Restore deleted files

  • Thread starter Thread starter Nick Rizzo
  • Start date Start date
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Nick Rizzo

Can I restore a file that I accidentally deleted?
It was to large for the recycle bin so I can't find it.
Is it still on my disk and how can I find it and restore
it?
 
Nick said:
Can I restore a file that I accidentally deleted?
It was to large for the recycle bin so I can't find it.
Is it still on my disk and how can I find it and restore
it?

It is still on your hard drive and you can probably retrieve it if you
haven't done anything else on the affected disk. From a different
machine, download a data recovery utility (Google for some free ones; I
use a paid one called Easy Recovery Pro from Ontrack). You'll make a
bootable floppy usually to start the recovery software. Otherwise, a
local computer repair person will probably be able to get your data
back. The key to success here is that you do nothing else on the hard
drive with the data you want to retrieve.

Malke
 
In
Nick Rizzo said:
Can I restore a file that I accidentally deleted?
It was to large for the recycle bin so I can't find it.
Is it still on my disk and how can I find it and restore
it?


"Deleting" a file doesn't actually delete it; it just marks the
space as available to be used. There are third-party programs
that can sometimes recover deleted files. The problem is that the
space used by the file is likely to become overwritten very
quickly, and this makes the file unrecoverable.

So your chances of successfully recovering this file is decent if
you try recovering it immediately after deleting it, and rapidly
go downhill from there. If you've been using the computer since
then (for example to write this question and read this answer),
your chances are probably very poor by now.

But if the file is important enough, it's worth a try anyway.
Stop using the computer in question immediately, if you haven't
done so already. Download an undelete program on a friend's
computer and bring it yours on a floppy to try.

If this fails, your only other recourse is to take the drive to a
professional file recovery company. This kind of service is very
expensive and may or may not work in your case.
 

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