Finding lost data - is there a way?

[Kay]

I recently had to re-load the OS from recovery in boot up only to find out
all my desktop icons are misisng and MS Office 2003 is not on the computer
and it came with it. How can i re-store Office to my computer?

Also, I can find documents by using search but how do I find my Outlook
contacts, media player files, etc?

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

I recently had to re-load the OS from recovery in boot up only to find out
all my desktop icons are misisng and MS Office 2003 is not on the computer
and it came with it. How can i re-store Office to my computer?

Also, I can find documents by using search but how do I find my Outlook
contacts, media player files, etc?

It depends. Many recovery mechanisms will wipe the hard disk before
restoring Windows. Is yours one of them? Read the manual that came with your
PC - it will tell you in no uncertain terms. If your disk got wiped then
your data files are well and truly lost.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I recently had to

"Had to"? Why? It's hardly ever a good thing to do.

re-load the OS from recovery in boot up

I don't know what you mean by "from recovery in boot up," so please
explain it. Exactly how did you do this?

only to find out
all my desktop icons are misisng and MS Office 2003 is not on the computer
and it came with it.

If you reinstalled Windows, you end up with nothing on the computer
but Windows. It no surprise that you are missing desktop icons,
Microsoft Office, and any other programs that were installed.

How can i re-store Office to my computer?

You should have a CD you can install it from. If not, ask the company
that manufactured the computer how to do it.

Also, I can find documents by using search

Documents that existed before you reinstalled Windows? That's in
direct contradiction to what I understood you to say above.

but how do I find my Outlook
contacts, media player files, etc?

As I said above, "if you reinstalled Windows, you end up with nothing
on the computer but Windows." You can't find them because they no
longer exist.

 

[smlunatick]

I recently had to re-load the OS from recovery in boot up only to find out
all my desktop icons are misisng and MS Office 2003 is not on the computer
and it came with it.  How can i re-store Office to my computer?

Also, I can find documents by using search but how do I find my Outlook
contacts, media player files, etc?

More details are required since the are several different "recovery"
scenarios out there. Several large PC makers can / have made some
recovery methods that are / were "intelligent" and could have repaired
the damage XP system.

In general, PC recovery "systems" take "brute" force and will
completely "erase" the hard drive and will replace the "file" from a
copy when the time the PC left the factory.

 

[Kay]

More details are required since the are several different "recovery"
scenarios out there. Several large PC makers can / have made some
recovery methods that are / were "intelligent" and could have repaired
the damage XP system.

In general, PC recovery "systems" take "brute" force and will
completely "erase" the hard drive and will replace the "file" from a
copy when the time the PC left the factory.

I installed the recovery system (Gateway) because, after downloading the
update they recommended, the computer would not boot up (got halfway up and
would shut down again and I could not get it to boot any other way) The
recovery was supposed to keep my data. I have been able to pull up some
documents but they are not in Word (MS office) format because that program is
not on my computer anymore even though it came with it. Between me and my
boss we have been able to get to some things but I can't find the recovery
program that backed up the system.

 

[Bennett Marco]

I installed the recovery system (Gateway) because, after downloading the
update they recommended, the computer would not boot up (got halfway up and
would shut down again and I could not get it to boot any other way) The
recovery was supposed to keep my data.

That is questionable. Normal recovery media supplied by the
manufacturer will return the computer to the same state it was in when
it was taken out of the box.

Which means that ANYTHING done or save after that date is wiped out by
the recovery.

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

I installed the recovery system (Gateway) because, after downloading the
update they recommended, the computer would not boot up (got halfway up
and
would shut down again and I could not get it to boot any other way) The
recovery was supposed to keep my data. I have been able to pull up some
documents but they are not in Word (MS office) format because that program
is not on my computer anymore even though it came with it. Between me and
my boss we have been able to get to some things but I can't find the
recovery program that backed up the system.

After "downloading" what update that who recommended?

How did you do this "recovery"? Did you format the HDD beforehand? Did you
use a hidden Recovery partition to reinstall Windows or did you use the CDs
that came with the computer?

