I’ll help you figure out the best way to fix the partition.
I’ll help you figure out the best way to fix the partition.
Hello, i may have lost every single picture of my kids and im literally in tears. the other information stored also contains data for a really important CASA(court appointed special advocate for children) case that i'm participating in. in-which the data will be presented in august for juvenile court. all that i can, and wish to say, is this is a very big deal. and i cannot just put this drive in another persons hands. I converted a linux computer to windows for the purpose of building a newly needed security camera system.. and in the process deleted a couple partitions on my external drive. I had the presence of mind to unhook all drives except the drive i wanted to install windows to, but i forgot to unhook my external usb drive. which had 3 main partitions. time machine partition, mac storage partition, and a shared storage partition(exFAT i believe but this one is still intact). i remember thinking, man i dont remember linux needing this many partitions and WHAM it sunk in. i panicked and instead of hitting the undo button, i yanked the usb out of the computer. it was my usb extention that i use for my mouse receiver. not the usb for the external drive.. i killed power and turned it back on. still in a panic. it didnt register to me why my mouse wasnt working. then WHAM i got hit again. i turned the computer off, unhooked the external drive and now it sits. the data on the 2 deleted partitions is the only data thats ever been on the drive. but i have no idea how mac has managed that data. but mac seems to frequently use the time machine partition. at this point, i dont trust myself. i am asking for help, and im willing to do whatever it takes to find the RIGHT way to go about this. i will send some bitcoin to anyone and everyone that brings some help to the table and sees this through with me. thank you in advance. i am so sorry.
I truly wish you avoided making any mistakes with that action. The main guidance is to seek professional help if the information is crucial. Don’t attempt to reinstall it yourself—send it directly to specialists. Linus faced a tough challenge with his server, but weredata.com provided the solution and is an excellent service. I’d recommend starting there. If you think deleting a partition might also damage your data, I wouldn’t rely on you for recovery without risking further loss. That’s not fair. Please trust experts, especially since you’re already prepared to invest in restoring your files. You wouldn’t attempt complex medical procedures on yourself; you’d consult a doctor, and similarly, data recovery should be handled by trained professionals. Just to emphasize, WeRecoverData has successfully recovered data from major companies, even from severely damaged drives. Their expertise means your data could be back in just a couple of days. Don’t worry—your information is in good hands.
Consider reaching out to experts for critical data restoration. Based on your account of the situation, it seems unlikely anything serious occurred; if you hadn’t approved the new partition layout by confirming it, the drive likely wasn’t affected. Forcing the device out isn’t advisable, but since no data was being written, damage probably didn’t happen. Still, it’s not safe to assume—recovery remains a possibility. Another sign of hope is that even after deleting the partitions, files should remain inaccessible; if so, specialists can likely recover them. In the future, avoid relying on just one storage solution, especially external drives. Partitioning errors are common and can cause sudden failure, sometimes permanently losing your information.
As long as you haven’t altered any data on the areas that partitions once held, the information remains intact. A partition table functions like a guide, indicating which storage space each file should occupy; if you understood the original layout before erasing them, you could recreate it manually and see no loss. In essence, your files are safe. Formatting the file system similarly sets up empty slots, preserving the contents. The only exceptions occur when switching to a system requiring more space or performing a full reset that overwrites old data. The simplest approach is to visit https://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk, use a live USB, ensure ample space on a separate drive, follow the steps carefully, and then test by creating, deleting, and recovering files. Treating your USB as read-only prevents any changes, saving you time until professional recovery is needed.
Testdisk may attempt to recover a partition table, but it writes to the drive which could worsen the situation. It's best to create a full image of the drive elsewhere before trying recovery, and only proceed if you're certain. Keep in mind that any storage device can fail unexpectedly, so maintaining backups of important data is essential.
I concur with fellow participants in this discussion that the optimal approach in OPs is to consult a specialist. The information holds significant worth and likely still exists. It could even be inexpensive, as specialists might handle it easily. For those unfamiliar, recovery efforts can be undertaken independently. The thread already offers useful guidance. I’d proceed as follows: Prepare by staying calm, avoid hasty actions like pulling drives out in panic. Remember—no data is lost if you remain passive. Maintain a steady attitude throughout the process. Review the tool documentation ahead of time. There are several viable options; I’ll share one method I’m comfortable using because of my experience. During recovery (with any Linux system and GNU utilities): Acquire another drive with ample free space beyond what’s needed for restoration. Configure a Linux environment where you can write to this spare disk. Ensure all required utilities are installed. Verify your understanding before starting (you haven’t touched the source yet). Connect the target drive to the system, then create an image of it—avoid writing during this step. If the drive shows physical damage (bad sectors), consider using ddrescue instead of dd. Be ready to accept data loss if sectors are compromised; ddrescue has limitations here. For drives without physical harm, reading is safe. Once you’ve extracted partitions, use tools like parted to recover them. If the image contains your files, duplicate them securely. If mounting fails or data appears corrupted, retry with adjusted settings. If recovery fails, you still retain the original drive intact—now you can decide whether to proceed with a specialist. In ideal circumstances, you can simply boot again without incident. The key advice echoed in this thread is: never touch the drive during recovery. Instead, focus on creating an image and working from there. There are many alternatives available. Backups remain crucial, as demonstrated by countless real-life stories where people lost irreplaceable memories or research. This message is meant to encourage caution and preparation. *P.S.* Some suggest avoiding image creation for physically damaged drives, opting instead to mount the filesystem read-only on a minimal OS and gradually transfer data. This preserves the drive while minimizing risk.
So far, I’ve reached out to several recovery services. I feel confident enough in my understanding to figure out what steps would be needed to resolve the issues. The price they offered to restore my data came across as unreasonable. After some reflection, I realized the situation involved a lot of trial and error with tools like Testdisk, Tesdisk, and PhotoRec. Many of my childhood files had been scattered across different drives over the years, some of which were damaged beyond repair. My main storage was an exFAT partition, which seemed practical for compatibility across Linux, Mac, and Windows. I also have APFS for TimeMachine backups and a Mac OS Extended partition for Mac storage. The confusion arose because I hadn’t realized the drives had been altered or removed without my knowledge. Once I connected the new drive, I restored everything using the same process as before. I quickly created images of the partitions and transferred data from the others. Now my files are safe, and the old drive remains intact for testing. I’m planning to follow your suggestions and share more insights once I have more experience. I’d appreciate any feedback you can provide. I hope we can all learn from this experience.
This covers the key points of the 3-2-1 backup rule. You should have at least three copies, using two different storage types, and one offsite location. A good option could be BackBlaze B2 or something comparable. It costs around $5 per month per TB for backups and $10 per TB to retrieve data. Overall it's quite affordable. Other providers might offer similar services based on your needs.
In court, evidence files need verification to ensure they haven’t been altered. If you lack a physical duplicate of these files, you should reach out to a specialist.