Folder Recovery-Where is Recycle Bin

[wear08]

I hope you will forgive my ignorance if this is indeed the case, but, I thought I could access the Recycle Bin to recover mistakingly deleted files and/or Folders. Is this incorrect? Is access to this still available and I just can't find it. I'm running Windows 7 SP2. I accidentally deleted a folder yesterday and see offers to purchase programs/software to restore deleted info. Is this my only option? Suggestions, Instructions?! Thanks!

 

[Snick]

Hi wear08,
When you delete a file, it isn't actually deleted, the index entry is removed and the data is still there, provided you have not added/written anything to the disk. If that is the case it may be there and not over-written with new data.
Relevant questions, and yes it makes a difference!
What did you delete?
How did you delete it?
Where did you delete it from?
If you haven't emptied the Recycle Bin it MAY be in there. Depending on where you delete a file/folder from, or the file size very large) it sometimes is not placed in the Recycle Bin.
If you don't add anything to the drive you deleted the file/folder from you may get lucky
Piriform Recuva is an excellent free file/folder recovery program.

Nic

 

[wear08]

I deleted a folder several layers down in a master folder.
I deleted it by accident. I really don't know. I tried to access the folder and saw a message saying something like "this folder is currently not available".
The file was deleted from my Documents.
Thanks for the feedback. If you have further questions or if this information helps isolate or define what my options are, please let me know.

 

[Snick]

Files and folders deleted from Documents should be in the Recycle Bin.
Do you have access to your Recycle Bin? Via your desktop Icon.
Is it in the recycle bin?
If it's not there, can you recreate the error message by trying to access that file again?
Please post the exact wording of the error message.
You may have unintentionally changed the folder permissions and the file is still in the folder.
Do you have a restore point, or backup just prior to your miscue?

 

[file3456]

Is the recycle bin on your desktop? If not, right click the desktop and chose Personalize | Change desktop items and select the recycle bin.

Once the recycle bin is on the desktop, right click it, select properties and make sure "display delete confirmation" is ticked.


If you do have a recycle bin on the desktop, and your folder is gone, DO NOT delete anything else or run any clean up programs. You can try and run Recuva to get the folder back. Download Recuva | Recover deleted files, free! The free version should work for you.


Also mentioned above was a system restore point. Try that before running Recuva. To use system restore, go to the Start orb on the left bottom side on the computer in the task bar. In the search box enter "system restore."

 

[SIW2]

Check in your shadow copies. You may have a copy there.
ShadowCopyView - Shadow copy viewer for Windows 10/8/7/Vista

 

[Snick]

Thanks for the recommendation SIW2, forgot about that in NirSoft's tools!

 

[RolandJS]

Going forward, I think Resplendence still has a free copy of Undeluxe available. It "flags" almost any/all deletions with a tiny text-files, pointers, that it keeps track of. It will not prevent partial or whole over-writes, it will sort of give you green yellow, red on what it finds that have been deleted. Setting Undeluxe up is a little geeky, usage is a little geeky, however, such just might bring back some stuff for you in the future.