Did MS Office (version?) come preinstalled on the computer when it was
purchased?

 

[DL]

Please don't tell me this is a business PC, with no data backup procedure in
place.
If that is the case and these are important business docs then;
Stop using the PC immediately, engage a *competent* repair tech to have a
look at your PC

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

I installed the recovery system (Gateway) because, after downloading the
update they recommended, the computer would not boot up (got halfway up
and
would shut down again and I could not get it to boot any other way) The
recovery was supposed to keep my data. I have been able to pull up some
documents but they are not in Word (MS office) format because that program
is
not on my computer anymore even though it came with it. Between me and my
boss we have been able to get to some things but I can't find the recovery
program that backed up the system.

Did you check your "backups" before going ahead with the factory restore?

 

[Bennett Marco]

Please don't tell me this is a business PC, with no data backup procedure in
place.
If that is the case and these are important business docs then;
Stop using the PC immediately, engage a *competent* repair tech to have a
look at your PC

And get out all of your credit cards because good recovery techs don't
work on the cheap.

We're talkin' THOUSANDS.

 

[Bennett Marco]

Did you check your "backups" before going ahead with the factory restore?

That's his way of saying "If you don't have backups, you're really
screwed."

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

That's his way of saying "If you don't have backups, you're really
screwed."

Not quite. I'm making the point that a backup - any backup! - is next to
worthless unless it is checked when first implemented and then again at
regular intervals. Many server admins learn this key point the hard way.

 

[Bennett Marco]

Not quite. I'm making the point that a backup - any backup! - is next to
worthless unless it is checked when first implemented and then again at
regular intervals. Many server admins learn this key point the hard way.

OK... updated translation (which in his own snide way transmits a
subliminal message):

"If you don't have a backup that works you're screwed. Everyone knows
to make backups AND to check them."

 

[Lem]

I installed the recovery system (Gateway) because, after downloading the
update they recommended, the computer would not boot up (got halfway up and
would shut down again and I could not get it to boot any other way) The
recovery was supposed to keep my data. I have been able to pull up some
documents but they are not in Word (MS office) format because that program is
not on my computer anymore even though it came with it. Between me and my
boss we have been able to get to some things but I can't find the recovery
program that backed up the system.

You're still not making complete sense, at least as most of us
understand the terms you're using.

What you should do now -- before doing anything else to this computer --
is to pack it up and take it to a competent local computer repair shop.
Do not use a big box store or "geek squad" type of place.

As near as I can tell from what you've written, there are at least 3
possibilities:

1. When you restored the computer, you completely erased all of your
files. This is what usually happens when you restore to "out of the
box" state, which is what most name brand computers do these days. If
this is the case, some of your data may be recoverable but only at a
substantial cost.

2. You used some sort of backup program that saved your documents in a
special format that is readable only by the backup program. Then, when
you restored the computer, the original files were erased but the backup
was not. In this case, you need to know what the backup program was and
how to use it to recover the data. If this is the case, recovery of
your data may not be very costly.

3. Whatever you did to restore, it did not erase the data but somehow
uninstalled Word. In this case, you need to reinstall Word. If this is
the case, you need to get a copy of Word. Either one came on a CD/DVD
with your computer or perhaps your computer vendor can supply you with
such a CD/DVD. Otherwise, you'll have to buy your own, but at least your
data is there. You could test for this case by copying a few of the
files that you believe are your former documents. If you copy the files
to a different computer that does have a working installation of Word
and you can open them there, that will be very good news for you.

None of these scenarios really fits the facts as you have described
them, and none makes complete sense. You really need to take the
computer to someone who can look at it and determine what has happened.

 

[Daave]

I installed the recovery system (Gateway) because, after downloading
the update they recommended, the computer would not boot up (got
halfway up and would shut down again and I could not get it to boot
any other way) The recovery was supposed to keep my data. I have
been able to pull up some documents but they are not in Word (MS
office) format because that program is not on my computer anymore
even though it came with it. Between me and my boss we have been
able to get to some things but I can't find the recovery program that
backed up the system.

