Why did I lose my files?

[Shamrck]

This weekend, I bought a new 200GB hard drive that I put in an external enclosure. For a while, I was moving files from my slave 120Gb hard drive (where my music, backup files, and movies are located) to the new 200GB. I restarted my computer, not provoked by any computer issues. After it booted up, my slave 120GB drive said it needed to be formatted and all my files were gone.

Fortunately, I have a program that recovered those files. But I just wanted to know why that would have happened. I am hoping it doesnt happen again after I moved files back onto the drive. Any ideas? The computer was working fine while I was transfering files from that slave drive to the new 200GB.

EJ

 

[corkyg]

message states you "moved" the files from one drive to the other. The "Move" command transfers the file and leaves nothing behind. The best way to safely transfer files is "copy" - then if all is well, you can delete the source drive. "Move" incorporates the delete action.

Ergo, if you truly "moved" all files from drive A to Drive B, then when done, there would correctly be no files left on A.

 

[birdpup]

Originally posted by: Shamrck
Fortunately, I have a program that recovered those files.

Which program worked for you?

... But I just wanted to know why that would have happened. I am hoping it doesnt happen again after I moved files back onto the drive. Any ideas? ...

Could be a power supply issue. Hard drives are very sensitive to power fluctuations. Since it is an external enclosure, the power supply would be the one provided with the enclosure.

Maybe the hard drive is not firmly connected to the external enclosure.

Check "Device Manager" when the drive is attached and powered-on to see if there are any "Unknown Devices".

Test the drive in its external enclosure with a manufacturer's diagnostic utility to see if there are any errors.

Hard Drive Manufacturer Diagnostic Utilities
Seagate
Western Digital
Maxtor
Fujitsu
Hitachi

 

[Shamrck]

Maybe I wasn't too clear in what I wrote. I have two internal HD's.
1. 80GB with my OS and programs installed
2. 120GB with backup files, music, and movies.

I purchased the 200GB drive (which I placed in an external enclosure) to store the movies only. I was in the process of moving my movie files over to the 200GB. I had all video files moved except for maybe 2-3 movies. Then, like I said, I restarted my computer at some point in time for no technical reason. When it loaded back up, ALL remaining files on the 120GB drive were no longer there plus it said it needed to be formatted to be used.

I did not lose any files on the external HD. Only my previous internal one. I hope that better explains things.

EJ

 

[birdpup]

I think I read your original post incorrectly.

Typical reasons for hard drive failure:
1) power fluctuations (mechanical failure)
2) overheating (mechanical failure)
3) driver problems (configuration failure)
4) incorrect jumper settings (configuration failure)
5) failed cable (configuration failure)

I think your drive may have overheated.
This can be solved by physically placing the drive in the lowest available rack with at least one open rack above it and by rigging a fan in the case to blow over the hard drives.

Which program did you use to successfully recover your files?

 

[Shamrck]

I have never had HD issues before this one so I'm if it was overheating. Maybe the movement of such large amount of files was taxing the drive and did make it overheat. I just hope the problem doesn't reproduce itself after I put my files back on that I copied onto DVD...thank god!

I used Ontrack EasyRecovery Professional.

EJ