Guest shirley Posted August 15, 2007 Posted August 15, 2007 Hi, I accidentally deleted some very important files today. If I go back and do a system restore will the files be retrieved? I've read the other posts about these "undelete" programs, but since the language tends to get a bit technical for me, I'm hesitant to try them. Thanks, shirley
Guest dobey Posted August 15, 2007 Posted August 15, 2007 Re: System Restore and Deleted Files "shirley" <shirley@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:0032F0C3-366C-4545-8199-B020D5E7269E@microsoft.com... > Hi, > > I accidentally deleted some very important files today. If I go back and > do > a system restore will the files be retrieved? I've read the other posts > about these "undelete" programs, but since the language tends to get a bit > technical for me, I'm hesitant to try them. > > Thanks, > shirley If they were your personal files, system restore won't help. That only works for restoring system files. To increase your chances of retrieving the files, you should stop using the partition where the files were stored. If it was on the d:\ drive. It is probably safe to use your PC. If it was the C:\ drive, you should not use the PC al all. You need something like GetDataBack, which I have used, or you could try this. http://www3.telus.net/mikebike/RESTORATION.html Restoration is freeware and I haven't used it so don't know how well it works,but others have recommended it. P.S. I've done a quick test, and it seems to work, but the filenames came up differently, (that is to say I wouldn't have found my deleted file based on its name before it was deleted), so it might be best to retreive all the files with the same extention as the ones you lost, or based on date modified. Don't be afraid to have a look at programs. Just make sure you don't make changes or "OK" something you don't understand.
Guest PA Bear Posted August 15, 2007 Posted August 15, 2007 Re: System Restore and Deleted Files See http://bertk.mvps.org/html/filesfolders.html -- ~Robear Dyer (PA Bear) MS MVP-Windows (IE, OE, Security, Shell/User) AumHa VSOP & Admin; DTS-L.org shirley wrote: > Hi, > > I accidentally deleted some very important files today. If I go back and > do > a system restore will the files be retrieved? I've read the other posts > about these "undelete" programs, but since the language tends to get a bit > technical for me, I'm hesitant to try them. > > Thanks, > shirley
Guest dobey Posted August 15, 2007 Posted August 15, 2007 Re: System Restore and Deleted Files The authour could have saved himself a whole lot of time and just listed what system restore does monitor... ;-) "PA Bear" <PABearMVP@gmail.com> wrote in message news:eWSAsiw3HHA.5740@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl... > See http://bertk.mvps.org/html/filesfolders.html > -- > ~Robear Dyer (PA Bear) > MS MVP-Windows (IE, OE, Security, Shell/User) > AumHa VSOP & Admin; DTS-L.org > > shirley wrote: >> Hi, >> >> I accidentally deleted some very important files today. If I go back and >> do >> a system restore will the files be retrieved? I've read the other posts >> about these "undelete" programs, but since the language tends to get a >> bit >> technical for me, I'm hesitant to try them. >> >> Thanks, >> shirley >
Guest Ken Blake, MVP Posted August 15, 2007 Posted August 15, 2007 Re: System Restore and Deleted Files On Tue, 14 Aug 2007 21:50:01 -0700, shirley <shirley@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote: > I accidentally deleted some very important files today. If I go back and do > a system restore will the files be retrieved? No. System Restore is not meant to be a backup for your data. It monitors system files only, not data files. I assume that you've already tried the Recycle Bin, and they aren't there? > I've read the other posts > about these "undelete" programs, but since the language tends to get a bit > technical for me, I'm hesitant to try them. That's your only choice. Read below: "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. -- Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User Please Reply to the Newsgroup
Guest shirley Posted August 15, 2007 Posted August 15, 2007 Re: System Restore and Deleted Files Thank you dobey, PA Bear and Ken-- Unfortunately, I didn't realize right away that I'd deleted the folder, so I did continue to work--I was actually trying to make some space and zipped a bunch of files, etc. I'll go ahead and give one of the recovery tools a shot--I had loaded PC Inspector last night and ran it, but didn't quite know yet what to do with all the files it had recovered, so this afternoon, I'll sort through it and hope for the best. Is it possible that this one http://www3.telus.net/mikebike/RESTORATION.html that you cited might be better than the PC Inspector? I might be back for further questioning-- thanks again, shirley "Ken Blake, MVP" wrote: > On Tue, 14 Aug 2007 21:50:01 -0700, shirley > <shirley@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote: > > > > I accidentally deleted some very important files today. If I go back and do > > a system restore will the files be retrieved? > > > No. System Restore is not meant to be a backup for your data. It > monitors system files only, not data files. > > I assume that you've already tried the Recycle Bin, and they aren't > there? > > > > I've read the other posts > > about these "undelete" programs, but since the language tends to get a bit > > technical for me, I'm hesitant to try them. > > > That's your only choice. Read below: > > "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. > > -- > Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User > Please Reply to the Newsgroup >
