I recently went with my girlfriend to a Verizon store to have her photos
transferred from Internal Storage to the SD Card. The clerk who did the
transfer had to consult two other clerks and still had great difficulty
doing it.

When we got home we discovered that only a small number of the photos
had been transferred.

I'm hoping that the ones which did not get transferred are still on
Internal Storage -- because it turns out that my girlfriend does not
have any automatic backup active! (The clerk should have *asked* about
that first. Of course, *I* should have asked too!)

When we go into Gallery, or look at the photos in Camera, we see ONLY
those which are on the SD card.

On my own Android phone I see ALL photos, regardless of where they are
stored.

How do we view ALL photos on her phone? (Again, in hopes that they
actually are there!)

(P.S. The clerk never did figure out how to set the SD Card as the
default storage. I found that instantly when I looked in Camera settings.)

--
Dudley Brooks, Artistic Director
Run For Your Life! ... it's a dance company!
San Francisco

Am 10.11.22 um 17:31 schrieb Dudley Brooks:
> I recently went with my girlfriend to a Verizon store to have her photos
> transferred from Internal Storage to the SD Card. The clerk who did the
> transfer had to consult two other clerks and still had great difficulty
> doing it.
>
> When we got home we discovered that only a small number of the photos
> had been transferred.

Get your data-backup and restore the missing pix. Better restore them
all. After that use a service that loads them automatically to a cloud.

Macs exist and iCloud as well.

--
Gutta cavat lapidem (Ovid)

Dudley Brooks wrote:
> I recently went with my girlfriend to a Verizon store to have her photos
> transferred from Internal Storage to the SD Card.

Any file manager app can do that, but it may well be possible that
access to the SD card has to be granted once for the app used.

> When we got home we discovered that only a small number of the photos
> had been transferred.

If you're new to it, "transfer" is a bad idea. Use copy, and if the
whole copy has succeeded and the files on the SD card are OK, only
then delete the ones on the internal storage.

> I'm hoping that the ones which did not get transferred are still on
> Internal Storage -- because it turns out that my girlfriend does not
> have any automatic backup active!

Neither do I. But every now and then I sync my phone, including photos,
with my pc.

> When we go into Gallery, or look at the photos in Camera, we see ONLY
> those which are on the SD card.

No Albums?

> How do we view ALL photos on her phone? (Again, in hopes that they
> actually are there!)

Gallery used to be veryclumsy, and only a reboot of the phone would
trigger it to rescan the device. You might want to give it a try.

-p

On 11/10/2022 8:31 AM, Dudley Brooks wrote:
> I recently went with my girlfriend to a Verizon store to have her photos
> transferred from Internal Storage to the SD Card.  The clerk who did the
> transfer had to consult two other clerks and still had great difficulty
> doing it.
>
> When we got home we discovered that only a small number of the photos
> had been transferred.
>
> I'm hoping that the ones which did not get transferred are still on
> Internal Storage -- because it turns out that my girlfriend does not
> have any automatic backup active!  (The clerk should have *asked* about
> that first.  Of course, *I* should have asked too!)
>
> When we go into Gallery, or look at the photos in Camera, we see ONLY
> those which are on the SD card.
>
> On my own Android phone I see ALL photos, regardless of where they are
> stored.
>
> How do we view ALL photos on her phone?  (Again, in hopes that they
> actually are there!)
>
> (P.S.  The clerk never did figure out how to set the SD Card as the
> default storage.  I found that instantly when I looked in Camera settings.)

It's possible that some of the deleted photos are still in the trash,
but if the trash is full then they will not be there.

On 2022-11-10 17:31, Dudley Brooks wrote:
> I recently went with my girlfriend to a Verizon store to have her photos
> transferred from Internal Storage to the SD Card.  The clerk who did the
> transfer had to consult two other clerks and still had great difficulty
> doing it.
>
> When we got home we discovered that only a small number of the photos
> had been transferred.
>
> I'm hoping that the ones which did not get transferred are still on
> Internal Storage -- because it turns out that my girlfriend does not
> have any automatic backup active!  (The clerk should have *asked* about
> that first.  Of course, *I* should have asked too!)
>
> When we go into Gallery, or look at the photos in Camera, we see ONLY
> those which are on the SD card.
>
> On my own Android phone I see ALL photos, regardless of where they are
> stored.
>
> How do we view ALL photos on her phone?  (Again, in hopes that they
> actually are there!)

