A client contacted Belfast Data Recovery after attempting to replace a failing drive in their WD My Book Duo RAID 1 system, which resulted in a complete loss of 15 years’ worth of family photos and videos. The reported issues included:
- The WD Duo NAS was running slowly, prompting the user to replace one of the drives.
- After installing the new drive, the RAID controller automatically reinitialized the system, potentially overwriting the existing RAID 1 structure.
- The system would no longer boot, making the stored family memories inaccessible.
- No backup was available, making data recovery the only option.
Since RAID 1 mirroring duplicates data across two drives, replacing one drive should not cause data loss. However, if the RAID controller resets the array, it may reformat the drives, making manual RAID reconstruction necessary.
Our Expertise in WD My Book Duo RAID 1 Recovery
With 25 years of experience, Belfast Data Recovery specialises in:
✔ Recovering data from RAID 1 arrays after reinitialisation, accidental formatting, or disk replacement
✔ Forensic RAID reconstruction to extract lost files without relying on the NAS controller
✔ Advanced RAID recovery using Acelabs PC3000, RapidSpar, DFL-SRP, DeepSpar imaging, and Atola Insight Forensic tools
Diagnosis & Recovery Process
Upon receiving the WD My Book Duo RAID 1 drives, our engineers conducted a detailed forensic assessment. The key findings included:
- The RAID metadata was overwritten, meaning the NAS no longer recognised the previous RAID 1 configuration.
- One of the original drives still contained all the family photos and videos, but the system could not access them.
- The new replacement drive had no usable data, as it was set up as a fresh RAID 1 disk.
To successfully recover the family’s lost photos and videos, we implemented a multi-step forensic RAID 1 recovery strategy:
Step 1: Drive Cloning & Data Preservation
- Used DeepSpar Disk Imager to create sector-by-sector forensic clones of the original drive.
- Applied adaptive read techniques to extract maximum data from the existing RAID structure.
Step 2: RAID 1 Reconstruction & File System Repair
- Used Acelabs PC3000 RAID Edition to manually reconstruct the original RAID 1 array.
- Repaired the damaged NTFS/exFAT file system to restore the missing directories.
Step 3: Data Extraction & Validation
- Recovered 15 years’ worth of family photos and videos from the original drive.
- Applied file integrity checks to ensure all recovered memories were intact.
Step 4: Secure Data Transfer & Future Protection
- Conducted final validation checks to confirm all recovered files were readable.
- Successfully transferred the restored data to a new high-performance external SSD, formatted for the client’s use.
- Recommended future backup solutions, including cloud storage and secondary external backups, to prevent data loss in the future.
The Result
We successfully recovered 99.6% of the client’s family photos and videos, including:
✅ Personal and family event photos spanning 15 years
✅ Home videos, vacation footage, and special occasions
✅ Archived memories that were otherwise believed to be lost forever
The client was relieved to have their irreplaceable family memories fully restored, preventing permanent data loss.
Why Choose Belfast Data Recovery for WD My Book Duo RAID 1 Recovery?
✅ 25 Years of Expertise – Specialists in NAS and RAID 1 data recovery.
✅ Forensic-Level Data Extraction – Recovering lost files even after RAID reinitialization.
✅ Fast & Secure Process – Ensuring complete confidentiality and successful recovery.
If your WD My Book Duo RAID 1 system has been reset, failed after a disk replacement, or is no longer accessible, contact Belfast Data Recovery today for expert RAID data recovery services!