System Restore gone kaput...

[Guest]

I accidently deleted some files a few days ago, and so I used System Restore
to try and get them back. Unfortunately, it restored the folder the files
were in, and not the files themselves. I then tried to Undo the system
restore when I found that some other stuff was missing due to the system
restore, but it fails. I can't undo the system restore any more... I've tried
restoring to another restore point on that day, but it fails on that too. Any
help would be much appreciated.

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi Trevor,

First, stop using System Restore. You will only make things worse at this
point. SR isn't to recover deleted files, those you should have retrieved
from the Recycle Bin or used an undelete utility (and there are many
freeware ones available for this purpose). Right now, you need to go
forward, not back. The "other stuff" should be retrieved using the
aforementioned methods.

As to System Restore, go into System properties and disable it. Then reboot
and restart it to get it working properly again. Please be aware that all
existing restore points are lost by this action, you will be starting fresh.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I accidently deleted some files a few days ago, and so I used System
Restore to try and get them back.

That's not what System Restore is for and it can't help you to get your
files back.

System Restore is *not* a backup of your computer files. If you want to
protect yourself against losing your files, you need to run backup software
regularly. What System Restore does is give you the ability to revert the
*System* (not your data files) back to an earlier date.

You can try the recycle bin. You may be able to find your deleted files
there. If not, read the following:

"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 are 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 (here's one:
http://www3.telus.net/mikebike/RESTORATION.html but there are several others
to choose from; do a Google search) on a friend's computer and bring it to
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.

 

[Plato]

I accidently deleted some files a few days ago, and so I used System Restore
to try and get them back. Unfortunately, it restored the folder the files
were in, and not the files themselves. I then tried to Undo the system

System restore is NOT for recovering deleted files.

 

[coal_brona]

Hi,

I suppose you trying Active@ undelete to restore lost data. It worked
great for me and never failed before so it can really help you.

http://www.active-undelete.com/

For restore under DOS Uneraser works great.
http://www.uneraser.com/