File Recovery

The Mighty Quinn · 04-01-2021 12:44pm #1

Hoping (desperately) that somebody can provide a steer on recovering a file.

It was saved in c:/users/myname/documents/xxxxx.rvt

I deleted the file in a flurry of "tidying up" my computer the other day, and emptied the recycle bin... of course I did.

The thing is, it's a work file, I'd been working on a local copy due to remote working limitations, and hadn't got it backed up... (of course I hadn't...

), and the file on the work servers is a month old. Much work has been done since then.

I've tried ApowerRecover, which did a scan and showed up a million files, but not the one I want when I searched through it (easy find it with a search, as the file name contains the word "external" which was misspelled as "exteral"!)

I'm not sure if I should be trying to recover it from the documents folder, or the recycle bin folder?

Currently doing a system scan with "Recuva" software, and "Stellar Data Recovery Free Edition", to see what it'll throw up. But I tried the Recuva already and nothing showed, i've tweaked a few settings and now scanning again.

Any software recommendations would be very welcomed.

The Mighty Quinn · 04-01-2021 12:49pm

As I understand it, data doesn't disappear until it is rewritten over? I've a SSD with 600GB+ of free space, so I'm hoping it hasn't been overwritten with something else in the meantime. The deletion took place about 28th of December and no new work was done on the computer until today.

The Mighty Quinn · 04-01-2021 2:00pm

See attached... the results of a Stellar search have found bits and pieces of the file.

but it has a .lnk extension, and is only a few KB in size, looks like a shortcut file... but it couldn't find the original.

The last modified date of December 18th looks perfect as well.

Clareman · 04-01-2021 2:02pm

I always use Stellar Phoenix recovery, really simple to use and if a file can be recovered it'll get it https://www.stellarinfo.com/free-data-recovery.php

IRE60 · 04-01-2021 2:04pm

This might assist
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/recover-lost-files-on-windows-10-61f5b28a-f5b8-3cc2-0f8e-a63cb4e1d4c4

The Mighty Quinn · 04-01-2021 2:10pm

Clareman wrote: »

I always use Stellar Phoenix recovery, really simple to use and if a file can be recovered it'll get it https://www.stellarinfo.com/free-data-recovery.php

Ah sh*t.

Thanks Clareman. The snippet I showed in previous post was from a Stellar results search. The shortcut to the file seems to have been found, but not the file itself.

The Mighty Quinn · 04-01-2021 2:10pm

IRE60 wrote: »

This might assist
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/recover-lost-files-on-windows-10-61f5b28a-f5b8-3cc2-0f8e-a63cb4e1d4c4

Will try it now, thanks.

riclad · 04-01-2021 4:04pm

Do not install any programs , if you write files to hardrive c ,
you might overright the original file.
Deleted files are still there unless they are over written.

https://www.techradar.com/how-to/how-to-recover-files-in-windows-10-with-file-history

you can set recuva to do deep scan search for documents,
files marked green = good condition, any files you need , copy to drive d,
or to an external usb drive.
https://recoverit.wondershare.com/free-data-recovery/free-windows-10-data-recovery-software.html?usource=lc&src=linkconnector&lctid=28946549&lcid=1609772570_3_9939086

if the drive is nearly full , delete old video files or mp3 files you do not need
in order to free up space on drive C

The Mighty Quinn · 04-01-2021 4:35pm

Somewhat ironically, the only things i've saved to the local hard drive since deleting those files is the file recovery software.... It doesn't seem to want to show up. i can't understand why, unless this is it.

Hard drive has over 600GB of free space.

riclad · 04-01-2021 4:54pm

https://www.online-tech-tips.com/computer-tips/how-to-retrieve-windows-files-using-a-linux-live-cd/

https://www.easeus.com/datarecoverywizard/free-data-recovery-software.htm

recovers 2gig data free download

i find easus programs fast and easy to use.
when you install a program theres a risk the install file will overwrite the files
you want to recover,
live cds do not write to drive c at all, they just load into ram from the cd cdrive.
are you using windows 10 ?

windows live cd free
https://www.livecd.com/index.html

this has undelete function for windows file Ability to recover deleted, damaged or re-formatted volumes & undelete files being lost

easus programs will list all lost or deleted files it finds ,audio, documents, txt files
i used easus and it worked for me.

recuva has search option,
deep scan, eg search for txt file, doc file etc only

Metric Tensor · 04-01-2021 8:28pm

If it's a valuable work file I'd recommend getting a professional data recovery company for the job. It will cost a few hundred so it very much depends on how much the file is worth to you.

We've had to do this once before on a corrupt disk and although expensive it was cheaper than what it would have cost to regenerate the data from new.

If it's not so vital then what you're doing is probably your main option. I've used recuva before and it seemed to see most things. Not writing to the disk is in the meantime is important!

bonzodog2 · 04-01-2021 10:21pm

try containing folder-> properties -> previous versions.
Volume Shadow Copies I think is the name

pah · 05-01-2021 1:52am

Give photorec a try if you have no joy.

https://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec

You can run it from a USB and save results there. Select your .rvt file from the list of searchable files and have it carve the whole drive. You may have to go through the file results manually as carving will usually not retrieve the original filenames.

smuggler.ie · 05-01-2021 10:16am

Would it not make sense NOT to boot into this drive anymore?
Even if you not saving/installing anything on it - Windows still does write to it(updates, logs, pagefile, hybersys, etc)

Remove it and connect as external/secondary on different PC or use another drive as boot drive on same PC

riclad · 05-01-2021 4:27pm

https://linuxmint-installation-guide.readthedocs.io/en/latest/choose.html

you can download linux mint 32bit edition .
it fits on 1 dvdr disc. make a livecd .
when pc boots up ,select boot from cd/dvd.
if you turn on pc connected to the web, windows downloads updates,
it also writes temp files to drive c. internet history files etc.
or simply disconnect pc from the web when running recuva or other programs.
mint linux live cd runs off the dvd disc,
it does not save any files to drive c,
it has a built in web browser and a music media player.
eg its possible to boot up linux, and browse the web without saving files to drive c

irishgeo · 16-07-2023 9:48am

Installation of the file recovery software probably has overwritten the file.

Windows when it deletes a file just marks the location spot on the drive as empty in its master file table.

It doesn't delete the data on the disk.

The first rule of data recovery is not do anything on the drive. You should literally disconnect the drive and put it another computer and install the recovery software on that PC. Therefore keeping the original drive intact.

Siuuu · 16-11-2023 8:45am

FoneDog Data Recovery helps efficiently get the lost data from the computer (recycle bin, hard/flash drive, memory card, etc) back.

No harm in having a try.

ItHurtsWhenIP · 17-11-2023 12:34am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121374048#Comment_121374048

You seem to have missed the previous posters very important point:

@irishgeo The first rule of data recovery is not do anything on the drive. You should literally disconnect the drive and put it another computer and install the recovery software on that PC. Therefore keeping the original drive intact.

File Recovery

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