How to retrieve an overwrriten folder?

[Guest]

I accidentally overwrote a very important folder by an empty one of the
same
name. How can I retrieve the overwritten folder with all it's files? I
have
tried several file recovery software, but none seem to detec it as
deleted. I
have tried system recovery as well, like it has been suggested; however,
system recovery does not alter user-made changes to files or folders,
therefore the overwritten folder remains overwritten.

If it is definitely impossible to achive a full recovery, I could still
benefit from some sort of index of the files that were in the overwritten
folder, (not the actual file, just the filename) Any software?

Any ideas are welcome.

 

[Malke]

I accidentally overwrote a very important folder by an empty one of
the same
name. How can I retrieve the overwritten folder with all it's files? I
have
tried several file recovery software, but none seem to detec it as
deleted. I
have tried system recovery as well, like it has been suggested;
however, system recovery does not alter user-made changes to files or
folders, therefore the overwritten folder remains overwritten.

If it is definitely impossible to achive a full recovery, I could
still benefit from some sort of index of the files that were in the
overwritten folder, (not the actual file, just the filename) Any
software?

Well, here you are again. This is the third time you've posted this
question and this is now the third time I've told you "no". Apparently
you haven't killed yourself, which is A Good Thing.

Either contact a professional data recovery company to get their opinion
or let it go. Continually posting the same thing is not going to get
you any different answers. You screwed up. If you didn't have a backup
of that folder and you won't do what is necessary to determine if it
can be retrieved - call someone like Drive Savers - then that's the end
of the story.

This is the last time I'll say this, Ernesto - Any data recovery
software that is available to you or local professional computer repair
shops will only retrieve the overwritten data.

Malke

 

[Guest]

I have not the means to afford proffesional help, which leaves me to rely on
this forum. I wonder why you are the only one who answers my posts... I need
more varied advice, for I am sure it is possible to solve my problem.
And like I said, an Index could prove very useful. If the recovery is not
possible,(which I doubt), then I need to know at least which files I lost...

 

[R. McCarty]

Data loss is unfortunate, but data backups are absolutely necessary
for any PC. Part of the problem is that most users do not know that
a hard drive has no permanency about it. I've not been following your
thread so don't know the particulars. Data Recovery must be done
properly or you'll diminish your chances of getting anything back. The
more you do to fix it, the harder it becomes.

Knowing which files you lost would be very difficult. When you delete
files it's the index ( or pointer ) to a file that is lost. The clusters
that
contain the files remain and are marked free. They can be recovered
until the free space is re-used for new content. When doing recovery
you want to retrieve to a secondary drive. The actual recovery can
overwrite into free space which defeats what you're trying to do.

Sad to say, there are many times you just have to accept the loss and
try to implement some protections to protect your data from then on.

You can never have too many backups or totally trust the ones you
have on hand.

 

[Kerry Brown]

No one else is answering because Malke has already given you the correct
answer.

 

[Malke]

No one else is answering because Malke has already given you the
correct answer.

Besides, I'm not the only one who answered him. He got at least three
other people (or more, I don't remember and I'm not going to bother
looking up the posts to verify) answering him in his two other posts.

Ernesto, I'm sorry for your trouble but if you can't use a professional
data recovery company like Drive Savers then you are completely out of
luck. Again, this is the end of the story. You overwrote the data and
didn't have backups. Move on.

Malke

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I have not the means to afford proffesional help, which leaves me to
rely on this forum. I wonder why you are the only one who answers my
posts...

Nobody else has answered because it wasn't necessary to. Malke already gave
you accurate information

I need more varied advice,

You want varied advice? OK here's varied advice:

1. Soak your drive in a weak solution of clorox.

2. Go to Start Run, and issue the command C:\qwertyuiop.exe /parm=asdfgh

3. Cut the drive in half with a hacksaw, invert the back half and superglue
it back to the front half.

Is that varied enough for you?

It's easy to make up varied advice, but if you want *accurate* advice, go
back and reread Malke's posts. She knows what she's talking about.

for I am sure it is possible to
solve my problem.

You may be as sure as you would like to, but you are still wrong. A
Professional drive recovery service may be able to help you, but it's
expensive. It you can't afford it, I understand, but that's the only way
around the problem. I had a similar problem last year where I lost hundreds
of irreplaceable pictures I had taken on my vacation because of a failed
drive on my laptop. I too wasn't willing to spend the hundreds (or
thousands) of dollars it would have taken to recover them, so I well
understand your situation. But that doesn't change the reality of it. Being
sure when you know nothing about the subject is just foolishness and
stubbornness.

 

[R. McCarty]

Data recovery is like seeking Cancer cures, maybe somebody
else has that "Magic Pill" that will make it all better. While I do
images for all my customers and keep them MYSELF, I still
have a hard time convincing users to backup data. It's a given
fact that everybody, sometime will end up with data loss - it's
just a matter of how much. At least Vista now has a form of
Imaging included (higher end SKUs), and One Care basically
forces you or nags you to backup the system.

 

[Rock]

I accidentally overwrote a very important folder by an empty one of the
same
name. How can I retrieve the overwritten folder with all it's files? I
have
tried several file recovery software, but none seem to detec it as
deleted. I
have tried system recovery as well, like it has been suggested; however,
system recovery does not alter user-made changes to files or folders,
therefore the overwritten folder remains overwritten.

If it is definitely impossible to achive a full recovery, I could still
benefit from some sort of index of the files that were in the overwritten
folder, (not the actual file, just the filename) Any software?

As others have stated you need to contact a data recovery service for this.
They generally don't charge anything to look at the drive and tell you what
can be recovered. You have been given a list of services that do this work
in previous posts.

Posting here over and over will not get you a better result.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

There are two groups of people:

a) Those who regularly back up their important files and folders.
b) Those who don't.

Ultimately, everybody joins Group a). The transition can be very
painful. Some, like you, refuse to accept reality - they kick and
scream. They refuse to pay the fee that applies to learning the
basic backup lesson. Their refusal makes no difference to the facts
of life: Unless they have an umlimited budget, data from a file that
was overwritten can only be retrieved from backup.

 

[GHalleck]

Data recovery is like seeking Cancer cures, maybe somebody
else has that "Magic Pill" that will make it all better. While I do
images for all my customers and keep them MYSELF, I still
have a hard time convincing users to backup data. It's a given
fact that everybody, sometime will end up with data loss - it's
just a matter of how much. At least Vista now has a form of
Imaging included (higher end SKUs), and One Care basically
forces you or nags you to backup the system.

It's a lost cause. Back in the '80's, we used to make key users
sign a statement that they will be automatically terminated if
they had failed to make critical backups of their files. We even
wrote the batch files to facilitate backups. But in these liberal
times, such decrees are considered to be too draconian and capital
punishment is deemed to be strictly verboten by the Human Resources
specialists regardless of the fact that such losses can potentially
cripple an entire project, business, operation, etc. And even with
built-in backup routines, someone will find a way to avoid using it
or even allow it to start over-writing itself ad infinitum.