How to recover deleted files from your computer
Have you ever deleted files or folders from your computer and cleared out the Recycle Bin — only to realize you needed something you removed? Well, in most cases, there is a way to recover files deleted from the Recycle Bin (Windows) or Trash (Mac).
First step, don’t stress out.
Second step, keep in mind your files aren’t really deleted even though you emptied the Recycle Bin or Trash. They still reside on your hard drive, but you have a limited window — maybe a few days or weeks — in which to recover them. If you wait too long, your operating system will write over this reserved space with new data.
The more free hard drive space you have, the more likely your files will still be accessible. Avoid doing anything major with your hard drive (such as use the disk defrag tool) until you’ve recovered your data.
Third step? To “undelete” these files, you’ll need to download third-party software, programs that can recover deleted files that aren’t built into Windows or Mac OS. “Data recovery software,” as it’s usually called, will allow you to preview deleted files so you can choose which ones to recover.
Popular solutions for Windows include Recuva, Uneraser, Undelete Plus, Data Recovery Wizard and Restoration. Mac users might consider Data Rescue 3. Some programs are free (such as Recuva), while others allow you to view your deleted files for free but then ask you to pay a few dollars to recover them.
Readers, have you ever deleted something important and managed to retreieve it?
I’ve accomplished this a number of times, for myself and others. A couple of notes,
It’s very important not to use the machine at all, close running programs and disable any scheduled services, any operation could overwrite the files which you’ve deleted ( thus making it all but impossible to recover them, save for the most advanced professional recovery services ).
If possible, download the recovery software on another machine ( ironically saving/installing the recovery software to the affected drive could overwrite your deleted files ). Use the other machine to install the software to a USB key/drive. You can then plug this drive into the machine w/ the deleted files in order to run the software.
Ideally, one should shut the machine down, remove the drive and perform the recovery operations from another machine accessing the drive through a USB to IDE/SATA interface, this prevents and accidently writing to the drive.
While these points help file recovery is a hit and miss operation. Regular backups and/or a RAID solution is a much better idea.
Great tips, Phil, thank you,
Marc
Or you could simply open the DOS window, and at the C:\ type in undel *.* The second asterisc is for the software ID tag; for example, if you want to undelete a Word file, type in *.doc.
This will bring back all recoverable files on the hard drive.
I wish your knowledge was a few months earlier when I had lost my files by pressing delete by mistake and could not retrieve them again–thanks for the tip Krull
Don’t count on Achim’s post if you’re running any current version of Windows – XP, Vista or 7. The undel command existed only in DOS 6.2 and Windows 95/98.
OldWilli
That solves the mystry of “undel” command
I am getting this error -
C:\>undel *.doc
‘undel’ is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.
Any Ubuntu CD will recover any files on any computer.
http://www.ubuntulinux.org/
By the way Ubuntu is always Free, No Nasties are included, because it is monitored by “People all around the World.”
Can you tell I really like my Ubuntu?, which by the way stands for “Humanity Towards Others”
Enjoy.
Great information guys! Thanks a whole lot.
Back in the days when we only had DOS, I used Achim’s method once or twice to recover accidentally-deleted files. Thanks for reminding me that the old DOS commands are still available. With the Windows recycle bin it’s been a while since I accidentally deleted a file but it’s good to know the know old methods still work.
Back in the days when Norton came on disk, there was an undelete one that could be used to undelete your files. I was called on by a friend and asked if I could undelete some files on his friend’s computer. Apparently, sonny boy had got a game and was told to type in format c:\ and then istall the game. Unfortunately his father was the secretary for the local Educational Association and had just lost his database of 250 names and data. Using the Norton disk and three hours later, everything was back to normal. I agree with the above that you don’t install anything on the drive that you want info back from as you may overwrite deleted sensitive data that you are trying to get back. And, yes, frequent backups of data, emails to off disk media should be done weekly. A general comment I make about backing up files -wp, ss, db and such is how much retyping do you want to do?
Have not had much success with any software other than GetDataBack for NTFS.
http://www.runtime.org/
To me there are no others.
