[HELP] Recovering deleted files

Anyone ? I am really desparate !! I found quite a few utilities on the web, but am not sure which one to use !!

What kind of computer do you have?

On my old Gateway there was a "go back" feature -- I think a lot of computers have a variation of this. It's basically a way to go back in time. So if for example your file was there at 9:00 PM last night and deleted at 9:00 AM this morning, you set your computer back to 9:00 PM last night, and everything will be as it was at that time... including the files.

The downside is that you lose everything you saves since 9:00 last night, but sounds like the importance of this trumps what would've come after.

Also, do you have any backups?

A sony vaio - running XP SP2. No backup Damn..

I have just purchased a utility from the web (file-saver.com) which looks good (found it on zdnet.co.uk) anyone know if it is any good ?

It ain't free, but it works pretty well:
File Scavenger

You can download a free trial version which won't recover, but will show what it thinks are recoverable files. You can make up your mind from there whether its worth takin' a shot at.

Another, with a trial version that will recover files up to 64KB is Active Undelete

For larger files, you'll hafta pay for the full version.


I've used both of these - they have their quirks and limitations, but they seem to me to be among the better recovery utilities out there. There are plenty of others - you might wanna google up some reviews for file recovery applications.

Restoration ( www.geocities.jp/br_kato ) is a free program you could use for such purposes.

The less you add or move data, install programs & so forth after deleting a file, the more chance you have of recovering it.

Soz, the software you mention which is similar to GoBack & which is on many computers is called System Restore (which is a feature of Windows ME & XP only). However, thankfully it doesn't touch your document files (and some other common file types) as well as anything under My Documents, as it is a program for restoring a computer to a previous state to get rid of problems, rather than a method to restore accidentally deleted files. In other words, in would not help Gautam.

I have only used GoBack, not System Restore, but I've used GoBack to recover deleted files.

I checked to make sure my memory is correct:

http://support.gateway.com/support/manlib/Desktops/8505272/05272c8.htm#1016808

after deleting the files, did you also empty the recycle bin?
(stating the obvious here, just in case...)

Shift + Delete bypasses the recycle bin ... its one of those things you really wanna be sure of, 'cause it ain't gonna ask you if you're sure, and should you dicover it had been a bad idea, you're in for some inconvenience at the very best.

i-did-not-know-that...
now i'm gonna see about forgettin it, pronto!

Gotta remember, RP - if ya tell a 'puter to do somethin' it can do, its likely gonna do it - whether or not that was exactly what you had in mind

Its a pretty good idea to know exactly what you're tellin' the puppy to do before you tell it to do it :wink:

Does your recycle bin say "Norton Protected Recycle Bin" (common with some Symantec Suites)

If so, the Unerase wizard should allow you to restore it.

This would be easier than some of the recovery tools mentioned.

I hope you manage to recover some of your lost files.

Once I installed a program that completley wiped out "My Documents"...lucky for me I had almost everything backed up. I managed to retrieve some of it, but the pictures were not very good quality.

If you don't have the hardware to back everything up, you can open a free 250 mg Yahoo email account to store some of your stuff.

I did it !! I did it !!! I tried a few freeware programs, but they refused to restore a file above a specific size, then I invested in $20 and bought one - and it worked like a dream !!!

Thanks for all the help guyz !!!

That's correct that GoBack restores all files to a previous state, & it's one reason I would never use GoBack on my personal systems though I am happy to use System Restore. Of course, overwriting all files the way GoBack does might be a good feature for some people who don't keep backups.


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I believe the Norton app Craven mentioned which features the Norton Protected Recycle Bin & the Unerase Wizard comes with all home editions of Norton AntiVirus (in addition to Norton Systemworks/Norton Utilities & possibly some others).

That's great Prince ...for the record, the freeware program I mentioned (Restoration) does not include the file size limits you described.

Monger, I saw yr recommendation today only, by that time I had bought, used and abused the program which helped !!