My MBL was wiped clean. Probably a couiple days ago like everyone else. I run a backup routine that copies new / changed files on a file by file basis FROM my ThinkPads TO the MBL and a few other drives. My last run copied FOUR files from main docs folder to the other backup drives, but it copied ALL the files to my W drive which was the MBL public folder. This means the MBL drive was empty / cleared when the backup ran. It then failed completely on the X drive which was the private share. When I looked at the MBL, the private share was just gone. I eventually got it reset.
Because of the way I ran the backups NONE of the files that were copied TO the MBL last night are corrupted. I didnāt RECOVER any files, the backup routine copied them from my ThinkPadās HDDs TO the MBL.
I have disconnected and powered OFF the MBL. Iām not copying anything to the private share because it takes a LOOOONG time. If WD makes these safe again I might use it as a NAS, but Iāll probably end up re-formatting it and using it as a USB in a Sabrent enclosure.
Well just got home and my Diskinternals partition recovery is on 75% since saturday evening. Hopefully by tomorrow i should have more of an idea on what can be salvaged
During an online chat with WD this weekend, I was told that there was āa breach detected on the MBL serverā. Doesnāt this mean that it was a WD server that was compromised that caused many of us to lose all of our files?
Another update on the recovery process. The first place, I brought it to was unsuccessful at recovering the data. (they said they used a program called Get Data Back) Fortunately, because they were unsuccessful, they didnāt charge for the process. They did recommend another local company that solely recovers hard drive data (and is still reasonably priced).
I dropped it off there this morning, and, after evaluating the drive, this guy seemed way more confident that heād be successful. I should know this week. If they are successful at recovering the data, Iāll pass their info along. Theyāre very reasonably priced for the recovery, compared to what Iāve seen out there.
@truckerjoe. Iām using Disk Internal Data Recovery programme. Should I have used the Partition programme first?? Over 45hours in and still in single digits %complete.
That sounds very interesting!
I am not sure what the definition of breach is, but I think it is mostly a gathering of information, not a modification (compromise) of information. If IP addresses of registered systems are leaked, then it would explain why so many systems were attacked at the same time.
I think your information is very valuable which was probably said by accident. We now might know something that the WD PR will not tell us.
Ok, if you accidentally updated auto_update with a text editor, then everything is OK. I just wondered why the modification date was only a few days old.
I am not sure which commands can be checked to investigate more.
I wonder, are you victim of the factory reset, or is your device (probably) unharmed?
Same problem happened to my on my MBL. It was in the night between 24 and 25 of June. I found it factory restored. All data gone. I unassembled the disk and bought a cable SATA to USB so I attached it to my laptop. Windows sees the disk but is show it as Uninitialized. If I try to initialize it I get an error message. I tried several software for recovering data. Since the disk it uninitialized the software canāt see it. So, no positive results for now. I sent a message to WD asking for support. I doubt they will be able to do anything. I keep trying different ways to recover data. May be I need to install Linux to be able to make the disk visible. Then to use a Linux recovery software. I donāt know. I ma not familiar with Linux. If someone is familiar then he can help to share experience.
My 2TB MBL was also wiped clean last Thursday but fortunately I started making a weekly backup a few years ago. My experience with legacy hardware in the past has not been good so I expected something would go bad some day.
Ignoring WDās advice, I reset the MBL and reinstalled all my media folders and files Thursday evening and changed my settings as follows:
Hitron router UPnP was on. Now off.
MBL UPnP was on. Now off.
MBL remote access was on. Now off.
MBL automatic update was off. Still off.
The MBL has been working without problems now for over 3 days. After checking the cost of replacing it with an alternative brand, Iāll stay with it for as long as possible. For what I paid for it in 2013, 8 years use out of the MBL without a problem was probably not a bad deal.
That is absolutely insane! This company does all the work in-house and was well under $1,000 for the toughest repairs (where they have to replace parts on the drive), and quoted me under $500 since the drive was in working order it was just wiped.
I will absolutely keep you posted if itās successful and provide the repair shop name and contact info. They do take in drives from anywhere to repair.
If you end up NOT being able to recover any files but want to re-use the HDD itself, you will have to Completely clear the old partition table, and linux partitions. If win Disk Management cannot do this, you might need to use the command line DISKPART program (groan) to clear the disk. Then you can re-initialize it, create one or more NTFS partitions, format and re-use it.
Really?! That is good news. Thank you so very much for taking the time to respond to me. I had read on other responses that Photorec was not working well.
