What do you backup

PattiChati said:

HELP PLEASE HELP!!!! I know this isn't the right forum, but doing all the above, I lost my expense folder where all my tax info is kept. All I have is shortcuts and it says it cannot find the file. I have no backup. Does anyone know how to get it back? I probably deleted it. OMG

Do you have any idea how long it has been missing? The longer it has been since deletion, the greater the chance it cannot be recovered.

If it has simply been misplaced and you do remember the title of the file or folder, then I would download the free Everything search tool from voidtools.com and let it search your hard drive for that file or folder.

If it in fact has been deleted rather than misplaced, you have some chance of getting it with a tool such as Recuva or Getdataback. If the folder was in reality accidentally deleted a long time ago, then your chances of a successful recovery are small.

I'd start with the Everything tool from here:

Everything Search Engine

It was deleted today sometime.

Look in the recycle bin. If it is there, you can restore it from the menu.

If you know for a fact that it was deleted and it is not in the recycle bin, then the Everything search engine will not find it.

If it was deleted and you then emptied the recycle bin, you will have to use a tool such as Recuva or Getdataback. Since it was deleted recently, you have a pretty good chance with those tools.

they aren't free are they?

which one is the best

They are both free to use and to view any recoverable deleted file or folder.

But I think you then have to pay to actually restore the deleted folder to your hard drive.

I can't say which is best, but I have heard good things about both. Take your pick and be prepared to have to pay something to actually recover the folder.

If there is any chance you simply misplaced the folder rather than deleted it, I would try Everything first.

Any deleted folder should be in the recycle bin unless you have emptied the recycle bin. Did you check the recycle bin already?


Recuva is here:

http://www.piriform.com/recuva

everythng first found it, but I couldn't figure out how to get it from therel Do you know how? I did delete the trashcan

Everything is NOT a recovery tool. It just finds files and folders.

Run Everything again. It will show the location of the folder.

If Everything says the folder is in the recycle bin, you should be able to simply go to the recycle bin, right click the folder, and restore it from there.

I would be surprised if Everything can find a folder that has been deleted from the recycle bin.

If the recycle bin is empty, you have to use Recuva or a similar tool unless Everything shows that the folder is in fact somewhere on your hard drive.

First: run Everything again and confirm it can now find the folder and post the location shown. Maybe you don't need Recuva. If Everything finds it and shows the location, go to that location and look for yourself.

I found the file on everuything but it wouldn't let me do a thing with it. This is "undeleter"
And this is what it found. It is the Patti's Monthly expenses

C:\Program Files\Microsoft.NET\Important Info\Patti's folder
C:\Users\Patty\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\Yahoo!\Messenger\Profiles\pattichati
C:\Users\Patty\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Live Mail\PattiChati@yahoo.com
C:\Users\Patty\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Live Mail\Calendars\PattiChati@yahoo.com
C:\Users\Patty\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\Yahoo!\Messenger\emptygrpsU.pattichati.ini
C:\Users\Patty\Pictures\Pictures\2006_12_13\Beginning of digital to 7-19-95\Uncle Ken\Ken & Patti.JPG
C:\Users\Patty\Pictures\Pictures\my pics\Ken & Patti.JPG
C:\Program Files\Microsoft.NET\Important Info\Patti's Christmas Music.nra
C:\Users\Patty\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Office\Recent\PATTI'S MONTHLY EXPENSES.LNK
C:\Users\Patty\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\PATTI'S MONTHLY EXPENSES.lnk
C:\Users\Patty\Desktop\PATTI'S MONTHLY EXPENSES.lnk
C:\Users\Patty\Desktop\Desktop1\PATTI'S MONTHLY EXPENSES.lnk
C:\Users\Patty\Pictures\Pictures\Xmas around table small\PATTI'S MONTHLY EXPENSES.lnk
C:\Program Files\Microsoft.NET\Important Info\Patti's folder\Patti's resume.doc
C:\Program Files\Microsoft.NET\Important Info\Patti's folder\Patti's resume.Page 2.doc
C:\Users\Patty\Music\Augustana\Other\Patti's Workout.wpl
C:\Users\Patty\Documents\Nikki's wedding\Patti-067 (2).jpg
C:\Program Files\Microsoft.NET\Important Info\Patti.jpg
C:\Users\Patty\Pictures\Pictures\Patti.jpg
C:\Users\Patty\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\Patti.lnk
C:\Users\Patty\Pictures\Pictures\Patti1.jpg
C:\Users\Patty\AppData\Roaming\ViquaSoft\Shop-N-Spree Family Fortune\Patti_bigfish_prerelease.vpf
C:\Program Files\Microsoft.NET\Important Info\Taxes\Pattis amended return.tax2009
C:\Program Files\Microsoft.NET\Important Info\poor Patti.docx
C:\Users\Patty\Desktop\New folder\unregistered__1407374883719086__PATTI'S MONTHLY EXPENSES.XLS.und
C:\Users\Patty\Desktop\New folder\unregistered__1688849860350223__PATTI'S MONTHLY EXPENSES.lnk.und
C:\Users\Patty\Desktop\New folder\unregistered__3940649674064607__PATTI'S MONTHLY EXPENSES.LNK.und

also when I go to restore and it says automatic restore point it gives me an error message why it can't restore.