You could use a tool such as "Ghost Commander" to do the file copy, or
exploration.

Or the computer.

> (P.S.  The clerk never did figure out how to set the SD Card as the
> default storage.  I found that instantly when I looked in Camera settings.)
>

--
Cheers, Carlos.

Dudley Brooks <dbrooks@runforyourlife.org> wrote:
> I recently went with my girlfriend to a Verizon store to have her photos
> transferred from Internal Storage to the SD Card. The clerk who did the
> transfer had to consult two other clerks and still had great difficulty
> doing it.
>
> When we got home we discovered that only a small number of the photos
> had been transferred.
>
> I'm hoping that the ones which did not get transferred are still on
> Internal Storage -- because it turns out that my girlfriend does not
> have any automatic backup active! (The clerk should have *asked* about
> that first. Of course, *I* should have asked too!)
>
> When we go into Gallery, or look at the photos in Camera, we see ONLY
> those which are on the SD card.

'Gallery' seems to indicate that this is a Samsung phone. If so, use
the 'My File' file management app (in the 'Samsung' app folder) and use
that to look at the actual file system folders, instead of at the
Pictures, Albums, Stories views which the Gallery app tries to give.

You'll probably find photos in the folder DCIM\Camera in Internal
Storage or/and on the SD-card.

If you used to working with files, use the 'My Files' app, so you know
what you're doing.

> On my own Android phone I see ALL photos, regardless of where they are
> stored.
>
> How do we view ALL photos on her phone? (Again, in hopes that they
> actually are there!)
>
> (P.S. The clerk never did figure out how to set the SD Card as the
> default storage. I found that instantly when I looked in Camera settings.)

Thank you for excellent, detailed advice. I really thought that the
problem was going to be solved.

Unfortunately, besides the 93 photos which we knew had been successfully
transferred to the SD card, I only found 1 photo in DCIM and 2 in
"Pictures" (wherever that is) -- out of the several hundred which had
originally been on the phone.

Someone else suggested looking in Trash, but did not say how to find
Trash. I will ask him ... but since you are obviously quite
knowledgeable, and give clear explanations, may I ask you how to find
Trash? Thanks!

On 11/10/22 10:57 AM, Frank Slootweg wrote:

> Dudley Brooks <dbrooks@runforyourlife.org> wrote
>> I recently went with my girlfriend to a Verizon store to have her photos
>> transferred from Internal Storage to the SD Card. The clerk who did the
>> transfer had to consult two other clerks and still had great difficulty
>> doing it.
>>
>> When we got home we discovered that only a small number of the photos
>> had been transferred.
>>
>> I'm hoping that the ones which did not get transferred are still on
>> Internal Storage -- because it turns out that my girlfriend does not
>> have any automatic backup active! (The clerk should have *asked* about
>> that first. Of course, *I* should have asked too!)
>>
>> When we go into Gallery, or look at the photos in Camera, we see ONLY
>> those which are on the SD card.
>
> 'Gallery' seems to indicate that this is a Samsung phone. If so, use
> the 'My File' file management app (in the 'Samsung' app folder) and use
> that to look at the actual file system folders, instead of at the
> Pictures, Albums, Stories views which the Gallery app tries to give.
>
> You'll probably find photos in the folder DCIM\Camera in Internal
> Storage or/and on the SD-card.
>
> If you used to working with files, use the 'My Files' app, so you know
> what you're doing.
>
>> On my own Android phone I see ALL photos, regardless of where they are
>> stored.
>>
>> How do we view ALL photos on her phone? (Again, in hopes that they
>> actually are there!)
>>
>> (P.S. The clerk never did figure out how to set the SD Card as the
>> default storage. I found that instantly when I looked in Camera settings.)

--
Dudley Brooks, Artistic Director
Run For Your Life! ... it's a dance company!
San Francisco

On 11/10/22 9:02 AM, Joerg Lorenz wrote:

> Am 10.11.22 um 17:31 schrieb Dudley Brooks:
>
>> I recently went with my girlfriend to a Verizon store to have her photos
>> transferred from Internal Storage to the SD Card. The clerk who did the
>> transfer had to consult two other clerks and still had great difficulty
>> doing it.
>>
>> When we got home we discovered that only a small number of the photos
>> had been transferred.
>
> Get your data-backup and restore the missing pix. Better restore them
> all. After that use a service that loads them automatically to a cloud.

