Recovering something deleted in Windows

[HOOT]

Is it possible to get something that was deleted from the recycling bin? I have googled around a bit and there seems to be a few options but do they work? How far back will a program like this go back? Any that can recover any type of file?

Windows Vista I think and it's a laptop, not mine so it could be XP.

Any help appreciated!

[Rathji]

Recuva from Piriform might do the trick.

[sclitheroe]

On Vista, shadow copies should be enabled by default - if you right click on the folder where the file USED to be (before moving it to the recycle bin), choose properties, and go to the previous versions tab, you may be able to roll the folder back to before the deletion.

You can also navigate into the folder where the file used to be, right click on empty space and select properties too, that’s a less confusing way of describing where to navigate for inexperienced users.

[McG]

another trick that i have sometimes had success with in vista is to search the name of the file off of the start menu.

sometimes...just sometimes...the person has saved the file more than once or else it is in a temp file or some other directory or...

what always kills me is that you can delete something and never get it back, and yet there are a million warnings about how anyone can get your data after you have formatted a hard drive and done lots of other things to it to erase your data.

it just doesn't seem right somehow.

good luck!

[ricosuave]

http://lifehacker.com/5237503/five-b...recovery-tools

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by sclitheroe

On Vista, shadow copies should be enabled by default - if you right click on the folder where the file USED to be (before moving it to the recycle bin), choose properties, and go to the previous versions tab, you may be able to roll the folder back to before the deletion.

Did they change this in Window 7? I always assume the same thing but when I tried to restore something on my windows 7 machine at work, it was off.

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by Rathji

Did they change this in Window 7? I always assume the same thing but when I tried to restore something on my windows 7 machine at work, it was off.

It’s on by default in my installs direct off technet DVD’s...maybe your work admins turned it off via group policy?

[HOOT]

Problem is he doesn't know all the names of the files. It was just a deletion of a folder he didn't want to delete. I'll check out those products.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by sclitheroe

It’s on by default in my installs direct off technet DVD’s...maybe your work admins turned it off via group policy?

I am the work admin, well the junior one at least.

I don't think our GP turns it off, but it could be in the mess of default settings in SBS 2008 that we just migrated to and we have yet to go through to tweak.

[Hack&Lube]

If too much time has passed, unfortunately those files are likely overwritten already, especially if it's on his main harddrive. Even the act of browsing the internet and downloading files like those programs to the same harddrive that the deleted files existed on very likely overwrites whatever was left.

If I ever accidentally delete something, I stop doing everything and run my undelete programs and hope that the space where the file used to be was not overwritten.