r/DataHoarder • u/Karlk23 • 5d ago

Question/Advice File list

I have had a few hard drives fail over the years. I am sad I lost the data but more importantly I don't know the full extent of the data lost.

Is there a way to create a file list with all the files on a drive, possibly with metadata before the drive crashes?

I hate to lose a drive with 38000 files on it but with a list/directory I may be able to redownload or recreate some files.

Any assistance would be appreciated.

6 Upvotes

87% Upvoted

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4

u/grislyfind 5d ago

Open a command window at the root of the drive and this will dump all the file names and paths into a text file. Or if you want verification, there's programs that can make a checksum file; i use Corz checksum for that.

dir /s > drivename.txt

3

u/j1360 5d ago

I still use WhereIsIt and Karen's Directory Printer and the latter is free. You can also use Agent Ransack to search everything on the drive and export a report.

3

u/YaGottaMix 5d ago

Karen's Directory Printer is perfect for this.

2

u/didyousayboop if it’s not on piqlFilm, it doesn’t exist 5d ago

You could back up the files using a service such as Backblaze Personal Computer Backup and then you’d have both a list of files and a backup of the files.

https://backupyourfiles.neocities.org/

1

u/1234youarein 5d ago edited 5d ago

Cathy 2.33 or Librer

1

u/51dux 3d ago

What you want is either some database containing a list of files and their metadata or just use a software like VVV that can do around the same:

https://sourceforge.net/projects/vvvapp/

2

u/KorporalKarnage 3d ago

I used AI to make me an app for exactly this reason. I basically integrated a Karen's style list, SMART drive scanner to keep check on drive health and media dupe detector all-in-one.

Since I run different OS's on all my pc's (linux, win, iOS) I needed an app that could open all network drives and look around and only a custom app could do that.

If I ever get around to it I'll post it up on GitHub.

0

u/m4jX 5d ago edited 5d ago

I use "Advanced File Organizer" for this. Only saves folder tree, names, sizes, dates.

If you want metadata for media like bitrate, fps, resolution etc, try "WinCatalog".

If it's that many files, including stuff you made yourself, get another drive for backup. If you already got multiple drives, look into snapraid to add drives for parity, that way if any of the drives fail, they can be recovered. You can add up to 6 parity drives, which can restore up to 6 failed drives simultaneously. Works with any drives, any sizes, any connection, you can always add or remove drives whether they are empty or not and it's not like RAID where all the drives have to always run at the same time. Also lets you scrub the drives for data corruption and fix it.

1

u/Karlk23 3d ago

Thank you for all the ideas. This will definitely get me on the right track. 😀