[SOLVED] .txt file recovery from 5400rpm HDD

Hello,

I need to recover a .txt file from 2015 but the file was on an external 5400rpm HDD which is too slow to recover in deep scan.
If I clone it to an SSD, will I be able to recover the same file faster?

Also, when I select recover documents in Recuva, does it includes .txt files?

Is an SSD easier to recover than an HDD?

Thanks
 
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Solution
There are too many variables. If this hard drive was unused over this time, maybe. If this hard drive was used regularly, it's highly unlikely. The key bit of information isn't how old the file is, but whether it was overwritten.

Data doesn't "age" the exact same way that a sandwich does. Sure, there's a time component as magnets lose their magnetic field strength, but it's a lot more than that. If the hard drive was unused for 4 years and stored well, the time isn't a significant issue.

Cloning won't do a thing. The process by which the data has to be read to make the clone is no different than the process necessary to simply read the data in the first place. You can't fix a torn photograph by taking a picture of the torn...

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
'too slow'?
Start the process, and just let it run. Overnight, if need be.

Ease of recovery SSD vs HDD is irrelevant here, because you need to get it from the HDD in the first place.

What is the problem with the drive that it cannot be read normally?
 
I tried Recuva on my SSD just to see if it could recover files older than a year and it wasn't able to.
There were files shown as unknown, empty and in bad health in red.
Also most of the files were ignored.

Do you think a file from 2015 will be recoverable?

Thanks
 
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DSzymborski

Titan
Moderator
There are too many variables. If this hard drive was unused over this time, maybe. If this hard drive was used regularly, it's highly unlikely. The key bit of information isn't how old the file is, but whether it was overwritten.

Data doesn't "age" the exact same way that a sandwich does. Sure, there's a time component as magnets lose their magnetic field strength, but it's a lot more than that. If the hard drive was unused for 4 years and stored well, the time isn't a significant issue.

Cloning won't do a thing. The process by which the data has to be read to make the clone is no different than the process necessary to simply read the data in the first place. You can't fix a torn photograph by taking a picture of the torn photograph.
 
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Solution
It was used as an external drive and I have 3 external hard drives so I am not sure about which one is the file in.
I already tried to recover it in the past without success, they have been formatted several times. They are lost forever even thought I have the wallet.dat file.
I had my bitcoin password in the txt file there is about 3.1 bitcoins, they were worth a lot back then but now about 23K$.

At least I didn't pay much for these bitcoins about a 1000$ back in the time.
 
I wish there was more I can do, but sadly, it's very hard to recover old data in these circumstances. Are there other methods for you to obtain your password?

I tried brute forcing it by cracking the password, I also tried bitcoin recovery services that use several strong GPUs to crack the password but that did not work.

Anyways I only paid 1000$ for these and I am making more than that in two weeks.

Thanks :)