[KDE] stupidly last data on external hddd ntfs need to recover

[rk4262]

I have an external hard drive that I've been using to put my backups on for a couple of years. The other day, I mangaed to, how do I say this nicely, really messed up my Linux drive. It was so bad that had to re-install. I decided to go with Kubuntu, instead of the Zorin I've used for the past year. I downloaded the .iso, then realized I didin't have any DVD's, so I got smart (sarcasam fade), and I defragmented the drive, then made a partition of about 80 gig, I just moved the slider control of the partition manager, and didn't really care just how big it was.

Every time I've partintioned a disk, it the partition manager would move all the files to one spot on one side of the disk, befoere partitiioning. So I expected it to do that on the external, but it didn't, it formatted the whole drive,, which I told it not to do, then created partition. I have no idea what it is formatted as right now, it used to be NTFS, but after the wipe and partition creation, I'm not sure. What is the best way to try to recover my backup files, I lost everything, on my computer, and on the external the same day. The .iso is still on the external, it souldn't be a problem to move it the computer, or delete it either way.

[charles052]

Install Testdisk.

sudo apt-get install testdisk

Then run PhotoRec:

sudo photorec.

You can actually choose which files you want to recover too. I've recovered a ton of stuff with this program. It may be a little difficult to use, but once you get the hang of it, it's awesome!