Recover all files on hard drive from a previous date?

[IndividualPercy]

Yesterday, I cleared the directory "Search Results" thinking it was a directory with only references to files, and not files themselves (such as the "Recent" file). When I noticed it started deleting 100k+ files (22 GB), I canceled it as I began to grow suspicious. For some reason, only a handful of files were in the recycle bin, so I restored those files thinking that my computer would return to its original state. To my surprise, I realized that there were several folders on my computer (C: drive) that were completely empty. Somehow the files in those folders were deleted and did not get restored properly. I tried utilizing the Windows System Restore and by choosing a restore point from several days back, yet the files that I deleted were simply gone. Is it possible for me to restore my hard drive to a previous date/time completely? This means that files that didn't exist before the date won't exist after the restore. If it is not possible on Windows alone, is there software that you can redirect me to? I have seen software that has done something similar to what I want, except it only allows individual files, while I would like a full drive restore. In case you all are wondering, I have yet to back up my hard drive (I'm using a fairly new computer) in any way.

Cheers,

Percy

 

[Mark Phelps]

I tried utilizing the Windows System Restore and by choosing a restore point from several days back, yet the files that I deleted were simply gone.

This should really be known as "Windows Operating System Restore" -- as that is what it does. When it makes updates to system files (as in the registry when you install an app), it saves off the current version of every file it changes. When you later do a restore, all it does is overwrite the current file with the one that it saved. It is not a "time machine" that will reset the entire system back to an older date.

Is it possible for me to restore my hard drive to a previous date/time completely? This means that files that didn't exist before the date won't exist after the restore.

This is what an image backup/restore does -- it makes a complete backup of an entire partition at a certain time. When you later restore from that backup, it returns the partition to the state it was in when the backup was taken. However, you have to do the image backup BEFORE you can do the restore.

If it is not possible on Windows alone, is there software that you can redirect me to? I have seen software that has done something similar to what I want, except it only allows individual files, while I would like a full drive restore. In case you all are wondering, I have yet to back up my hard drive (I'm using a fairly new computer) in any way.

I'm a big fan of Macrium Reflect -- which will do the full image backup/restore -- and is available in a free version. But, once again, you have to do the image backup first. You can't restore without that.

Sorry, not aware of any restore products that can simply reset the drive, or a partition, to a previous point in time.