Hi, I accidentally erased my external hard drive when I meant to erase the USB drive. Is there any way I can recover the deleted files on the drive using a software and if there are, what recommendations would you suggest? Thanks in advance.
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Data Recovery on EXT HD?
- Thread starter jtrang1
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Depends on what options you chose in Disk Utility. If you choose normal erase then its possible you could recover some or all data.
If you did secure erase then odds are very slim without professional assistance.
As for software you could try Data Rescue or Disk Drill. Be sure to read the instructions before using them, otherwise you will likely make the situation worse than it is. Both of them show you what they can recover before purchase.
If you have experience with CLI you could try ddrescue but it is much more complicated and I don't recommend trying if you aren't certain of success.
If the information is critical you might want to consider professional help to recover it. Its expensive but results are very likely much better.
Whatever you decide to do its imperative that you don't use the drive until you have fully prepared and do not under any circumstances copy anything into it! Doing so will likely erase the info you are trying to recover.
If you did secure erase then odds are very slim without professional assistance.
As for software you could try Data Rescue or Disk Drill. Be sure to read the instructions before using them, otherwise you will likely make the situation worse than it is. Both of them show you what they can recover before purchase.
If you have experience with CLI you could try ddrescue but it is much more complicated and I don't recommend trying if you aren't certain of success.
If the information is critical you might want to consider professional help to recover it. Its expensive but results are very likely much better.
Whatever you decide to do its imperative that you don't use the drive until you have fully prepared and do not under any circumstances copy anything into it! Doing so will likely erase the info you are trying to recover.
Data Rescue did it for me when Boot Camp chose a 4TB external instead of a USB drive, but lost file names.
First, DISCONNECT the drive in question and don't attempt to mount it again until you have your data recovery software ready to go.
I would suggest DataRescue (may be up to version 4) as the best data recovery tool.
You can download it for free.
It will scan the mis-initialized drive, and present you with a list of files DR thinks are "recoverable".
HOWEVER -- you can only recover ONE file.
The purpose of doing the above is to let you check to see if the software looks like it will work for you BEFORE you pay the registration fee.
If it looks like it will work, you pay the fee, get a registration number, enter the number, and then DR will "go to work" on the drive.
IMPORTANT:
You WILL need ANOTHER drive equal in size to the first to which to recover the files. This becomes your "scratch drive".
As mentioned above, you'll probably lose all previous folder and file hierarchies, and file names as well. This is "par for the course" with data recovery.
IF some of the files are mp3's or jpeg's, you MAY be able to dump the files into iTunes or iPhoto (in NEW libraries), and then the software will look at the metadata and recover the file names. No promises.
I would suggest DataRescue (may be up to version 4) as the best data recovery tool.
You can download it for free.
It will scan the mis-initialized drive, and present you with a list of files DR thinks are "recoverable".
HOWEVER -- you can only recover ONE file.
The purpose of doing the above is to let you check to see if the software looks like it will work for you BEFORE you pay the registration fee.
If it looks like it will work, you pay the fee, get a registration number, enter the number, and then DR will "go to work" on the drive.
IMPORTANT:
You WILL need ANOTHER drive equal in size to the first to which to recover the files. This becomes your "scratch drive".
As mentioned above, you'll probably lose all previous folder and file hierarchies, and file names as well. This is "par for the course" with data recovery.
IF some of the files are mp3's or jpeg's, you MAY be able to dump the files into iTunes or iPhoto (in NEW libraries), and then the software will look at the metadata and recover the file names. No promises.