Missing files

[Hollow77Shots]

Dear forum mod and users,

Not sure if this the correct thread, but I'm hoping so.

In the past, I've used both TestDik & PhotoRec to recover mostly jpeg files I accidentaly deleted or lost track of in formated sd cards. But this time around, I'm very much lost on what to do and therefore I'm here to require help. I thank you very much indeed from the very start.

I use a MacBookPro that currently has faulty usb-c ports. If there's a slight movement in the cable while using and external disk, I get an error mistake. I usually then open the disk on a Windows pc and repair it. I noticed today for the first time (thanks to lightroom) that this might have been deleting some files on the hard disks.

I now want to repair all these files (specially the photos) but I have no idea what process to go through or software to use. I really need help as I'm absolutely lost!

Thank you very much. Very much appreciated.

Very best,
Hollow.

[recuperation]

I now want to repair all these files (specially the photos) but I have no idea what process to go through or software to use. I really need help as I'm absolutely lost!

There is no replacement for lost information!

If you recovered a long video file with Photorec that stops playing at half of its size you can try out any repair program that would extract the playable part and search for recoverable parts in the rest of the file.

But - you will never get the original file back!

If you go the repair route do not miss to share your repair experience here.

[Hollow77Shots]

Hi Recuperation,

Thank you very much for your reply. I'm afraid I might not have been as clear as I would have liked and for this I'm very sorry.

What I want is to recover the missing files. The ones that Lightroom is suddenly saying that are missing, for example. Can I recover just the files that have been lost/deleted/removed and not the whole external hard drive using one of the softwares? Could I select the folder from which I would like to recover files? Because the external hard drive other than this is working fine. It's just that some files have suddenly disappeared!

Do you know when you connect an external hard drive to a Windows PC and Windows prompts a message saying that it has detected some errors and asks us if we want to have that repaired/solved? I'm afarid this might have been the process that made the files disappear! Is this a solid possibility?

Very much appreciated Recuperation.

Very best,
Hollow.

[cgrenier]

Try TestDisk, Advanced, Undelete. If your missing files are listed, be careful to store the recovered files on another partition than the source.

[recuperation]

Do you know when you connect an external hard drive to a Windows PC and Windows prompts a message saying that it has detected some errors and asks us if we want to have that repaired/solved? I'm afarid this might have been the process that made the files disappear! Is this a solid possibility?

Windows somehow notices that the file system is inconsistent and wants to bring that back to a consistent state.
I would use Photorec before such an repair operation because Photorec might find fragments that could easily be overwritten during the repair process of the file system undertaken by Windows.

[Hollow77Shots]

Hi again,

@cgrenier: I will try and use that, thank you for pointing me in that direction. I will let you know how it goes. Very much appreciated.

@recuperation: the thing is that I did not know prior to the windows repair system that there were files missing... But I'll use that in the future, thank you for the tip.

EDIT:

I've now been able to detect files but since their name is not correct (is just a numeric order), how can I know if these are the missing files? Thank you very much in advance for your help.

[recuperation]

I've now been able to detect files but since their name is not correct (is just a numeric order), how can I know if these are the missing files?

You can try to look into each one.

[Hollow77Shots]

I'm sorry but I didn't understand what you meant, recuperation. Can you please clarify?

In the meanwhile, I tried recovering the files but many of them are red lined. What does it mean? Is there any way to recover these red lines files? I also don't understand the dates displayed in the file directory.

EDIT:

I'm very sorry but since this is the very first time that has happened to me and I'm not very experienced with these type of softwares, I'm absolutely lost.

I could also try and repair the disks I guess?

EDIT 2:

Could I just recover files from a specific folder for instance?

Thank you very much. Your help is very needed and very much appreciated.

[recuperation]

Sorry, but I really think I can help you further.

[Hollow77Shots]

Hi recuperation,

I understand your position but I would like you to reconsider it as I have have fantastic news.

I was able to find the files as .chk type files and I now wish to recover them. Would this be something testdisk or photorec would help me do?

Very best,
Hollow