Can I get it back?

[Guest]

My pc recently did a recovery and now everything is as good as brand new.
None of my stuff is there. I lost some important documents for school that I
had saved on the desktop and the hard drive. I dont seem to be able to
retrive these files at all. Is there ANY way I can get access to files that
were on the desktop previously? Please help.. I really need to recover those
documents. Thanks!

 

[Mark G.]

I think, but not sure, that you could use a program like "Get data back" and
see what is finds.

 

[Will Denny]

Hi

What kind of XP CD did use for the recovery? Was it an OEM version?

--


Will Denny
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User
Please reply to the News Groups

 

[Guest]

Hello,

It was my brother who did the mess-up. I dont think he used any CD. It was
some recovery prompted by the computer. But everything got deleted and it
was almost back to factory-settings.

Thing is, after he did that, i tried to recover the data as adviced by a
support advisor but ended up having to do that recovery again.. which means
the pc went thru twice of such recoveries.

 

[Will Denny]

Hi

The files would have been overwritten by now and I would doubt they are
retrievable. You could try contacting a Data Recovery company - but that
will be both time consuming and expensive.

--


Will Denny
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User
Please reply to the News Groups

 

[Vagabond Software]

My pc recently did a recovery and now everything is as good as brand new.
None of my stuff is there. I lost some important documents for school that I
had saved on the desktop and the hard drive. I dont seem to be able to
retrive these files at all. Is there ANY way I can get access to files that
were on the desktop previously? Please help.. I really need to recover those
documents. Thanks!

The most likely scenario is that your data is still on the hard drive.

Go to the C:\Documents and Settings\ folder and you will see several usernames, perhaps even several variations of your username. You old documents will probably reside in one of those older user profile folders.

carl

 

[Mark G.]

And if what Vagabond suggests doesn't do the trick, seriously, try a piece
of software like the one I mentioned before. There are some similar ones
that are freebies.

My pc recently did a recovery and now everything is as good as brand new.
None of my stuff is there. I lost some important documents for school that I
had saved on the desktop and the hard drive. I dont seem to be able to
retrive these files at all. Is there ANY way I can get access to files that
were on the desktop previously? Please help.. I really need to recover those
documents. Thanks!

The most likely scenario is that your data is still on the hard drive.

Go to the C:\Documents and Settings\ folder and you will see several
usernames, perhaps even several variations of your username. You old
documents will probably reside in one of those older user profile folders.

carl

 

[Guest]

hmm.. can't find anything in the documents and settngs folders..

Mark>> the date recovery programs costs money and I am not even sure if it
will be helpful.

 

[Vanguard]

Hello,

It was my brother who did the mess-up. I dont think he used any CD. It
was
some recovery prompted by the computer. But everything got deleted
and it
was almost back to factory-settings.

Thing is, after he did that, i tried to recover the data as adviced by
a
support advisor but ended up having to do that recovery again.. which
means
the pc went thru twice of such recoveries.

Ask your brother what he did for a "recovery". We don't know what
actually got performed because you don't know to tell us. Could've been
a drive image restore from a restore CD or using an image fileset in a
hidden partition which would overwrite and wipe out the OS partition.
Might've been a System Restore Point that he reverted to but he went all
the way back to the first one he found, so your applications and their
data are still there but not the registry entries to use them, so you'll
have to go searching for the files. Make sure to login as an
administrator so you can see everyone's file and not get restricted due
to file permissions.

Time to start thinking about backup strategies for the next time your
brother helps you.

 

[Mark G.]

Well then try a free one. Do you know how to search google for that kind of
stuff? Not trying to sound rude, but there are good free ones out there. I
just use what I had initially mentioned, which isn't free.

 

[David Candy]

http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&q=xp+file+recovery+free&meta=

 

[complaints]

My pc recently did a recovery and now everything is as good as brand new.
None of my stuff is there. I lost some important documents for school that I
had saved on the desktop and the hard drive. I dont seem to be able to
retrive these files at all. Is there ANY way I can get access to files that
were on the desktop previously? Please help.. I really need to recover those
documents. Thanks!

You can't.

 

[Alex Nichol]

It was my brother who did the mess-up. I dont think he used any CD. It was
some recovery prompted by the computer. But everything got deleted and it
was almost back to factory-settings.

Probably this was a 'restore' started up by a function key at boot on
say an HP or Packard Bell. That is there to put things back to
ex-factory state, formatting the disk. If you do not have backups I'm
afraid all is lost

 

[Vagabond Software]

hmm.. can't find anything in the documents and settngs folders..

Mark>> the date recovery programs costs money and I am not even sure if it
will be helpful.

