How can I recover a (large) file that I have started to COPY over (rather than delete) ?

[ship]

Hi

How can I recover a file that I have just started to over-write?

Details:
I have a large .PST file that by mistake I have just STARTED to over-
write.
Because I was copying over the top of it (rather than deleting) it is
NOT
visible in my Recycled Bid...

Any suggestions?


Ship
Shiperton Henethe

 

[Malke]

Hi

How can I recover a file that I have just started to over-write?

Details:
I have a large .PST file that by mistake I have just STARTED to over-
write.
Because I was copying over the top of it (rather than deleting) it is
NOT
visible in my Recycled Bid...

Any suggestions?

There's nothing you can do. You've already overwritten the original file
with the new information. The only way to reverse your action is to
restore the file from backup. If you didn't have a backup, you're out of
luck.


Malke

 

[ship]

There's nothing you can do. You've already overwritten the original file

with the new information. The only way to reverse your action is to
restore the file from backup. If you didn't have a backup, you're out of
luck.

B*gger. So are you really saying the WindowsXP overwritest the exact
same
part of the disk when it copies one file over another file?

I know for a fact that some of the bytes wont yet have been over
written yet,
because the original .PST file was so large (c.500MB) and I only over-
wrote it for it for
about half a second.

So, is there NO utility other than the WindowsXP "Recycle Bin" to help
us recover
deleted files?


Ship
Shiperton Henethe




Ship2

 

[Malke]

B*gger. So are you really saying the WindowsXP overwritest the exact
same
part of the disk when it copies one file over another file?

I know for a fact that some of the bytes wont yet have been over
written yet,
because the original .PST file was so large (c.500MB) and I only over-
wrote it for it for
about half a second.

So, is there NO utility other than the WindowsXP "Recycle Bin" to help
us recover
deleted files?

When you overwrite a file with the exact same file name, you write data
to that particular place on the hard drive. It doesn't matter that you
only wrote for "half a second". Computers are fast. Running data
recovery software is going to bring up the file with the changes. But
don't take my word for it - I'll be happy for you if I'm wrong. I'm
going on years of experience in data recovery for clients but your
situation could be different. Here are some links to data recovery
software. Some of the programs are free and most of the ones that are
not at least allow you to see if you would retrieve the file(s) before
paying for them.

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/


Malke

 

[Unknown]

Half a second?? Good grief man that's five hundred thousand micro seconds.

 

[ship]

When you overwrite a file with the exact same file name, you write data
to that particular place on the hard drive. It doesn't matter that you
only wrote for "half a second". Computers are fast. Running data
recovery software is going to bring up the file with the changes. But
don't take my word for it - I'll be happy for you if I'm wrong. I'm
going on years of experience in data recovery for clients but your
situation could be different. Here are some links to data recovery
software. Some of the programs are free and most of the ones that are
not at least allow you to see if you would retrieve the file(s) before
paying for them.

Thanks I already tried FreeUndelete and to not much avail.
But the fact that such utilities exist does prove that more can be
done
than just look in you "Recycle bin"

I still take issue with the idea that my ENTIRE file will have been
over-written
in half a second because it takes several seconds to copy the whole
thing!
So clearly SOME of it is still there on the disk.

But no matter.

Either way it remains one of the most STUPID things about m$Windows
that
if you over-write a file with a file of the same name that the system
isnt clever
enough to formally "Delete" that file first (i.e.put it into the
"Recycle bid") .
And thus copying data from disk to disk remains a very dangerous
process
- simply because if you get confused about which disk you have mapped
to what location you will delete you g*ddam data, apparently, for all
time.

How the *heck* that man Gates ever got to be so rich in this crud
still has
me scratching my head.


Ship
Shiperton Henethe

 

[Malke]

ship wrote:
(snippage)

Either way it remains one of the most STUPID things about m$Windows
that
if you over-write a file with a file of the same name that the system
isnt clever
enough to formally "Delete" that file first (i.e.put it into the
"Recycle bid") .
And thus copying data from disk to disk remains a very dangerous
process
- simply because if you get confused about which disk you have mapped
to what location you will delete you g*ddam data, apparently, for all
time.

I'm very sorry for your loss but you have a misunderstanding about how
computers and operating systems work. When you overwrite a file with new
data, it is never "formally" deleted in *any* operating system. This
behavior has nothing to do with Windows and everything to do with what
"Save" means - in Unix, Linux, OS X, and Windows.

I'm afraid that it wasn't "m$Windows" that was stupid.

Of course, if you had Leopard with Time Machine or Vista
Business/Ultimate, you could get back the previous version of your file.
Since you don't, learn to be more careful in the future.

EOT for me.


Malke

 

[ship]

ship wrote:

(snippage)


I'm very sorry for your loss but you have a misunderstanding about how
computers and operating systems work. When you overwrite a file with new
data, it is never "formally" deleted in *any* operating system. This
behavior has nothing to do with Windows and everything to do with what
"Save" means - in Unix, Linux, OS X, and Windows.

