-1

I backup some files, went back to get them, and they were gone! I couldn’t find the drive that I used to back the files. Can you figure out what happened? Can you help me retrieve my files, find my drive?

I had a completely blank internal hard drive.

I was hoping to back up data to it, using it like an external hard drive. I had a sata-to-USB adapter that allowed me to connect the internal hard drive through USB.

When I first connected the drive to a computer, I couldn’t see the drive beside my (C:) drive in Windows file manager, but I could see the drive in Computer Management → Disk Management.

Using Disk Management, I made the drive GPT, then formatted the drive in NTFS. Finally I mounted the drive to my desktop. I had to create a new folder for mounting the drive, and I saw that new folder folder on my desktop. I assumed that folder represented a shortcut to the drive.

However, I still didn't see the drive besides my C: drive in Windows file manager.

I dragged a folder of files to that folder, attempting to back it up. I thought Windows said it was only copying the files, but by the time the back-up finished, the folder I thought I copied was gone. I guess I just transfered those files. Then I made the mistake of disconnecting the hard drive and then reconnecting it to the same computer.

When I reconnected the hard drive, I couldn't find the drive anywhere in Windows -not even in Disk Management. The drive I could not find had the only copy of those files.

I don’t understand why the drive doesn’t show up there. What went wrong? How do I find the drive and get those files back?

Thanks for reading this far :)

EDIT: I am not sure how helpful this extra info is but... After all the events I described happened, I tried connecting the external hard drive to a Chromebook and I got a little further. When I plugged the drive into a Chromebook, the computer had two pop-ups that respectively said,

"Removable Device Detected Explore the device's content in the Files app."

"Removable Device Detected Sorry at least one partition on your external storage device could not be mounted."

Chromebook's file app displayed the drive by my Downloads folder, like it would with a regular USB drive, but it wanted to format the drive. Note Chromebook is compatible with NTFS.

If I didn't have files on that drive I would have formatted it to start over, but I didn't want to delete those files in the process.

Improve this question
4
  • Seems like a hardware problem more than a software one if you ask me...
    – hedgepig
    Jul 8, 2015 at 19:01
  • try using undelete and recovery tools. I'd try r-studio, but there are many.
    – RSinohara
    Jul 8, 2015 at 19:13
  • Also, try explaining a little better... You said the drive was empty, but you copied files to it... Explain the problem, much as you did, but then add a step-by-step walkthrough of what you did so far.
    – RSinohara
    Jul 8, 2015 at 19:14
  • Are you saying that the drive was an internal drive and you put it in something like a USB enclosure to use it as an external drive, or you're still connecting it internally?
    – fixer1234
    Jul 8, 2015 at 20:10

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
0

When you boot your computer have your external drive disconnected. Attach it after fully booting and see if that helps. Also check out the following link.

http://www.howtogeek.com/193669/whats-the-difference-between-gpt-and-mbr-when-partitioning-a-drive/

Improve this answer
0

I was able to fix this problem... somehow. I'm not sure why it worked this time, but when I plugged the USB cord in, shut the computer down and turned it on again, my computer recognized the drive! :)

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .