how can I go about recovering some files I've deleted?.I've deleted them out of my trash can but I know nothing is gone off your harddrive forever.Any ideas how I can go about doing this?
File recovery
- Thread starter Scarey
- Start date
Not true Scarey; nothing is forever. When your files are overwritten—which is what deleting them from the Trash allows the computer to do—they will be beyond recoverability by any means you or I can access.
Stop using that computer's HD immediately. That will keep the deleted files as they are now, and what has not already been overwritten by the computer's normal activities can probably be recovered in some form. Keep using the drive, keep losing more of those files.
Basically recovery means booting the computer from another drive and the software detects files that have been stripped of the ID info that protects undeleted files from being overwritten. What you get back is every file that you have ever deleted that has not yet been overwritten and the software could detect. It gives them ID's (MSWord0001, MSWord0002…MSWord9876, PShop8764, MSExcel0078, JPEG#3457291etc based on its best guesses, which are better for more common formats, poorer for obsolete Mac softwares) and you have to comb thru file by file to figure which are the ones you want. Some may have been mangled, and some formatting may have been lost. Text seems to survive best, but it can be buried in the gobbledeygook of formatting stuff that we humans normally don't see.
Good luck, and best wishes for success.
Stop using that computer's HD immediately. That will keep the deleted files as they are now, and what has not already been overwritten by the computer's normal activities can probably be recovered in some form. Keep using the drive, keep losing more of those files.
Basically recovery means booting the computer from another drive and the software detects files that have been stripped of the ID info that protects undeleted files from being overwritten. What you get back is every file that you have ever deleted that has not yet been overwritten and the software could detect. It gives them ID's (MSWord0001, MSWord0002…MSWord9876, PShop8764, MSExcel0078, JPEG#3457291etc based on its best guesses, which are better for more common formats, poorer for obsolete Mac softwares) and you have to comb thru file by file to figure which are the ones you want. Some may have been mangled, and some formatting may have been lost. Text seems to survive best, but it can be buried in the gobbledeygook of formatting stuff that we humans normally don't see.
Good luck, and best wishes for success.
Try "recuva" by CCleaner @ www.recuva.com
It's a great free utility, and use the enable deep scan when installed.
I used it when I erased alot of my photos by error and got most of them back.
It will tell you what shape the missing files are in, and if they are recoverable.
It's a great free utility, and use the enable deep scan when installed.
I used it when I erased alot of my photos by error and got most of them back.
It will tell you what shape the missing files are in, and if they are recoverable.
bluedoggy said:
Holy shit Bluedogey. Lets hear from you a little more often LOL. Agree with you, Recuva is an excellent and FREEEEEE program.
Mystery
Okay, first RECUVA is a really good program.Thank you for the suggestion.I got access to my deleted files, and although some of them were unrecoverable a few that I wanted were.
Here's the mystery.I'm the only one who uses this PC.For Adult material I watch only streaming video.I'm not a fan of jpeg's.Some of the items I recovered were porn jpeg's.I know for a fact that I did not delete any adult jpeg's.How could this have happened? The only thing I could think of is that i have used file sharing programs in the past.Would have it been possible for a upload to take place without my knowledge?If so that is kind of chilling
.Thanks to any responses.
Okay, first RECUVA is a really good program.Thank you for the suggestion.I got access to my deleted files, and although some of them were unrecoverable a few that I wanted were.
Here's the mystery.I'm the only one who uses this PC.For Adult material I watch only streaming video.I'm not a fan of jpeg's.Some of the items I recovered were porn jpeg's.I know for a fact that I did not delete any adult jpeg's.How could this have happened? The only thing I could think of is that i have used file sharing programs in the past.Would have it been possible for a upload to take place without my knowledge?If so that is kind of chilling
.Thanks to any responses.
Could they have been 'decorations' on webpages? Your browser caches such stuff to speed up the page load-in if you re-visit. Clearing browser caches in the ordinary way is the equivalent of emptying the trash. Filename info's stripped but what isn't overwritten is still there. So a thumbnail or illustration for a link you never followed up could theoretically exist for a long time.
Various freewares and sharewares promise more thorough cleansings of deleted files and cleaned out caches, but then you never recover your data.
Various freewares and sharewares promise more thorough cleansings of deleted files and cleaned out caches, but then you never recover your data.
Scarey said:Okay, first RECUVA is a really good program.Thank you for the suggestion.I got access to my deleted files, and although some of them were unrecoverable a few that I wanted were.
Here's the mystery.I'm the only one who uses this PC.For Adult material I watch only streaming video.I'm not a fan of jpeg's.Some of the items I recovered were porn jpeg's.I know for a fact that I did not delete any adult jpeg's.How could this have happened? The only thing I could think of is that i have used file sharing programs in the past.Would have it been possible for a upload to take place without my knowledge?If so that is kind of chilling
Yup.
It is always a good idea to "get to know" your browser...where it stores temporary files etc.
For example, Opera stores every vid viewed in your home/AppData/Local/cache4/Opera/Opera(ver)/profile/temporary download/ directory. AND this directory is NOT cleared when you use the delete private data tool.
For example, Opera stores every vid viewed in your home/AppData/Local/cache4/Opera/Opera(ver)/profile/temporary download/ directory. AND this directory is NOT cleared when you use the delete private data tool.
I had the same thing when I used RECUVA, I believe it was all the web pages I had deleted from my temp files of my browser over months of use.
If you want something really scary use it to restore deleted files off a flash drive. I'll never use one of them again (or if I do I'll overwrite it 7x with CCleaner) after seeing what files I could recover!
If you want something really scary use it to restore deleted files off a flash drive. I'll never use one of them again (or if I do I'll overwrite it 7x with CCleaner) after seeing what files I could recover!
Use encryption.
www.truecrypt.org , is free, and easy to use.
Works well for USB drives and regular HD drives.
www.truecrypt.org , is free, and easy to use.
Works well for USB drives and regular HD drives.
And the opposite
Just to throw in my 2 cents ( cause i'm new)
Truecrypt works really well.
As does Recuva
Adding one more handy util
Eraser - from Heidi software
http://www.heidi.ie/node/6
DOD class deletion - we use it in our office for sensitive data.
Not sure if anyone's porn collection should be considered that sensitive... but its a handy tool.
Just to throw in my 2 cents ( cause i'm new)
Truecrypt works really well.
As does Recuva
Adding one more handy util
Eraser - from Heidi software
http://www.heidi.ie/node/6
DOD class deletion - we use it in our office for sensitive data.
Not sure if anyone's porn collection should be considered that sensitive... but its a handy tool.
Works well with all sorts of media as long as it is rewritable. You just have to select the drive that you want recuva and or eraser to work on.
