Data Recovery for 5 TB video files

[Kisianik]

HI
Just got freaky accident - lost all my backup video files, total about 5.5 TB.
Nothing is corrupted, was moving files from 8TB HDD to 10TB HDD and forgot to initialize 10TB HDD, somehow files were transferred. Then I deleted files from 8TB and started write test on 8TB. In a few minutes I wanted to open 10TB HDD and it was not listed. I stopped write test on 8TB.

First question. Which HDD is easier to recover. 8Tb deleted files and started write test (fill with zeros) for about 1-2 minutes or 10TB which accepted transfer, but mysteriously was not initialized.

I checked recommended Recuva, but it shows only 1,900 files for recovery, I am sure I got much more than that, and it will take 14 hours to do the job (for 8TB drive), trying now anyway.

Does anyone had experience with anything faster and better. Commercial/paid programs are OK, as long as they will do the job and can, at least, scan HDD really fast for lost files, so I can at least see the number and compare different programs.

Appreciate in advance any experienced help.

Update. I just bite a bullet and got MiniTool Power Data recovery personal edition and started scanning 10TB "lost partition", which had exact number of files as 8TB, but Minitool shows slmost 22,500 files, which is closer to the reality.

So right now I am running Recuva for 8TB and MiniTool for 10TB. Recuva stated 14 hours for 1,900 files and MiniTool 26 hours for 22,500 files.

But more suggestions are appreciated.

 

[Kisianik]

That program is annoying me already.
All I had to do is open the disk and go to empty space, now C to copy is working.

@USAFRET: sorry for bothering you with PM. It is working, but very slow due to the huge volume.

At least I am recovering from the very fast HDD to very fast HDD.

Previous RECUVA recovery to external 8TB took forever.

 

[USAFRet]

Well..I see a bunch of zeros there, so you may be out of luck.
That looks like it cannot find anything to 'fix'.

From the TestDisk documentation....this is what a recovery might look like at the start:
http/www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/Undelete_files_from_NTFS_with_TestDisk

 

[mjslakeridge]

When you gathered all of the files on the 8TB drive and copied them to the 10TB drive, and then started the write test on the 8TB, drive, you did not have a BACKUP at that point. The only copy that would have existed after the 8TB write test was complete would have been on the 10TB drive. (If I understand what you described correctly).

 

[USAFRet]

From the initial:

Nothing is corrupted, was moving files from 8TB HDD to 10TB HDD and forgot to initialize 10TB HDD, somehow files were transferred. Then I deleted files from 8TB and started write test on 8TB. In a few minutes I wanted to open 10TB HDD and it was not listed. I stopped write test on 8TB.

This is telling me that you maybe (but probably did not) copy from the 8TB to the 10TB.
Then, before verifying that things were actually existing on the 10TB, you started to write test the 8TB.

Is this correct?

Now, after this...Recuva and TestDisk are apparently not able to actually recover anything.

Copy, Verify, Delete.
You left out the middle step.


I think this is a cautionary tale to other people about how fragile and ephemeral 5.5TB of data is.

 

[Kisianik]

When you gathered all of the files on the 8TB drive and copied them to the 10TB drive, and then started the write test on the 8TB, drive, you did not have a BACKUP at that point. The only copy that would have existed after the 8TB write test was complete would have been on the 10TB drive. (If I understand what you described correctly).

Looks like you got my description of the problem right.

Big Idea was to test with WRITE test 8TB, which I forgot to do after purchasing, plus I decided to rearrange my files as well.
I have bunch of 3TB HDDs for cold storage. What ever DATA is on PC is sorting, editing and such. So, files can get stuck on PC for a long time - that is why I choose WD Gold as most reliable line of HDDs. In process of purchasing those drives I discovered that WD gives away 20% discount (another rationale for choosing GOLD drives) for the purchasing next drive and so on...

 

[USAFRet]

The reliability of any particular line of drives means exactly squat when you hit the delete button.

 

[Kisianik]

Well..I see a bunch of zeros there, so you may be out of luck.
That looks like it cannot find anything to 'fix'.

From the TestDisk documentation....this is what a recovery might look like at the start:
http/www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/Undelete_files_from_NTFS_with_TestDisk

I re-selected my drives and some numbers popped up, than I went down the directory of the J drive (8TB) until I got empty directory, that when C to copy worked.
So far it is recovering all files, I got already one Acronis backup back, but did not check it yet, it will take, I think, about at least 14 hours run time, if it is fast as Recuva.

 

[Kisianik]

The reliability of any particular line of drives means exactly squat when you hit the delete button.

Never do anything important when you tired or in the hurry, that is the most important lesson I learn recently.

Now it is actually my third time in all my PC life recovering files.

First one was long time ago when my WD IDE hard drive crashed from overheat, I was able to recover about 75%.
After that incident all my internal HDDs now have as much air for ventilation as possible.
Second time was for my friend, he lost HDD with about 200,000 pictures, that was major headache, worse than now, back then I used diferent methods, which duplicated files, it was nightmare....

Present methods I like so far, getting use to it.

 

[mjslakeridge]

That is encouraging! Just be patient and don't interrupt the recovery process or run anything else on the pc until complete.

 

[Kisianik]

It is moving slow, but moving.

I guess for today I will use only TestDisk first and Recuva second, if TestDisk miss something, because Recuva erases original files, what a very bad idea.
TestDisk is simple programs, but it has some hiccups here and there, but this could be related to the size (10TB) of the drive.

Will update the situation, most likely tomorrow.

 

[USAFRet]

Good luck.

 

[Kisianik]

Oh My God

TestDisk is so quick - it is done already, checking resulted file integrity....