All personal files deleted. Files scattered on Recuva

[watley94]

Hello, i have a samsung qx411-w01 and i was having issues with it such as blue screen crashes, several program crashes etc. Unfortunately, my system restores got cleaned out and there was not a way to go back before the errors started. I decided to use Samsung Recovery Solutions to restore my windows files but instead of a quick restore i mistakenly did a complete restore which restored my entire windows drive (not just folder) and deleted ALL my personal files and reverted my computer to the state it was when i got it in 2012. Im currently trying to get my files back using recuva but everything is disorganized and i have no idea how to get it all back... I want to recover entire folders but the files are scattered. I mostly just want music, playlists, pictures, documents, videos, pdfs, etc. Im not worried about reinstalling the programs and settings. I havent been touching my computer much because i dont want deleted files to get overwritten. I really need help restoring my computer to what it was, what should i do? Please help

 

[DarKnight]

Hmm, Getting those files back seems to be hard,but let's do it...
Go to computer> C partition>Users ---- Your old user account should be stored here,open it and your deleted files might be stored here.

 

[rvcjew]

First off don't make two threads for the same thing that will not get you help faster. Next time make a new post in your old thread unless it's a different issue.

K now try not to use the pc and do you have a external hdd that your could put the data you recover on that has as much frees space as the size of the whole other hdd? If so you can use a tool to recover your lost partition in its entirety, this is the best method as it will find the data that was not over written. You could also try recuva but still want to recover anything it finds on a separate disk and not itself. Make sure you use deep scan for recuva and do like say pictures first then try video ect.

Hmm, Getting those files back seems to be hard,but let's do it...
Go to computer> C partition>Users ---- Your old user account should be stored here,open it and your deleted files might be stored here.

If they did a factory reset and it formatted first then it will be not on the same partition table anymore. Good place to check though.

 

[watley94]

Hmm, Getting those files back seems to be hard,but let's do it...
Go to computer> C partition>Users ---- Your old user account should be stored here,open it and your deleted files might be stored here.

Thanks for your help. No, the default folder structure is there (documents,desktop, music, pictures, etc) but everything is empty.

 

[watley94]

First off don't make two threads for the same thing that will not get you help faster. Next time make a new post in your old thread unless it's a different issue.

K now try not to use the pc and do you have a external hdd that your could put the data you recover on that has as much frees space as the size of the whole other hdd? If so you can use a tool to recover your lost partition in its entirety, this is the best method as it will find the data that was not over written. You could also try recuva but still want to recover anything it finds on a separate disk and not itself. Make sure you use deep scan for recuva and do like say pictures first then try video ect.

Hmm, Getting those files back seems to be hard,but let's do it...
Go to computer> C partition>Users ---- Your old user account should be stored here,open it and your deleted files might be stored here.

If they did a factory reset and it formatted first then it will be not on the same partition table anymore. Good place to check though.

Ok, im going to attempt to put every recoverable file recuva has found from my C drive onto my D drive (which has plenty of free space)

 

[rvcjew]

Your d drive is the same hdd though physically it is just has two partitions I mean you want to not put it on the same hardware. If it is all you have available then do it if not put it somewhere else as you might start over writing the stuff your trying to get with the stuff you do get, when you format it just tells the hdd that it can erase that space if it needs it, the space is not empty till it needs it so that's why your data can be found still to a degree. But if you start over writing those areas with the new data the old will become corrupt.

 

[jumanji]

I hadn't used Recuva anytime but you can try Glary Utilities portable version (run from a pendrive. You need not install it on your system which may overwrite the previously existing files) and check whether it does any better than Recuva . Glary Utilities Builds - Clean Registry, Fix PC Errors, Protect Privacy | Glarysoft

Check whether the files are shown as good and not overwritten. If good you can copy the files to other media. Not to be copied to the same drive. Screenshot of Glary Portable version here : how to recover Sys.reg?

 

[Mark Phelps]

Personally, I would recommend using Active@File Recovery -- it's the best recovery software I've seen, and I've used most of them. The free version is limited in file size but the paid version is not very expensive and works great!

 

[watley94]

Your d drive is the same hdd though physically it is just has two partitions I mean you want to not put it on the same hardware. If it is all you have available then do it if not put it somewhere else as you might start over writing the stuff your trying to get with the stuff you do get, when you format it just tells the hdd that it can erase that space if it needs it, the space is not empty till it needs it so that's why your data can be found still to a degree. But if you start over writing those areas with the new data the old will become corrupt.

I see what you're saying now. I took a more detailed look at the files that recuva found and narrowed down my search to files that aren't currently on my drive (copies from the restoration) and files that arent unrecoverable (no way to know just how many of my files fall under this category though). That left me with 2TB worth of data and i definetely don't currently have a drive that can hold that much space. Even if i did do the transfer, recuva doesn't seem to know the original file locations and it seems to not know the original file names of a lot of the files... Organizing my files 1 by 1 isn't practicable.. Im currently trying a different recovery program called active@file recovery, i think it has better organization skills then recuva, ill let you know. What do you think?