It *sounds* like you performed a non-destructive "system restore" (not
to be confused with System Restore, which is something entirely
different). Is this what you did:

http://support.gateway.com/s/SOFTWARE/Medialess/MLXPMC0/MLXPMC0su12.shtml

If so, you should really ask your question in a Gateway forum, since
this is not a Windowx XP issue. Also, this page might help:

http://support.gateway.com/support/ask_gateway.aspx?cmpid=topnav

If you haven't done so already, back up all your data if you haven't
already done so. The last thing you need is lost data, especially if it
is work-related! Hopefully you have an external hard drive.

You need to reinstall Word. Or Office (which includes Word). You should
have a disc.

 

[Paul Randall]

Not quite. I'm making the point that a backup - any backup! - is next to
worthless unless it is checked when first implemented and then again at
regular intervals. Many server admins learn this key point the hard way.

I agree, but not necessarily to the 'any backup!' part.
To me, creating a restore point is making a backup. I've often thought that
it was odd that the many posts I've read that included words to create a
restore point before doing some task NEVER have words to check that the
restore point just created will function properly. Do you have a quick and
easy way to validate restore points or a link to a web page that explains
how to do it in a fairly painless manner? I'm also interested in how long
it would take to validate a restore point and what that validation would
entail. I suppose that if the backups are done well, then restore points
are less important.

-Paul Randall

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

I agree, but not necessarily to the 'any backup!' part.
To me, creating a restore point is making a backup. I've often thought
that it was odd that the many posts I've read that included words to
create a restore point before doing some task NEVER have words to check
that the restore point just created will function properly. Do you have a
quick and easy way to validate restore points or a link to a web page that
explains how to do it in a fairly painless manner? I'm also interested in
how long it would take to validate a restore point and what that
validation would entail. I suppose that if the backups are done well,
then restore points are less important.

-Paul Randall

To me a "Restore Point" is not really a backup. System Restore allows you to
restore your system to an earlier date and does not back up data files. If
System Restore fails to work then it's not a catastrophy - at worst you have
to re-install Windows and all applications. If a backup fails then it often
is a catastrophy.

You write "I suppose that if the backups are done well, then restore points
are less important." I don't see it this way. Backups will not back up the
operating system (unless you use an imaging program). System Restore and
Data Back-up complement each other.

Testing System Restore is easy:
1. Create a System Restore Point.
2. Change some setting, e.g. your TCP/IP address.
3. Perform a System Restore. The setting from Step 2 should be reversed.

 

[Paul Randall]

To me a "Restore Point" is not really a backup. System Restore allows you
to restore your system to an earlier date and does not back up data files.
If System Restore fails to work then it's not a catastrophy - at worst you
have to re-install Windows and all applications. If a backup fails then it
often is a catastrophy.

You write "I suppose that if the backups are done well, then restore
points are less important." I don't see it this way. Backups will not back
up the operating system (unless you use an imaging program). System
Restore and Data Back-up complement each other.

Testing System Restore is easy:
1. Create a System Restore Point.
2. Change some setting, e.g. your TCP/IP address.
3. Perform a System Restore. The setting from Step 2 should be reversed.

Thanks for your response. I see the difference between backing up data that
may not be available from any other source and stuff like the OS and
applications that can be reinstalled. Restore points just make it easy to
get back to some configuration that we think we knew at the time the restore
point was made. There is always the chance that an undocumented change was
made prior to restore point creation, so the configuration might not be as
well known as we think.

I agree that your three step procedure will test some aspects of the restore
point. I think you would require much more when checking a backup,
something like verifying the datasets' MD5 checksums, which validates all
the data, not just one datapoint in the registry. Perhaps the restore
process is so rebust that seeing the step 3 run to completion might verify
the restore point is valid and vefiying the step 2 change had been reversed
would only verify that the correct restore point had be chosen.

I will read http://bertk.mvps.org/html/tips.html and try to get a better
understanding of System Restore.

-Paul Randall