Stupid (NOT necessarily):
When a file is deleted, its disk index entry is modified to indicate
that the disk space that file occupies is now available for reuse. At
that point the file can be recovered intact. However, once any part or
all of that space has been reused to hold another file or file part, the
original file cannot be recovered entirely, or at all.
File undeleter utilities will typically report wholly or partially
recoverable files they discover, and give you the option of selecting
any you would like to recover. Obviously, the sooner you run such a
utility on a drive the better your chances of finding recoverable files.
It's a good idea, if you delete a file(s) by mistake and realize the
error immediately, to run such a utility immediately - or if you don't
have one installed, to power the machine down until you have one to
install and run before any other activity on that partition occurs.
Relatively inexpensive suites of system utilities available at your
corner computer shop will typically include such recovery programs. Good
luck.