As I said in my original question, I discovered too late that my GF did
not have any backup. And the Verizon clerk did not ask her if she did.

> Macs exist and iCloud as well.

--
Dudley Brooks, Artistic Director
Run For Your Life! ... it's a dance company!
San Francisco

On 11/10/22 9:21 AM, Piet wrote:

Thank you for your advice on how it *should* have been done.

But, as I said in my original post, *I* did not do it. Neither did my GF.

The Verizon tech did it.

> Dudley Brooks wrote:
>
>> I recently went with my girlfriend to a Verizon store to have her photos
>> transferred from Internal Storage to the SD Card.
>
> Any file manager app can do that, but it may well be possible that
> access to the SD card has to be granted once for the app used.
>
>> When we got home we discovered that only a small number of the photos
>> had been transferred.
>
> If you're new to it, "transfer" is a bad idea. Use copy, and if the
> whole copy has succeeded and the files on the SD card are OK, only
> then delete the ones on the internal storage.
>
>> I'm hoping that the ones which did not get transferred are still on
>> Internal Storage -- because it turns out that my girlfriend does not
>> have any automatic backup active!
>
> Neither do I. But every now and then I sync my phone, including photos,
> with my pc.
>
>> When we go into Gallery, or look at the photos in Camera, we see ONLY
>> those which are on the SD card.
>
> No Albums?

No.

>> How do we view ALL photos on her phone?  (Again, in hopes that they
>> actually are there!)
>
> Gallery used to be veryclumsy, and only a reboot of the phone would
> trigger it to rescan the device. You might want to give it a try.

I hope that by "reboot" you do not mean "factory reset". If so, I have
learned the hard way not to do that except under the direst of
circumstances.

If you merely mean turn off and turn back on, that has been done many times.

> -p

--
Dudley Brooks, Artistic Director
Run For Your Life! ... it's a dance company!
San Francisco

On 11/10/22 9:24 AM, sms wrote:

> On 11/10/2022 8:31 AM, Dudley Brooks wrote:
>
>> I recently went with my girlfriend to a Verizon store to have her
>> photos transferred from Internal Storage to the SD Card.  The clerk
>> who did the transfer had to consult two other clerks and still had
>> great difficulty doing it.
>>
>> When we got home we discovered that only a small number of the photos
>> had been transferred.
>>
>> I'm hoping that the ones which did not get transferred are still on
>> Internal Storage -- because it turns out that my girlfriend does not
>> have any automatic backup active!  (The clerk should have *asked*
>> about that first.  Of course, *I* should have asked too!)
>>
>> When we go into Gallery, or look at the photos in Camera, we see ONLY
>> those which are on the SD card.
>>
>> On my own Android phone I see ALL photos, regardless of where they are
>> stored.
>>
>> How do we view ALL photos on her phone?  (Again, in hopes that they
>> actually are there!)
>>
>> (P.S.  The clerk never did figure out how to set the SD Card as the
>> default storage.  I found that instantly when I looked in Camera
>> settings.)
>
> It's possible that some of the deleted photos are still in the trash,
> but if the trash is full then they will not be there.

How do I access Trash?

--
Dudley Brooks, Artistic Director
Run For Your Life! ... it's a dance company!
San Francisco

Dudley Brooks wrote:
> Thank you for your advice on how it *should* have been done.
> But, as I said in my original post, *I* did not do it. Neither did my GF.
> The Verizon tech did it.

It really doesn't matter who dunnit.
But you may find this useful:
https://www.softwaretestinghelp.com/android-data-recovery-software/
In particular EaseUS MobiSaver might be an option.

-p

Piet wrote:

> It really doesn't matter who dunnit.
> But you may find this useful:
> https://www.softwaretestinghelp.com/android-data-recovery-software/
> In particular EaseUS MobiSaver might be an option.

I'm pretty sure this entire thread is a troll, especially given the
triviality of the problem set with the obvious well-known answers...

But along the line of recovering previously deleted Android files, and
given Windows has plenty of nice file-recovery freeware, e.g., Recuva...

What "should" work is to mount the entire Android phone over Wi-Fi as a set
of drive letters (one for each sdcard partition) & run recovery software.
<https://i.postimg.cc/cJLK1wt0/webdav07.jpg>
--
Posted out of the goodness of my heart to disseminate useful information
which, in this case, is to suggest running Windows file recovery tools.

