Disk Partition Problem

[Lyrik]

I used this common in terminal (diskutil partitionDisk disk2 GPT HFS+ newdisk R) from another post here to try to get my 1TB Toshiba External USB HD to work on both PC and Mac. I was trying to do this WITHOUT erasing any files on the drive. Not only did it repartition, it erased everything and is now in a GUID format instead of NTSB.
I have some very important things on that drive, from music to legal documents to the only photos in existence of a dear friend who has passed away. I am reading recovery of files is possible so long as nothing it written on the drive.

How do I fix this? How do I recover my files? Honestly, unless someone can tell me what to put in Terminal, I have no idea what to do and I cannot afford $100 for software that may or may not do it either. There are several programs out there that say they can recover files but I don't understand how to work them.

I am very upset and have been crying for hours. I don't need told how noobish I am or how stupid of a move using terminal like that was. I just need someone to help me.

Do I have to repartition it again back to NTSB or can the files be recovered in its now GUID state? Please...someone...anyone..?

 

[Darth.Titan]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but your data is in trouble.

If you don’t know what you’re doing, you should never be typing Terminal commands you find on the internet. Especially regarding partitioning the drive.

Shut the computer down. At the very least you will have to spend around $100 on recovery software. There’s no getting around that at this point I’m afraid. I can’t recommend anything specific as it’s been a while since I’ve needed it, but if your data is important you can’t be cheap here. There are no free options.

You might even have to seek professional help. Start looking into data recovery services. That is going to cost considerably more than $100 though...

 

[chscag]

I agree with @Darth.Titan. I don't believe recovery software is going to work since you used a command that partitions and formats. It appears that the drive was once formatted as NTFS (Windows) so that exacerbates the problem. Try to find a Data Recovery service that does not cost an arm and a leg and inquire of them what it would cost to recover the data from that drive. There are discount data recovery services available but the cost is likely to be more than $100.00.

 

[Toutou]

I'm afraid there's nothing you can do now.
The data on the disk is basically a haystack full of needles (your files). The only way to find those needles is to have a list of every single one of them with their precise locations in the haystack (called a partition table and an allocation table).

What you did is that you, unfortunately, irreversibly destroyed the list. Now, the needles are still in the haystack, quite possibly all of them. The problem is, some of the needles are broken into multiple pieces and scattered all around the haystack, and all of the needles are, well, somewhere in the haystack.

What you need now is to have someone go through the haystack, find all the needles, put the pieces back together where possible, discard the hay and hand you those needles back. Which is what data recovery companies do best. Finding and recognising the needles is pretty difficult and writing software that does that reliably takes many years of highly experienced programmers' time. That's why consumer-grade data recovery software just doesn't cut it in many cases and why data recovery companies charge horrendous sums for the job.

I'm sorry about the whole situation. What you were trying to do is a trivial task and running terminal commands you don't understand is definitely not the preferred way.

My advice is, of course, to disconnect the drive if you haven't and to get professional help.

 

[chabig]

I'm sorry your data is gone--almost certainly permanently. I am only familiar with one well regarded data recovery service. They are called Drive Savers and have been in business for decades. If you data truly is valuable to you, they're probably the best ones to contact. Don't be surprised if they quote $2000-$3000 dollars, maybe more. It all depends on your specific situation.

https://drivesaversdatarecovery.com

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

Sorry, but that data is going to be difficult to recover.
Perhaps even impossible.

I suggest you try downloading a few data recovery apps.
One with a very good rep is "Data Rescue" from ProSoft.
Most of them can be downloaded for free and will run in "demo mode".
They will do "test scans" and you can see if there is a chance you can recover some of the files.
At that time, you have the option to pay the registration fee (usually about $100), then the app "goes to work" on the drive.

You ABSOLUTELY NEED a SECOND drive to serve as the "recovery drive" to receive the recovered files.
It WILL NOT WORK unless you buy one. You can't save the recovered files to the "bad" drive. They have to go on ANOTHER drive!

Your other choice is to send the drive to a data recovery outfit and have them recover the data.
But you must realize that doing this WILL BE VERY EXPENSIVE.
Expect to pay $1,000-1,500.
They only charge IF they get the data back.

Whatever you do, DO NOT REPARTITION OR ERASE THE DRIVE AGAIN.
LEAVE IT AS IT IS NOW.

Can you mount the drive "on the desktop" right now?
Don't do anything to it, just see if it mounts on the desktop.
If it does, dismount it and put it away for now.
If it mounts, DataRescue might be able do the job.

BUT REALIZE THIS:
You're going to have to lay out money to get that data back.
Figure $100 for the data recovery app
Figure about $75-100 for the SECOND USB drive you need (you CANNOT avoid this -- the second drive must be there to serve as the scratch drive to which the files are recovered).

Something else you need to know about data recovery:
There's a very good chance you're going to lose many (most) file names and folder hierarchies.
It may take YEARS to get everything sorted out and put back together.