kslice

I'm aware of how data is stored on a hard disk. I was only simply trying to give him a visual representation of how it all works. Also, the file size has nothing to do with trying to find the file. Recuva was able to find files in excess of 7GB for me with no problems. Just know that you don't have to over-write the entire file that was deleted to make it irrecoverable. You only have to over-write 1 byte of the entire file before it is broken and cannot be fully seen by Recuva. Therefor, something as simple as installing Recuva (or even browsing the internet where cookies and cache is stored) could cause the file to be irrecoverable. It's less likely to happen the larger amount of free space you have on the hard disk; however, can still happen. As far as the technical stuff about it being RAID and all...well, I really don't know a thing about that and you should probably wait for somebody who does to reply. Just telling you what I know and hoping it helps!

I hate to reply to an old topic; however, since you've not posted what you've tried...I hope I can help. I've actually tried PC Inspector before. Other than Recuva, it was the only program that could actually see any of the files on the hard disk. The only problem with it (and this was a HUGE problem for me) was that it wouldn't recover the file names OR folders. It just found all of the files and could only recover them as "cluster.<some random number>.<fileextension>" (e.g. cluster.1765291.JPG). My personal suggestion is to try what you will with the hard drive before you decide to trash it. HOWEVER, I also suggest that you do the following: Delete the partition on the drive using a partition manager (the one that comes with the Windows XP Installation Disk will work fine). Plug the drive into a working computer of your own as a SLAVE drive. Boot up the computer with both it's original hard drive and the corrupt one both installed in it. Install Recuva to the non-corrupt drive. Quick-Format the corrupt drive to NTFS so it can be read by the system. Start up Recuva, and have it deep-scan the previously corrupt drive. Recuva SHOULD be able to find all of the files on the corrupt drive. Copy all of these files to your own C drive. Once that is done, install XP or Vista (whichever this lady wishes) to the previously corrupt hard drive. Once installed, boot up YOUR operating system and copy all of the files from the previously corrupt hard drive to the newly fixed hard drive. Place the hard drive back in the woman's computer with the upgraded OS and her old files. Surprise her! This is just a last suggestion. So, do as you will until you've reached the point where you're ready to trash the hard drive and give what I've said a try. Keep in mind, you should NOT try to write anything to the hard drive if you plan on actually recovering any of the files. Also note that Recuva cannot help to fix a hard drive with actual HARDWARE malfunctions.

I wasn't sure who to send this to in e-mail form, so I decided I would post it on this forum. I certainly hope none of the moderators mind this being here... I would just like to say 'Thank You' to the entire Piriform team for their hard work and dedication. They have made some of the best programs I have ever seen and distribute them freely. All they ask for in return is a little donation if you can. Along with this thanks comes a story or 'Testimonial' if you will: So without further ado, I hope I have not bored too many of you with my long story. I am here very simply to say: "Thank You Piriform team! You have saved me countless hours of hard work and you've provided me with some of the BEST, FREE programs I have ever seen! Keep up the amazing work, and I hope to see many things from you in the future."

and in my case, it JUST recovered some 80,000 files Let me see if I can help to explain how Recuva works: When you save a file, your computer's Hard Disk acts just like a stone slate would. The laser etches an image into the disk that it will later read. It then adds the location of the etched image to a hidden file on the disk that most operating systems will not allow users to see (let's call this the "map" of the hard disk). When a file is deleted, the system simply opens this mapping file, and deletes the location of the image that was previously etched onto the Hard Disk. This saves both time, and the life expectancy of the Hard Disk. As you work with new files, the laser continues to etch new images onto the Hard Disk. If it comes across previous data on the Hard Disk that is not found in the mapping file, it will simply smoothen out the surface of the disk, then re-etch a new image into it, then; of course, add the location of the new image to the mapping file. So you see, if you just delete the mapping file but never force the laser to etch ANY new images to the Hard Disk; then Recuva SHOULD be able to find that etched image. However, the very second the laser starts to re-etch an image into the location of the previous file's image, that file is impossible to recover. When working with LIVE data (such as video or audio streams), the laser is constantly etching new images to the hard disk. Mostly likely, as you were working, the new images were being etched onto the Hard Disk where the old ones used to exist. This makes the old files impossible to recover. This is why; just as 'SuperSport' has stated, Recuva is a "Recovery" program (hence its name) and not a "Backup" program. It can only recover files that exist with no mapping files. It cannot recover files whose image has already been etched over.

Recuva will most likely be able to find the file for you, depending on how much work you've done with the drive. The more work you've done, the less chance you have of getting the file back. Just do as 'Augeas' said above. Install Recuva, plug in the portable drive (DO NOT touch any files on the portable drive, or place any on there), start up Recuva, select the portable drive letter (this can be found by going to 'My Computer'), and start scanning. I would recommend the deep scan option if it cannot find your file the first time. Recuva will then show you which files it found on the portable drive. Look for the particular file you have lost, if you can see it in the list, choose to recover it and save it to your "C" Drive on your computer (make sure you are aware of where you are saving it). Again, just make sure you do not do anything with the portable drive file-wise. The less you write to it, the better your chances are of recovering your file.

How long have you let Recuva run? I just recently did a recovery session myself. The program was working at about 1% every 10 minutes, but then appeared to hang at 10% for about 2-3 hours. I continued to let it run through the night and when I checked it this morning, it was done. The reason for the hang mostly depends on how large the drive is that you will be scanning. The larger the drive, the larger the hang. This is because of how Recuva works. It scans the ENTIRE drive for files (instead of looking at the file map which is how most programs find drive information). The hang is caused when Recuva is scanning a portion of the Hard Disk with no information on it at all. If it is a fairly large sized disk, it can take quite some time to look through all of the clusters for files whether they exists or not.