On 11/12/22 10:41 AM, Andy Burnelli wrote:

> Piet wrote:
>
>> It really doesn't matter who dunnit.
>> But you may find this useful:
>> https://www.softwaretestinghelp.com/android-data-recovery-software/
>> In particular EaseUS MobiSaver might be an option.
>
> I'm pretty sure this entire thread is a troll, especially given the
> triviality of the problem set with the obvious well-known answers...

No, it is most definitely not a troll.

My girlfriend lost a couple of hundred sentimentally important photos of
two recent trips she took with her granddaughter. She does not consider
that to be trivial, thank you.

And she lost them because an employee at Verizon did not know what he
was doing.

And as for "obvious well-known answers":

Aside from the fact that they are well known *if you know them* -- and
if I had known them, I would not have asked -- there's this:

On Piet's excellent recommendation I went to the site he gave and
downloaded and tried a few of the recovery programs listed.

All of them ran over a USB connection, and each of them (including
EaseUs MobiSaver) found exactly the same photos and videos -- namely,
about 120 which my girlfriend had intentionally deleted a couple of
months before the incident in question.

None of them found the couple of hundred photos which were lost when the
employee was supposedly transferring them to the SD card, photos which
apparently were somehow trashed.

> But along the line of recovering previously deleted Android files, and
> given Windows has plenty of nice file-recovery freeware, e.g., Recuva...

I will try as many more as I have time to, although I strongly suspect
that they will all find exactly the same files -- not the ones which
were lost.

> What "should" work is to mount the entire Android phone over Wi-Fi as a set
> of drive letters (one for each sdcard partition) & run recovery software.
> <https://i.postimg.cc/cJLK1wt0/webdav07.jpg>

It looks from the screengrab that this does exactly the same as an app I
already tried, an app on the Android phone itself called My Files.
Namely, it lets you examine the complete directory.

I used it both on the Internal Storage, where the photos were being
transferred from, and on the SD card, where they were being transferred
to. In both cases I looked in the DCIM folders as well as the folders
"Pictures", "Videos", etc. When I went back to Verizon today the
manager spot checked a large number of folders, even ones where there
was no reason to suspect that the folders might be there. The missing
photos were nowhere to be found.

If you are suggesting that the various recovery software is more
efficient when run on the individual folders than when run on the entire
phone at one time, I will try it. I will have to look up how to "mount
them as a set of drive letters", as well as whether "SD card partition"
means the same as "folder on the SD card".

But I'm afraid I might wind up having to go to a professional data
restorer, the kind who finds fragments and pieces them together ...
unless you are referring to software which does exactly that, in which
case if you have a specific program you recommend, I would appreciate
hearing about it.

Thanks.

--
Dudley Brooks, Artistic Director
Run For Your Life! ... it's a dance company!
San Francisco

Dudley Brooks <dbrooks@runforyourlife.org> wrote:
> Thank you for excellent, detailed advice. I really thought that the
> problem was going to be solved.
>
> Unfortunately, besides the 93 photos which we knew had been successfully
> transferred to the SD card, I only found 1 photo in DCIM and 2 in
> "Pictures" (wherever that is) -- out of the several hundred which had
> originally been on the phone.
>
> Someone else suggested looking in Trash, but did not say how to find
> Trash. I will ask him ... but since you are obviously quite
> knowledgeable, and give clear explanations, may I ask you how to find
> Trash? Thanks!

As far a I know, there are (at least) two 'Trash' folders, one general
one and one internal to the Gallery app.

For the general one: Open the (Samsung) 'My Files' app. Its 'home page
should list 'Recent files', 'Categories', 'Storage' and 'Trash'. 'Trash'
might be hidden at the bottom of the page, so swipe down. Hopefully you
will find some photos there.

For the one internal to the (Samsung) Gallery app: Open the Gallery
app. At the bottom on the right-hand side, there is a 'hamburger'/menu
icon (three horizontal lines), tap it. One of the menu choices is
'Trash'. That is the 'Trash' folder which is internal to the Gallery
app, i.e. not used by other apps. Hopefullyyou will find some photos
there.

For both Trash folders, you can restore files by long-pressing them,
selecting the desired ones and then tapping the 'Restore' button.

Hope this helps.

P.S. Sorry for not being able to respond sooner. Yesterday I had a day
off Usenet.

