Files on Comp "Disappeared", but Still there.. help please!!

[Jagen Sedai]

Okay I have a major problem. I have an external harddrive that has my only copy of a folder of all the WoT-related items, pictures and documents I have created over the past ten years. A few months ago I tried accessing my files only to discover they have seemingly disappeared!!

 

So these are the details:

 

- The folders appear empty, even saying 0 GB

- When I do a Windows Search for a file name, my files pop up! however, any attempt to open them or copy them results in failure.

- Right clicking on a file and hitting properties shows it to be 0 MB/GB/etc

 

 

Please please help. Google reveals no solutions at all, none that I have been able to find. And this is ten years or important WoT files... very important to me... :(

 

*cries*

[Rufae]

Have you tried unplugging the external Harddrive from the main computer, unplugging the external harddrive from the power cable, and then reattaching eveything? It could just need a reboot like that.

 

It also could be a mounting error when the computer tries to access the drive. In which case it could be bad.

 

Do you have another computer or a friend/relative computer to try plugging the external drive to?

 

You could try to do a System Restore back to before the problem started.

 

You could go into the BIOS and reset the BIOS settings. That will force the motherboard to redetect all the drives.

 

Have you installed (hardware or software) anything new, recently?

 

Have you gotten any new error messages or has it been acting funny?

[Jagen Sedai]

The computer otherwise acts normal. It's windows vista by the way, but that's my backup my computer I'm attaching my drive to. My new one has Windows 7, and the one time i tried hooking up this drive to W7, it didn't work. It refuses to read my drive. I can't remember if this problem was before or after I tried hooking it up to my new laptop with W7, but I have a feeling it was after.

 

Also, how do I reset the bios? I'm wondering if it will really help but I'm willing to try anything. Recently everything was unplugged and I replugged it all in to try again... so I'm so unsure what to do. This has happened in a few different folders, but always the same folders each time. :/

[Rufae]

It's possible that you need to update to a new drver for the external drive that is compatible with Windows 7. I would consider that a strong possible solution.

 

Each BIOS is different and each computer manufacturer has a different way to get there. For some, you tap F2 as you bootup. In others it is F1 or ESC. In Dell systems, you tap F2 as you boot up, and then you enter the BIOS. Then I think it is F9 to reset the BIOS and then F10 to Save & Exit. The options should be listed inside the BIOS.

[Jagen Sedai]

no luck unfortunately :(

 

I even ran the diagnostic file for this particular drive from the website, and it didn't find anything wrong.... waaaaaa *wants her WoT files and could care less about anything else*

[Rufae]

Have you updated the driver for the external drive yet? That seems more and more like the solution. Or else the external drive is incompatible with Windows 7.

[Jagen Sedai]

So... a few days ago I managed to use a program to "recover" the files... only to find out they seem corrupted, except two of them. Could this be the recovery program's fault or are the files probably really messed up and I shouldn't try another?