I've just lost everything, Please help!

Hello,

My HDD with a decades worth of GP3 stuff on it has died. I did have a backup once (Multiple in fact) but for the life of my I can't find it.

I'm in mourning as I've lost all my custom stuff that I can never hope to get back (though I will try data recovery).

Can I call upon the community to help me in my time of need? I need tracks, carsets, carshapes, helmets. Just everything really. If someone could share their stuff on Google Drive i'd be eternally grateful.

It's hard to describe how I feel, as a 31 year old I've been playing this game since I was 14. GP3 has played such a huge part in my life, I've been running my own custom championship for all that time. I was upto the year 2053 lol. In that time I've made drivers that have had 30 year careers that I've kept track of. I've made custom helmets for them and edited them season by season. I had custom cars and teams.

I'm so angry at myself for allowing this to happen and it's 4:30am and I just can't sleep. It was so much more to me than just a game, it was a personal world I'd made for myself and had been playing in for years and years. And today it's all gone.

Please if you can find the time help me rebuild my library, it would mean so much to me right now.

Thank You

Sorry to hear about your difficulties. It should be possible to recover the data however. Professional help would be expensive. There are tools to assist in data recovery. Unfortunately I can't assist with files as I just play with the default setup. I am sure you will be able to get back the data (or most of it anyway). It's unfortunate you didn't get some kind of warning that the HDD was about to fail. I've had a few failures but invariably there was some sort of indication of failure. Good luck with the recovery anyway.

I have the same problem. I lost everything. Years and years of archives.

I saw some videos on the internet and I'm taking courage to do that.

I made a budget and they charged me a fortune. I can not pay for it. So I sat down and cried.

First I will buy another External HD and if this procedure works I will back up what I can. If I can't, patience.

Here is => [www.youtube.com]

I connect my External HD and make the following sound: "tec-tec-tec-tec" and was not recognized by my computer

If anyone here has a better option before opening it and it worked out please let us know. It does not hurt to try.


I also saw this video but it is in portuguese. => [www.youtube.com]

One of the things mentioned is that failing to do the right thing could break the head of the read and write needle.



Evandro ( Brazil )



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 11/02/2019 03:40PM by evroic.

Hi Pironi

First thing: DO NOT TRY TO DO THE RECOVERY YOURSELF or open up the drive, you will do more harm.

I had this same problem in June. But I got all my files back using a data recovery company. Are you in the UK? If so, I'd recommend them. They charge fixed fees of £80 or £180 depending on the nature of the problem and nearly always succeed. You'd also need to buy another drive (or two).

If that is not an option for you, I am really sorry and feel your pain. Sounds like the elements you are most sad about are things unique to you, so I can't help with that. But if you are looking for items uploaded to sites or made by me (I've got a huge collection) you can get from these pages or I can arrange for you to have them if you get in touch.

CARSETS: CARSETS
TRACKS: TRACKS
SEASONS: SEASONS


What I learned was to have everything on two drives and upload to onging sites (like this one) as a third back up. If you are into using the Cloud that's another one.

Really hope you can get this fixed. If it was me I'd find the money to get the recovery done - if at all possible.

Good luck!

Elio

Hi

The tool that opens mine (Seagate 2T Barracuda External HDD 3.5 - Sata 3 6gb/s 7200rpm) is called: TORX and its measurement is 9 inches

I bought this tool yesterday.

But before doing this "procedure" I will try new budgets and also read reports.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I bought a new External HD

Seagate Expansion 1T External HDD 2.5 - USB 3.0
Model: STEA1000400
Rotation: 5400 rpm

Link: [www.seagate.com]

Now I will back up what I can ....

Evandro ( Brazil )



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/02/2019 04:15PM by evroic.

I thought I should update those that replied to this thread.

I didn't update people on this problem as I've been very busy but I was able to recover my files using a very powerful program called TestDisk. Here is a YouTube video that explains how it works - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Exq-aWBmRyI].

It took me a few days but I recovered EVERYTHING using this program. Should have seen my face as I watched all those files reappear as if resurrected from the grave. The program looks complicated but it really isn't and it is worlds better than any other program I found that would charge money. This small program is the real deal.

I'm only today finally reinstalling Grand Prix 3, though getting it working on Windows 10 again is always an annoyance. Struggling to get the game to stop stretching to widescreen at the moment.

Hi Pironi14

Wow. What good news !!!

I'm very happy for you.

Evandro ( Brazil )



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/24/2019 04:53AM by evroic.

Hi

I opened my External Hard Drive and unfortunately found a huge scratch on the disk surface.




Result: No chance. I lost everything !!!

Evandro ( Brazil )



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/24/2019 05:07AM by evroic.

When you open an HD the air spoils it anyway you lose everything.

Hi SuperCim

I could write a long text explaining all the steps until I get to this point but it would be too long.

I was already resigned to the loss of this HD and all the information of years and years.

My last chance was if I could access the hard drive and copying something it was a big win. Then of course I would discard it. I would no longer have confidence in having my data on this hard drive.

My last attempt was to open it and position the read and write head to the starting point. When I opened and saw where it was this was not necessary. It was already in the right place.

Then I saw the big scratch on the disc. That's why the read-write head kept moving forward and back, producing the tec-tec-tec sound, and after a few tries, the hard drive itself shut down.

Result: No chance. I lost everything !!!

Let´s going on. The life goes on and this is more important. I am sad but like I said I already had this on my mind. This was my big error. I saved all my files in one place.

The person who caused my hard drive to fall to the ground was more my negligence than the fault of the one who dropped it.

Now it's too late to complain ....

Certain of this I will be closing my GP3 activities from now on. It was good times but everything has its time. It's time to say goodbye.

Evandro ( Brazil )

What a pity that you will leave GP3 Evandro, I will miss you Sherlock.
All the best for you.

Kind regards
Helmut.

Hi Helmut,

Nice to see you here

I'll take a break, I don't know how long.

What I have now are old files that are on CD and DVD. What I had new and developed was all lost ....

Another possibility will be to download the files from the sites that are still alive.

I don't know if I will have the same energy after this loss.

I will stay here behind the scenes.

I learned a lot and made good friends here.

My contact remains active and helps those who need it.

Thank you all

Evandro ( Brazil )

Such as? Evroic!

Now that I've prepared the video for visor animation,

do you want to leave?

Did the program to record videos arrive by e-mail?

Mio caro fratello non ti preoccupare.
Il tuo lavoro non è stato vano e voglio finire quello che ho iniziato.
Il tuo messaggio non è ancora arrivato Potresti inviare di nuovo?
Adoro il gioco GP3 e continuerò con esso. Come ho detto, sarò nel backstage.
Continuerò a visitare il forum ma meno spesso.
Continuiamo il nostro contatto. Sarò sempre disponibile quando necessario.
tchau

My dear brother, don't worry.
Your job was not in vain and I want to finish what I started.
Your message has not arrived yet. Could you send again?
I love the GP3 game and will continue with it. As I said, I'll be backstage.
I will continue to visit the forum but less often.
We continue our contact. I will always be available when needed.
bye

Evandro ( Brazil )

sad to hear that from you Evandro . I know exactly how you feel about your lost datas, because i had the same problem. But like you've said life goes on and it's nice, that you aren't completely away from the community. Take care my friend

Hi Evandro!

I send you again the program.

I hope you get there this time.

Check the Gmail.

Hi Pironi - so pleased that you got back your data, good for you!

Evandro - warmest regards, thanks and best wishes to you!