Please help with Advice for Partition Recovery

[jhhaze]

Hello,

I recently downloaded the R-Studio Recovery Software to see if it will help me with my situation:

Background:
I had 2, 3TB external hard drives (Seagate Go Agent Flex drives) that were full of data and that I removed their case. I tried to read them in windows and osx with a into a Thermaltake BlacX N0028USU External Hard Drive SATA Enclosure Docking 2.5" & 3.5" USB 2.0 like this one, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817153066. I didn't have any luck. So, while I couldn't put them in their entire original enclosure I was able to hook them up to their original base that includes the usb 3.0 port and power supply. One of the drives, which was formated in HFS+ was able to be seen in os x with no problem. However, the other drive I am having a big problem with.

I am in the middle of doing a scan on this drive and the attached two pictures will show you what I have so far.





I honestly can not remember if the actual partition is HFS+, NTFS or exfat.

Am I doing the right thing doing an entire scan or is there a simpler or different option I should be using? I will post again once the scan is complete, but, anysteps for my situation after my scan and any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated.

Very Many Thanks in advance,

Jack

[Alt]

I doubt that the file system is exFAT. You may read this article Data Recovery from an External Disk with a Damaged File System. It's about a USB disk, but all is applicable to your case.

[jhhaze]

Ok... The Plot Thickens... However, I want to thank you for both the response and link to the good article you pointed me to.

First though, when I originally ran the scan, before you posted the helpful guide (which I subsequently read competely), I right-clicked scan on the
"basic data partition subset (new volume, exFAT Start: 129 MB, Size: 2.73TB)"
instead of on the top level disk...
"Seagate Backup+ Desk 0D18 (NA5JWNDC, FS" #1 USB, Start: O Bytes, Size: 273 TB"

Did I screw up and do I have to re-run the scan on the top level drive?

In regards to the scan results, please see my screenshots below. I was disappointed that I didn't have a "green" result that was a dead giveaway, but maybe the results are still useful. This is where I need the help. I did save the scan though.

As you can see, I only got 9 green results ranging from 1.41 MB - 2.81 MB and they are all formated FAT12.



Then I got approx. 340 orange results all in HFS+, ranging from 544.07MB to numerous 1.06 TB and even 1 2.13 TB.




Then, I got the curveball, "Recognized 14" which is in Black (not green, orange or red_ and shows efat, 0 bytes and then 2.73 TB. What is a black result, since the guide only mentions green, orange and red? I took a picture of the red results, but hopefully I won't need to use any of them.


The weird thing is, if you remember my situation, I had two identical drives, the other I got all my data back no problem, once I hooked up the drive back to the original external enclosure usb 3.0 and power; however, this drive, no dice. I'm wondering if it is in fact because it might have been exfat and that is why I'm having so much trouble with it and why it's not acting like the HFS+ drive, which poped right up in os x?

I eagerly and anxiously await a response. I'm holding on to a ray or hope for now.

Kind Regards,

Jack

[jhhaze]

One quick thing...

I'm not sure if it is the best recognized, but, I'm having some success with "Recognized 14", which was shown in black.

However, I'm confused by the folder icons. I have read the part of the user manual that refers to this section, however, I'm still a little unclear. In my situation, I see
(1)regualar folder icons
(2) folder icons with a little blue box in the bottom left hand corner of the folder and
(3) folder icons with a little blue box in the bottom left hand cover of the folder and a big red "X" over the folder.
* As far as I can tell I do not have any folders that have only a big red "x", but no little blue box in the corner.

A link or quick explanation of the difference would be much appreciated. The only ones that I seem to want are the plain old folders, but I don't know how to mark / select only them. At the same time, I don't want to miss anything in those other folders that could be important. Yet, a quick preview seems like the vast majority of my items are just in folders with a plain folder icon.

Thank you very much,

Jack

[Alt]

Black color means that it's an existing logical disk or partition. You may see if this is the correct partition by previewing files. Just find a large graphic file like a jpg, png, bmp, etc., and double-click it. If you see a correct picture, you've fond the correct one.
2) folder icons with a little blue box in the bottom left hand corner of the folder - those are cross - linked folders.
(3) folder icons with a little blue box in the bottom left hand cover of the folder and a big red "X" over the folder - those are deleted cross-linked folders.
See more at Cross-Linked Folders.
There's on-line (and identical built-in) help for R-Studio: R-Studio Help.

[jhhaze]

Alt,

Thank you for the response.

I apologize for the newbie questions, but I am brand new to all of this. Just a couple of follow-ups.

(1) Based on what i have posted above, is the black "recognized" option, my best option, as long as when I double click a file it correctly links and opens up that file.
(2) I have a ton of the cross-linked folders and deleted cross-linked folders. Am I correct in that I am supposed to go folder by folder to see if there is anything valid in there?
(3) Since it is an "existing logical disk or partition", is there a different or easier way to just mount the partition, rather than deal with all of the cross linked folders, etc.? I think this software is amazing and I appreciate everyone's help, just try to figure this out and see what method is best for me. Please see pics above for screenshots of my scan results.

Thanks a million,

Jack

[Alt]

Alt,

(1) Based on what i have posted above, is the black "recognized" option, my best option, as long as when I double click a file it correctly links and opens up that file.
Jack

I think you should try to mount the partition and copy files directly from it. Looks like you created the partition on a Mac computer and wanted to have it compatible with Windows.

[jhhaze]

That is probably correct.

I made a partition in mac and used an exfat file system, so I could use it with both windows and apple. I have tried to mount on my windows laptop and I got two unallocated disks in disk management. I will try on a second windows computer, but any other tips on how to try to get it to mount in windows or mac?

Sorry for being such a pain, but, I sincerely appreciate your help. I will probably end up buying r-studio anyway, since it is so amazing and for future data recovery emergencies. Do I get free updates for future R-studio revisions?

[jhhaze]

Any thoughts?

Thank You,

Jack

[Alt]

Even if R-Studio can see a partition on the disk, that doesn't necessary means that Windows or Mac OS can. So, I think you should first check whether R-Studio can preview files on that partition, and if it can for many files, then buy R-Studio and use to copy the files.
As far as I know, you'll get all updates/upgrades for one year from the data of purchase. After that you can extend this support for a discount price. But asking our sales department looks like a much better idea.