Disaster - getting files back after deleting from trash can?

Savvy_Sue

intel wrote:

You have to select the correct Hard Drive to scan first, i.e rescan drives then
highlight the one you want c:\ then click green tick and then next green tick then it will scan.. just make sure you have the correct drive selected..

Its a good tool but a rubbish explanation not very easy to use for a firstimer.

OK I now have the right program and I see what you mean about not being very easy for first timers! I'm scanning away, but it's not finding my lost folder or any of the files in it. :mad: :eek:

And the boss confirms she won't accept my resignation before I've found the folder! :rotfl:

Savvy_Sue

Have found some files, including one of the biggest, but still a bit stuck. Still, some is better than none, I'll stop despairing and we'll try to work out a 'plan' ...

Just can't work out why SOME of the files I want are there, but not all of them?

Chippy_Minton

I used Powerquest Lost and Found years ago to successfully recover files from a corrupted hard drive and it can recover deleted files too. It's quite an old product and no longer supported or developed since Powerquest was taken over by Symantec - http://www.powerquest.com/lostandfound/.

There's a free demo version which you can download from http://www.softlookup.com/display.asp?id=9344. It will tell you if files can be recovered but won't let you recover them. This functionality is in the paid-for version, e.g. version 1.06 can be bought for $15 from http://www.oemshop.org/index.php?target=desc&progid=554.

Whatever you do, try to keep your activity on the hard drive that the files were deleted from to a minimum. Don't copy, move, delete or edit files, otherwise the disk area used by the deleted files may be overwritten by Windows.

Soulistic

Hi Sue...

Quite a predicament you've got yourself into. Here's what happens when you delete things from the "trash can" from you computer... it basically sets a flag on the part of the hard disk that stored the information to say that this area is available to write data to.

So, in essense, if you have done more work and are saving files, it could potentially be overwriting the sectors of the disk were previously occupied by the files you deleted. I'm not sure if I lost you there, but, let's continue...

Basically, when you use a program like PC inspector, it just checks all the flags that have been set to write data too, and then, tries to see if there is still data there. If it is still avaiable, it will re-make the link and allow you to recover your data.

Now, I'm not sure how PC inspector works, and maybe this program is not getting all the files. You could try other programs, but the more you install, the bigger the possibility you are over writing deleted data.

Here is a program I've used in the past, and I know works well...

http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Back-Up-and-Recovery/FreeUndelete.shtml

Good luck to you!

Savvy_Sue

I suspect files are now being overwritten, since I can find some and not others. Have not been able to stop activity on the drive. And since I'm not here tomorrow I think we're doomed. Having one last hunt now ...

Savvy_Sue

Soulistic wrote:

Here is a program I've used in the past, and I know works well...

http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Back-Up-and-Recovery/FreeUndelete.shtml

Good luck to you!

Thanks for the explanation. Have failed with pcinspector so feel I have nothing to lose by using the softpedia one - but the link doesn't work! Any suggestions? Maybe whole site is down ...

... site back up again!

Savvy_Sue

Softpedia is back up, but that specific link doesn't seem to work. If I search for eundelete I get no valid results, if I search for undelete I get about 5 pages. Is there a specific one of those programs you'd recommend? About to go home now, chances of there being anything left by the time I'm next in the office is vanishingly small, and our latest backup of that folder goes back to August. I'm astonished it's as recent as that since I was off sick then. And yes I have TRIED to back up more recently, notably this morning, I just messed it all up. Never again!

Oh, and the links on the first page of my undelete search were for things you had to pay for, and truly I don't mind doing that if there's a reasonable chance of finding my files!

Savvy_Sue

Chippy I've now read your post properly. Will have a look at demo version and see if there's anything there!

albertross_2

Try this

http://www.snapfiles.com/get/restoration.html

Soulistic

Hey Sue..

The link seems to work fine for me... but, if you goto SoftPedia, and type in FreeUndelete you should find what i was referring to.