Recover Deleted Files.

Recover Deleted Files
Lost some important
files? Can't find your
documents anymore? A
folder with photos is
gone?
The problem of lost or
mistakenly deleted files
is quite common. Even if
you backup your most
important files
frequently, there's
always a chance that
something happens right
before the next backup.
Home computers are
often shared with other
family members, so some
files may be deleted
simply as a matter of
misunderstanding. For
example, your son may
think that you have
already those photos and
videos from your last
vacation burned to a CD.
So, he erases the photos
and videos to free some
space for a new game...
Is there a way to
recover deleted files?
Yes. This operation is
known as undelete, or
unerase. Many years ago,
before the introduction
of Windows 95 with its
Recycle Bin, small
command-line utilities
named 'undelete' or
'unerase' were supplied
with operating systems
to make possible
recovering of mistakenly
removed files. The
undelete feature was
also built into File
Manager of earlier
versions of Windows. In
Windows 3.1, if you
removed a file by
mistake, you could choose
to recover it by clicking
the corresponding option
in File Manager.
At this point, you may
wonder: why those small
utilities aren't there in
the modern versions of
Windows?
The Recycle Bin offers
far better way to deal
with removed files. It's
safe and user friendly.
You don't need to type
commands with
mysterious keys and
switches anymore. Just
click your Recycle Bin and
recover files, if you need
to do so.
Starting with Windows
95, files are not really
deleted. Instead they
are put into a special
folder and are preserved
there for a given period
of time. Settings of the
Recycle Bin can be
adjusted by the user,
including the general
capacity and the
preservation time.
Defaults are pretty safe:
files are stored for
several weeks, and the
general capacity of the
Recycle Bin is around 10%
of your hard disk's space.
When the time is over,
files are finally deleted
and can't be recovered.
Well, if you didn't care
about the deleted files
for several weeks, most
probably you don't need
them at all. It's
reasonable.
Convenient?
In some ways, yes.
However, you shouldn't
forget that the files
aren't deleted if they
are put into the Recycle
Bin. No space is freed. If
it's space that you need
right now, you should
empty your Recycle Bin,
or shouldn't use it at all.
Windows offers an
alternative way to delete
files. You can press a
"Shift" key (left or right,
it doesn't matter) on
your keyboard while
deleting to avoid putting
the file into the Recycle
Bin. Thus the space
occupied by the file is
freed immediately.
But with this method, you
are risking to wipe out
important files. This
operation can't be
undone. At least, not with
the usual recovery from
the Recycle Bin.
That's where you may
need a recovery tool, like
Advanced NTFS
Recovery (http://
ntfsrecovery.com). This
easy to use utility is able
to scan your hard disk for
lost and deleted files. If
the required files can be
recovered, the program
will recover them, even if
the file system itself is
damaged. The program
takes advantage of all
NTFS features (http://
ntfsrecovery.com/a-
ntfs.php) (if you are still
using FAT, it's no
problem, as Advanced
NTFS Recovery can deal
with different file
systems; but you may
consider (http://
ntfsrecovery.com/fat-
ntfs.php) upgrading to
NTFS (http://
ntfsrecovery.com/fat-to-
ntfs.php)), and it can even
access files in the 'raw'
mode. Using its preview
feature, you can see
content of deleted files
even without recovering
them, which allows to
estimate chances.
The worst part of it is
that, once a file is
deleted, your system can
overwrite it any time.
This can't happen if the
file is in the Recycle Bin,
but once the Recycle Bin
is emptied, a new file can
be written in the same
area any moment. You
can't control the process.
You can't tell the system
which of the deleted
files are more important
for you than the rest.
So, let's consider the
above example with a son
wanting to install a new
game.
If you catch him right
after he deletes your
pictures, there are very
good chances that you will
be able to restore all
your photos and videos.
However, if he has
already managed to
install his game, some of
the valued files (if not
all) may be overwritten.
If so, they can't be
recovered anymore.
But don't jump to quick
conclusions. File system
(http://
ntfsrecovery.com/
ntfs.php) follows its own
rules when writing data,
so you may find that
although there's virtually
no space left on your hard
disk, the deleted files
are still recoverable.
Don't hesitate to
perform a scan. Advanced
NTFS Recovery doesn't
write any data while
scanning for lost files, so
there is no danger of
accidental overwriting.
Well, and if you don't
have recovery tools on
your computer yet?
Before using a program
you need to install it,
which means that
program files should be
written to your hard disk.
Won't they overwrite
your valuable files?
The answer is... they may.
Every single file, even a
small one, can damage
deleted files. It is
impossible to say what
files will be overwritten.
Most important?
Completely unimportant?
At this point, it is clear
that if you want to
restore deleted files,
you should allow the
system to write as few
files as possible. If you
can prevent the system
from writing at all,
chances to recover files
are about 100%!
Yes. If you avoid saving
files on the partition
where the deleted files
were, you may be able to
restore every single file.
No magic, just a bit of
good programming.
But then, what about
installing the program? Is
there a possibility to
install it safely, without
damaging the files you
need to restore?
Even if your computer
has only one hard disk,
there can be several
logical drives. It's quite a
common practice to
create at least two
logical drives: C and D. If
that's the case with your
computer and if you have
lost files only on one of
the drives, you can with
no worry install Advanced
NFTS Recovery onto
another drive. The
deleted files will remain
absolutely safe.
However, there may be
other situations. For
example, what if your
computer has only one
logical drive? Or if you
don't remember where
exactly the files to
restore were?
In such circumstances
you may install the
program onto removable
or external media. Your
USB memory stick or
external hard drive are
ideal solutions.
The most important thing
to remember when you
want to recover deleted
files is the following:
avoid using the drive
where you lost files.
Don't save anything
there. Shut down
programs that need to
save something from
time to time (for
example, Microsoft Word
creates a backup copy
every 10 minutes), but be
careful, as some
programs save different
kinds of files when
shutting down. And, of
course, don't panic. Your
nerves are more
important than any
documents, even if it
doesn't seem so in the
moment.