lost everything

[Guest]

Hi i recently had a power cut that cut off computer while still switched on .
when i switched computer back on could not get anything to work eventually
managed to get it to read windows xp disc and had to reinstall windows xp.
unfortunately I have now lost everything all my music my pics my programmes
everything just got the windows xp now and nothing else, the system restore
doesnt work because it only goes back to today when i reinstalled windows xp.
Can anyone help im desperate as a lot of the stuff is irreplaceable. Im sure
the stuff must still be on my hard drive but how do i get it back. thanks in
advance.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Hi i recently had a power cut that cut off computer while still
switched on . when i switched computer back on could not get
anything to work eventually managed to get it to read windows xp
disc and had to reinstall windows xp. unfortunately I have now lost
everything all my music my pics my programmes everything just got
the windows xp now and nothing else, the system restore doesnt work
because it only goes back to today when i reinstalled windows xp.
Can anyone help im desperate as a lot of the stuff is
irreplaceable. Im sure the stuff must still be on my hard drive but
how do i get it back. thanks in advance.

Sounds like you did too much 'getting it to work' and not enough 'getting
your stuff back'...

If you were able to reinstall on the hardware in question - you would have
been able to read it with something and get your data off beforehand - not
to mention - can you not just go back to your periodic backups (to
CD/DVD/External device of some sort) and recover the files? Or are we
talking the last couple of days since your last backup?

How did you reinstall windows XP? Clean install?
Is your profile still under C\Documents and Settings?

 

[Guest]

Sounds like you didn't do a repair install, but rather a format and install,
if so then everything is gone

 

[Uncle Grumpy]

Can anyone help im desperate as a lot of the stuff is irreplaceable. Im sure
the stuff must still be on my hard drive but how do i get it back. thanks in
advance.

From the sounds of it, you did a complete reinstallation, right?

If that's correct, all is gone.

 

[philo]

Hi i recently had a power cut that cut off computer while still switched on .
when i switched computer back on could not get anything to work eventually
managed to get it to read windows xp disc and had to reinstall windows xp.
unfortunately I have now lost everything all my music my pics my programmes
everything just got the windows xp now and nothing else, the system restore
doesnt work because it only goes back to today when i reinstalled windows xp.
Can anyone help im desperate as a lot of the stuff is irreplaceable. Im sure
the stuff must still be on my hard drive but how do i get it back. thanks in
advance.

If you formatted the drive and did a fresh install...all your data is
gone...
as mentioned by others you should have performed a repair install.


However if you simply installed windows into another folder...
then your data may still be there in your previous profile and you can
access it through windows explorer...
however you might have to take ownership if you can see your previous
folders but not access the data in them

 

[Malke]

Hi i recently had a power cut that cut off computer while still switched on .
when i switched computer back on could not get anything to work eventually
managed to get it to read windows xp disc and had to reinstall windows xp.
unfortunately I have now lost everything all my music my pics my programmes
everything just got the windows xp now and nothing else, the system restore
doesnt work because it only goes back to today when i reinstalled windows xp.
Can anyone help im desperate as a lot of the stuff is irreplaceable. Im sure
the stuff must still be on my hard drive but how do i get it back. thanks in
advance.

You've gotten good answers from other posters. If you DO NOTHING FURTHER
ON THE DRIVE the data may be recoverable. A local professional may be
able to get it but if the data is truly irreplaceable I would just send
the drive to a professional data recovery company. My preference is for
Drive Savers (www.drivesavers.com) but there are others. General prices
run from $500USD on up. Drive Savers recovered all the data on a failed
laptop drive for one of my clients and it cost $2,700. He thought it was
worth the money; only you know what your data is worth. I understand
that some insurance companies are now covering data recovery charges so
check with yours.


Malke

 

[Elmo]

Hi, I recently had a power cut that cut off computer while still switched on.
When I switched computer back on could not get anything to work, eventually
managed to get it to read windows xp disc and had to reinstall windows xp.
Unfortunately I have now lost everything all my music, my pics, my programmes,
everything. Just got the windows xp now and nothing else, the system restore
doesn't work because it only goes back to today when I reinstalled Windows xp.
Can anyone help? I'm desperate as a lot of the stuff is irreplaceable. I'm sure
the stuff must still be on my hard drive but how do I get it back? Thanks in
advance.

