2tb Pen Drive Not Displaying All Directories And Files

So it seemed a good plan. Purchased this 2TB flash drive and thought well lots of room I'll just copy the HDD directly to pen drive. Well not so fast.

Seemed everything was ticking right along until I viewed the flash drive. More than half of the directories and files are missing. AVG Free scan found 4 files that were software programs and removed those malware.

Windows 7 Pro installed. Flash drive came formatted exFAT. Tried a few methods suggested on Google. None worked including CMD.

So. Do I reformat to NTFS? The original HDD files are fine (AFAIK) and certainly can be selective on what is copied to the flash drive next time.

Thanks

 

What were you hoping to achieve by copying the HDD? What was your purpose?

 

Backup files. Mostly important files but thought might as well add more since there is plenty of space. (F:\ files, not the the C:\)

 

OK, just wondered if you were hoping to create a backup of your Windows system as you certainly can't do that just using copying. There is a huge choice of file backup software, much of it free, but whichever route you choose to take you do need to be clear on what it is you want backed up. Later versions of Windows have a much under-appreciated utility called File History which would have suited your situation perfectly but as you are on Win 7 you will need a third party utility. Using a whole of disk approach is certainly not the way forward. I recommend you take a look at one or two file sync programs for starters such as SyncBack Free. Hopefully you will get many other suggestions.

 

Indeed, Earthling! Out of the numerous 3rd party software options, these have worked well for me:

1. System (image) Backup: This takes a 'snapshot' of your computer and saves it onto an external drive (HDD or SSD external drive). When you have everything set up / customized just the way you like it, make a system backup. You can also make additional system backup's when you make major new customizations/installations. And if ever Windows fails to load, etc. - it's trivially easy to boot up using the 3rd party "rescue disk" and restore everything in mere minutes! Macrium Reflect is a great, free choice.

2. Data Backup: System backup's aren't difficult to make, but there are easier/quicker choices for just making daily data backup's, instead of your entire system, every time. I use FreeFileSync and highly recommend it. But really, free and great options are numerous.

 

So I reformatted the pen drive to NTFS and began coping files. Also installed freefilesync got started the learning cure there.
Copying and back are extremely slow it seems. I got an error and can't access one of the directories copied. Not so sure about this pen drive.

So back to computer management thinking I'll reformat the pen drive. Bad move. I deleted wrong drive volume D:\ (Disc 3)
Quit right there. Can the drive be restored now? I do have an external backup but not right up to date. Another stupid move.

Where do I go from here?
Thanks

 

TBH the only recommendation I can offer is to stop using the computer completely - IMPORTANT - and take it to a local repairer. He/she may be able to restore the deleted partition using disk management software but success cannot be assured. The steps required are beyond your capability. Alternatively, if you know how to restore the backup you have, try that.

 

https://www.raymond.cc/blog/test-an...b-flash-drives-bought-from-ebay-with-h2testw/
https://www.raymond.cc/blog/how-to-check-and-test-usb-flash-drive/
My first thoughts ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I used @active disk when I deleted my disk partition, you'll need another disk of the same size or larger to recover to.