Guest Ken Blake, MVP Posted August 15, 2007 Posted August 15, 2007 Re: System Restore and Deleted Files On Wed, 15 Aug 2007 10:08:01 -0700, shirley <shirley@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote: > Thank you dobey, PA Bear and Ken-- You're welcome. Glad to help. > Unfortunately, I didn't realize right away that I'd deleted the folder, so I > did continue to work--I was actually trying to make some space and zipped a > bunch of files, etc. > > I'll go ahead and give one of the recovery tools a shot-- It's worth a try anyway. You might not be successful but you won't do any harm. > I had loaded PC > Inspector last night and ran it, but didn't quite know yet what to do with > all the files it had recovered, so this afternoon, I'll sort through it and > hope for the best. Is it possible that this one > http://www3.telus.net/mikebike/RESTORATION.html that you cited might be > better than the PC Inspector? I like Restoration, but all these do pretty much the same thing, and none is really any better than any other. They differ more in ease of use than in what they can recover. > "Ken Blake, MVP" wrote: > > > On Tue, 14 Aug 2007 21:50:01 -0700, shirley > > <shirley@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote: > > > > > > > I accidentally deleted some very important files today. If I go back and do > > > a system restore will the files be retrieved? > > > > > > No. System Restore is not meant to be a backup for your data. It > > monitors system files only, not data files. > > > > I assume that you've already tried the Recycle Bin, and they aren't > > there? > > > > > > > I've read the other posts > > > about these "undelete" programs, but since the language tends to get a bit > > > technical for me, I'm hesitant to try them. > > > > > > That's your only choice. Read below: > > > > "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. > > > > -- > > Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User > > Please Reply to the Newsgroup > > -- Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User Please Reply to the Newsgroup
Guest shirley Posted August 15, 2007 Posted August 15, 2007 Re: System Restore and Deleted Files I looked at a couple of the files that the program retrieved and just saw code--is there something magical I might do in order to see what's actually in the recovered files? It did recover LOTS of files for me, but none of the names looked familar, but I read on another post here that the retrieved files frequently come through without their original names. Thanks again. "Ken Blake, MVP" wrote: > On Wed, 15 Aug 2007 10:08:01 -0700, shirley > <shirley@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote: > > > Thank you dobey, PA Bear and Ken-- > > > You're welcome. Glad to help. > > > > Unfortunately, I didn't realize right away that I'd deleted the folder, so I > > did continue to work--I was actually trying to make some space and zipped a > > bunch of files, etc. > > > > I'll go ahead and give one of the recovery tools a shot-- > > > It's worth a try anyway. You might not be successful but you won't do > any harm. > > > > I had loaded PC > > Inspector last night and ran it, but didn't quite know yet what to do with > > all the files it had recovered, so this afternoon, I'll sort through it and > > hope for the best. Is it possible that this one > > http://www3.telus.net/mikebike/RESTORATION.html that you cited might be > > better than the PC Inspector? > > > I like Restoration, but all these do pretty much the same thing, and > none is really any better than any other. They differ more in ease of > use than in what they can recover. > > > > "Ken Blake, MVP" wrote: > > > > > On Tue, 14 Aug 2007 21:50:01 -0700, shirley > > > <shirley@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote: > > > > > > > > > > I accidentally deleted some very important files today. If I go back and do > > > > a system restore will the files be retrieved? > > > > > > > > > No. System Restore is not meant to be a backup for your data. It > > > monitors system files only, not data files. > > > > > > I assume that you've already tried the Recycle Bin, and they aren't > > > there? > > > > > > > > > > I've read the other posts > > > > about these "undelete" programs, but since the language tends to get a bit > > > > technical for me, I'm hesitant to try them. > > > > > > > > > That's your only choice. Read below: > > > > > > "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. > > > > > > -- > > > Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User > > > Please Reply to the Newsgroup > > > > > -- > Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User > Please Reply to the Newsgroup >