On 2022-11-13 08:07, Dudley Brooks wrote:
> On 11/12/22 10:41 AM, Andy Burnelli wrote:
>
>> Piet wrote:

....

> But I'm afraid I might wind up having to go to a professional data
> restorer, the kind who finds fragments and pieces them together ...
> unless you are referring to software which does exactly that, in which
> case if you have a specific program you recommend, I would appreciate
> hearing about it.

Yes, there is software to do that. It is called "data carving".

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_carving>

For example, this one is good and free, running on a computer:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PhotoRec

This one I haven't tried personally:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foremost_(software)

However, they need real access to the filesystem. For example, remove
the memory card from the phone and plug into a computer, and I
understand your photos were in the internal memory.

Some phones allow full connection of the filesystem to the computer. If
that is possible, speed is of the essence. Don't use the phone till you
run the recovery. If possible, select to write photos on the computer,
not the phone nor the card.

--
Cheers, Carlos.

On 11/13/22 5:43 AM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

> On 2022-11-13 08:07, Dudley Brooks wrote:
>
>> On 11/12/22 10:41 AM, Andy Burnelli wrote:
>>
>>> Piet wrote:
>
> ...
>
>> But I'm afraid I might wind up having to go to a professional data
>> restorer, the kind who finds fragments and pieces them together ...
>> unless you are referring to software which does exactly that, in which
>> case if you have a specific program you recommend, I would appreciate
>> hearing about it.
>
> Yes, there is software to do that. It is called "data carving".
>
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_carving>
>
> For example, this one is good and free, running on a computer:
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PhotoRec

THANKS! This is exactly what I was looking for. I'm anxious to try it!
I will report the results.

> This one I haven't tried personally:
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foremost_(software)

We have a Windows laptop and a Mac laptop, but unfortunately no Linux
machine.

> However, they need real access to the filesystem. For example, remove
> the memory card from the phone and plug into a computer, and I
> understand your photos were in the internal memory.
>
> Some phones allow full connection of the filesystem to the computer. If
> that is possible, speed is of the essence. Don't use the phone till you
> run the recovery. If possible, select to write photos on the computer,
> not the phone nor the card.

I know. I realized that ... but, unfortunately, only after taking one
more photo to test whether the SD card had been successfully made the
default storage. Hopefully that one photo did not clobber too many
photo fragments.

--
Dudley Brooks, Artistic Director
Run For Your Life! ... it's a dance company!
San Francisco

Carlos E.R. wrote:

> For example, this one is good and free, running on a computer:
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PhotoRec

I had forgotten about PhotoRec when I had suggested Recuva, both of which
are well known to be reliable software that we've used on our usb drives.

But after thinking a bit about the problem set, they might not work.

One point to keep in mind, at least for Windows it was, was NOT to use the
partition in question because Windows will re-use storage it thinks is
available.

Windows doesn't actually delete files.

I don't know if Android works the same way, but it might not work similarly
in that Linux doesn't delete the way Windows deletes.

As I recall, Windows doesn't actually delete anything but the file pointer.
That's why Windows software can easily recover files deleted by Windows.

They were never actually deleted.
They are only overwritten, over time.

Others will know more about how Android handles deletion than I will
though, as I've never needed to recover files deleted on Android myself.

Dudley Brooks wrote:

>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PhotoRec
>
> THANKS! This is exactly what I was looking for. I'm anxious to try it!
> I will report the results.

You can mount Android onto Windows over Wi-Fi using a WebDAV server as I
had previously mentioned (there are threads in this ng on how to do it).

You can also use FTPuse freeware, which Frank Slootweg vouched for in the
past, which also allows you to network Android device as a Windows drive.
<https://www.ferrobackup.com/map-ftp-as-disk.html>

>
>> This one I haven't tried personally:
>>
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foremost_(software)
>
> We have a Windows laptop and a Mac laptop, but unfortunately no Linux
> machine.

If you ever need to turn your Windows laptop into a Linux laptop
temporarily, there are many ways to do so, such as booting off a USB stick.

I've written many tutorials on dual-boot Windows/Linux which gives you
certain capabilities you don't have, e.g., full access to iOS devices.

