accidental file deletion with a twist

robin77 · 09 Dec 2014

short version:
accidentally deleted files from an SSD by missplacing mouse cursor > pressed esc and ctrl-z immedialtely after delete was pressed. > ctrl z did not work.
> deleted files did not show up in recycle bin
> lost files can be seen and recovered with recovery software but recovered files are garbage.
any ideas? ; )

bit more detailed version:
somehow i just managed to delete almost all files and folder from my desktop.

I highlighted all files and folders and wanted to check the size with a right click. i accidentally clicked delete instead of properties. the desktop was loaded and the files were even spread over dual monitors.... I realized what I have done and instantly hit the escape button and typed ctrl-z but everything was gone already (delete confirmation is turned off since 15 years)
so i thought... no problem, just restore the files from the recycle bin. I even had a current save of the desktop layout.

the Problem: only about 25% of the files that resided on the desktop were in the recycle bin. the rest was gone. I immediately scanned with recovery software and I guess the files are there (from what I have seen in a hurry) but they dont recover properly.
I tried 3 different programs. the all find the lost files and recover them... but when I try to open them it's just garbage.

I think the problem might be that my C drive is a SSD and that maybe the recovery works different on SSDs although the descrition of at leas one of the recovery programs I tried says it supports SSDs.

richc46 · 09 Dec 2014

Do not know what software you used to recover, but Shadow should work
ShadowExplorer.com - About

robin77 · 09 Dec 2014

Thank you Richard,
I just got ShadowExplorer portable from your link.
After running it as admin, all I get is an almost blank window.... the dropdown on the left that should hold the driveletters and the dropdown to the right of it are empty. my system seems to run fine though. I also did a reboot and tried running shadowExplorer again.

before that I tried recuva64 which as I said can see the files (at least it thinks it does) but does not recover them properly. It recovers the files with a "success" message, but as I said before the files are garbage.

I somehow have the awkward feeling my combination of repeatedly pressing escape and ctrl-z in a panic during the deletion process might have caused a problem.
Or the fact that my C drive is an SSD.

richc46 · 09 Dec 2014

I do not think that it is the SSD, but rather your action. I do not know what else to say in this situation, but in the future, be sure to back up everything. Put it on an external hard drive. You can also use drop box, your stuff is saved in the cloud. I am suggesting the free version, which has more than enough storage for most people.
One last suggestion, if the documents were very important, stop using the computer. The more its used the more difficult to get the information back. Other members may come by and offer additional help.

whs · 09 Dec 2014

First thing to check is whether you have any restore points (shadows) at all. Run this command. It will list them by date:

vssadmin list shadowstorage

Then here is a tutorial video about the use of shadow explorer:

ShadowExplorer - Recover Lost Files and Folders

robin77 · 09 Dec 2014

I opened an elevated command prompt and entered the command.

Got this:
Error... the shadow copy provider had an unexpected error while trying to process the specified command.

same happens when I write LIST VOLUMES

Sorry that I can't provide any more help at this point to narrow down the search... is there anything I can do to help?

ThrashZone · 09 Dec 2014

So restore previous version of the desktop folder did nothing :/
Do you also have system restore off or something ?

robin77 · 09 Dec 2014

ThrashZone said:

So restore previous version of the desktop folder did nothing :/

I'm not sure what you mean. You asked "restore previous.... did nothing"... is that what the shadowstorage command would have done?
With recuva I just tried to recover a few individual files so far.

ThrashZone said:

So restore previous version of the desktop folder did nothing :/
Do you also have system restore off or something ?

I did a restore a few months ago and it's supposed to be running.... but apparently it isn't for some reason.
Just started system restore and got this "no restore points have been created on your computers system drive.

I had several successful (and some not so successful) recoveries during the years. I remember a similar problem where the recovery software did recover bogus files. the problem was related to a faulty "map" of some sort (sorry, i forgot the name) where the data for the files was located in the wrong direction. so the recovered files contained data fragments of other files. Maybe this is a similar problem.

EDIT: I just checked in the system properties>system protection.
System Restore is turned ON for C:
but the Disk Space usage slide is set to zero. (can't remember that I made this setting) If I wanted to save space I would have turned it off

EDIT 2: What just happened is a bit strange.
as I said before, I checked in System Protection if System restore is on and it was.
then I clicked the configure button and saw that the slider under "disk space usage" was all the way to the left, current usage was 0 bytes and there was NO percentage umber UNDER the max usage. it was empty.
only after writing the first edit - with the settings window still open I noticed that the "turn off system protection" button was selected - I did not select it by myself.
I closed the dialog, then reopened it and the radio button was at " restore system settings as previous versions of files" was selected as supposed and under the slider was 2% (10GB)

now I have an idea. the files on my desktop were about at least 25 GB in size. If the slider was at it's default of 10 GB, the deletion of 25GB might have "destroyed" the last restore point?!?

But I still don't get why recovery software doesn't seem to work

ThrashZone · 09 Dec 2014

Hi
You might try this,
Various issues may occur on a Windows Server 2003-based computer that is running the Volume Shadow Copy Service

And this one although most of it is unrelated to your issue,
Diagnose and repair Windows File and Folder Problems automatically

Might as well through this one in as well :/
"0x80070057" error message when you back up files in Windows 7

gregrocker · 10 Dec 2014

The only reason those files you think you deleted wouldn't be in the Recycle Bin is if they were so large you were prompted to let them be deleted bypassing the Recycle Bin. Are you sure you didn't just accidentally move them somewhere, like into some other folder where they're hiding? Do a search from Start Button search box for key words in their names.

What file recovery program did you try to use?

Take a look at PhotoRec. Jumanji is helping someone else right now with recovering files with it, starting here: Unable to Boot from Hard Drive I/O Error and Error 0xc000000f

Please do not post in that thread but you can send message Jumanji here to help you in this thread if needed.