# Lost video files when "moving" from iPhone to PC



## aditicrosby (Jul 26, 2016)

I need some serious help, desperately please! We shot some video clips for a future YouTube video on Sunday night. They were all shot on an iPhone 6 PLUS and then transferred to our PC (Windows 8). My husband, who is quite tech savvy, used the “move” function rather than copy and moved the video files into a “New Folder” on our external hard drive, where we keep all of our stuff. So, the clips were no longer on his phone. Lo and behold, we went to look for the files to edit and they are GONE! I mean like a GHOST! We have searched everywhere on our PC, thinking maybe he moved them to another folder by mistake. They are NOWHERE to be found! We tried to recover the files from his iPhone, thinking maybe it was backed up on iCloud before he moved the files, but no dice. I doubt if he deleted everything by mistake, plus there would have been a warning. We have never had this happen before. We tried recycle bin and all that stuff. Any ideas would be really appreciated or we will need to do-over at least three hours of work! Please help – thanks!!!


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

Maybe you can recover at least some from the external hard drive using data recovery software. Two examples are Recuva and Restoration.exe.

Not meaning this as a "lecture," but the issue is why I have learned from experience to not delete or move data unless I have at least two other copies or can recreate it easily.


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## aditicrosby (Jul 26, 2016)

Thanks! Will try those. BELIEVE me, it was NOT my decision to move rather than copy. I would not have done that! I always copy, verify, then delete. Now I have confirmation that it is the right thing to do. Do you have any idea however, where these files may have gone? Is there something funky about the "move" function that can cause this? How can we recover if we don't know where they have gone?


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## flavallee (May 12, 2002)

Are you positive those video clips were moved to the external USB hard drive and not to the computer's hard drive?

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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

aditicrosby said:


> Do you have any idea however, where these files may have gone?


Not really. If the external hard drive was incorrectly disconnected (data still in cache and "safe to remove device" not used) the incomplete file(s) could have disappeared I guess.



aditicrosby said:


> Is there something funky about the "move" function that can cause this?


I can't think of anything. In my experience if the move is not completed (e.g., lack of space on the destination) the source file is still there. But I don't trust this, and for anything important do the copy, confirm and then delete as you described.



aditicrosby said:


> How can we recover if we don't know where they have gone?


Well, there are a limited number of places, right? Each partition on the external hard drive would be my starting place, given your initial post. Then I'd look in "C" and any possible data partitions on the main hard drive (or SSD). Any chance that another (maybe USB flash drive) storage device was connected at the time and was the actual destination?


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## aditicrosby (Jul 26, 2016)

Pretty sure - but we checked the computer's hard drive also, and a back-up hard drive, and Recycle Bin! I even went through every folder, did a search on the file type for each location. Vanished! How can this be? Not even in Recycle Bin? It's as if they disappeared into the ether during the move? Though my husband swears he saw them in the folder he created for the files after he transferred them. But that folder is no longer there. The entire folder is gone! I didn't actually see the transfer happen, but I promise you my husband is no dummy and he's not PC challenged. It's a mystery.


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## aditicrosby (Jul 26, 2016)

I'll check out the flash drive situation. It's a possibility, but remote. We'll check out the partitions also. Thanks.


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## aditicrosby (Jul 26, 2016)

My husband said he ran a Java update right after he moved the files. Could a Java update do something screwy to those files? If so, what could possibly happen? Any ideas? I don't think they are deleted because then they would be in Recycling Bin. They must be hidden somewhere or moved to a different location. I'm not familiar with the Java updates and what they do.


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## TonyB25 (Jan 1, 1970)

A Java update didn't cause the problem.

The video was on your iPhone. How did you move/copy it to a computer? Through iTunes? Do you use iCloud?

If you moved the video from the iPhone to the computer, deleted it from the iPhone, then moved it from the computer to an external drive, the only place the video will be is on the external drive. If it failed or if the move wasn't successful, it's gone.


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## aditicrosby (Jul 26, 2016)

It was moved directly from the phone to the computer. So then it's probably gone. :-( Thanks.


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## TonyB25 (Jan 1, 1970)

aditicrosby said:


> It was moved directly from the phone to the computer. So then it's probably gone. :-( Thanks.


Doesn't make sense to me. I think my post describes what happened.

If you don't have a backup or a copy in iCloud, it's gone.


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