Moved 2GB to external HDD using Win7, plugged drive into 8.1, folder gone

CaitieHelp

Reputable
Jun 2, 2015
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0
4,510
Here's exactly what I did:

I have a 3TB Seagate hard drive that I primarily use with my Windows 8.1 machine every day. I turned off that computer, unplugged the drive, and plugged it into my Windows 7 laptop. I moved (not copied) about 2GB from C:\ImportantPhotos to the external drive to Z:\Photos\Unsorted. The files moved in about 7 minutes. They were gone from my Windows 7 laptop and appeared fine on my external hard drive.

I then plugged the hard drive back into my Windows 8.1 primary machine and turned it on. When I went to navigate to the Z:\Photos\Unsorted\, I saw ImportantPhotos folder and was pleased to know this was a success. I mean, why wouldn't it be? However, when I clicked the folder it gave me an error about the folder not being available, and now the folder is completely gone. I tried to view the folder back on the Win7 laptop, and it was still missing completely.

Where did my files go? Did I lose them completely :(

(Possibly relevant: There was definitely activity on the external drive, as the parent folder (Unsorted) shows Date Modified time of exactly the time the files were moved.)


THANK YOU for any help help! My engagement photos are on there!!! If you need any more information at all, please ask!
 

Reyaz123

Admirable
It's probably a permission issue. The permissions were most likely granted to only users of that external hard drive and if you move the file to another system, the permissions can get lost and lock you out from accessing the files. If you still have the files on your computer, move them back to the external drive in the same location it came from.

Instead of moving the files from the external drive to the pc, copy them over and see if this makes a difference.
If none of this works, I believe a file recovery program can retrieve those files from the external drive (easeus data recovery wizard)
 

CaitieHelp

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Jun 2, 2015
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4,510
Thank you for the response. It is appreciated.

Permissions - I don't think so. I tried to view the external drive on the 7 and 8.1 machines with no luck. If it were a permissions issue, could I query it through cmd?

Still having the files - I don't have them. I moved them (successfully upon first view!), not copied. Copying is obviously safer, but I do use this external drive daily and move files all the time (not from the 7 machine, but other machines) without issue.

Data recovery - I've got GetDataBack running against the external drive now. It's a huge drive, looks like it will be a day or two until I get the results. I tried a few other programs, none of them were able to locate the files at all on either the 7 machine or the external drive. It's like they vanished into thin air!



 

Reyaz123

Admirable


Pause your scan before doing this.
Go into your external drive and windows hard drive to test if it became a hidden file.
Open the external drive folder and/or windows hard drive
At the top it will say "view" click on that
Select the checkbox to "view hidden files or hidden items"

See if it appears.
 

CaitieHelp

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Jun 2, 2015
3
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4,510
No luck :( This was the first thing I did.