Re: Empty Recycle Bin - Recovering File

From: Ken Blake, MVP (kblake_at_this.is.an.invalid.domain)
Date: 02/07/04 

Date: Sat, 7 Feb 2004 11:08:44 -0700

In news:ux0dicV7DHA.2416@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl,
verossa <verossa@hotmailnospam.com> typed:

> Not sure how basic this is, but I deleted a file, emptied the
recycle
> bin, and now wish to recover it.
>
> Is there any opportuninty I can recover the file beyond this
point.
> I know I can restore a file from within the recycle bin, but I
> haven't found any information online to enable recovery beyond
this
> point.

"Deleting" a file doesn't actually delete it; it just marks the
space as available to be used. There are third-party programs
that can sometimes recover deleted files. The problem is that the
space used by the file is likely to become overwritten very
quickly, and this makes the file unrecoverable.

So your chances of successfully recovering this file is decent if
you try recovering it immediately after deleting it, and rapidly
go downhill from there. If you've been using the computer since
then (for example to write this question and read this answer),
your chances are probably very poor by now.

But if the file is important enough, it's worth a try anyway.
Stop using the computer in question immediately, if you haven't
done so already. Download an undelete program (there are several
to choose from; do a Google search) on a friend's computer and
bring it yours on a floppy to try.

If this fails, your only other recourse is to take the drive to a
professional file recovery company. This kind of service is very
expensive and may or may not work in your case. 

-- 
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup

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