Guest Bert Kinney Posted August 16, 2007 Posted August 16, 2007 Re: System Restore and Deleted Files LOL... Regards, Bert Kinney MS-MVP Shell/User http://bertk.mvps.org Member: http://dts-l.org dobey wrote: > The authour could have saved himself a whole lot of time and just listed > what system restore does monitor... ;-) > > > "PA Bear" <PABearMVP@gmail.com> wrote in message > news:eWSAsiw3HHA.5740@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl... >> See http://bertk.mvps.org/html/filesfolders.html >> -- >> ~Robear Dyer (PA Bear) >> MS MVP-Windows (IE, OE, Security, Shell/User) >> AumHa VSOP & Admin; DTS-L.org >> >> shirley wrote: >>> Hi, >>> >>> I accidentally deleted some very important files today. If I go back and >>> do >>> a system restore will the files be retrieved? I've read the other posts >>> about these "undelete" programs, but since the language tends to get a >>> bit >>> technical for me, I'm hesitant to try them. >>> >>> Thanks, >>> shirley > >
Guest dobey Posted August 16, 2007 Posted August 16, 2007 Re: System Restore and Deleted Files "shirley" <shirley@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:E21A87F3-5C8B-4B8A-B524-1853191A5EAE@microsoft.com... >I looked at a couple of the files that the program retrieved and just saw > code--is there something magical I might do in order to see what's > actually > in the recovered files? > > It did recover LOTS of files for me, but none of the names looked familar, > but I read on another post here that the retrieved files frequently come > through without their original names. > > Thanks again. > That reads like what I typed. I did a quick test with Restoration, as I had not used it before, and it did find and restore the test file I deleted, but it did not have the same name it did when I deleted it seconds earlier. So when I used the name filter in Restoration to search for the deleted file I did not find it using the deleted file's original name. That's why I suggested sorting the column of found files by date if using Restoration. The reason Restoration is being recommended is because it is Freeware, (free to use). It does seem relatively basic though. GetDataBack works also, I think there is a demo that shows you the deleted files but you need to buy it to recover your files, (which seems like a cruel tease to me ;-) ). Depending on what files were recovered and if they were recovered without an extention or not. Those with no extention you will need to guess what type of file they might have been. So if, for example, you think it was a video file, you would try to use Media Player, but if the file is damaged it might not play simply because the entire file could not be recovered. Same thing can happen with Word documents. If you try to open a corrupted word file, you may just get a page of characters, and your text might be there somewhere in the mess. There could be programs around that will help you identify unknown files, but I have no knowledge of these programs. Sorry I can't offer anything more concrete, but you may just need to wade through the recovered files till you find what you are looking for, and of course invest in a DVD writer for cheap storage. <snip>
Guest wutanghax0r Posted August 17, 2007 Posted August 17, 2007 Re: System Restore and Deleted Files On Aug 16, 4:47 am, "dobey" <a...@v.nox> wrote: > "shirley" <shir...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message > > news:E21A87F3-5C8B-4B8A-B524-1853191A5EAE@microsoft.com... > > >I looked at a couple of the files that the program retrieved and just saw > > code--is there something magical I might do in order to see what's > > actually > > in the recovered files? > > > It didrecoverLOTS of files for me, but none of the names looked familar, > > but I read on another post here that the retrieved files frequently come > > through without their original names. > > > Thanks again. > > That reads like what I typed. > I did a quick test with Restoration, as I had not used it before, and it did > find and restore the testfileIdeleted, but it did not have the same name > it did when Ideletedit seconds earlier. So when I used the name filter in > Restoration to search for thedeletedfileI did not find it using thedeletedfile'soriginal name. > > That's why I suggested sorting the column of found files by date if using > Restoration. > > The reason Restoration is being recommended is because it is Freeware, (free > to use). It does seem relatively basic though. > > GetDataBack works also, I think there is a demo that shows you thedeleted > files but you need to buy it torecoveryour files, (which seems like a > cruel tease to me ;-) ). > > Depending on what files were recovered and if they were recovered without an > extention or not. Those with no extention you will need to guess what type > offilethey might have been. > > So if, for example, you think it was a videofile, you would try to use > Media Player, but if thefileis damaged it might not play simply because > the entirefilecould not be recovered. > > Same thing can happen with Word documents. If you try to open a corrupted > wordfile, you may just get a page of characters, and your text might be > there somewhere in the mess. > > There could be programs around that will help you identify unknown files, > but I have no knowledge of these programs. > > Sorry I can't offer anything more concrete, but you may just need to wade > through the recovered files till you find what you are looking for, and of > course invest in a DVD writer for cheap storage. > > <snip> there's a completely free file recovery program called Pandora Recovery: http://www.pandorarecovery.com
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