Libraries folder

[alex69]

I made a silly mistake and deleted everything(files & folders) under libraries folder. I then found out that those data were wiped out of my hard drve. So I am in a big ****.
I can not see them in recyle bin. I then used different recovery software, found just few small files, but almost all are corrupted.
My question is where are these deleted files are hidden if they can not be seen in bin.
Thanks

 

[Jacee]

Did you back up any of the files and folders before you accidently deleted them?

MS describes two ways to recover them Recover lost or deleted files

 

[alex69]

No backup

 

[whs]

If there are restore points on your C partition, then you can recover them. See this: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/132087-shadowexplorer-recover-lost-files-folders.html

 

[alex69]

Thanks whs,
I installed shadowExplorer, but it only shows drive C, and my data were on partion drive D.
Would I b able to find libraries sub folders some where under c drive?

 

[whs]

Hmm, if your data was on D and you had not enabled restore points for D, then there is no chance to get them back with SE. I always recommend to enable restore points for all partitions and to take them from time to time - just for problems like yours (have to do it yourself for partitions other than C - is not automatic). Sorry, but there is not much you can do. You can try Recuva - but that works only sometimes.

 

[MacGyvr]

There is no logical reason that these files would not be in the Recycle Bin unless it was emptied either by a person or a program after the deletes were done. I'm not saying you're wrong...just saying that they should have been there immediately after deletion unless something else happened. Do you have some type of a "cleaner" utility on your system that would have emptied the Bin?

 

[boohbah]

some folders are too large for the recycle bin and would be deleted off the computer bypassing the recycle bin , usually there is a message window about that, however by deleting from the library and not the root folder this may not be the case

 

[alex69]

The first place I checked was recycle bin. I have not emtied the bin or emptied by any other programs. Do u know the exact location of libraries on drive C: ?
Thanks

 

[boohbah]

libraries are a collection of shortcuts to the root folders , ie music is the my music folder or /and any other music folders you add to the library
http://http://windowsteamblog.com/windows/b/developers/archive/2009/04/06/understanding-windows-7-libraries.aspx

 

[mborner]

If you deleted folders from "libraries" all you really did was delete the shortcut that point to the real files which are located in C:/users/username/mydocuments, my music, my pictures, etc.

 

[alex69]

Yes, but why the actual data was also deleted from drive D.

 

[Imperfect1]

You might check out the Any ideas?! thread right above this one. It has some excellent suggestions. I posted in that thread about 3 MiniTool apps that have been used with excellent success when other recovery tools failed. I'll give you the information here as well:

MiniTool Power Data Recovery Free Edition - can restore lost data even if the partition is formatted or deleted, restore data from corrupted hard drive, virus infection, unexpected system shutdown or software failure. It support IDE, SATA, SCSI, USB hard disk, memory card, USB flash drive, CD/DVD, Blue-Ray Disk, iPod.

MiniTool Damaged Partition Recovery module is a powerful data recovery module of MiniTool Power Data Recovery. This data recovery module focuses on recovering data from damaged or formatted partitions. As long as the partition is existing, you can use this data recovery module to recover data from the partition irrespective of whatever happen to cause the data loss. And this data recovery module not only supports MBR-style partition, but also supports Windows Dynamic disk volume. For example: Simple Volume, Spanned Volume, Stripped Volume and RAID-5 Volume.

MiniTool Lost Partition Recovery If you cannot find the partition you like to recover in this data recovery module, you need to use Lost Partition Recovery module, designed to recover data from lost/deleted partitions. This data recovery module can help to recover your data when your hard drive crashes, MBR is corrupted, a disk is repartitioned (fdisk), and a partition is overwritten when you use data backup software to restore the disk image.

 

[whs]

Yes, but why the actual data was also deleted from drive D.

When you go into Properties of the Libraries, there is always one that is marked with a checkmark as "default". That is the one into which files are stored in case you chose the library (rather than the folder) to move or copy data.
My guess is that this one is also deleted when you delete the library. Check whether you still have the "public" Picures, Music, etc. folders because those are not part of the defaults.

 

[alex69]

Yes I have those folders.
Thanks to Imperfect1 for suggesting those softwares. I have managed to retrive some of the data, but almost all r corrupted.
I have now given up on recovering.
But I am very interested to find out what happened to some of my folders which contained large ( movies, training movs...) files.

I should have found out more about libraries and its use, which now I know it is waste of space, thats microsoft for you. I would hold on to my mac book pro
Thanks to all.

 

[James Colbert]

Yes I have those folders.
Thanks to Imperfect1 for suggesting those softwares. I have managed to retrive some of the data, but almost all r corrupted.
I have now given up on recovering.
But I am very interested to find out what happened to some of my folders which contained large ( movies, training movs...) files.

I should have found out more about libraries and its use, which now I know it is waste of space, thats microsoft for you. I would hold on to my mac book pro
Thanks to all.

Actually, Libraries does have its uses. It's really a file management tool, but one shouldn't rely exlusively on it. That said, a good imaging program to backup partitions is a lifesaver!

James

 

[1Bowtie]

I should have found out more about libraries and its use, which now I know it is waste of space, thats microsoft for you. I would hold on to my mac book pro
Thanks to all.

The first half of the quote is correct, you should have done more research on librarys before moving or deleteing, second Microsoft had nothing to do with deleteing your files. Third there is a very good lession to be learned here, if you use the tools Microsoft gave you ie backing up your files you wouldn't be in this situation.

 

[boohbah]

I should have found out more about libraries and its use, which now I know it is waste of space, thats microsoft for you. I would hold on to my mac book pro
Thanks to all.

The first half of the quote is correct, you should have done more research on librarys before moving or deleteing, second Microsoft had nothing to do with deleteing your files. Third there is a very good lession to be learned here, if you use the tools Microsoft gave you ie backing up your files you wouldn't be in this situation.

Harsh but true !

 

[MacGyvr]

some folders are too large for the recycle bin and would be deleted off the computer bypassing the recycle bin , usually there is a message window about that, however by deleting from the library and not the root folder this may not be the case

Deleting from Libraries DOES delete from the true location of the file and behaves exactly the same.

 

[MacGyvr]

Yes, but why the actual data was also deleted from drive D.

I think you're not getting how Libraries work. Libraries are just pointers to the real files. They are not "pseudo" files or ghost images or copies. The files you see in a Library ARE the REAL files. If you delete them, you delete them. A Library is a tool to help you organize your files. For example, let's say you store videos in several places across multiple hard drives. You add each of those locations to your Video Library (or a library of your own creation for that matter). Now, when you open the Video Library, you see ALL your videos, regardless of where they are. If you can call this a "waste of space," so be it. I consider it an amazing, valuable tool and personally use it multiple times per day. I have libraries for schoolwork, personal info, business info, you name it.