Even if your "Restore" was a complete format and re-imaging of the disk, I find it hard to believe your have nothing in the Documents and Settings folder. Here is what my Documents and Settings folder looks like from a command-line 'dir' command:

C:\Documents and Settings>dir
Volume in drive C has no label.
Volume Serial Number is B023-C5E6

Directory of C:\Documents and Settings

12/18/2004 01:00 AM <DIR> .
12/18/2004 01:00 AM <DIR> ..
12/26/2004 11:12 AM <DIR> Administrator
12/29/2004 08:34 AM <DIR> All Users
01/07/2005 01:15 PM <DIR> carl
03/28/2004 12:39 AM <DIR> carl.PC-CARL
03/23/2004 11:31 PM <DIR> Default User
03/22/2004 11:30 PM <DIR> LocalService
03/22/2004 11:30 PM <DIR> NetworkService
0 File(s) 0 bytes
6 Dir(s) 23,225,896,960 bytes free

Do you see that I have at least two folders there that may contain my data, possibly three depending on how much I logon as Administrator? Do you have any username folders in your Documents and Settings folder?

carl

 

[Guest]

Even if your "Restore" was a complete format and re-imaging of the disk, I find it hard to believe your have nothing in the Documents and Settings folder. Here is what my Documents and Settings folder looks like from a command-line 'dir' command:

C:\Documents and Settings>dir
Volume in drive C has no label.
Volume Serial Number is B023-C5E6

Directory of C:\Documents and Settings

12/18/2004 01:00 AM <DIR> .
12/18/2004 01:00 AM <DIR> ..
12/26/2004 11:12 AM <DIR> Administrator
12/29/2004 08:34 AM <DIR> All Users
01/07/2005 01:15 PM <DIR> carl
03/28/2004 12:39 AM <DIR> carl.PC-CARL
03/23/2004 11:31 PM <DIR> Default User
03/22/2004 11:30 PM <DIR> LocalService
03/22/2004 11:30 PM <DIR> NetworkService
0 File(s) 0 bytes
6 Dir(s) 23,225,896,960 bytes free

Do you see that I have at least two folders there that may contain my data, possibly three depending on how much I logon as Administrator? Do you have any username folders in your Documents and Settings folder?

carl

Hello Carl,
How do i logon as Administrator and how do i access the files and then
switch it back?

 

[Vagabond Software]

Hello Carl,
How do i logon as Administrator and how do i access the files and then
switch it back?

You likely already have Administrator privileges with your current user account. Open My Computer from the Desktop or from the Start menu. In the My Computer window, Open Local Disk (C and then Open the Documents and Settings folder. You should see several folders based on your username.

Open each of those folders. One of the folders there will either be My Documents or something like "carl's Documents", except with your username, of course. That's where all your user-created documents should reside.

Please let me know if you encounter any errors trying to access these folders or if you cannot see any folders you think are related to your user account.

carl

 

[Guest]

You likely already have Administrator privileges with your current user account. Open My Computer from the Desktop or from the Start menu. In the My Computer window, Open Local Disk (C and then Open the Documents and Settings folder. You should see several folders based on your username.

Open each of those folders. One of the folders there will either be My Documents or something like "carl's Documents", except with your username, of course. That's where all your user-created documents should reside.

Please let me know if you encounter any errors trying to access these folders or if you cannot see any folders you think are related to your user account.

carl

I cannot find any related folders. I checked the my documents properties and
it says that it was created on the day of the 'reocvery'. My documents were
created prior to this.

 

[Vagabond Software]

I cannot find any related folders. I checked the my documents properties and
it says that it was created on the day of the 'reocvery'. My documents were
created prior to this.

Please tell me the names of the folders you see under Documents and Settings. If you open a sub-folder under Documents and Settings, and the documents folder is named My Documents, then that is the My Documents folder for the account you are using right now. We are looking for an old profile or user account.

carl

 

[Raymond J. Johnson Jr.]

Please tell me the names of the folders you see under Documents and Settings. If you open a sub-folder under Documents and Settings, and the documents folder is named My Documents, then that is the My Documents folder for the account you are using right now. We are looking for an old profile or user account.

carl

How in God's name is there supposed to be anything like what the OP is
looking for if the restore has taken place twice??

 

[Vagabond Software]

How in God's name is there supposed to be anything like what the OP is
looking for if the restore has taken place twice??

We don't really know what was the method of the Restore. Was it a Recovery? Was it a Last Known Good? Was it a Restore from backup? Was it a Restore from an EISA partition?

You may be correct and all his data may be gone, but I want to see that for myself. There is nothing in any post in this thread that is conclusive that he does not have an old profile on the computer.

carl