Recovering deleted data, Windows 7 Home Edition (x64)

[markj343]

Hi everyone

I've been searching and searching try to figure out a solution here. Basically, I had a zip file (which had a bunch of images in it) in a folder on my PC.

The exact destination was: C:\Users\Jack\Desktop\Jack\Random Files\Pictures

Anyways, on the 24th of March (2012), I deleted this file, and then removed it from the Recycle Bin. I now realize that I need to recover this zip file. Since removing the file, I have not put any new files in that specific folder titled "Pictures" (hopefully that's a good thing).

I've tried using a number of file recovery programs, majority of which I found here:

pcsupport.about.com/od/filerecovery/tp/free-file-recovery-programs.htm

Unfortunately, no luck yet. For some reason, it brings up files from 2010, but will not bring up this file which I only deleted a week and a half ago.

Thank you in advance to everyone who takes the time to help me out.

Thanks,
Mark

 

[kado897]

Hi Mark and welcome to Seven Forums.
If this is on a disk that has system protection turned on right click in an empty space in the folder and select properties. Go to the Previous Versions tab and let it populate. With a bit of luck you may have a version of the folder from before the date you deleted it. Double clicking on the version will open it in explorer and you can copy back your missing file.

 

[markj343]

Hi Mark and welcome to Seven Forums.
If this is on a disk that has system protection turned on right click in an empty space in the folder and select properties. Go to the Previous Versions tab and let it populate. With a bit of luck you may have a version of the folder from before the date you deleted it. Double clicking on the version will open it in explorer and you can copy back your missing file.

Hello,

Thanks for the quick response. Unfortunately, I tried that, and there is nothing there. Not sure why though..

I went to My Computer -> Properties -> System Protection and noticed the following:

Recovery - Off
New Volume (E: ) - Off
OS (C: ) (System) - On

Keep in mind, this zip file was on the C drive, so I'm a bit surprised why there is nothing showing under the previous version tabs.

 

[kado897]

That's a shame. The only other thing that may or may not work after this amount of time is a file recovery program. I notice you have tried some. I have found that Recuva works as well as any. The link is in my signature.

 

[markj343]

That's a shame. The only other thing that may or may not work after this amount of time is a file recovery program. I notice you have tried some. I have found that Recuva works as well as any. The link is in my signature.

Thank you. I'm running Recuva right now (deep scan). I'll be sure to post back and let you know how it worked out for me.

 

[kado897]

I hope it works out.

 

[Golden]

Hi,

I agree - Recuva is probably the best bet option in this case. When you run it, be sure to try the Deep Scan feature under the Options menu.

Regards,
Golden

 

[Mark Phelps]

I've found that the Runtime Software products work quite well -- providing the data hasn't been overwritten.

You can go to their website and get free trial versions of Recover My Files and GetDataBack for NTFS. They won't actually recover the files, but you can at least run them to see if they find the files.

 

[markj343]

Thank you everyone. Recuva just finished scanning, and I'm going to look through now and see if I can find what I'm looking for.

One weird thing though..the dates under "Last Modified" seem to be quite off, which is making it quite difficult for me to find what I'm looking for. For example, it's showing files that I downloaded yesterday, and deleted on the same day, as "Last Modified on 3/8/2012". Any idea why it's doing that?

Also, since all my images were in a .zip file, would I be looking for that .zip file specifically, or would all the images in the zip file been unzipped once I deleted it. Just trying to get an idea as to whether I'm looking for one file here, or multiple.

 

[Golden]

Hi,

You should filter the data on the .zip extension (or whatever extension the ZIP file used).

Regards,
Golden

 

[markj343]

Hey guys,

So I found a ton of .zip files, a lot of them are recoverable. Weird thing is though, I remember I deleted this file on March 25th. I don't see any files showing "Last Modified: March 25th". Am I doing something wrong?

Also, I recovered a few of the .zip files to test, and when I try to open any of them, I receive the following error:

"Cannot open file: it does not appear to be a valid archive".

 

[kado897]

I don't think that deleting a file will change its last modified date. Recovered zip archives only need to be a little damaged for them to give problems. You might try and see if they will open in 7-zip. You can get it here... 7-Zip

 

[markj343]

I don't think that deleting a file will change its last modified date. Recovered zip archives only need to be a little damaged for them to give problems. You might try and see if they will open in 7-zip. You can get it here... 7-Zip

Yup, looks like I'm out of luck

Would there be any point in having a professional see if they could recover it? I'm sure it would be costly, but I don't mind.

Any idea what sort of cost I am looking at? Also, do they work on a "pay if we recover it basis" generally, or are you paying whether they recover the file or not?

 

[kado897]

I've no experience with professional services so I can't really comment. It might be worth googling recover damaged zip. It comes up with quite a few suggestions.