Hi, this is my first time to post on here (and I am a little technologically unsaavy) so please bear with me.

Yesterday morning, I got a computer error that led me to taking my computer into Office Depot for repair. The techs diagnosed that my OS system (Windows XP) was in failure and that it needed to be reinstalled.

I gave them my external hard drive to back up my PC data to and left it overnight for them to work on. I got a call today and they told me they had everything backed up and were ready to restore, but when they told me they were going to put EVERYTHING that was on my external HD back onto the PC, I told them not to and that I could do that myself since I had LOTS of files/folders that I didn't want on my PC (video files, digital scrapbooking files, etc.) because they take up so much space.



When I picked up everything this evening and got home, I immediately went into the external HD to see what was there and immediately noticed that while my data from the PC was on there, the data that was originally on the external HD had disappeared!! I ran a free file recovery program on it that I'd had success with in the past and if found NOTHING!!

The techs at the store assure me that they did not delete anything and that I can bring it back in on Monday and they can run a sophisticated recovery program on it that "might" be able to recover the lost data......I am just sick.

My questions are:

1) How could the data originally on there have disappeared yet the data transferred from the PC still be on there?
2) Is there something I can do at home to give me any foresight/reassurance about the problem?
3) Is it likely that a free recovery software wouldn't recognize any deleted files and that their's will?
4) Can I fix this myself?

When I check the "Properties" of the external, it says that 466 GB are used; however, the file folders memory size only adds up to about +/- 217 GB, leaving approximately 250 GB unaccounted for.

I don't know what the memory used on the PC and external was before the transfer

I'm hoping this 250 GB is my deleted files.

I'm not seeing any partitioned drives under My Computer.

OMG, this worked!! I think that everything is there....however, I cannot figure out how to "unhide" the files and folders permanently. I have it plugged to my husband's computer (Vista) right now since I don't have all my programs, etc., back onto my XP PC yet. Is there a simple way to do this?

Thank you so much....that worked.

Now, I have an even bigger problem on my hands.

My external hard drive, which was "holding" everything (as in 7 years worth of photos, etc.) until my PC was ready to restore to got accidentally knocked off my desk and the USB port on the back of it broke off as well as came unplugged from the power source. Also, unfortunately, it was "working" at the time.

I opened the hard drive up and found the broken port. It appears to have been a clean break at the soldering. Nothing else was rattling inside case

I called a PC "repair-o-medic" before I opened it up and he gave me a little hope that something could be salvaged from it; his concern, though, was whether or not the the drive got scratched in the drop. Anyway, I'm taking it to him tomorrow morning but I know that I'm going to be out a few more hundred dollars with his service.

Is there a way to plug the external HD into a computer to check it before I take it in? If so, what do I need to know or look for? I'm pretty good at figuring things out if I have the right guidance, and I'd like to know if I can get around taking it to the "repair-o-medic". BTW, my HD is a Seagate

Thanks!!

I can't get a pic of it right now, but I can describe it. The part that is broken is the "port" that you insert the USB cable into the external hard drive. From what I could see when I opened it up, it had been attached to a green board that the actual hard drive is connected to. It appears to have been a clean break where it was soldered. The actual hard drive connections appear to be fine....is that clear as mud?!?

Thanks for any help!

How would I go about putting it into a PC? I'd kinda like to know soon whether or not the data was compromised in the fall.....thanks!!

How can I tell if it's Sata or not?

I think I figured out my own question....it's not sata. Guess I'll just have to let the tech test it for me tomorrow (and take a benadryl to get some sleep). Do you think odds are pretty good that there's not significant data loss? The tech mentioned that sometimes the disk can get scratched and create a nightmare