 

[rvcjew]

Okay, just make sure you recover whatever you do to another hdd as in a usb drive and not the same drive like before. EDIT: if the program asks you you should pick I recently reformatted. That is your best option in any program so that it knows it is a lost partition it is looking for.

 

[watley94]

Personally, I would recommend using Active@File Recovery -- it's the best recovery software I've seen, and I've used most of them. The free version is limited in file size but the paid version is not very expensive and works great!

I replied to you in the other post i made but this one is more active so ill just give the same reply so we can continue the conversation here.


Thanks for your reply and recommendation. I checked active out and it actually does seem better than recuva. Im actually doing a superscan right now as we speak. I like how the quick scan allows you to see deleted files on the hard drive by navigating to the folder(s) they were suppose to be in. However, it seems like the superscan doesn't have the ability to show the original location of a file.. Thats gonna make it very difficult and time consuming to find and put 1000s of wanted files back in their place out of a huge group of unwanted files. Im going to wait until the scan finishes to see how much more organized active can make these files but if you know something, please give me more advice.. Is there a way to know the original file location of the files superscan finds? Will the files have their original file name? Can you get into more detail on why you prefer active over recuva and stuff?

 

[watley94]

I hadn't used Recuva anytime but you can try Glary Utilities portable version (run from a pendrive. You need not install it on your system which may overwrite the previously existing files) and check whether it does any better than Recuva . Glary Utilities Builds - Clean Registry, Fix PC Errors, Protect Privacy | Glarysoft

Check whether the files are shown as good and not overwritten. If good you can copy the files to other media. Not to be copied to the same drive. Screenshot of Glary Portable version here : how to recover Sys.reg?

Im currently doing just that with the program active@file recovery. Do you know if glary can still find original file locations and filenames even for files it has to deep search for?

 

[watley94]

Okay, just make sure you recover whatever you do to another hdd as in a usb drive and not the same drive like before. EDIT: if the program asks you you should pick I recently reformatted. That is your best option in any program so that it knows it is a lost partition it is looking for.

Yeah I will. Can you think of any other plan other than relying on a program to reorganize my files? I know it's a stretch but i basically want to unformat/ undo a format. Windows files and program files can be ignored, just the personal data..

 

[rvcjew]

Okay, just make sure you recover whatever you do to another hdd as in a usb drive and not the same drive like before. EDIT: if the program asks you you should pick I recently reformatted. That is your best option in any program so that it knows it is a lost partition it is looking for.

Yeah I will. Can you think of any other plan other than relying on a program to reorganize my files? I know it's a stretch but i basically want to unformat/ undo a format. Windows files and program files can be ignored, just the personal data..

You can not as the way it works is the partition map is the thing that knows where your files are stored so the OS can use them, but once you reformat that table is reset and that software is looking for old entries on the table and using it to find your old stuff. The best way is still to do something like testdisk which is a linux tool that finds your old map and uses it too recreate the old partition to another drive in data form, this can take days though depending on how it was reformatted. I have brought partitions back that had been reformatted twice and 3 years ago from when you recover them. It all depends on how the user has filled their disk afterwards. This is why its important to do whats called zero a drive (HDD not SSD) before donating it or getting rid of it. IF you don't then you can get back years of data if you know how to find it and it was never overwritten. All the tools iv used seem about the same if the OS is operational and in play (booted into). But if you can get it in a tool like testdesk then it can have full access when it is not mounted in the OS, and find things with more accuracy normally. I would say keep doing what your already doing and just be patient as your disk is big so it has to check a lot of sectors for your old stuff.

Hope this explains the process and why it is like this in a easier to understand way for you.

EDIT: you can tell the app your using to search for certain file extensions only though like say .docx but you might be better off letting it find all that it can then you can pick what you want to save by sorting by extension instead after it's done.

 

[watley94]

Okay, just make sure you recover whatever you do to another hdd as in a usb drive and not the same drive like before. EDIT: if the program asks you you should pick I recently reformatted. That is your best option in any program so that it knows it is a lost partition it is looking for.

Yeah I will. Can you think of any other plan other than relying on a program to reorganize my files? I know it's a stretch but i basically want to unformat/ undo a format. Windows files and program files can be ignored, just the personal data..

