OT: Anyone Use EaseUS Recovery for Media Folders?

Soniclight wrote on 3/25/2015, 5:24 PM

How it happened, I haven't a real clue, but bottom line, I or whatever happened caused my entire 3Tb drive where all of my Vegas, Cubase and other media work files and content were to turned into two puzzling empty, "unallocated" partitions. Ran EaseUS trial/free version and it seems that that the directories found are correct. Trial does scan, shows what can be recovered, but only paid allows one to actually recover.

Yes, I had fortunately backed almost everything up -- I screwed up on one directory that was a transplant from an older "E\:" drive titled, well "E." So I can manually put back almost all of the directories. I don't remember what was on E:\ --- probably older stuff that is not do-or-die critical, but would like it back.

But one issue with this and perhaps other recovery programs is that they can and will turn many media files, incl. simple .jpg into "RAW" format and rename them for whatever reason, i.e. corrupted or something. If so, that could seriously mess up the "Project Media" list in some or many .veg.

And, due to living on a fixed, limited income, paying USD $70 for a "maybe, maybe not" full recovery" is a chuck of change. That said, chatted with rep with my dilemma and he asserted that they have a 30 day money-back gurantee for the Pro/full version if I am not completely satisfied with the recovery.

And hence the threads question implies:

--- Would the purchase be worth it -- and perhaps most important, have others here had successful recoveries with this program?

Thank you for you input.

~ Philip

Comments

craftech wrote on 3/25/2015, 9:58 PM

I downloaded and used the free version of EaseUS Partition Master 9.2.1 Home which contained the recovery utility that works very slowly unless you pay for it. But I used the software to change a dynamic disk into a basic disk.

I did have to recover a lost partition once and used another utility that worked perfectly, but it cost me $43.95 for a lifetime license. I thought it was worth it. It is called Find and Mount Pro. It also has a free version that is slow as molasses so I bought the paid version.

It recognizes the lost partition and mounts it. Then you can drag anything you want over to another partition on another hard drive.

John

johnmeyer wrote on 3/26/2015, 1:25 AM

I'm in the third day recovering data from a 300 GB laptop drive from a Dell that someone overnighted to me on Monday. It too somehow lost its partition. I tried four different recovery programs, including the veteran Ontrack, but the one that finally was able to see the files -- and which is now, very slowly, recovering them all (98,000 files copied, 41,000 files to go) -- is Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery - Home.

The reason for mentioning this is not to plug this program (I've only used it on this one project, and therefore haven't used it enough to recommend it), but to point out that it is only $49. If you are really tight on money, that is quite a bit less than the one you are contemplating purchasing.

Also, while any price may seem like too much, the fact is that compared to how much this software used to cost, and how much a professional data recovery service would charge, this is one heck of a bargain.

Soniclight wrote on 3/26/2015, 3:07 AM

OK, thanks for referrals. Am still running EaseUS scanning -- never completed it but saw main directories there. Really, really slow, probably 12 hours still going. Since this is not an immediate need, I'll try out one or both of your recommendations and then compare all the results. But definitely leaning towards spending a bit less... :)

Chienworks wrote on 3/26/2015, 8:58 AM

I've happily used GetDataBack from Runtime Software several times. I think it's about $60, but the free trial will allow you to recover the entire drive. The only limitation is that you have to copy each file one at a time to a new drive, where the paid license will do it in a batch. If you mostly have a few very large video files this could be a good option.

YesMaestro wrote on 3/26/2015, 9:42 AM

You may want to try http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk. It's free and can help recover lost partitions and/or make non-booting disks bootable again.
Paul

Soniclight wrote on 3/26/2015, 2:07 PM

Closing Update

Thanks again for further referrals. Truth is that after running EaseUS for hours and hours, its Explorer like results gave me the opportunity to drill down into that one directory that I had not backed up and I can really live without it -- mostly test and other renders from older projects. One can always re-render a project. So pretty much moot.

Meaning that I can probably get by with simply reconstructing the 3TB with everything else that was on it that I -- did -- backup. So I can bypass the need for a data recovery program for now. But due to your referrals, I have more options for the next time I mess up.

Also, the lesson (IF it was my doing) is "Pay a bit more attention to what you do, man". I sure do not remember reformatting that drive for it is one of my most valued ones, but it seems that can happen on its own for some reason, or not. Dunno. Whatever the case...

We can close this thread. My thanks to all who have participated.
NRN.

~ Philip

Byron K wrote on 3/26/2015, 3:18 PM

Bootable Linux from CD is another way to recover data from a damaged drive. I use Puppy Linux (because it's small) and have recovered many drives including ones that have fallen off tables, drives from laptops that have been dropped.

Some of the drives were so messed up that though Linux would see the drive it would not be able to find the partitions. So I would have to reboot Linux a couple of times so the head of the drive can be positioned just right to be able to read a portion of the partition table to see the files.

Also I use and had much success w/ Linux and a universal USB drive adapter like this:

to plug into Puppy Linux and have been able to recover data. I've had to use the adapter because the drive was so messed up that the motherboard could not recognize it so had to pull it and connect it to one of these USB adapters.

OT: Another good feature of Puppy Linux (or any Linux version) is it can totally wipe drives w/ the "shred" command:



shred -vfz - n 5 /[drive path]



-v - verbose: shows progress

-f - force: change permissions to allow writing if necessary

-z - zero: add a final overwrite with zeros to hide shredding

-n [N]: Overwrite N times instead of the default 4



Note: This can take a looong time to complete.

Soniclight wrote on 3/28/2015, 2:32 AM

Thanks for Linux info, but having Windows, not really applicable. Though there is probably a parallel approach for other OS systems.

Chienworks wrote on 3/28/2015, 9:29 AM

The linux recovery solutions mount, read, & recover Windows partitions quite nicely, and most of them are free.

rraud wrote on 3/28/2015, 10:57 AM

I use Piriform's Recuva (free version) which also has a deep scan mode.
I the drive itself is damaged, that's another story.
I have also used the 'external' drive kit (power supply, USB cables) to access corrupted discs that will not boot or be accesable.

Soniclight wrote on 3/29/2015, 6:52 AM

I have Recuva, but the last time I used it for a couple of corrupted .veg files, results were mixed. One was recovered, the other permanently R.I.P. And as I mentioned a couple of posts back, EaseUS trial gave me the drilled down to all folders and files info on the one directory I hadn't backed up, and it's just not essential. So I'm going to go manual - copy everything else back.

In short, crisis averted. This time.