How can I recover over-written data files?

[Guest]

A friend is turning to me for help. He thought he backed up his Quicken file
on a 2nd hard drive. Afterwards he downloaded a program update. He opened
the program ibut it started up as if he was starting up for the first time
and none of his data files loaded. So he "copied" the "backup" file from his
2nd hard drive to his "c" drive and was asked if he wanted to overwrite the
existing file - He said "Yes". Now the files with years of financial data
are empty.

I have a gut feeling his backup file was empty. I seached all drives to
inlcude hidden file for the names of the files he lost. He lost all of his
mother's records
(she is in an assisted living home) and years of his own financial data.

Any suggestions? Intuit (Quicken) won't help unless they receive $75.00+++
and we all know software tech support is only as good as the person you get
on the luck of the draw.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Jerry]

In the back pages of "PC Magazine" you will find companies that will help
in recovering 'lost' date - for a fee. Other than that - you/he is screwed.

 

[Guest]

Thanks Jerry, I was afraid I was going to hear that.
--
Cathy
Port Charlotte, FL

In the back pages of "PC Magazine" you will find companies that will help
in recovering 'lost' date - for a fee. Other than that - you/he is screwed.

 

[Nepatsfan]

(e-mail address removed),

A friend is turning to me for help. He thought he backed up
his Quicken file on a 2nd hard drive. Afterwards he
downloaded a program update. He opened the program ibut it
started up as if he was starting up for the first time and
none of his data files loaded. So he "copied" the "backup"
file from his 2nd hard drive to his "c" drive and was asked
if he wanted to overwrite the existing file - He said "Yes".
Now the files with years of financial data are empty.

I have a gut feeling his backup file was empty. I seached
all drives to inlcude hidden file for the names of the files
he lost. He lost all of his mother's records
(she is in an assisted living home) and years of his own
financial data.

Any suggestions? Intuit (Quicken) won't help unless they
receive $75.00+++ and we all know software tech support is
only as good as the person you get on the luck of the draw.

Thanks for your help.

The following instructions are based on Quicken 2006.

In Quicken, click on File at the top of the window. If there
are multiple entries right above where it says Exit, click on
any that don't have a check mark next to them. This might open
up a backup copy of his Quicken file.

If that doesn't work, go to File -> Open and double click the
Backup folder. Quicken automatically creates a backup file once
a week. I've got 5 weeks worth of backups stored in a
Quicken\Backup folder which is stored in My Documents.

Finally, do a search for *.QDF files

Good luck

Nepatsfan

 

[Chroweb]

You can use a program called "R-Studio" to scan and see if the file will be
recoverable.

http://www.r-tt.com

The program costs money, so make sure it can scan and find the file first.

 

[GreenieLeBrun]

A friend is turning to me for help. He thought he backed up his Quicken file
on a 2nd hard drive. Afterwards he downloaded a program update. He opened
the program ibut it started up as if he was starting up for the first time
and none of his data files loaded. So he "copied" the "backup" file from his
2nd hard drive to his "c" drive and was asked if he wanted to overwrite the
existing file - He said "Yes". Now the files with years of financial data
are empty.

I have a gut feeling his backup file was empty. I seached all drives to
inlcude hidden file for the names of the files he lost. He lost all of his
mother's records
(she is in an assisted living home) and years of his own financial data.

Any suggestions? Intuit (Quicken) won't help unless they receive $75.00+++
and we all know software tech support is only as good as the person you get
on the luck of the draw.

Thanks for your help.

Have a look at PC Inspector File Recovery from
http://www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/uk/welcome.htm
This might be able to recover the files.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Thanks Jerry, I was afraid I was going to hear that.

And bear in mind that the services of such companies (you can find them with
google--no magazine is needed) are *very* expensive. They also do not always
succeed.

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
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