I'm afraid that it wasn't "m$Windows" that was stupid.

Of course, if you had Leopard with Time Machine or Vista
Business/Ultimate, you could get back the previous version of your file.
Since you don't, learn to be more careful in the future.

Why are you being so smug and patronising?

Look - dont give me this 'holier than though' information theory BS.
An operating system is
simply a tool that is supposed to be designed for use, and you know
it. And a perfectly
natural mistake while using any o/s is to copy something the wrong
direction.

But if I "delete" a file it goes into the "Recycle bin". Just how hard
can it be
to design an operating system to perform the same activity whenever
it is requested to overwrite a file? i.e. To go through the formal
motions
of "deletion" and only then write to the disk with the new copy of the
file.

If you would stop to think for a single millisecond you would realise
that
the answer is "not remotely hard". The problem is that nobody as M$
bothered to think it through.

Let's be honest - if there was a half-credible alternative to Windows/
Office
for normal business use 3/4 of the business community would jump
ship. The reason we stay is bound up with the concept of monopoly
and has nothing to do with merit.


Ship

 

[RA]

Why are you being so smug and patronising?

Look - dont give me this 'holier than though' information theory BS.
An operating system is
simply a tool that is supposed to be designed for use, and you know
it. And a perfectly
natural mistake while using any o/s is to copy something the wrong
direction.

But if I "delete" a file it goes into the "Recycle bin". Just how hard
can it be
to design an operating system to perform the same activity whenever
it is requested to overwrite a file? i.e. To go through the formal
motions
of "deletion" and only then write to the disk with the new copy of the
file.

If you would stop to think for a single millisecond you would realise
that
the answer is "not remotely hard". The problem is that nobody as M$
bothered to think it through.

Let's be honest - if there was a half-credible alternative to Windows/
Office
for normal business use 3/4 of the business community would jump
ship. The reason we stay is bound up with the concept of monopoly
and has nothing to do with merit.


Ship

Well, why don't you design an OS to do exactly what you are asking being
that it is "not remotely hard".
Since you have obviously thought it through where nobody else has, it should
be a piece of cake. You could be the next richest man in the world.
An operating system may be "simply a tool that is supposed to be designed
for use", but surely you are aware that the incorrect use or misuse of any
tool can lead to disaster. It may be a perfectly natural mistake to copy
something wrong, but as Malke pointed out, a backup would have saved your
data. Nearly everyone I know, including me, has made the same mistake you
made at some point in their pc use. I am sure that having learned this
painful lesson, you are immediately taking the necessary steps to learn
about backing up your data so that it never happens again.

 

[WaIIy]

Why are you being so smug and patronising?

Look - dont give me this 'holier than though' information theory BS.
An operating system is
simply a tool that is supposed to be designed for use, and you know
it. And a perfectly
natural mistake while using any o/s is to copy something the wrong
direction.

But if I "delete" a file it goes into the "Recycle bin". Just how hard
can it be
to design an operating system to perform the same activity whenever
it is requested to overwrite a file? i.e. To go through the formal
motions
of "deletion" and only then write to the disk with the new copy of the
file.

If you would stop to think for a single millisecond you would realise
that
the answer is "not remotely hard". The problem is that nobody as M$
bothered to think it through.

Let's be honest - if there was a half-credible alternative to Windows/
Office
for normal business use 3/4 of the business community would jump
ship. The reason we stay is bound up with the concept of monopoly
and has nothing to do with merit.


Ship

Malke was quite kind and diplomatic.

You must be the same guy who runs into a tree and blames the tree for
growing in your path.

Basically, if you're too careless to manipulate files correctly, have
someone else do it.

I'm quite positive this is not the first time you've overwritten a file.

Geez, Windows even asks you if you want to do it. Of course, that would
need some reading comprehension.

The upshot is, you screwed up and cannot take responsibility for your
actions. You blame everything except Bill Gate's haircut when in fact,
you are the culprit.

So, quit whining.

 

[ship]

Malke was quite kind and diplomatic.

You must be the same guy who runs into a tree and blames the tree for
growing in your path.

Basically, if you're too careless to manipulate files correctly, have
someone else do it.

I'm quite positive this is not the first time you've overwritten a file.

Geez, Windows even asks you if you want to do it. Of course, that would
need some reading comprehension.

The upshot is, you screwed up and cannot take responsibility for your
actions. You blame everything except Bill Gate's haircut when in fact,
you are the culprit.

I never denied making human error. Afterall I am human. Yes I cocked
up. I made a mistake.
You guys on the other hand are clearly all Gods, and thus never make
mistakes.

Either that you or you are in the pocket of one.

What I am saying is that the system needs to be properly designed for
HUMANS to use.