You can not as the way it works is the partition map is the thing that knows where your files are stored so the OS can use them, but once you reformat that table is reset and that software is looking for old entries on the table and using it to find your old stuff. The best way is still to do something like testdisk which is a linux tool that finds your old map and uses it too recreate the old partition to another drive in data form, this can take days though depending on how it was reformatted. I have brought partitions back that had been reformatted twice and 3 years ago from when you recover them. It all depends on how the user has filled their disk afterwards. This is why its important to do whats called zero a drive (HDD not SSD) before donating it or getting rid of it. IF you don't then you can get back years of data if you know how to find it and it was never overwritten. All the tools iv used seem about the same if the OS is operational and in play (booted into). But if you can get it in a tool like testdesk then it can have full access when it is not mounted in the OS, and find things with more accuracy normally. I would say keep doing what your already doing and just be patient as your disk is big so it has to check a lot of sectors for your old stuff.

Hope this explains the process and why it is like this in a easier to understand way for you.

EDIT: you can tell the app your using to search for certain file extensions only though like say .docx but you might be better off letting it find all that it can then you can pick what you want to save by sorting by extension instead after it's done.

I think i understand. I have no idea how to rebuild a partition map so do you think it would be in my best interest to let a professional try to bring back my files instead of me doing what I'm doing? Would someone lets say at geek squad have any idea what they're doing or would i be wasting my money?

 

[rvcjew]

No, at this point in time have the software your using that is doing the deep scan thing try to find what it can and then post a screenshot of what it found if your okay with doing that. I also don't think geeksquad even has data recovery atm, and it would not be guaranteed and probably very expensive (like more than a buying a second HDD to recover your lost partition too expensive).

EDIT: your doing quick scan or super atm? QuickScan is a fast and basic scan. Partitions that have recently been deleted will probably be detected using this method (if no other partition has been created in unallocated space). Quick might work just fine for you as it should look for any lost partitions.

 

[watley94]

Personally, I would recommend using Active@File Recovery -- it's the best recovery software I've seen, and I've used most of them. The free version is limited in file size but the paid version is not very expensive and works great!

Hey mark I'm getting really close to my files but i really need your help. Active@file recovery is amazing, the results from superscan show a bunch of weird drives and some of them actually look like my actual one that got deleted. they have the folder structure and everything, it seems like all i have to do is pick a drive thats in good shape and restore my files from it. I tried doing this with the "C: Local Disk (3)"

which was in good shape but for some reason after i hit the restore and OK buttons, nothing happens. The program says that the restoration was successful but no file appears at the restoration location and the program instantly finishes the restoration no matter how large the file being restored is...

When i try to preview a picture i just see an array of numbers and symbols instead of an actual picture. here's a picture,

I tried restoring images and videos just to test but neither is working. Also, theres several copies per file and i don't know why that is.

.
From what I've seen in tutorial videos, the restoration button is just suppose to work and there is not suppose to be this many duplicates.. I tried 2-3 other drives and the restoration button still wasn't doing anything. Every drive is a little bit different from the last, they all seem to be missing entire folders of data here and there but if the restoration button was working the way it should, i probably could find all my files using just a few of these drives. Am i suppose to keep searching for a drive(s) that works?

Under signature files, the restoration button actually does work and many of the image files actually do generate pictures as previews although some of them also don't. However, the files under sig. files aren't organized in folders and most don't have their original filenames so id rather try to restore from the local disk(s).

I don't know any active forum to ask for help for active@file either but i feel like I'm so close to obtaining my files with this program. Please help

 

[rvcjew]

I would wait for Marks advice before attempting anything further, that is good that you at least seem to see what you want to save. It may not be doing anything cause you might need to set another HDD as a recover zone or something.

 

[watley94]

I would wait for Marks advice before attempting anything further, that is good that you at least seem to see what you want to save. It may not be doing anything cause you might need to set another HDD as a recover zone or something.

Hey again rvc, yeah its very good that i can still "see" my old files! Yeah i made a lot of progress today so i think ill wait for Marks reply. Ive been using a 32gb flash drive to test the restorations so i don't think the program needs an hdd or anything like that. The restoration button works flawlessly for files under the signature files tab even if the file is corrupted (which I suspect is true for the images that can't generate a proper preview) but like i said in my previous post, those files aren't organized and most don't have filenames (which is weird because if the local disk tab has every file that the sig. tab has, wouldn't the program know its original filename?). I used my flash drive for those tests so that proves that the button and restoration destination actually does work just not for the tab i need it to....

 

[watley94]

I hadn't used Recuva anytime but you can try Glary Utilities portable version (run from a pendrive. You need not install it on your system which may overwrite the previously existing files) and check whether it does any better than Recuva . Glary Utilities Builds - Clean Registry, Fix PC Errors, Protect Privacy | Glarysoft

Check whether the files are shown as good and not overwritten. If good you can copy the files to other media. Not to be copied to the same drive. Screenshot of Glary Portable version here : how to recover Sys.reg?

Hey jumanji, i downloaded and checked out Glary and it's not powerful enough for what i need it to do. It can only see files that were just recently deleted and not really anything from an accidentally formatted partition. Thanks for the recommendation but for now it seems that active@File Recovery is the most powerful yet. What do you think of my situation so far?