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General discussion

I confess, I am an idiot

Jan 21, 2011 6:22PM PST

OK - here's the deal. I have an external hard drive which i used for backup purposes ( I won't do that any longer.) I thought I could use it for both my PC and Mac. However, when I plugged it into my Mac, the Mac prompted me to erase the disk. I accidentally clicked on the erase button. Almost immediately I realised what I had done and in a panic pulled the cable out the Mac without ejecting the device. Now the hard drive is not being recognised on my PC. Is there any way I can restore it? Or at least get to a point where my PC will recognise it?

Discussion is locked

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Not sure
Jan 21, 2011 6:51PM PST

There are possibilities, but nothing is certain. Have a look at the options offered in the Forum Sticky Lost and Found. Or the Storage Forum Sticky.

Something there might help. I'm not sure about recovering both Mac and Windows files though.

If that fails then I think you are looking at professional data recovery services.

Good luck.

Using external hard drives as backup. It still is a good idea, but we always recommend more than one copy.

Mark

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Thanks
Jan 22, 2011 7:56AM PST

I'll give it a try. Just need to recover windows files.

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There is a chance.
Jan 23, 2011 4:27AM PST

Since you only deleted the first part of your hard drive, I am certain that you only touched your partition table, which means you can recover your entire hard drive. Use some sort of DOS-based partition re-builder to recover your hard drive. ex. EASUS Partition Recovery Wizard.

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I don't even know what a hard drive is.
Jan 30, 2011 7:15PM PST

Believe me, you're a genius compared to me. I have a laptop with Windows 7 and I can't even store anything. When I click to download anything, a message appears saying that I must insert a CD. What kind of CD? Like a music CD? If the unit has built-in storage, why can't it store stuff internally? I rarely download anything except for an occasional photo or article. I bought "Computers for Dummies" but I don't understand how to download photos from my digital camera or make a file; so friend you are no idiot. I hold a Master's from college!

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Duplicate post for the download issue.
Jan 30, 2011 7:23PM PST

Please see http://forums.cnet.com/7723-7588_102-515658.html?messageId=5073992#message5073992. Don't continue here.

Your other questions:
1. Getting photo's off a digital camera. There's no universal standard for that. Depends on make and model of the camera. My Canon camera came with a CD with software and when I installed that a program pops up when I connect the camera and asks if I want to download all the pics or only the pics that I haven't downloaded earlier.
2. Make a file. That depends on the program you use to make it. So can you tell more about what kind of file you want to make.

Kees

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And in general.
Jan 30, 2011 7:26PM PST

Take you laptop with you to a friend or family member who is more computer-savvy then you are and ask him or her for a little bit of hands-on training. Much better than reading it in a book or in a forum.

Kees