WD External formatted and repartitioned on its own

[EltonT]

I had a 500gb WD external plugged into my rMBP while I was installing CS6 and suddenly the drive's desktop icon disappeared and reappeared as two partitions named "Mybook" and "EFI". I immediately ejected the drive and plugged it into my Desktop PC but unfortunately it got wiped clean and repartitioned for no apparent reason.

The only WD software I had was WDQuickView for my WD NAS. I'm currently Disk Drilling my drive hoping to get everything back.

Also I would like to know if it's possible to recover file/folder structures?

 

[Fishrrman]

[[ Also I would like to know if it's possible to recover file/folder structures? ]]

Almost certainly, the answer to this is, "no".

If you get your _data_ back, be happy about that.

Advice:
Don't buy WD again.
Instead, buy a "bare" drive, then buy the enclosure or USB3/SATA dock of your choice.
Assemble the drive yourself and use Disk Utility to initialize it.
It's far easier than you think, and things will go better!

 

[benthewraith]

There's an incompatibility between WD's storage management software and OSX Mavericks. You should remove their software immediately from your computer and recover the data as soon as possible with a file recovery software. Reformat the drive in Disk Utility and copy your data over. Don't use WD's software, as external hard drives are pretty much plug-n-play.

 

[John.B]

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/os-x-mavericks-external-drive-data-loss,24917.html

While many Mac owners have been dipping their toes into the latest Mac OS update, Mavericks, a few have been having some other strange problems. According to growing complaints from the Apple Support Communities forum, some users have found that their Western Digital and LaCie hard drives have been turning up… empty after upgrading to the new OS. In most of these cases, users have configured their drives using third party utilities or manufacturer-provided software like the Western Digital Drive Manager.

 

[EltonT]

What file recovery software would you guys recommend? Disk drill has found a ton of files but I'm holding off from buying it due to mixed reviews.
And how can I completely remove WD's software?