click format. Then go through the small details.