I am an idiot whine

**jersey** · 05-17-2022, 02:16 AM

I need to whine somewhere and a corner to cry so I came here

What happened? I just deleted my whole photo collection. All of it gone away. ALL. And I was stupid enough to clear copies too. I do not know what I had in mind. I suppose too much experience in IT has made me too confident in my own genius. I was running out of space so I got new drives, set up everything, started to move thingx, then switched systems etc. And as I am moving away from cloud I copied, archived (and deleted

) my OneDrive archive too.

Backup drives were also changed and previous ones reused for other purposes.

And I realised what I have done month later, as I was so sure that everything was done right that I have not checked backup drives. I just wanted to upload recent photos to catalogued backup and... nothing. Drive is empty. Not a single file.

I think I know what happened, I messed up open SUSE setup fragmentation as I was doing all at once and most likely checked also disc with backup and, well, rest is history. And as I format everything securely (overwriting with random data and formatting again) recovering it is not possible.

Only thing left is my flickr account with JPGs. Luckily I upload most photos there.

I am an idiot, admin can change my user name to idiotJersey.

timb64 · 05-17-2022, 02:23 AM

Commiserations!

Dartmoor Dave · 05-17-2022, 02:40 AM

Oh, that's a nightmare scenario. You're darn well entitled to give a howl of anguish after something like that.

It's a lesson to us all that even the best backup strategies organised by someone who really knows what he's doing can sometimes come unstuck.

My sympathies.

**Michail_P** · 05-17-2022, 02:42 AM - **6 Likes**

Life's too short to mourn about photo losses... An irreversible thing happened. OK. Let's see the bright side, you're off to a fresh start. Files are deleted. Memories aren't. Refilling that drive will be wonderful. Maybe a chance to refresh your photographic style, clean from previous shots. Grab a camera and get out....

**ffking** · 05-17-2022, 02:52 AM

I had an external hard drive fail on me once taking thousands of images with it - I'd bought it to back up my desktop files but as the desktop dot older and fuller and slower I stopped saving them there and deleted what I had. You don't need to be an IT genius to be an idiot!

It's the family pics that hurt more than the 'great shots'

**robgski** · 05-17-2022, 03:04 AM

That is a terrible event.

The only photos I back up with any regularity or plan are the photos of friends and family.

**UncleVanya** · 05-17-2022, 04:11 AM - **1 Like**

At least the jpg files on Flickr remain. Breathe deeply and carry on. Things happen and you can’t fix it. There are tools that attempt to create raw from jpg. You could take some of the best images and try to do that.

**dhodgeh** · 05-17-2022, 04:23 AM

From one former IT guy to another, I feel you pain.

3by2 · 05-17-2022, 04:43 AM

Reading that has sent a chill down my spine.

**BigMackCam** · 05-17-2022, 04:46 AM - **2 Likes**

Originally posted by jersey

I need to whine somewhere and a corner to cry so I came here

What happened? I just deleted my whole photo collection. All of it gone away. ALL. And I was stupid enough to clear copies too. I do not know what I had in mind. I suppose too much experience in IT has made me too confident in my own genius. I was running out of space so I got new drives, set up everything, started to move thingx, then switched systems etc. And as I am moving away from cloud I copied, archived (and deleted

) my OneDrive archive too.

Backup drives were also changed and previous ones reused for other purposes.

And I realised what I have done month later, as I was so sure that everything was done right that I have not checked backup drives. I just wanted to upload recent photos to catalogued backup and... nothing. Drive is empty. Not a single file.

I think I know what happened, I messed up open SUSE setup fragmentation as I was doing all at once and most likely checked also disc with backup and, well, rest is history. And as I format everything securely (overwriting with random data and formatting again) recovering it is not possible.

Only thing left is my flickr account with JPGs. Luckily I upload most photos there.

I am an idiot, admin can change my user name to idiotJersey.

Originally posted by Michail_P

Life's too short to mourn about photo losses... An irreversible thing happened. OK. Let's see the bright side, you're off to a fresh start. Files are deleted. Memories aren't. Refilling that drive will be wonderful. Maybe a chance to refresh your photographic style, clean from previous shots. Grab a camera and get out....

^^^ This.

