Please help me, In a right state!

I_have_spoken

all my financial accounts on there for my business

How much do you want to avoid going bust?

IMHO stop tinkering with the drive using freeware and courier it to an experienced data recovery specialist and expect to pay £750 to £1,000. YOur accountant can advise on writing the cost off against tax.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4942032

securityguy

"all my financial accounts on there for my business, countless other bits of work, as well as many GB of photos, including my wedding, honeymoon, family, holidays, etc."

You remember when people told you backups were important, and you laughed and ignored them?

The problem is, if you talk about backups before the disaster, people don't listen, and after the disaster, you're accused of rubbing people's noses in it. But seriously: a backup drive would have cost you fifty quid. So presumably, you valued the data at less than fifty quid.

Backbiter

I can recommend a free programme called Glary Undelete.
http://download.cnet.com/Glary-Undelete/3000-2248_4-177206.html

Remember this vital point : if it does find your files, transfer them to an external hard drive, not to your laptop's harddrive, as saving them on there would overwrite the other files you are trying to recover.

Best of luck.

GunJack

WOAH !!!! indierocker, have you looked for the windows.old file on your hard drive yet??

open Computer, C drive, and there should be a file folder there called windows.old, which will have all your stuff under Users > <your username>

LOOK FOR THIS BEFORE FAFFING AROUND WITH RECOVERY SOFTWARE!!!

tronator

GunJack wrote: »

WOAH !!!! indierocker, have you looked for the windows.old file on your hard drive yet??

open Computer, C drive, and there should be a file folder there called windows.old, which will have all your stuff under Users > <your username>

LOOK FOR THIS BEFORE FAFFING AROUND WITH RECOVERY SOFTWARE!!!

The "Users" folder is not inside the Windows folder anymore since Windows 98. But you might be right basically. When I read the OP my first thought was, that a new user was created in C:\Users called user.xyz or so. Worth checking that out.

indierocker85

It seems the main file I need is either "corrupt" or in "poor condition". I am devastated!

NiftyDigits

indierocker85 wrote: »

It seems the main file I need is either "corrupt" or in "poor condition". I am devastated!

More details?

indierocker85

One of my excel sheets, a profit and loss sheet for my business basically, has been "recovered" by the recovery software's, however it won't open in Excel, it simply states that the file extension is incorrect or the file is corrupt.

indierocker85

At the end of my tether with this, I know it's probably my own fault.

Also, in response to other comments, there is no Windows.Old

Blackpool_Saver

many hugs, I really hope you can recover your data, try calling someone in the morning