External HDD Data Loss

[pigubaoza]

Hi, I recently had to force restart my mac while my external HDD is still connected, and as a result the HDD was unable to mount, after plugging in and out multiple times and trying to run repair in both Windows and Mac, I was able to get it to mount. However, a large amount of files have disappeared. The "used space" on the drive is still roughly the same amount, but the files do not show up. therefore, I think it has something to do with a problematic file table. I searched online and tried to run chkdsk e: /r However, it has been stuck at this for about 10 hours now C:\Users\Keith>chkdsk e: /r The type of the file system is exFAT. Volume Serial Number is 55FD-14EA Windows is verifying files and folders... Volume label is Keith 3TB. Is it normal for it to be stuck there for that long? What can be done? Thank you!

[The_Denks]

13 minutes ago, pigubaoza said:

Hi, I recently had to force restart my mac while my external HDD is still connected, and as a result the HDD was unable to mount, after plugging in and out multiple times and trying to run repair in both Windows and Mac, I was able to get it to mount. However, a large amount of files have disappeared. The "used space" on the drive is still roughly the same amount, but the files do not show up. therefore, I think it has something to do with a problematic file table. I searched online and tried to run chkdsk e: /r However, it has been stuck at this for about 10 hours now C:\Users\Keith>chkdsk e: /r The type of the file system is exFAT. Volume Serial Number is 55FD-14EA Windows is verifying files and folders... Volume label is Keith 3TB. Is it normal for it to be stuck there for that long? What can be done? Thank you!

Check for an un-allocated space in disk management that is pretty much equal to how much space was lost on the HDD

[Captain_WD]

8 hours ago, pigubaoza said:

~snip~

Hey there Welcome to the community! 

 

I'm sorry to hear about the situation. What's the brand and the model of the drive? 

Could you post a screenshot of the way the drive is seen in Disk Management?  

 

For the best chances you could turn to a data recovery company but have in mind that their services can be quite expensive. Another thing you could try is a third-party data recovery software but you should do that at your own risk as the data may be erased permanently during the process. 

 

Captain_WD.

[pigubaoza]

On 7/14/2016 at 4:55 PM, Captain_WD said:

Hey there Welcome to the community! 

 

I'm sorry to hear about the situation. What's the brand and the model of the drive? 

Could you post a screenshot of the way the drive is seen in Disk Management?  

 

For the best chances you could turn to a data recovery company but have in mind that their services can be quite expensive. Another thing you could try is a third-party data recovery software but you should do that at your own risk as the data may be erased permanently during the process. 

 

Captain_WD.

Thank you, Chkdsk took about 24hours to complete, showing nothing on the screen majority of the time. this worried me. I ran a disk recovery tool and got back some files, but they do not come with the directory. Luckily I have a backup of those files somewhere. I will be reformatting and using NTFS from now on as it is apparently more robust to data loss

[Captain_WD]

23 hours ago, pigubaoza said:

~snip~

Hopefully you will be able to recover all data. exFAT, though useful when suing both PCs and Mac systems, can be unstable and using other file systems can provide more security and better stability. 

 

Post back if you have other questions

 

Captain_WD.