On 2022-11-13 18:08, Dudley Brooks wrote:
> On 11/13/22 5:43 AM, Carlos E.R. wrote:
>
>> On 2022-11-13 08:07, Dudley Brooks wrote:
>>
>>> On 11/12/22 10:41 AM, Andy Burnelli wrote:
>>>
>>>> Piet wrote:
>>
>> ...
>>
>>> But I'm afraid I might wind up having to go to a professional data
>>> restorer, the kind who finds fragments and pieces them together ...
>>> unless you are referring to software which does exactly that, in
>>> which case if you have a specific program you recommend, I would
>>> appreciate hearing about it.
>>
>> Yes, there is software to do that. It is called "data carving".
>>
>> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_carving>
>>
>> For example, this one is good and free, running on a computer:
>>
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PhotoRec
>
> THANKS!  This is exactly what I was looking for.  I'm anxious to try it!
>  I will report the results.

In that wiki article they mention that you can download CDs with the
software ready to use, with Linux included. I suspect that the
"SystemRescueCD[14]" one is good.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SystemRescue

The software itself is multiplatform, can run in DOS or Windows, if you
download the appropriate version. I have not done that myself, though.

Here you have the download links, and there are two for Windows and
others for Mac.

https://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Download

>
>> This one I haven't tried personally:
>>
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foremost_(software)
>
> We have a Windows laptop and a Mac laptop, but unfortunately no Linux
> machine.

This one I think is more complex and powerful. Photorec is tuned for
photos/videos only. Foremost only runs on Linux, says the wikipedia. I
do not see CDs preloaded with it mentioned.

>
>> However, they need real access to the filesystem. For example, remove
>> the memory card from the phone and plug into a computer, and I
>> understand your photos were in the internal memory.
>>
>> Some phones allow full connection of the filesystem to the computer.
>> If that is possible, speed is of the essence. Don't use the phone till
>> you run the recovery. If possible, select to write photos on the
>> computer, not the phone nor the card.
>
> I know.  I realized that ... but, unfortunately, only after taking one
> more photo to test whether the SD card had been successfully made the
> default storage.  Hopefully that one photo did not clobber too many
> photo fragments.

Notice that there is a method, simple to perform in Linux, which can be
done as soon as the damage is known about, before you have to tools for
attempted recovery. It is creating an image of the disk as a file on
another (hard) disk. Then recovery tools can later work on that image,
not touching at all the phone. It is even possibly to copy the image to
a second image, as many times as needed, and try on that second image as
many strategies as you can find, till one manages to recover your data.

It is the first thing an experienced person on data recovery would do,
or a company.

It is done with dd. There is also a dd.exe for Windows, not that
powerful, but might suffice.

--
Cheers, Carlos.

On 11/13/22 10:47 AM, Andy Burnelli wrote:

> Dudley Brooks wrote:
>
>>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PhotoRec
>>
>> THANKS!  This is exactly what I was looking for.  I'm anxious to try
>> it!   I will report the results.
>
> You can mount Android onto Windows over Wi-Fi using a WebDAV server as I
> had previously mentioned (there are threads in this ng on how to do it).
>
> You can also use FTPuse freeware, which Frank Slootweg vouched for in the
> past, which also allows you to network Android device as a Windows drive.
> <https://www.ferrobackup.com/map-ftp-as-disk.html>
>
>>
>>> This one I haven't tried personally:
>>>
>>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foremost_(software)
>>
>> We have a Windows laptop and a Mac laptop, but unfortunately no Linux
>> machine.
>
> If you ever need to turn your Windows laptop into a Linux laptop
> temporarily, there are many ways to do so, such as booting off a USB stick.
>
> I've written many tutorials on dual-boot Windows/Linux which gives you
> certain capabilities you don't have, e.g., full access to iOS devices.

Thanks. I will make use of this in the future, when/if it becomes
necessary again.

But for now, this needs to be done "yesterday", so that my GF can have
her phone back again. So, any advice like "get this thing or get that
thing", I will respectfully have to ignore.

If I can't get this working by tonight, tomorrow we will take it to a
professional.

--
Dudley Brooks, Artistic Director
Run For Your Life! ... it's a dance company!
San Francisco

On 11/13/22 10:42 AM, Andy Burnelli wrote:

> Carlos E.R. wrote:
>
>> For example, this one is good and free, running on a computer:
>>
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PhotoRec
>
> I had forgotten about PhotoRec when I had suggested Recuva, both of which
> are well known to be reliable software that we've used on our usb drives.
>
> But after thinking a bit about the problem set, they might not work.
>
> One point to keep in mind, at least for Windows it was, was NOT to use the
> partition in question because Windows will re-use storage it thinks is
> available.

