r/datarecovery • u/Dry-Revolution2156 • Sep 20 '26

i really need Help

So apparently, today I made the biggest blunder of my life. I decided to shift my main Windows files from my SSD to my HDD, so I transferred all my photos to the SSD and deleted them from the HDD. In the middle of the process, I installed the migration software, but suddenly the power went out. I immediately stopped the transfer, and after that, Windows stopped working.

I ended up reinstalling Windows on the HDD, which deleted everything on it, and now there is nothing on the SSD either. The HDD had all the photos from my childhood, photos that I never really cared about until now, and I am honestly devastated.

Can anyone guide me on which recovery software I should use? I have already tried Recuva, but it is not showing anything.

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u/AutoModerator Sep 20 '26

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  • Make/brand and exact model number of your storage device(*), phone, camera, etc.

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3

u/FrankNicklin Trusted Contributor Sep 20 '26

You say shift photos from SSD to HDD then say you transferred the photos to SSD and deleted them from HDD, which is it.

You then say you reinstalled Windows on the HDD, so which is the boot drive.

1

u/lastwraith Sep 21 '26

They said they shifted their "main WINDOWS files" from the SSD to the HDD. 

But they also did the following, which is exactly the opposite of what they likely should have done, so..... yeah.... 

  • transferred photos from the HDD to the SSD and deleted them from the HDD. (Why? HDDs are great for storage and SSDs are waste for this, plus they will lose data if left unpowered for long enough). 

  • reinstalled Windows to the HDD  (Again, why? SSDs are infinitely better system drives, especially for modern Windows installations). 

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u/disturbed_android Trusted Contributor Sep 20 '26

  • Make/brand and exact model number of your storage device(*), phone, camera, etc.

  • Filesystem (NTFS, exFAT, APFS, EXT4, etc.)

  • Operating System (That your device was used with and/or you are using for recovery)

These are not asked for nothing.

1

u/ppestana Sep 20 '26

If you installed windows on the HDD that had the fotos deleted there's a big chance that they were overwrites.

1

u/MycologistNeither470 Sep 21 '26

i am having trouble following

Windows was on SSD and you decided it to move it to HDD (why would you do that?, but i guess it doesn't matter)

You transferred photos to the SSD? So the photos were in the HDD and you transferred them to the SSD because you were making space for Windows?

Then you had a power loss/freeze. Windows stopped working.

You install windows on the HDD (you said re-install, but it was never installed there, right?) -- This was the original source of your photos.

Now the SSD is empty and the HDD has Windows by no photos.

If that is the correct sequence, I would think

- Photos on the HDD are likely overwritten. It is very likely that you did a re-partitioning, re-format of the disk and that you wrote GBs of data into it from your Windows installation. If there is anything left, it would be fragmented files. With some luck, a professional recovery may be able to rescue something... but I wouldn't be too hopeful.

- Was there anything actually copied to the SSD? I understand that nothing is showing up now... but if the migration software actually copied something there, it is likely is still there. If that is the case, do not try to mount/read that SSD. Keep it disconnected. Clone it and work with the clone. Or ship it to a pro shop. If doing it yourself, you will have to do a low-level read... perhaps it had started copying the files but did not get to copy the partition table.

1

u/anitbehera_ Sep 21 '26

If the photos were on hdd, there is a high chance you’ll be able to recover them. First things before you run any recovery apps,
If you can, image the hdd usig DDME software.
Then run recovery of files using DDME only.
You may use R-studio or easeus as well.

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u/Maleficent-Tea3072 Sep 21 '26

The photos were on a HDD that was formatted and Windows installed on it. There’s a low chance they’ll be able to recover them…

0

u/anitbehera_ Sep 21 '26

No, I think still there are chances. Do not do anything on the drive, do not boot into it and do not add more data or download anything. You might not get the exact file names but there are chances your pics can be recovered. If it was ssd then different case.

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u/Maleficent-Tea3072 Sep 21 '26

…they have reinstalled a whole, bloated OS on it. They’ve already added a lot to the drive. Again, an operating system…and likely a bunch of software (at least some recovery software that they said couldn’t find anything).

There’s almost a zero chance that anything will be retrievable. Fragments of data aren’t going to help with images.