Files recovered with Recuva now unplayable?

[Stepfly]

Apologies if I'm on the wrong board, but hoping for advice. I messed up and managed to delete a very large folder of video files on an external HD (I'm on Windows 7 64bit)

I used recuva to recover the files, and the process seemed to work. However, afterwards, a large number of the recovered video files are unplayable (around 60% – though, a couple seemed to have had their identities transposed i.e. the file name says it is video01.avi, but when I play it in vlc video02.avi plays).

Have I got any options to do another recovery on that external HD to try again, or does the fact that I've *already* “recovered” those files mean I can't have a do-over? i.e. if I ran another recovery program on that hard drive would nothing be available as recuva has already “saved” those files?

Presumably deleting the non-playable files again isn't going to help this issue.

Or am I just out of luck and the non-playable files are junk now?

My tech skills are very limited, so any suggestions to try would be really appreciated, or somewhere else to go to find help, as some of the non-playable files would be very tough to replace. Many thanks.

 

[DSzymborski]

If you're not getting results with Recuva -- which is my go to one -- I'd try and see if you get better results with EaseUs. Also I'd try opening the files that you can't play with VLC.

Sadly, there's no magic solution for this kind of thing. The truth is, the only dependable method to preserving important data is to properly back it up before disaster strikes, so whether or not you're fortunate -- my fingers are crossed -- I urge you to take it as a lesson to back up your data in future. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, after all.

 

[Stepfly]

"

If you're not getting results with Recuva -- which is my go to one -- I'd try and see if you get better results with EaseUs. Also I'd try opening the files that you can't play with VLC.

Sadly, there's no magic solution for this kind of thing. The truth is, the only dependable method to preserving important data is to properly back it up before disaster strikes, so whether or not you're fortunate -- my fingers are crossed -- I urge you to take it as a lesson to back up your data in future. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, after all.

"

Thanks a lot for taking the time to reply, DSzymborski. You're right, just laziness and a moment's distraction got me here. My own dumb fault.

I'll try and give EaseUs a go, see if that helps. Excuse my ignorance, though... If I've already used Recuva and have all of those recovered but non-functioning files on that external drive now will another go with EaseUs (or an alternate) be able to "find" the imprint from the original deletion and recover another set of those files, or does the mere fact that I've got the corrupted batch back mean the information won't be available to recover with EaseUs. Hope I'm making myself clear...

 

[kenrivers]

Recovering files does not prevent you from being able to recover them again as long as nothing new has been written to the drive. Any good recovery tool should not erase the files after a recovery. If the files in question are indeed corrupt on the drive you are trying to recover them from then no recovery software will fix that.

 

[DSzymborski]

"

If you're not getting results with Recuva -- which is my go to one -- I'd try and see if you get better results with EaseUs. Also I'd try opening the files that you can't play with VLC.

Sadly, there's no magic solution for this kind of thing. The truth is, the only dependable method to preserving important data is to properly back it up before disaster strikes, so whether or not you're fortunate -- my fingers are crossed -- I urge you to take it as a lesson to back up your data in future. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, after all.

"

Thanks a lot for taking the time to reply, DSzymborski. You're right, just laziness and a moment's distraction got me here. My own dumb fault.

I'll try and give EaseUs a go, see if that helps. Excuse my ignorance, though... If I've already used Recuva and have all of those recovered but non-functioning files on that external drive now will another go with EaseUs (or an alternate) be able to "find" the imprint from the original deletion and recover another set of those files, or does the mere fact that I've got the corrupted batch back mean the information won't be available to recover with EaseUs. Hope I'm making myself clear...

You will still be able to use alternate software. Recovery software only tries to read the files and make you a copy, it doesn't change the files. Think of it like there's an old half-torn note you're trying to read that's covered in coffee stains and bad handwriting. If you can't read what it says, you can hand to your friend to try.

 

[Stepfly]

"

Recovering files does not prevent you from being able to recover them again as long as nothing new has been written to the drive. Any good recovery tool should not erase the files after a recovery. If the files in question are indeed corrupt on the drive you are trying to recover them from then no recovery software will fix that.

"

Cheers for the clarification, kenrivers. Looking like that the first recovery shredded those files, but I'll try another recovery solution just in case, then chalk it up to experience is that's no dice.