Right. And in fact PhotoRec, the software which Carlos E.R. recommended
and which I am currently trying (not yet successfully -- see another
branch of this thread) asks you for a location on a different device to
restore to.

> Windows doesn't actually delete files.
>
> I don't know if Android works the same way, but it might not work similarly
> in that Linux doesn't delete the way Windows deletes.
>
> As I recall, Windows doesn't actually delete anything but the file pointer.
> That's why Windows software can easily recover files deleted by Windows.
>
> They were never actually deleted.
> They are only overwritten, over time.
>
> Others will know more about how Android handles deletion than I will
> though, as I've never needed to recover files deleted on Android myself.

Yes, I knew about how Windows (and other systems) don't actually delete.
And no, I also don't know about Android. I'm *hoping* that the same
is true.

Wait, I just realized: I *do* know (I think): the software which only
found the *intentionally* deleted files was able to find those files and
(potentially) restore them. "Potentially", because I did not want to
follow through and actually restore them, because the program did *not*
offer the choice of restoring them to a different device. (Plus they
were the ones she did *not* want anyway.) But I think that must
indicate that Android works the way you described, right?

--
Dudley Brooks, Artistic Director
Run For Your Life! ... it's a dance company!
San Francisco

On 11/13/22 5:08 AM, Frank Slootweg wrote:

> Dudley Brooks <dbrooks@runforyourlife.org> wrote:
>
>> Thank you for excellent, detailed advice. I really thought that the
>> problem was going to be solved.
>>
>> Unfortunately, besides the 93 photos which we knew had been successfully
>> transferred to the SD card, I only found 1 photo in DCIM and 2 in
>> "Pictures" (wherever that is) -- out of the several hundred which had
>> originally been on the phone.
>>
>> Someone else suggested looking in Trash, but did not say how to find
>> Trash. I will ask him ... but since you are obviously quite
>> knowledgeable, and give clear explanations, may I ask you how to find
>> Trash? Thanks!
>
> As far a I know, there are (at least) two 'Trash' folders, one general
> one and one internal to the Gallery app.
>
> For the general one: Open the (Samsung) 'My Files' app. Its 'home page
> should list 'Recent files', 'Categories', 'Storage' and 'Trash'. 'Trash'
> might be hidden at the bottom of the page, so swipe down. Hopefully you
> will find some photos there.

Nope. Only 'Recent Files', 'Categories', 'Internal storage', and 'SD card'.

> For the one internal to the (Samsung) Gallery app: Open the Gallery
> app. At the bottom on the right-hand side, there is a 'hamburger'/menu
> icon (three horizontal lines), tap it. One of the menu choices is
> 'Trash'. That is the 'Trash' folder which is internal to the Gallery
> app, i.e. not used by other apps. Hopefullyyou will find some photos
> there.
>
> For both Trash folders, you can restore files by long-pressing them,
> selecting the desired ones and then tapping the 'Restore' button.
>
> Hope this helps.

That one is there. But, unfortunately the only files in it are the
*intentionally* deleted files -- the ones which the simpler file restore
programs were able to find.

I have subsequently learned (see another branch of this thread) that the
important missing files were actually trashed, and am hoping that the
"data carving" program which Carlos E.R. recommended will be able to
restore them. But I'm having trouble getting it to work (see that other
thread).

> P.S. Sorry for not being able to respond sooner. Yesterday I had a day
> off Usenet.

I envy you! ;^)

--
Dudley Brooks, Artistic Director
Run For Your Life! ... it's a dance company!
San Francisco

(I thought I sent this hours ago, but I don't find it in my Sent file,
or in the newsgroup.)

PhotoRec start up just fine by clicking on it ... but it doesn't see the
Android. It only sees the Win8.1 HD.

The Android is on, unlocked, and allowing USB access (thanks to
instructions in the simpler programs I tried yesterday).

The online help manual says "To recover files from other devices, run
'photorec device'."

I'm trying this on my GF's Win8.1 laptop (because my own HD is overly full).

Starting PhotoRec by clicking brings it up already in a CMD window, with
no way to use an attribute.

So I will have to run it as a command in the CMD window.

And I am too ignorant of Win8.1 to know where to put PhotoRec, or what
else to do, so that CMD will recognize it as an executable.

I have spent the entire day online trying to find out how to do this,
with no success.

Any advice on how to do it will be gratefully welcomed.

