Help... Is it possible to find a file that was lost?

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Guest

A friend of mine was nice enough to restore my computer to its original date
while I was out of town.... My question is..... Is there any way to find a
file that dissapeared after the restore... I don't think I have any programs
that will help... but I have heard that w/ XP nothing is ever really gone
even when you might think that its deleeted..... Is that true? I really need
someones help Please
 
arwb said:
A friend of mine was nice enough to restore my computer to its original date
while I was out of town.... My question is..... Is there any way to find a
file that dissapeared after the restore... I don't think I have any programs
that will help... but I have heard that w/ XP nothing is ever really gone
even when you might think that its deleeted..... Is that true? I really need
someones help Please
Click to expand...

It depends on these things:
- Where was the file before?
- What did you do with it?
- What restoration facility did your friend use?
- Did you back it up?

About the last point: A 2.5" hard disk in an external
USB case is a low-cost but highly effective backup
medium. These days there is no excuse for not backing
up all important files at regular intervals.
 
It depends how he restored it. If he used the factory restore disks
that come with most computers these days, the chances are not that
great. I would try NTFS Recovery
(http://www.tech-pro.net/ntfs-recovery.html, or use the FAT version if
the drive is formatted using FAT.) You'll be able to see whether the
file seems recoverable before buying the software. If its a small file,
even the free trial will let you recover it.

The PC Guru: www.the-pc-guru.com
 
arwb said:
A friend of mine was nice enough to restore my computer to its original
date
while I was out of town.... My question is..... Is there any way to find a
file that dissapeared after the restore... I don't think I have any
programs
that will help... but I have heard that w/ XP nothing is ever really gone
even when you might think that its deleeted..... Is that true? I really
need
someones help Please
Click to expand...

For future reference, if you delete a file, it lands in the Recycle Bin,
assuming this feature hasn't been disabled. The default is ON when Windows
is installed. Recycle Bin's size limit can also determine whether a file's
still there. But, if you realize relatively quickly that you've deleted
something by mistake, you'll find it there.

This all sounds nice, but without knowing exactly what your friend did, it's
impossible to say whether your file may still be somewhere on the hard disk.
 
=?Utf-8?B?YXJ3Yg==?= said:
A friend of mine was nice enough to restore my computer to its original date
while I was out of town.... My question is..... Is there any way to find a
file that dissapeared after the restore... I don't think I have any programs
Click to expand...

Yes. Use the backup cd you made of your most important files. Or, find
your file on the hard drive you clone your data to.
 
Plato said:
Yes. Use the backup cd you made of your most important files. Or, find
your file on the hard drive you clone your data to.
Click to expand...

You sound like me. Good and bad, both. :-)
 
Plato said:
Doug said:
You sound like me. Good and bad, both. :-)
Click to expand...

[grin]
Click to expand...

If our erected morons in Washington want to appear productive, why don't
they pass a law requiring every piece of computer equipment to carry a
warning about learning to do backups? Huge day-glo orange labels on
everything, even packages of computer cables, with web links to tutorials
about backup methods. Based on what I see in this newsgroup, users are NEVER
exposed to the idea until something fails.
 
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