My external HDD is now RAW Fat 16, i cant acess my files

legendarysnake

Distinguished
Jul 21, 2014
105
0
18,690
hey guys, i used a software to recover my usb flash drive that was damaged by rufus software. then there was an external HDD conected at the same time. i made confusion and used the clean command and create partition factory in the hdd instead of the usb flash drive.
there was very old files in there. the partition is now RAW and fat 16(or something like that). theres a way to still recover my files before i format this external hdd to be able to use it again?

thanks in advance
 
Solution
When you do the clean and create partition command, it will take the HDD, destroy the file allocation table, write the identifiers, and put in a new (blank) file allocation table. Essentially, it would be like taking a book, ripping out the table of contents, and putting a blank one in. So - the HDD has no idea where the files are, what they are called, or where they located.

Fortunately, what you did might be fixable, since what you did was essentially a 'quick format'. Here's a link to a 'how to' along with software. I've used their stuff before and it works pretty well.

https://www.easeus.com/resource/recover-quick-format.htm

Here's some freeware links. Your mileage may vary...

Rookie_MIB

Distinguished
When you do the clean and create partition command, it will take the HDD, destroy the file allocation table, write the identifiers, and put in a new (blank) file allocation table. Essentially, it would be like taking a book, ripping out the table of contents, and putting a blank one in. So - the HDD has no idea where the files are, what they are called, or where they located.

Fortunately, what you did might be fixable, since what you did was essentially a 'quick format'. Here's a link to a 'how to' along with software. I've used their stuff before and it works pretty well.

https://www.easeus.com/resource/recover-quick-format.htm

Here's some freeware links. Your mileage may vary.

http://formatrecovery.blogspot.com/2013/02/recover-data-after-formatting.html
 
Solution
Fortunately, what you did might be fixable, since what you did was essentially a 'quick format'. Here's a link to a 'how to' along with software. I've used their stuff before and it works pretty well.

https://www.easeus.com/resource/recover-quick-format.htm




Should the above app not recover everything you wanted you can also try Recuva. It would be best to have a separate drive for recovery use. Recovering to the same drive isn't recommended but will usually work.
 

legendarysnake

Distinguished
Jul 21, 2014
105
0
18,690


you know if the easeus format recovery trial will allow me to recovery all my files? or only in the paid version?
 


I am positive that Recuva will allow you to do that.

That does not imply that it will recover 100% of your files. The state of each file is something I don't know about.
 

legendarysnake

Distinguished
Jul 21, 2014
105
0
18,690


but recuva also has a free and a paid version. theres any diference? im really in doubt of which i have to use. i heard about easeus before, its pretty famous for recovering data. and recuva is from piriform made ccleaner a software that always help me. hmm...
 


I'd go with the Free Recuva. It's served me just fine on the few occasions I've had to use it. I am not certain which one is better(so subjective) but I have Recuva and haven't had any need to find an alternative.
 

Rookie_MIB

Distinguished
The whole of it, is regardless of which service you use, do NOT write to that drive any more until you recover what you can. Try and recover and save the files to a different drive. And, you may need to use more than one software program to get back everything.
 

legendarysnake

Distinguished
Jul 21, 2014
105
0
18,690


i tried with recuva and it says "unable to determine system type"
 


And today I learned something new :(
 


And Easus? It may be able to unpartition the drive. I do not know if that feature is included in the free version.

Should all else fail I recommend you right click the drive in Disk Management and perform a quick format. Recuva will then be able to scan and recover files.
 

legendarysnake

Distinguished
Jul 21, 2014
105
0
18,690


i found what it was. i put the icons size at 175% :p i fixed at 155% of size. i put this way cause full hd everything is very small. good news! easeus is recognizng all my folders! but it will take 6 hours for the scan to finish. well i once let an external hdd that had problems, scaning in a old notebook for 3 weeks and it didnt recovered all my files. i hope i get my data back. the problem is... space. it has over 1tb there and i dont have enough space to back up that. i might had to buy a new hdd. another seagate.

edit: i bought a new hdd online, and im wating to arrive it. i notice that theres a lot of lost files in two diferent folders :( i could recover a truecrypt backup of 180gb thats the only thing i can get by now..
 

Rookie_MIB

Distinguished


Well, hope everything works out for you... best of luck on the recovery.
 

legendarysnake

Distinguished
Jul 21, 2014
105
0
18,690
guys, my hdd is finally here! i let it easeus data recover scaning for 10 hours, then i saved the backup to check it out later. i noticed that a lot of files are damaged, like some .mp3 files, damn. i really need a secundary scaning software. recuva is not working. you guys recomend another one?

how do i restore the scaning from the backup? its a .rsf file

i recovered 40% of my stuff so far. nothing very important was lost yet. im recovering folder by folder cause the [removed by moderator - language] program, mix files from diferent folders if i dont do it. i will keep you update soon. im really impressed with easeus so far. its recovering most of my stuff. :O
 

legendarysnake

Distinguished
Jul 21, 2014
105
0
18,690
guys i recovered most of my stuff. its just annoying that i ever 2 folder with lost files. and i have to check every single folder to see what files are on it. theres hundreds of folders :( its weird that inside this folder, theres files that are working, why the hell they are in this folder?
 

legendarysnake

Distinguished
Jul 21, 2014
105
0
18,690


i did not know it was not allowed to curse in here.
 


That's in the rules http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/19-73-forum-rules-read-first

Don't...Disrupt the natural flow of forum discussion through vulgar language, spamming, flooding, or any variant.


 


This is a family friendly site so we like to keep the language of the posts free of profanity. Enough has been said on this (profanity) issue so it's time to get back to the question at hand.
 

RolandJS

Reputable
Mar 10, 2017
1,230
21
5,715
Are you asking why there are many files with the same name, just with different dates? If yes, utilities such Recuva, to use one example, list all found deleted files and gives each one a green or yellow or red light, along with a best-guess byte-size. For example, say your financial spreedsheet went through 7 reviisions over time -- all discovered, seven prior, files, including the one you didn't want deleted are listed. Disregard this post if I miss-understood your comment. :)