(Once I get past that hurdle I will figure out what the path/device name
is for the Android phone ... although, in advance, I will also welcome
advice on that.)

On 11/13/22 9:08 AM, Dudley Brooks wrote:

> On 11/13/22 5:43 AM, Carlos E.R. wrote:
>
>> On 2022-11-13 08:07, Dudley Brooks wrote:
>>
>>> On 11/12/22 10:41 AM, Andy Burnelli wrote:
>>>
>>>> Piet wrote:
>>
>> ...
>>
>>> But I'm afraid I might wind up having to go to a professional data
>>> restorer, the kind who finds fragments and pieces them together ...
>>> unless you are referring to software which does exactly that, in
>>> which case if you have a specific program you recommend, I would
>>> appreciate hearing about it.
>>
>> Yes, there is software to do that. It is called "data carving".
>>
>> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_carving>
>>
>> For example, this one is good and free, running on a computer:
>>
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PhotoRec
>
> THANKS!  This is exactly what I was looking for.  I'm anxious to try it!
>  I will report the results.
>
>> This one I haven't tried personally:
>>
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foremost_(software)
>
> We have a Windows laptop and a Mac laptop, but unfortunately no Linux
> machine.
>
>> However, they need real access to the filesystem. For example, remove
>> the memory card from the phone and plug into a computer, and I
>> understand your photos were in the internal memory.
>>
>> Some phones allow full connection of the filesystem to the computer.
>> If that is possible, speed is of the essence. Don't use the phone till
>> you run the recovery. If possible, select to write photos on the
>> computer, not the phone nor the card.
>
> I know.  I realized that ... but, unfortunately, only after taking one
> more photo to test whether the SD card had been successfully made the
> default storage.  Hopefully that one photo did not clobber too many
> photo fragments.
>

--
Dudley Brooks, Artistic Director
Run For Your Life! ... it's a dance company!
San Francisco

On 2022-11-14 01:08, Dudley Brooks wrote:
> On 11/13/22 10:42 AM, Andy Burnelli wrote:
>
>> Carlos E.R. wrote:

>> Others will know more about how Android handles deletion than I will
>> though, as I've never needed to recover files deleted on Android myself.
>
> Yes, I knew about how Windows (and other systems) don't actually delete.
>  And no, I also don't know about Android.  I'm *hoping* that the same
> is true.

It is.

>
> Wait, I just realized: I *do* know (I think): the software which only
> found the *intentionally* deleted files was able to find those files and
> (potentially) restore them.  "Potentially", because I did not want to
> follow through and actually restore them, because the program did *not*
> offer the choice of restoring them to a different device.  (Plus they
> were the ones she did *not* want anyway.)  But I think that must
> indicate that Android works the way you described, right?

--
Cheers, Carlos.

On 2022-11-14 02:43, Dudley Brooks wrote:
> (I thought I sent this hours ago, but I don't find it in my Sent file,
> or in the newsgroup.)
>
> PhotoRec start up just fine by clicking on it ... but it doesn't see the
> Android.  It only sees the Win8.1 HD.
>
> The Android is on, unlocked, and allowing USB access (thanks to
> instructions in the simpler programs I tried yesterday).
>
> The online help manual says "To recover files from other devices, run
> 'photorec device'."
>
> I'm trying this on my GF's Win8.1 laptop (because my own HD is overly
> full).
>
> Starting PhotoRec by clicking brings it up already in a CMD window, with
> no way to use an attribute.
>
> So I will have to run it as a command in the CMD window.

Yes, true.

>
> And I am too ignorant of Win8.1 to know where to put PhotoRec, or what
> else to do, so that CMD will recognize it as an executable.

Doesn't matter where you put it. For example, in the download directory.
It will then be something like:

c:\windows\name\downloads\photorec device

Or, once you open the command shell, change directory (cd) to the place
the command is:

cd \windows\name\downloads\

and then, just do:

photorec ...

>
> I have spent the entire day online trying to find out how to do this,
> with no success.
>
> Any advice on how to do it will be gratefully welcomed.

If you don't figure it out I will try in a windows virtual machine to
find out the incantation.

>
> (Once I get past that hurdle I will figure out what the path/device name
> is for the Android phone ... although, in advance, I will also welcome
> advice on that.)

I'm unsure of that. The documentation of the Windows version should say
something. Ideally best thing would be making the phone appear as a drive.

--
Cheers, Carlos.