They're just photos... in a way, they're similar to material possessions; consider them a form of clutter... they're just "stuff". As Michail says, like it or not you've a fresh start ahead of you. All your photos from this point on will be a product of everything you've learned thus far. I think that's exciting! It's also an opportunity to optimise your folder structure, perhaps, and re-think your storage and backup strategies. You're unencumbered by all those old files, so you can start from scratch. In a way, it's quite liberating. No regrets, eh? Enjoy your photography...

**ThorSanchez** · 05-17-2022, 04:57 AM - **3 Likes**

Every time I hear something like this I go home and make sure everything is triple backed up. Both to my Google Drive and to external hard drives.

I don't have a massive accumulation of stuff like my Dad and his bursting-at-the-seams garage. But I want to make sure my kids and eventual grandkids will eventually have to go through six million photographs and decide on the 100 they want to keep.

bdery · 05-17-2022, 05:55 AM - **1 Like**

That sucks. I understand your pain.

You still have most JPEGs, that's a glass-half-full situation, or it will be in a few weeks-months.

Cheers... I guess...

**Sakura** · 05-17-2022, 07:02 AM

Wow, that really is one's worst nightmare (digitally spoken). I really really feel you're pain.
I backup my pictures to a local second hard drive and a 2 generation external USB disk. And the most precious pictures to a server on my work.
I really hope i never will have you're pain, and 'only' just feel you're pain.

JohnMc · 05-17-2022, 07:30 AM

The bright side is all the re-enactment possibilities that you can apply hindsight to.

jgnfld · 05-17-2022, 08:05 AM

Originally posted by jersey

I need to whine somewhere and a corner to cry so I came here

What happened? I just deleted my whole photo collection. All of it gone away. ALL. And I was stupid enough to clear copies too...

I am an idiot, admin can change my user name to idiotJersey.

That's one reason I retire my camera SD chips to a safe, dry place even after copying to a hard drive.

05-17-2022, 02:16 AM	#1
jersey Site Supporter Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: 3City agglomeration Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 2,056	I am an idiot whine I need to whine somewhere and a corner to cry so I came here What happened? I just deleted my whole photo collection. All of it gone away. ALL. And I was stupid enough to clear copies too. I do not know what I had in mind. I suppose too much experience in IT has made me too confident in my own genius. I was running out of space so I got new drives, set up everything, started to move thingx, then switched systems etc. And as I am moving away from cloud I copied, archived (and deleted ) my OneDrive archive too. Backup drives were also changed and previous ones reused for other purposes. And I realised what I have done month later, as I was so sure that everything was done right that I have not checked backup drives. I just wanted to upload recent photos to catalogued backup and... nothing. Drive is empty. Not a single file. I think I know what happened, I messed up open SUSE setup fragmentation as I was doing all at once and most likely checked also disc with backup and, well, rest is history. And as I format everything securely (overwriting with random data and formatting again) recovering it is not possible. Only thing left is my flickr account with JPGs. Luckily I upload most photos there. I am an idiot, admin can change my user name to idiotJersey.

05-17-2022, 07:30 AM	#14
JohnMc Pentaxian Join Date: Sep 2020 Posts: 655	The bright side is all the re-enactment possibilities that you can apply hindsight to. Last edited by JohnMc; 05-17-2022 at 09:26 AM.

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05-17-2022, 02:23 AM	#2
timb64 Pentaxian Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: /Situation : Doing my best to avoid idiots! Photos: Gallery Posts: 9,510	Commiserations!

05-17-2022, 02:40 AM	#3
Dartmoor Dave Pentaxian Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Dartmoor, UK Photos: Gallery Posts: 3,882	Oh, that's a nightmare scenario. You're darn well entitled to give a howl of anguish after something like that. It's a lesson to us all that even the best backup strategies organised by someone who really knows what he's doing can sometimes come unstuck. My sympathies.

05-17-2022, 02:42 AM - 6 Likes	#4
Michail_P Site Supporter Join Date: Nov 2019 Location: Kalymnos Photos: Gallery Posts: 3,006	Life's too short to mourn about photo losses... An irreversible thing happened. OK. Let's see the bright side, you're off to a fresh start. Files are deleted. Memories aren't. Refilling that drive will be wonderful. Maybe a chance to refresh your photographic style, clean from previous shots. Grab a camera and get out....

05-17-2022, 02:52 AM	#5
ffking Site Supporter Join Date: Nov 2015 Location: Old South Wales Posts: 6,038	I had an external hard drive fail on me once taking thousands of images with it - I'd bought it to back up my desktop files but as the desktop dot older and fuller and slower I stopped saving them there and deleted what I had. You don't need to be an IT genius to be an idiot! It's the family pics that hurt more than the 'great shots'

05-17-2022, 03:04 AM	#6
robgski Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Shenandoah Valley, Virginia Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 8,798	That is a terrible event. The only photos I back up with any regularity or plan are the photos of friends and family.