Sounds like some pretty smart people out there! I have a big problem. I do income tax for clients. In Dec, 98 my hard drive got ???and crashed big. I was able to find a young man who was able to save all of my files to an external drive. 75,000 was a ballpark number. I had to buy a new laptop, which came with Win 7, which is not compatible with the tax programs past 2008, due to the exclusive use of Explorer 8 or higher, can’t go backwards to 7. Therefore, the data will not open into the tax program. Next I bought a netbook with XP in it, installed the programs, and figured that the data would move into the program. Not so for a few people’s returns. these had been printed (as had all others), and sent in. I need desperately to access one return to make an adjustment that means mega thousands of dollars.
Does anyone have a suggestion as to how I might get around this problem?
I had not yet printed a copy for my records, as this was a rush job for the client, and I would back up later(never say that again!) Any help would be much appreciated.
Sue it sounds like you need IE6 to process those old returns.
Windows XP came with IE6 but it sounds like yours got upgraded to IE7 or IE8. There are portable versions of IE6 you could try.
http://www.4shared.com/file/Gt1GY_E4/Portable_Internet_Explorer6.html
BTW, what tax program are you using?
Thank you Bob for your helpful info. I have downloaded, now need to try it. I use both Intuit’s Quick Tax and Dr. Tax’s UFile. This loss was on UFile. I had gotten that laptopin July 2007, and it was a really good sale, so probably had the IE6 on it, only I was not literate on any of this tech stuff at that time, just wanted it to work.
I will let you know if it is successful (I just put it onto the netbook with XP now, it has IE7, and I saved it to My Documents..hoping that is the right place to save it.
Sue, I am not sure what the connection is between your tax programs and IE. Your tax program should work seperatly from other programs including IE. I suspect the file you are trying to open has the wrong .ext after the file name. EG. soandsostax.tx instead of soandsostax.tax. The filename for the actual tax return is different from the filename Ufile requires to complete the return. Look at the filname ext and compare it to the ones you have managed to open. If it is different, then change the .ext to the same as those that work for you. Hope this will help. Harry
Harry, I have learned through lots of research, that Win 8, which is what the new computer had on it, no choice for me that time, is not comparible with the tax programs written before Win 7 was marketed totally public. Those used IE7 or IE6.
So that is why I got the netbook with XP on it, for the proper Explorer program. Only, it still has a problem with showing results, or allowing me to see the actual return. I can see most of the imput pages, which is great, but to reprint the return is impossible. I keep getting an error message, which I will write down and sent to you in this manner. Maybe you can help me figure it out. that is why the IE program is so vital. Win 7 works for a newly updated 2008 program, and all of the 2009 ones.
I will be Ok from now on, but I just had not had time to double print this return before I turned it in, and I need to do an adjustment, but must know the line number and form number it is on before I can do it, and so far, no can do. thanks for your help. I keep trying!
Hi again Sue, the computer Gods are out to drive you insane from the sounds of it. They most certainly are finicky beasts!. The error message you are getting would be most helpful in trying to solve the problem. Windows 7 is a very good OP, but obviously of little consolation to your problem. The good news is that your file is safe, and, if you can see it, then there IS a way to open it and edit the contents for a reprint. You mentioned a friend saved your files to a exterior hard drive. Is that drive connected to your laptop, or did you transfer the files via a USB drive? I would suggest you forget about IE for now, and work on finding a way to open the tax file inside your tax program. One way to do this is to copy the saved file and paste it into the tax program folder, which I assume is something like: Mydocuments\quicktax\whoeverstax\
With your knowledge, you will quickly see that the files you need to access need to be within the working program and not on another drive,,,one reason why you cant print it. So try looking at this solution first, and if successful, then you can tackle IE to Ufile it. That is of course if you hav’nt tossed both machines out the window! Remember, everything CAN be fixed!!
Sue, forgot to check the email option, just in case the tread on this website runs out and leaves me in the dark. Now, would’nt you think most of us would prefer never to hear the word TAX again?! :-)
Harry, I got the Win version and IE version backwards, you likely figured that out. the reason the IE is important to any of it is due to the Netfiling, or Efiling. the version of IE is critical to some part of the encryption I have been told.
Whooops, Make a correction…..that crash was just last Dec, 2009.
