All picture folders disappeared when wirelessly transferring one photo folder

[trailpacer]

A few nights ago, I was wirelessly moving 1 photo folder from PC1 to PC2. (The files on PC2 get backed up to Carbonite which is why I periodically move files off of PC1.) It was a large folder so I let it run overnight. When I woke up, PC1 had gone into sleep mode so the transfer did not finish. I took PC1 out of sleep mode and checked PC2 and the transfer began again from where it had stopped.

That night I checked PC1 to transfer more photo folders and ALL of the files in the My Pictures folder were gone! If I had to guess, there were maybe 20 folders in there full of pictures.

I searched both PCs and did not find them. I've run 3 separate "recovery" programs on PC1 and it hasn't found anything. I looked in the Recycle Bin and selected to view "hidden" files, but still nothing.

PC1: Laptop running Vista
PC2: Desktop running Windows 7

I'm upset with not knowing what else to do. Could they be somewhere on PC2, even though I hadn't selected them to be moved from PC1? I'd appreciate any help.

Thanks!
Christine

 

[jmjsquared]

-- Did you choose "Move" or "Copy" when *transferring* these files/folders?
-- Which three recovery programs have you tried and on which machine(s)?
-- In using these recovery tools, did you specify that they *repair* ANYTHING ?
-- If I understood correctly, you moved the files/folder as opposed to copying them to the target drive. If this is so, First: Please run chkdsk /v from an elevated Command prompt on the target machine. IF that does not find he missing items, then, Second: Run the same chkdsk /v on the source drive.

Start > All Programs > Accessories ; right-click Command Prompt and click Run as Administrator. Type in chkdsk /v and then press Enter. Type Y and then press Enter. Close Command window and restart computer.

 

[trailpacer]

HI
I "cut" 1 folder from PC1 and "pasted" it to a location on PC2.

On PC1 only, I tried Recover My Files and 2 others that I can't remember right now. (I'm at work and PC is home.) All 3 failed to complete the scan, but what was found were not the files I'm missing. Should I try them on PC2 even though the missing files were not slated to be "moved?"

I will try what you suggested but I am going out of town tonight, returning on Sunday, so it may have to wait until then, when I have more time.

I appreciate your feedback and will keep you updated.

Thanks again!
Christine

 

[jmjsquared]

Hi, Christine. Thanks for the clarification and, Yes: Do the foregoing on PC2 /target-drive AND, based on clarification, PC1/source-drive.

It will take just a couple minutes to start the processes and, hopefully, when you return from a great weekend trip, you will have a nice surprise waiting for you.

Be sure to go to each computer's Control Panel> Power Options and de-select Sleep/Standby/Hibernate. After the chkdsk has been run, each computer will restart and you will want to see the results without any intervening sleep, etc.

Aside: Too late for this incident, of course, but from now on use 'Copy To". That way, until you are satisfied that the process completed successfully and choose to delete them, the source files/folders will remain intact.


Edit:
Try this before any of the foregoing: Go to Control Panel> Folder Options on both computers and tick Show Hidden Files, Folders and Drives , then search for the folder again.

 

[trailpacer]

I had a great weekend BUT just typed in chkdsk /v (on PC1) and I received messages that "Attribute record...is corrupt."
I took some screen shots but not sure how to post them. I did reboot anyway and the files are still not there.

I'm at work now and won't be able to try this on PC2.

And just to make sure I was clear, I was moving 1 file and ALL of them disappeared! (The file I was moving did make it over to PC2 fine.)

Anything else I should try on PC1?

Thanks again for getting back to me.
Christine

 

[jmjsquared]

Yes, you were clear that you manipulated one folder (Not 'file', right?) and then ~20 others went missing.
The "Attribute..." error informs that Windows has "lost track" of what files/folders are on the disk and where they were (and, hopefully, are now) located.

Please run Disk Checker again, this time like so:
Start > All Programs > Accessories ; right-click Command Prompt and click Run as Administrator[/B]. Type in chkdsk /f and then press Enter. Type Y and then press Enter. Close Command window and restart computer.

Windows will attempt to FIX ( /f ) the file system and, hopefully, locate the missing folders.

I looked in the Recycle Bin and selected to view "hidden" files, but still nothing.

I assume you did this using Folder Options > View> Show hidden files, folders... , right?

Please do this also: Clear the Hide protected operating system files checkbox. We may need this later.

 

[trailpacer]

Hi
When I right click the Command Prompt, there is no option to select Run as Administrator[/B]. (I only see Run as Administrator and that's the option I already tried.) Do I have to do something special to see the other option?

I have already selected Show Hidden Files and cleared Hide Protected Operating System Files.

I should have more time tomorrow night to try these checks on the other machine. Sorry that I've been unusually busy. I AM anxious to try to resolve this. Thanks again for your help!

 

[jmjsquared]

Mea culpa

That ** [/B] ** was a formatting typo, Christine.

Pardon me, omit the error, run the chkdsk /f command on PC1/Source and respond when you can.
-- Again, which three recovery applications did you try?
-- Were they installed or were they run from removable media?
-- If installed, before or after the folders disappeared?
-- Other than scan for the subject folders, what else, if anything, did you do with
those apps: Repairs, deletions, defrag, copy, move, etc.?

The less activity (Read, "NONE") on PC1/Source, the better. And absolutely do not install, save, copy/move-to that drive.

 

[trailpacer]

Hi
I ran the chkdsk on both machines and they ran perfectly. I rebooted them and started searching for files. They were still missing on PC1 HOWEVER upon a more thorough search on PC2, it seems that some or all (I take tons of photos) were there! They were in the Pictures folder in a subfolder called My Pictures. The albums I could remember are there so I think the ENTIRE picture folder from PC1 somehow got moved to PC2.

I appreciate all of your help and time you gave to this issue. I still don't know what happened but I will be sure to COPY files in the future and make sure to watch the process.

Thanks again for everything,
Christine

 

[jmjsquared]

Really great news, Christine! Congrats!!

To speed up your copying large amounts of data, take a look at TeraCopy: http://codesector.com/teracopy. It is faster than Windows' native copier, allows you to pause/resume AND checks that the copy process completed successfully without data corruption. It's free and has a portable version.

All the best!

-- JMJ