Which DMDE Volume Should You Open to Recover Deleted Files From a 1TB HDD?
TL;DR:
To recover deleted files from a 1TB HDD in DMDE, ignore the HardDiskVolume numbers and select the physical drive to open the specific volume that matches your expected capacity of around 931.16GB and displays your recognized folder tree.
● If the candidate volume displays unrelated content or a small recovery area, run a Full Scan on the physical device to inspect the found volume variants.
● Save all recovered data to a completely different disk, as restoring files directly to the original 1TB HDD will overwrite the deleted data.
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Do not choose HardDiskVolume1, HardDiskVolume4, or HardDiskVolume16 just because of the number. In DMDE, first identify the correct physical 1TB HDD, then open the volume that matches the expected capacity and file system and actually shows the folders or files you recognize. If the large volume around 931.16GB opens with the expected content, that is the useful recovery target; capacity alone is a clue, not proof.
That is the real blocker in this DMDE recovery question on Reddit: the files were accidentally deleted from a 1TB HDD, but DMDE presents several volume entries and the user does not know which one contains the main data area.
Identify the Volume Before You Recover Anything
DMDE's official Open Volume guidance recommends opening the logical volume directly when it is healthy and available. When the correct volume is unclear, select the physical device first and use the Partitions window to inspect the volumes on that disk. If the expected volume cannot be opened correctly, DMDE recommends running a Full Scan and checking the found volume variants.
- Step 1
Select the physical HDD whose capacity matches the 1TB source drive. Do not choose a similarly named volume from another disk.
- Step 2
In the Partitions window, compare each candidate's size, file system, and any available volume label or drive-letter information. The main data volume should be consistent with the original layout.
- Step 3
Open the candidate volume and verify that DMDE shows the folder tree or file types you expect. If it shows a small system/recovery area or unrelated content, go back rather than starting recovery from it.
- Step 4
If no candidate opens with the expected content, run Full Scan and inspect the found volume variants instead of guessing from the HardDiskVolume number.
Recover Deleted Files Only After the Volume Checks Out
Once the correct volume is open, use DMDE's deleted-file or reconstructed-file view to locate the missing data. DMDE's deleted-file recovery instructions also require saving recovered files to another disk. Do not restore them back to the same 1TB HDD, because new writes can overwrite data that has not been recovered yet.
Decision Rule:
The correct DMDE target is the volume that matches the original disk layout and shows your expected content when opened. The HardDiskVolume number by itself is not enough to make that decision.