Server Recovery Runs Smoothly, but All Data Lost--Way to Retrieve it?

Hello:

I had a situation in which my server appeared to be running smoothly (no strange indicator lights), but I could no longer access it through any method from any of my computers. The router and network all seemed to be fine, and I could see the server was

there, but the tray icons were all grayed out, and I could get the server to come online for a brief moment right after a reboot, but then it would disconnect. I could not log on remotely, access folders, or use the console. So I read up, and found that with

my HP MediaSmart EX490 server there comes a Server Recovery disk with two options: A Server Recovery that rewrites the operating system but preserves data, and a Factory Reset that wipes everything. I decided to go ahead with the former, as it said it would

preserve my data. I read on various forums that this operation was tricky, and things could go wrong, but I followed the instructions very carefully (including choosing the allegedly lossless "server recovery" option), and the entire process went without a

hitch.

That is, until I reinstalled my client software and connected to the server and found that all of my data was gone. No more folders, or backups. I set up remote logging, and logged on to have a look at the disks, and sure enough, my one data drive is completely

empty now.

I read somewhere that it takes a long time to restore the data, so I waited a day.

I read somewhere that you might need to restart the server and then wait a long time, so I rebooted, and waited another day.

I read here that there was a hidden drive called DE that might have my data, so I went and found that, and all it had was the original, factory-installed client software files.

I read somewhere else that it might be possible to get the data using some kind of disk recovery software, but I have no idea if that will work, where to get it, or even what to get.

Was wondering if anyone can explain any of this, or what I might try next to get my data back? Or should I just give up, maybe? Lots of data lost at this point. It's so weird, because the whole recovery process went so smoothly I was completely broadsided

by the loss of data.

Leha

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