Lost folders ?
Lost folders ?
Unfortunately, four fairly important folders ended up in my recycle bin. Unaware of this, they were lost when I regularly emptied the bin. I was advised that Recuva could assist, but there was no way to simply request it to locate specific folders. After hours of scanning and supposed recovery attempts, I ended up with thousands of useless files. My question is whether anyone here suggests an alternative to Recuva, even if it means paying for a tool that can recover these folders.
For reference, were there any duplicate copies of those crucial folders and/or the documents they held?
Hi andylolly,
Do you have File History turned on? Check in the Control Panel>Security and Maintenance>Maintenance>File History. There may be a chance to recover your files.
Whatever you do, DO NOT go into the Command Prompt. There is a common command that is often used which should not be used when attempting to recover files. I just don't recall the command off the top of my head at the moment.
Also, do you have any Restore points saved?
Kind regards,
tecknot
Unfortunately, the file history feature was disabled. There are no saved restore points available.
Hi Andy,
It's disappointing. There are some free tools available online for file recovery. I'll look into it and let you know if I find something useful.
Thanks for your effort. I ran recuva and Stellar, but after a long scan they only found what I already had—just the drive they were on initially. The four files in the bin didn’t appear, suggesting they only found what I already had. I need a method to search those four folders by name directly.
I'm not certain it exists.
I would perform a complete scan and recover, moving all data to another physical drive, then examine it to identify available files.
Another useful tool could be Autopsy.
Autopsy® is the leading open-source digital forensics platform. Developed by Basis Technology, it offers core features typical of commercial forensic tools. It provides a fast, comprehensive, and efficient method for hard drive investigation that adapts to your requirements.
www.autopsy.com
Your issue will arise because writing more often reduces the chances of retrieving these folders. I should have taken a snapshot of the drive using Macrium or Acronis at the time of the mistake, so you could preserve the data. It might already be too late now...
You pack your own parachute.