Portable external hard drive question..

14 years ago

I got one for xmas, plugged it in and it began collecting everthing, I saw names of photos and music and all the things in "My Documents"... then at the end I though it said "successful" something or other. So, in an effort to make this computer fun faster, I deleted everything in My Documents (thinking it was all on the portable hard drive)... even emptied the recycle bin.... and then I plugged the portable hard drive back in and now I can't find "My Documents" on the portable harddrive. It's saved all the IE Favorites but that's not what I'm interested in.

I think I made a huge whoopsie. Feeling a little sick to my stomach over this.

Am I not looking in the right place on this Passport Essential portable hard drive? Anyone know anything about them?

Thanks a lot for your help.

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Comments (18)

ravencajun Zone 8b TX
14 years ago
did you specifically tell it to backup My Documents? if not I think you did make a whoopsie.
Did you look on the portable to see if My Documents were on it before you deleted it from the pc?
dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
14 years ago
Quickly go to your "Recycle Bin" and open to see if you have your missing files.

If they are there, you can "Restore" them.

dcarch
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Many thanks, everybody, for your advice! That does help a lot. Yes, my photo files do seem to be saved, as they are still there when I turn the drive off and back on. Actually, once I turn the drive off the little "safely remove hardware" icon disappears from my computer screen. So I suspect it's only available when the computer can detect extra hardware plugged in. So is it okay to remove the drive from the computer, as long as the drive is turned off, without going through that "safely remove" thing first? To answer some of your questions, no, there was no pamphlet included with the drive so I didn't get the key code. It is a 500 GB drive and I think it was about 99 dollars that I paid for it. Though, as there was actually only 465 GB free on it, I knew there must be something else on there somewhere--even if it wasn't showing up! I had looked at the Seagate web site before, and I think I saw something on there which said they would send you the software if you gave them the serial number of the drive and a little other information. Though, at the time, I thought they met the installation software and I didn't think I needed that, as it had installed okay. So maybe I'll look into that--or demand a pamphlet from the seller!
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shaun
Original Author
14 years ago
ravencajun, no I didnt tell it to save My Documents but I saw all the names of the picture folders zipping by on the monitor and thought they were just automatically being saved.

After it was all done, I thought I saw My Documents and all the pictures on the portable hard drive.... so I deleted them all from the coputer. Then, my son came in and wanted to access My Documents, we plugged in the portable HD and that's when I couldnt find My Documents listed on there anymore.

Dcarch, guess what? I was being very thorough and even emptied my recycle bin.

I'm just sick.....
dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
14 years ago
Go to a computer store and ask them what software they have to restore deleted files.

dcarch
dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
14 years ago
Plug in your external drive, and do a complete search of all the drives of some recent files that you have created recently. May be your files have been stored in some unknown folder.

dcarch
urlee
14 years ago
I just purchased a Verbatim 500GB Insight portable hard drive which to me is like a wide "Flashdrive" for which I send to it the folders I want.
Just checked to see if they are still there? (smiles)

This is what it looks like when I plug it into my USB Port.

{{gwi:1509673}}
ravencajun Zone 8b TX
14 years ago
try this
Recuva

and never ever delete anything unless you are positive next time and always wait on emptying the recycle bin for a day just to make sure.
mikie_gw
14 years ago
It sync'd the user account files to the portable drive, doc's/pic's .. then keeps them up to date with any changes.

You made a change with you deleted them.. the portable drive updated to reflect the change.
kudzu9
14 years ago
The documents and pictures are (mostly) still there. When something is deleted, all that really occurs is that the first letter of the file name is dropped and the file becomes "invisible." You should be able to recover most or all of the files with the right software. However, if you keep using your computer, you stand a good chance of over-writing the files because the space they occupy is "free space" as far as the computer is concerned.

My advice: use another computer and do a Google search for "recover deleted files" to find some software that works for you. It's been several year since I've had to hunt for deleted files, so I'm not up-to-date on what's out there. If possible, install the software you select on the new drive so that you don't over-write more accidentally deleted files when you install the new software.
shaun
Original Author
14 years ago
Mikie, that sounds like exactly what happened. Oye Vey....

I'll try the Recuva.... be back.
shaun
Original Author
14 years ago
Well, the Recuva worked - somewhat. I have a lot of cleaning up to do. Nothing is in the folder I had it in, just all mixed up and moved all around. Some pictures could not be recovered. Some is better than none though.

Thanks again for your help! I dont feel so sick anymore. *high-five*
dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
14 years ago
Good to hear that you got many files back.

Next time, perhaps you should consider backup files as backups to you main files. and May be you should consider arhiving old files to DVDs.

dcarch
ravencajun Zone 8b TX
14 years ago
get one of the imaging programs and image your drive so that when you have these things happen you just go back to your image.
this is a free one
CopyWipeÂ
if you want a pay one try Acronis True Image
iris_gal
14 years ago
I have 2 free file recovery programs.

pci_filerecovery.exe
file_recovery.exe

Think I found them at Major Geeks. Have only used on 3.5" diskettes but think they also work on USB devices. Saved me more than once.

I think there should be a big sign when sync'ng is taking place.

Going to check out Recurva! This new touchpad gets me in trouble.
shaun
Original Author
14 years ago
Hey guess what?

I had completely forgotten about this but I have an 8 gb jump drive that I had saved all my pictures to just after Halloween.

So I only lost some Christmas picutres, which I posted on facebook, so I can go save them to the computer from there.

Thanks everyone for all the help.
ravencajun Zone 8b TX
14 years ago
I do that often just to have one extra copy, the more the merrier LOL
good for you!
shaun
Original Author
14 years ago
LOL! I agree!! Boy, I'm so relieved.
grandms
14 years ago
Whewwww!

Portable external hard drive question..

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ravencajun Zone 8b TX

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