05-17-2022, 04:11 AM - 1 Like	#7
UncleVanya Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Jul 2014 Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 28,401	At least the jpg files on Flickr remain. Breathe deeply and carry on. Things happen and you can’t fix it. There are tools that attempt to create raw from jpg. You could take some of the best images and try to do that.

05-17-2022, 04:23 AM	#8
dhodgeh Site Supporter Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: FLA-USA Photos: Albums Posts: 214	From one former IT guy to another, I feel you pain.

05-17-2022, 04:43 AM	#9
3by2 Closed Account Join Date: Feb 2019 Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 819	Reading that has sent a chill down my spine.

05-17-2022, 04:46 AM - 2 Likes	#10
BigMackCam Digitiser of Film Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: North East of England Posts: 20,671	Originally posted by jersey I need to whine somewhere and a corner to cry so I came here What happened? I just deleted my whole photo collection. All of it gone away. ALL. And I was stupid enough to clear copies too. I do not know what I had in mind. I suppose too much experience in IT has made me too confident in my own genius. I was running out of space so I got new drives, set up everything, started to move thingx, then switched systems etc. And as I am moving away from cloud I copied, archived (and deleted ) my OneDrive archive too. Backup drives were also changed and previous ones reused for other purposes. And I realised what I have done month later, as I was so sure that everything was done right that I have not checked backup drives. I just wanted to upload recent photos to catalogued backup and... nothing. Drive is empty. Not a single file. I think I know what happened, I messed up open SUSE setup fragmentation as I was doing all at once and most likely checked also disc with backup and, well, rest is history. And as I format everything securely (overwriting with random data and formatting again) recovering it is not possible. Only thing left is my flickr account with JPGs. Luckily I upload most photos there. I am an idiot, admin can change my user name to idiotJersey. Originally posted by Michail_P Life's too short to mourn about photo losses... An irreversible thing happened. OK. Let's see the bright side, you're off to a fresh start. Files are deleted. Memories aren't. Refilling that drive will be wonderful. Maybe a chance to refresh your photographic style, clean from previous shots. Grab a camera and get out.... ^^^ This. They're just photos... in a way, they're similar to material possessions; consider them a form of clutter... they're just "stuff". As Michail says, like it or not you've a fresh start ahead of you. All your photos from this point on will be a product of everything you've learned thus far. I think that's exciting! It's also an opportunity to optimise your folder structure, perhaps, and re-think your storage and backup strategies. You're unencumbered by all those old files, so you can start from scratch. In a way, it's quite liberating. No regrets, eh? Enjoy your photography...

05-17-2022, 04:57 AM - 3 Likes	#11
ThorSanchez Site Supporter Join Date: Dec 2012 Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 2,806	Every time I hear something like this I go home and make sure everything is triple backed up. Both to my Google Drive and to external hard drives. I don't have a massive accumulation of stuff like my Dad and his bursting-at-the-seams garage. But I want to make sure my kids and eventual grandkids will eventually have to go through six million photographs and decide on the 100 they want to keep.

05-17-2022, 05:55 AM - 1 Like	#12
bdery Pentaxian Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Quebec city, Canada Photos: Gallery Posts: 9,357	That sucks. I understand your pain. You still have most JPEGs, that's a glass-half-full situation, or it will be in a few weeks-months. Cheers... I guess...

05-17-2022, 07:02 AM	#13
Sakura Site Supporter Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Netherlands Photos: Gallery Posts: 438	Wow, that really is one's worst nightmare (digitally spoken). I really really feel you're pain. I backup my pictures to a local second hard drive and a 2 generation external USB disk. And the most precious pictures to a server on my work. I really hope i never will have you're pain, and 'only' just feel you're pain.

05-17-2022, 08:05 AM	#15
jgnfld Moderator Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: Avalon Peninsula, Newfoundland Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 1,789	Originally posted by jersey I need to whine somewhere and a corner to cry so I came here What happened? I just deleted my whole photo collection. All of it gone away. ALL. And I was stupid enough to clear copies too... I am an idiot, admin can change my user name to idiotJersey. That's one reason I retire my camera SD chips to a safe, dry place even after copying to a hard drive.