recovering deleted or lost files in Win XP Prof.

[Guest]

CUSTOMER PROVIDED SYSTEM PROPERTIES
O/S: Win XP Prof. version 5
Br: Internet Explorer version 6
Country/Region: Philippines

CONTACT INFORMATION
First Name: Jean
Last Name: Morano

PRODUCT
Windows XP Professional

QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS
Message: Our computer runs in Windows XP Professional and several of us use
it everyday.

The last time I used it, it was running normally but the next day, the
environment was differentâ€â€the start menu looked different (the Tour Windows
XP was at the menu), some programs were gone, when I clicked on the My
Documents folder, my files are gone. I ran the search command and found my
files at C:\Documents and Settings\admin\My Documents. I moved it to the My
Documents folder for easy clicking the next time I need my files.

The next day, it was back to Windows XP environment again but my files are
no longer at both directory (My Documents & C:\Documents and
Settings\admin\My Documents). I ran the search command again and found them
at C:\Documents and Settings\admin\Recent and I could not open them anymore;
the message states that it was either moved or deleted.

If they are deleted, can I still recover the files? Please no technical
terms on your reply. Thanks.

 

[Malke]

CUSTOMER PROVIDED SYSTEM PROPERTIES
O/S: Win XP Prof. version 5
Br: Internet Explorer version 6
Country/Region: Philippines

CONTACT INFORMATION
First Name: Jean
Last Name: Morano

PRODUCT
Windows XP Professional

QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS
Message: Our computer runs in Windows XP Professional and several of us use
it everyday.

The last time I used it, it was running normally but the next day, the
environment was differentâ€â€the start menu looked different (the Tour Windows
XP was at the menu), some programs were gone, when I clicked on the My
Documents folder, my files are gone. I ran the search command and found my
files at C:\Documents and Settings\admin\My Documents. I moved it to the My
Documents folder for easy clicking the next time I need my files.

The next day, it was back to Windows XP environment again but my files are
no longer at both directory (My Documents & C:\Documents and
Settings\admin\My Documents). I ran the search command again and found them
at C:\Documents and Settings\admin\Recent and I could not open them anymore;
the message states that it was either moved or deleted.

If they are deleted, can I still recover the files? Please no technical
terms on your reply. Thanks.

It sounds as though your profile was corrupted but it is very difficult
to say exactly what happened without seeing the machine. It doesn't
sound as though your files were deleted. One can almost always retrieve
deleted files but since you say you want no technical terms, I can't
help you.

Be practical and sensible - if you aren't technically proficient you
should have a qualified computer professional come on-site to sort you out.


Malke

 

[Guest]

OK, maybe I can understand some of the technical terms you'll provide, just
please help me recover my files. Then I'll try to contact a specialist if I
can't understand it. Thanks!

 

[Malke]

OK, maybe I can understand some of the technical terms you'll provide, just
please help me recover my files. Then I'll try to contact a specialist if I
can't understand it. Thanks!

It sounds as though your computer is experiencing hardware problems or
perhaps is heavily infected with a virus. There is no way for me to tell
from your post. I would first try to find your files by manually looking
at everything on the hard drive, starting under C:\Documents and
Settings rather than by using Search. Make sure you can see all hidden
files first. Here's how:

Go to Control Panel>Folder Options>View tab. In XP, there are four
checkboxes to deal with:

a. Check "Display the contents of system folders".
b. Check "Show hidden files and folders".
c. Uncheck "Hide extensions for known file types".
d. Uncheck "Hide protected operating system files" and click "OK" to the
dialog box.

If you find your files, copy them to a USB flash drive or burn them to
CD-R or copy to an external hard drive. It doesn't matter which you use
as long as you get the files off that machine. Then do virus and
hardware testing as follows:

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Hardware_Tshoot

Your next steps on this machine will depend on what you find through the
testing.

If you truly can't find your files, then if the hard drive is not
physically damaged you can try data recovery software. If you use data
recovery software, install it on another machine and either use it from
that operating system or create a bootable cd/floppy and work with that.
If you don't have the skill and/or equipment to do these procedures and
the data is crucial, take the machine to a professional computer repair
shop that has experience in doing data recovery. This will not be your
local version of BigStoreUSA. In-shop data recovery is usually not
exactly cheap (for ex., my charges are generally $150-350 USD), but it
normally costs less than sending the drive to a company like Drive
Savers (see below). Here are some links to various data recovery
programs. I use Easy Recovery Pro, but it is expensive. People whom I
respect have recommended R-Studio and Restoration. YMMV.

http://www3.telus.net/mikebike/RESTORATION.html
PCInspector File Recovery -
http://www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/welcome.htm
Executive Software “Undelete” -
http://www.execsoft.com/undelete/undelete.asp
R-Studio - http://www.r-tt.com/
File Scavenger - http://www.quetek.com/prod02.htm
Ontrack's EasyRecovery - http://www.ontrack.com/software/

If the hard drive is physically damaged or you can't get the files with
data recovery software, they may still be retrievable by a professional
data recovery company. I like Drive Savers (www.drivesavers.com) but
there are others. Professional data recovery is always expensive,
usually starting at around $500 with an average of $1,500-$3,000 USD.
Only you can decide what your data is worth.

After you get all this sorted out, create and use a backup strategy
whereby you regularly back up your data to another hard drive (external
or internal) and/or burn to CD/DVD-R.


Malke

 

[HddRecovery]

What it seems to me that because of the virus you have lost your
files. To recover your files try Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery
Software, it is a file recovery software which provides recovery from
viruses, or data lost occur due to software malfunction, file/
directory deletion or even sabotage.
Download the demo version of the software (http://www.stellarinfo.com/
partition-recovery.htm ) scan your hard drive and your data will be
shown marked as deleted. If you can see your data through then it
means you can get back your data by getting full version.

 

[HddRecovery]

What it seems to me that because of the virus you have lost your
files. To recover your files try Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery
Software, it is a file recovery software which provides recovery from
viruses, or data lost occur due to software malfunction, file/
directory deletion or even sabotage.
Download the demo version of the software (http://www.stellarinfo.com/
partition-recovery.htm ) scan your hard drive and your data will be
shown marked as deleted. If you can see your data through then it
means you can get back your data by getting full version.

 

[Malke]

HddRecovery wrote:

die, spammer


Malke

 

[Malke]

HddRecovery wrote:

In case you didn't hear me the first time - die, spammer.


Malke

 

[wutanghax0r]

HddRecovery wrote:

In case you didn't hear me the first time - die, spammer.

Malke

It will be difficult to locate a deleted file since you don't know for
sure where the file is. The user account you were in when you moved
your files was not your standard admin user account and that account
may no longer exist.

I've had luck with Pandora Recovery. Its a free software:
http://www.pandorarecovery.com

You can use it's search feature to locate files by size, date, type,
etc.