HELP! Accidentally partitioned my external drive, lost EVERYTHING

[Pmj60627]

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So I got a G-Safe for Christmas, to backup my 6TB G-Raid that had all of my movie files on them (I'm a filmmaker). I was setting up the hard drive today and accidentally partitioned my G-raid, not my g-safe. I'm absolutely panicked, since my 2.6 TB of footage has now disappeared.

I used disk utilities...

PLEASE help me, I had over a TB of footage for a project I'm working on and need all of it back.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

To retrieve files, that have been deleted and also been emptied from the Trash or are on a formatted HDD, you can use

Data Rescue 3 (trial lets you scan the HDD and see, if data is recoverable, but to actually recover files, you need to buy the full version for 99 USD) or
FileSalvage (trial lets you scan the HDD and see, if data is recoverable, but to actually recover files, you need to buy the full version for 89.95 USD).
DiskDrill - lets you recover data from HFS/HFS+, FAT, NTFS & other file systems right on your Mac., for free.​

Also know, that you should immediately stop any writing processes to the actual HDD. If it is the same HDD as the one your operating system (OS) resides on, it is better to use an external HDD with Mac OS X on to boot from and install Data Rescue or FileSalvage onto to scan the HDD from which the data has been accidentally deleted.

 

[Pmj60627]

To retrieve files, that have been deleted and also been emptied from the Trash or are on a formatted HDD, you can use

Data Rescue 3 (trial lets you scan the HDD and see, if data is recoverable, but to actually recover files, you need to buy the full version for 99 USD) or
FileSalvage (trial lets you scan the HDD and see, if data is recoverable, but to actually recover files, you need to buy the full version for 89.95 USD).
DiskDrill - lets you recover data from HFS/HFS+, FAT, NTFS & other file systems right on your Mac., for free.​

Also know, that you should immediately stop any writing processes to the actual HDD. If it is the same HDD as the one your operating system (OS) resides on, it is better to use an external HDD with Mac OS X on to boot from and install Data Rescue or FileSalvage onto to scan the HDD from which the data has been accidentally deleted.

I will give these a try. Don't write anything to the external drive other than my video files. I'm really hoping this works; I'm not very save with all of the external HD stuff, so this is absolutely putting me on verge of a panic attack.

 

[jlc1978]

Check this to as well:

http://data-security-freeware.blogspot.com/2011/05/truly-free-mac-data-recovery-software.html

 

[Fishrrman]

"I will give these a try. Don't write anything to the external drive other than my video files. I'm really hoping this works; I'm not very save with all of the external HD stuff, so this is absolutely putting me on verge of a panic attack"

Try one of the "data recovery apps" (DataRescue3, Stellar Phoenix Data Recovery, Disk Drill, or Nice 2 Recover) on the partitioned drive "as is".

That may work, or it may not.

If it DOESN"T work, there is another, last resort (which worked for me when nothing else would):

That is, RE-intialize the drive (and make it one partition). Yes, you read that correctly - re-initialize.

Then, "attack" the newly-initialized drive with the data recovery app.

Your problems are with the _directory_ on the drive, and probably not with the data files itself that now seem "lost". They are (in all likelihood) still "there", but because the original drive directory is lost, the pathways to the file data are missing as well.

When you re-initialize, you will make the entire drive re-accessible, and the data recovery apps can then scavenge, locate, and re-assemble the missing files.

You almost certainly WILL lose all pre-existing folder hierarchies, and perhaps all the original file names as well. Accept that.

IMPORTANT IMPORTANT
If you choose to re-initialize the drive, do not, DO NOT also choose to "zero out" the old data. This will "wipe the old data files clean", and there will be NOTHING LEFT TO RECOVER.

Just re-initalize, DO NOT zero out!

Again, this worked for me when nothing else would.

 

[Pmj60627]

Quick update:

I purchased Data Reader 3 and, although it did find quite a bit, it also found a ton of my movie files, but lists them as being extremely small in size and isn't able to play them. It found some, but only plays a portion. I'm starting to really freak out at the idea of having lost all of my stuff. I am really not savvy with the hard drive stuff, so if someone has any suggestion that can be translated into simple terms, it would be really appreciated.

 

[McGiord]

I have used Disk Drill and it worked for me. Give it a try.

----------

"I will give these a try. Don't write anything to the external drive other than my video files. I'm really hoping this works; I'm not very save with all of the external HD stuff, so this is absolutely putting me on verge of a panic attack"

Try one of the "data recovery apps" (DataRescue3, Stellar Phoenix Data Recovery, Disk Drill, or Nice 2 Recover) on the partitioned drive "as is".

That may work, or it may not.

If it DOESN"T work, there is another, last resort (which worked for me when nothing else would):

That is, RE-intialize the drive (and make it one partition). Yes, you read that correctly - re-initialize.

Then, "attack" the newly-initialized drive with the data recovery app.

Your problems are with the _directory_ on the drive, and probably not with the data files itself that now seem "lost". They are (in all likelihood) still "there", but because the original drive directory is lost, the pathways to the file data are missing as well.

When you re-initialize, you will make the entire drive re-accessible, and the data recovery apps can then scavenge, locate, and re-assemble the missing files.

You almost certainly WILL lose all pre-existing folder hierarchies, and perhaps all the original file names as well. Accept that.

IMPORTANT IMPORTANT
If you choose to re-initialize the drive, do not, DO NOT also choose to "zero out" the old data. This will "wipe the old data files clean", and there will be NOTHING LEFT TO RECOVER.

Just re-initalize, DO NOT zero out!

Again, this worked for me when nothing else would.

How do you re-initialize?
First time I hear about it.

 

[Pmj60627]

I'm noticing that it's only playing files that I had actually deleted at some point. I believe it is recovering the files that I did not delete (accidentally partitioned. The drive had never been partitioned before), but the files are extremely small and unplayable.

Thoughts?