I’m not so concerned about fles that I deleted some time back as I defrag often. My concern for the past year is that my recycle bin seems only to have files such as ‘recycler.tmp’ in it, & the size is usually 0 bytes. I’d love to know (& get rid of this annoying feature) how this came to be. I suspect that I had, or have, a utility such as ‘CCleaner’ installed at some point. However, ‘CCleaner’ is not installed at this time. I suspect I may have had it installed, say, a year ago & a switch in the OS may have been set at that time. The Recylce Bin option to always delete completely is definitely not set on.
Please, can anyone help me restore the recycle bin to retain deleted files?
I was wondering the same thing Sue.
Whenever I prepare my taxes, I use a program like StudioTax to calculate and to view the return. The web browser should only be used for filing (E-file, or NetFile) the return with the government. Now if I want to go back and do some taxes from previous years, I have to download the appropriate StudioTax for that year. I cannot use the most recent program (2010 version) to do taxes from 2008 and earlier.
Bob, thanks for your comments, but this is not only our own taxes. I do taxes professionally, and I have every program going clear back to 1986…good old DOS! But there are sometimes when clients really need reproduction of exactly what was done, how it went into the program, etc., and this is one of those. It is a Capital Gains problem, and worth big, big dollars to the client. I will get it figured out, but sooner than later I hope!
I’ll answer my own question re: Recycle Bin emptying!
A switch in CCleaner had been set a year or so ago & the feature remains even when the program is uninstalled. I reinstalled CCleaner, found the offending switch under ‘Settings’, switched it off and voila – problem solved!
Right click Recycle bin and go to Options.
Does this dos or other website methods work for retreiving a ‘cookie’ from work I deleted ?
This cookie let me into intranet but now I am too embarassed to ask for a replacement.
Cheers
Just wondering if this tread is still running?
Curious to know how Sue is doing with her Tax?
I only skimmed the posts, and you may have already done this, but, have you tried contacting Ufile tech support? When I started using Ufile in 2008, I could not find a tech support number in/on the package, so I had to find a phone number for Dr. Tax’s corporate headquarters in Montreal. They gave me a tech support number to call. I don’t know if they publish a tech support number now (I used QuickTax this year).
As Harry suggested earlier, the file extension has to be correct for the file to to load. For Ufile files, the extension changes every year. It is “.uXX” where “XX” is the tax year and it must match the program’s tax year version (not the year it is released). The exception is importing a previous year’s return.
Good Luck.
Harry,
I have not gotten the end result yet. The IE version does not seem to help, and my extension is as it should be. I am very frustrated, but the answer will come…..they always do! Thanks for all of your help.
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BOB, Harry, and Gary…
Thank all of you for your many suggestions. I have been working closely with the software company also, and yesterday, (after re-reading all advice) I wrote a different letter to them, with all information from start to finish.
They sent me a RUSH reply, with a special download on it, and a special repair fill to download to desktop, then change the name, then move to inside the 2006 folder…….AND (Drum roll!!!!!) It worked!!!!!!!!!!!!
I now can access all of my file from start to finish. I am in the 8th month of this problem, but it is solved. As soon as I change the ink in my printer, I will type the link into a note to all of you, and any others who might need it. they tell me that all years from 2008 forward are fine on Win 7, using IE8.
Oh yes, and I did this installation on the laptop, which was the Win 7 new one. I will also add it to the netbook, as both were the same problem, but it will work. I feel great!!!!!
thanks all!
Great advice Phil! Achim, you reminded me of all that I could do with DOS ( I sometimes pine for those “good old days” that had me carrying a pocket glossary of DOS command lines around! :) ).
These days I am using win 7 and love it. It is powerfull and packed with great useful features. The best? Automatic Back-up!!! For all the great advice offered here the most useful would be to back-up on a regular basis. I have survived so many drive crashes that this is now deeply ingrained. Every Sunday night I plug in my external drive that I have dedicated especially for this and click the button. I have more than once thanked those that drove this into my head when faced with a fried drive but all my data intact!
Again, great advice and thanks!
OR SIMPLY
JUST GO TO START
ALL PROGRAMS
ACCESORIES
SYSTEM TOOLS
THEN CHOOSE SYSTEM RESTORE
this will back your computer back a few days before you deleted the file