The VERY FIRST RECOVERY ACTION SHOULD BE
To restore from the $Recycle.Bin to the CORRECT DESTINATION.
BEST CASE SCENARIO :-
Assuming that you have NOT emptied the $Recycle.Bin,
then the files which were in Portable Drive A:\ may still be present and available,
in which case just give your computer the correct destination and you may be lucky with a perfectly common Restore action from the $Recycle.Bin.
No need for Recuva or other third party tools.
If you cannot find the original Portable Drive A:\ then Windows MAY accept as the CORRECT DESTINATION anything else which is allocated the letter A:\.
WARNING :- When you restore something from the Recycle I think this may be a one time action, so restore the least important item and satisfy yourself of success before using this technique for the rest of the files.
WORST CASE SCENARIO :-
There is absolutely nothing there - it was all HIDDEN on the drive you lost.
All that remains are distant memories in the $Recycle of what used to be and what could still be if you find the old drive.
I am ignorant of all the intricacies of Windows,
but UNDERSTOOD that when you delete to Recycle from system partition C:\ then NOTHING is copied or moved from the original sectors,
but the MFT entries are adjusted so that Windows no longer sees that item in the original folder,
but now sees it as living in the $Recycle.Bin.
My computer has C:\ on a small SSD and everything else on a large HDD
I have just used Windows to delete "1 File(s) 14,184,212,082 bytes" from R:\ to recycle,
and then used the C:\ System Desktop "Recycle Bin" to restore that item back to R:\
The DOS command DIR shows that free space on R:\ remained constant at "26,782,760,960 bytes free" :-
before deletion,
whilst deleted,
after restoration.
C:\Users\Alan>CD /D R:\LS-3_3_1\RecoveredData\_E_GPT_E__465.82 GB_NTFS\Images\v5_0_Beta\Broken
R:\LS-3_3_1\RecoveredData_E_GPT_E__465.82 GB_NTFS\Images\v5_0_Beta\Broken>DIR
Volume in drive R is WDC_Rescue
Volume Serial Number is 66FE-5C10
Directory of R:\LS-3_3_1\RecoveredData_E_GPT_E__465.82 GB_NTFS\Images\v5_0_Beta\Broken
01/05/2013 21:08 <DIR> .
01/05/2013 21:08 <DIR> …
20/06/2011 21:05 14,184,212,082 05CA570378B31D56-00-00.mrimg
1 File(s) 14,184,212,082 bytes
2 Dir(s) 26,782,760,960 bytes free
R:\LS-3_3_1\RecoveredData_E_GPT_E__465.82 GB_NTFS\Images\v5_0_Beta\Broken>DIR
Volume in drive R is WDC_Rescue
Volume Serial Number is 66FE-5C10
Directory of R:\LS-3_3_1\RecoveredData_E_GPT_E__465.82 GB_NTFS\Images\v5_0_Beta\Broken
13/06/2014 10:02 <DIR> .
13/06/2014 10:02 <DIR> …
0 File(s) 0 bytes
2 Dir(s) 26,782,760,960 bytes free
R:\LS-3_3_1\RecoveredData_E_GPT_E__465.82 GB_NTFS\Images\v5_0_Beta\Broken>DIR
Volume in drive R is WDC_Rescue
Volume Serial Number is 66FE-5C10
Directory of R:\LS-3_3_1\RecoveredData_E_GPT_E__465.82 GB_NTFS\Images\v5_0_Beta\Broken
13/06/2014 10:03 <DIR> .
13/06/2014 10:03 <DIR> …
20/06/2011 21:05 14,184,212,082 05CA570378B31D56-00-00.mrimg
1 File(s) 14,184,212,082 bytes
2 Dir(s) 26,782,760,960 bytes free
R:\LS-3_3_1\RecoveredData_E_GPT_E__465.82 GB_NTFS\Images\v5_0_Beta\Broken>
I suspect the same may be true of external NTFS devices, and doubt that FAT32 devices would be any luckier.
In my experience Windows is a reluctant servant, but is willing to seize the Whip and deliver punishment.
May you have better luck than I. ![:)]()