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[sosltiz]

My private files are all gone and I can only see those files that I had shared with public!

The PC that usually access DNS-323 crashed and I have to replace it.  However, with the new PC, I'm not able to detect DNS-323 using using the Easy Search utility.  Thinking that the config of DNS-323 is corrupted, I reset the unit with the reset button.

Still unable to find DNS-323 on Easy Search, so access it using IP address and got a shock.  My personal files are gone.  Only those that I share publicly are visible.  Conncet the HDD to PC using SATA-USB and tried reading the disk using R-Studio but it looks the same as reading it thru the DNS-323.

Can anyone advise how can I recover my files

[JavaLawyer]

If you open the web interface and look at STATUS > DEVICE INFO > HARD DRIVE INFO, does the Used Space correspond to the space consumed by your publicly shared files only or your publicly shared + private files?

[ivan]

The simple answer should be just restore from backup but I assume you don't have a backup.

If the result of your checking as JavaLawyer directs shows that the used space equals your private plus public file space then you have a good chance they are still there but hidden.

You will have to solve the problem of why your new computer does not see the DNS-323, is it a new operating system and is the 323 blocked by the firewall or some security setting?

Another thing you could try, if you have a friend that uses the Linux operating system, is to use the USB/SATA adapter and view the hard disk using linux.  You may find you files there but with a hidden attribute set, in which case it shouldn't be too much trouble to back them up to another disk.

[sosltiz]

The used space from the web interface only indicate space consumed by the publicly shared files.  The private files are not taken into account.

Operating system on the new PC is the same as the one that has crashed, i.e. Windows 7...  Will have to find someone with Linux setup and hope that the files can be accessed.

[JavaLawyer]

Were all the contents of the private files in one master directory?  If so, and since the "Used Space" only reflects your shared files, my initial thought is that the directory may have been accidentally deleted rather than attributing this incident to a PC-related issue.

How are your HDD(s) configured? (Standard, RAID-1, etc)

[sosltiz]

Yes, the files are all under a single directoy, the amount of files in there is around 1Tb.  Had initially suspect that it could be deleted, but a scan with R-Studio did not detect anything.

MY DNS-323 only has one HDD (2Tb) setup as Standard.

[ivan]

You are now getting into the realm of data recovery which can end up being expensive if you do not have the necessary skill to do it yourself.

If, as you suspect, the files have been deleted and you have not tried to write anything to the disk then there is a good chance that most, if not all, of your files can be recovered.  How you go about that depends on the value, to you, of those files.

The easiest, and possibly the most expensive, way is to take the disk to a data recovery specialist, give them the information they ask for and you will most probably get all your files back.

The next best approach is to find someone that knows what they are doing with the linux operating system and see if they are prepared to help you recover your files.  Again, unless something very odd has happened to the disk you stand a good chance of getting all your files back.

If/when you get your files back you should setup a backup procedure using either an external disk or a second internal disk (not setup as RAID), that will backup your personal data on a regular schedule.
 

[JavaLawyer]

Regardless of what happened to your data, going forward (as ivan pointed out), you should maintain a separate physical backup of all critical data using a non-RAID solution. Please see the following post for some guidelines: DNS-323 - Data Backup vs. Redundancy