Data Recovery Help
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From: Sherwood
Data Recovery Help
My sister's laptop has been acting weird lately and I was determined it fix it. Today, I found an unknown account and removed it. Unfortunately removing the account also removed all of my sister's data.
Sorry, I have to keep it short because I have to get ready for work. So I've got a few quick questions:
Does WinXP's System Restore recover lost documents, data, and the sort?
What is the best free data recovery program?
-Thanks
Sorry, I have to keep it short because I have to get ready for work. So I've got a few quick questions:
Does WinXP's System Restore recover lost documents, data, and the sort?
What is the best free data recovery program?
-Thanks
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From: Cincinnati
It's not that easy. I don't think that there are ANY free data recovery programs. The thing to remember is that the data is still there, but if the physical hard drive gets overwritten in the area the data was located, then you can't restore the data from simple undelete programs. So basically do NOT use the computer until you are ready to try the recovery.
Do a search for data recovery and you'll find a buncch of different programs. You'll probably have to pay for it (~$50), but if those fail, then you are looking at sending your hard drive into a Data Recovery Center for $1000s (if it's even worth that much).
Do a search for data recovery and you'll find a buncch of different programs. You'll probably have to pay for it (~$50), but if those fail, then you are looking at sending your hard drive into a Data Recovery Center for $1000s (if it's even worth that much).
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From: Cherry Hill, NJ
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From: Sherwood
Thanks for your input guys. 
I found two free programs at download.com and I'm going to test it on my slave drive. I'm reading the help topics now and hopefully all will go well. Wisk me luck.
I found two free programs at download.com and I'm going to test it on my slave drive. I'm reading the help topics now and hopefully all will go well. Wisk me luck.
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From: Seattle, WA
Originally Posted by DaveZ,Jul 17 2004, 03:52 AM
Those programs are never free - they'll usually show you that the files are recoverable but you'll need to pony up the $$$ to actually recover them.
Are you sure the actual files have been deleted? It sounds like you just deleted an account. Depending on how you deleted the account, the account data might still be fine, just not available the same way you used to find it. The easiest way would be to search the hard drive for a file that she commonly uses.
Are you sure the actual files have been deleted? It sounds like you just deleted an account. Depending on how you deleted the account, the account data might still be fine, just not available the same way you used to find it. The easiest way would be to search the hard drive for a file that she commonly uses.
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From: Miami
deleting an account does not actually destroy the data...
far as i know.. its still there..
you just have to search for it in the documents and settings folder and manually copy the files out.
on the other hand... if its the folder that you deleted...
did you look in the recycle bin?
far as i know.. its still there..
you just have to search for it in the documents and settings folder and manually copy the files out.
on the other hand... if its the folder that you deleted...
did you look in the recycle bin?
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From: Seattle, WA
Originally Posted by DaWorm,Jul 17 2004, 07:35 PM
deleting an account does not actually destroy the data...
far as i know.. its still there..
you just have to search for it in the documents and settings folder and manually copy the files out.
on the other hand... if its the folder that you deleted...
did you look in the recycle bin?
far as i know.. its still there..
you just have to search for it in the documents and settings folder and manually copy the files out.
on the other hand... if its the folder that you deleted...
did you look in the recycle bin?
just about the only place that shows up is in the user profiles dialog box. which is where you can delete entire profiles...so more likely than not, the profile is hosed.
one thing that is weird is the fact that it was marked as an unknown account, but she was using those files. a regular user wouldnt really be poking around documents and settings to find their files, they'd go straight to my documents. maybe he deleted her actual account, then noticed that the profile was orphaned and nuked it too.