When you routinely take backups, you routinely overwrite the same
file. And yes, every
time you do that Windows will say "are you sure?". All I am asking is
that there be some
way of recovering the data if you copy a file over another file, as
will happen to all of us
humans eventually. It has taken me 3 years to make this particular
error because I have
had to be incredibly careful as I already knew that over-copied files
do not go into
the Windows "Recycled Bin". Yes I am disappointed that it doesnt do
so. And yes I am
even more irritated that even if you download all sorts of special
recovery utilities, it STILL
can not recover the file no matter what you do.

If is the job of software developers to listen to feedback from their
customers.
Yes even if they are running in a near monopoly situation.

And it is the job of customer to moan like bl**dy h*ll when the
operating system that
we are lumbered with with hasnt noticably improved in what is it now,
5 years?


Ship
Shiperton Henethe

 

[ship]

Well, why don't you design an OS to do exactly what you are asking being
that it is "not remotely hard".
Since you have obviously thought it through where nobody else has, it should
be a piece of cake. You could be the next richest man in the world.
An operating system may be "simply a tool that is supposed to be designed
for use", but surely you are aware that the incorrect use or misuse of any
tool can lead to disaster. It may be a perfectly natural mistake to copy
something wrong, but as Malke pointed out, a backup would have saved your
data. Nearly everyone I know, including me, has made the same mistake you
made at some point in their pc use. I am sure that having learned this
painful lesson, you are immediately taking the necessary steps to learn
about backing up your data so that it never happens again.- Hide quoted text -

Yes of course I back up every day.
This was data lost within a day.

So which is it - is my suggested enhancement to WindowsXP a trivial
enhancement to implement or not. Or are you just BS-ing because you
have simply no idea?

There would be no point in my developing a new o/s because there is a
defacto
monopoly in place and I would lose a great deal of money trying to do
so.
I gather the European courts agree with me about the monopoly and are
hauling the very reluctant slumbering M$ giant over the coals of
late...


Ship

 

[Bob I]

I never denied making human error. Afterall I am human. Yes I cocked
up. I made a mistake.
You guys on the other hand are clearly all Gods, and thus never make
mistakes.

Either that you or you are in the pocket of one.

What I am saying is that the system needs to be properly designed for
HUMANS to use.

When you routinely take backups, you routinely overwrite the same
file. And yes, every
time you do that Windows will say "are you sure?". All I am asking is
that there be some
way of recovering the data if you copy a file over another file, as
will happen to all of us
humans eventually. It has taken me 3 years to make this particular
error because I have
had to be incredibly careful as I already knew that over-copied files
do not go into
the Windows "Recycled Bin". Yes I am disappointed that it doesnt do
so. And yes I am
even more irritated that even if you download all sorts of special
recovery utilities, it STILL
can not recover the file no matter what you do.

If is the job of software developers to listen to feedback from their
customers.
Yes even if they are running in a near monopoly situation.

And it is the job of customer to moan like bl**dy h*ll when the
operating system that
we are lumbered with with hasnt noticably improved in what is it now,
5 years?

And just how many times would you like to be asked "Are you SURE?" ;-) I
suspect some of the new file system features will eventually be
released, but they were dropped to get Vista out the door in time.

 

[ship]

Either way it remains one of the most STUPID things about m$Windows

And just how many times would you like to be asked "Are you SURE?" ;-) I
suspect some of the new file system features will eventually be
released, but they were dropped to get Vista out the door in time.- Hide quoted text -

No it's not about being asked "are you sure".
That doesnt help.
If you copy files back and forth between different computers in
different directions
and in different configuations, and using differently assigned drive
letters every
day... EVENTUALLY (being human) one makes a mistake. One gets the
direction wrong.

"Are you sure?" doesnt help. At the time you thought you WERE sure.
But you were incorrect.
My point is that it's a TERRIBLY easy mistake to make. And that, being
as there is plenty
disk space on the computer, it would be a darned site easier to use if
the stupid o/s
simply performed it's normal "delete" function just before doing the
copying.

An analogy:

Think of the road system. Who amongst us never makes a mistake when
driving from
A to B - particularly when in unfamiliar territory? Well, luckily we
are allowed to take
side roads, do U-turns and generally change our minds... and
eventually with luck
we end up at the "B".
The current Windows system is like a road system that says "no
mistakes"
- i.e. if you get your route wrong and make just one mistake, then you
have to
go back to the start.
It's no use asking me on some winding cross-country junction "are you
sure?"
several times over. In fact it doesnt really help to even ask the
question.
Sometimes I am sure, and sometimes I'm not completely sure.

But an unforgiving system that forces me to go back to the start after
each
error is a system that is simply not designed for *use*.

At least not designed for us by us normal human beings. Maybe Bill
Gates
never makes any mistakes... but I forget myself Bill is of course
perfect
OF COURSE he never makes mistakes.

And never has he ever copied any file over another file that he
actually needed.



Ship
Shiperton Henethe