Download and run Restoration or another Undelete program. The more you
use the hd with the deleted files, the more data you overwrite, so you
should download the program to a flash drive, or floppy.

http://www.snapfiles.com/get/restoration.html
http://www.recuva.com/

 

[Ron Badour]

First, you really need to get an uninterrupted power supply (UPS) so you
don't run into this problem in the future. You may be able to recover some
of the data with a recovery program; however, I don't think the programs
that Elmo recommended will recover from a formatted partition (assumes you
formatted the partition). This one is pricey but it works well:

Data Recovery Wizard, $69.95. Retrieves data under just about any situation
(as long as the drive still spins).
http://www.easeus.com/datarecoverywizard/index.htm

 

[Rock]

Hi i recently had a power cut that cut off computer while still switched
on .
when i switched computer back on could not get anything to work eventually
managed to get it to read windows xp disc and had to reinstall windows xp.
unfortunately I have now lost everything all my music my pics my
programmes
everything just got the windows xp now and nothing else, the system
restore
doesnt work because it only goes back to today when i reinstalled windows
xp.
Can anyone help im desperate as a lot of the stuff is irreplaceable. Im
sure
the stuff must still be on my hard drive but how do i get it back. thanks
in
advance.

Restore your data from the most current backup.

 

[Guest]

yes it was a partition formatted installation which took one hour 15 minutes
to format .

 

[Guest]

yes thats true thats because i know nothing about computers other than switch

 

[Guest]

well to be honest i never came across an option of doing a repair
installation or obviously i would have clicked that .

 

[Guest]

hi tried snapfiles but windows wouldnt run this software so tried recuva
which worked but didnt resolve the problem, looks like everythings gone for
good , give me a pen and paper anytime darn computers!!!

 

[Guest]

yes i did a partitioned formatted installation as a repair installation was
not offered to me.

 

[Phisherman]

Hi i recently had a power cut that cut off computer while still switched on .
when i switched computer back on could not get anything to work eventually
managed to get it to read windows xp disc and had to reinstall windows xp.
unfortunately I have now lost everything all my music my pics my programmes
everything just got the windows xp now and nothing else, the system restore
doesnt work because it only goes back to today when i reinstalled windows xp.
Can anyone help im desperate as a lot of the stuff is irreplaceable. Im sure
the stuff must still be on my hard drive but how do i get it back. thanks in
advance.

Did the restore write over your drive? There are specialists that
can recover files on failed hard drives, but these services can be
expensive.

You made backups of the files you wanted to keep? If not, get a DVD
burner or another hard drive to make backups. Eventually every hard
drive will fail.

 

[Phisherman]

yes it was a partition formatted installation which took one hour 15 minutes
to format .

Ouch! Your files are (for all practical purposes) gone.

 

[Daave]

Shenan used a respectful tone; he's trying to help you.

yes thats true thats because i know nothing about computers other
than switch on and type things into google im a lorry driver i drive
44 ton trucks into central london, could you come and do my job ?

 

[Malke]

hi tried snapfiles but windows wouldnt run this software so tried recuva
which worked but didnt resolve the problem, looks like everythings gone for
good , give me a pen and paper anytime darn computers!!!

http://www.drivesavers.com

At this point, I'm going to guess that professional data recovery is
your only hope. You've done too much to the drive by now to get anything
off it with locally-run consumer-level software.

Malke

 

[Xenomorph]

I'm sure you can just restore from the backups you make on a regular basis,
right?

If you didn't format the hard drive, all of your stuff should be there
still.

If you did format - that means you chose to delete your stuff.

 

[Uncle Grumpy]

yes it was a partition formatted installation which took one hour 15 minutes
to format .

There's NOTHING you can do to reclaim what you've lost.

I would suggest you start looking into making frequent backups of your
entire installation ASAP so that this won't happen to you again.