How to recover files accidently deleted

 

Recent pleas from new members asking for help in recovering files accidentally deleted reminded me that we should create a link to be used when members ask for help.

There is a tool called Recuva that has been used successfully by many of our members to recover files. This software package is "portable" in that it does not need to be "installed" in the traditional sense. One just runs it from the folder into which it was extracted. The link to the portable version of Revuva is
http://www.piriform.com/recuva/builds

Look on the Download page for the Recuva - Portable version. Download the 'Portable' ZIP package and extract to a folder of your choice. Launch Recuva.exe.

If you are reading this post and have not done a Backup of your GPS, then you should do so at your first opportunity. If you do, maybe you won't need Recuva at all. For a guide to backing up your GPS, see
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/30394

Thanks!

Thanks for the helpful post!

NP

--
In times of profound change, the learners will inherit the earth while the "learned" find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists...

I haven't

I haven't backed up for a couple of years so I just did one.

If someone like the person on the other post reformatted their drive it will delete all even the system files, right?

If so, when I back up is there a way to make sure the system files that we can not see are backed up.

Hopefully will never need them but nice to know it's there.

--
Mary, Nuvi 2450, Garmin Viago, Honda Navigation, Nuvi 750 (gave to son)

I Think...

mgarledge wrote:

I haven't backed up for a couple of years so I just did one.

If someone like the person on the other post reformatted their drive it will delete all even the system files, right?

If so, when I back up is there a way to make sure the system files that we can not see are backed up.

Hopefully will never need them but nice to know it's there.

I think only the visible partitions will be formatted. All bets are off for Windows folks, though, if you go into and start tinkering with Disk Management (luckily, well hidden deep in the Control Panel's Administrative Tools under Computer Management/Storage, I think), whether talking of USBed nuvis, or internal computer drives...Danger Will Robinson!

try

will give a try...
i do have files in SD need to be recovered.

Recovery software

jgermann wrote:

Recent pleas from new members asking for help in recovering files accidentally deleted reminded me that we should create a link to be used when members ask for help.

There is a tool called Recuva that has been used successfully by many of our members to recover files. This software package is "portable" in that it does not need to be "installed" in the traditional sense. One just runs it from the folder into which it was extracted. The link to the portable version of Revuva is
http://www.piriform.com/recuva/builds

Look on the Download page for the Recuva - Portable version. Download the 'Portable' ZIP package and extract to a folder of your choice. Launch Recuva.exe.

If you are reading this post and have not done a Backup of your GPS, then you should do so at your first opportunity. If you do, maybe you won't need Recuva at all. For a guide to backing up your GPS, see
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/30394

You should never install or copy recovery software onto the drive you are trying to recover files from. According to the experts there is a danger of overwriting the files you are trying to recover, either by copying the recovery software to the drive after you have lost the files or by the recovery software writing temporary files to the drive. I have a small stick that I have portable software installed on, probably ten or fifteen programs, everything from recovery software to firefox portable.

--
Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90% probability you'll get it wrong.

Don B is correct

Don B wrote:

You should never install or copy recovery software onto the drive you are trying to recover files from. According to the experts there is a danger of overwriting the files you are trying to recover, either by copying the recovery software to the drive after you have lost the files or by the recovery software writing temporary files to the drive. I have a small stick that I have portable software installed on, probably ten or fifteen programs, everything from recovery software to firefox portable.

There is a chance that doing anything on your computer may overwrite the very file you are trying to recover. There is not the same chance with your GPS or the SD card it may contain - as the "Disk Drives" the GPS and the SD Card represent will not be impacted by writes to your primary (usually C:/ drive).

That said, I too have a USB stick which contains a suite of portable apps. Being "portable", they can be "run" without need for installation. I often use these portable apps to help out others who have computer problems.

I also have these portable apps in a folder on my C: Drive - ready to be run should the need arise. Better to have them ahead of the time a need arises. For example, searching for and downloading them activates writes to the hard drive (think temporary internet files).

Recovery program

I downloaded this program and played around with it.
I loaded 5 files and a sub directory onto a spare 32mb compact flash card. I DELETED the files (did not format). Ran the program and it found the 5 files minus first letter of each file name. It did not recover the sub directory. So, unless you know the exact name of all the files you are still up the creek. There has to be better programs out there. Backing up your GPS to a DVD is the best solution.

It is the best FREE software

GeoC320 wrote:

I downloaded this program and played around with it.
I loaded 5 files and a sub directory onto a spare 32mb compact flash card. I DELETED the files (did not format). Ran the program and it found the 5 files minus first letter of each file name. It did not recover the sub directory. So, unless you know the exact name of all the files you are still up the creek. There has to be better programs out there. Backing up your GPS to a DVD is the best solution.

It is the best free software available. You can pay for a program that might get you better or send the device/drive/card to a recovery service. Then you will pay the big bucks.

--
Nuvi 2460LMT.

Thanks for testing

GeoC320 wrote:

I downloaded this program and played around with it.
I loaded 5 files and a sub directory onto a spare 32mb compact flash card. I DELETED the files (did not format). Ran the program and it found the 5 files minus first letter of each file name. It did not recover the sub directory. So, unless you know the exact name of all the files you are still up the creek.

Would you repeat the test with a "file" in the subdirectory? I think it will find the file.

What you saw was exactly what was expected. Windows replaces the first letter of the file to indicate that the space previously occupied by that file is available for use. As you seem to imply, there could be confusion as to which was which if two files had all the same characters except for the first letter. However, there should be other indicators that would let you determine the original name.

As was indicated above, the software is free and gets many of us out of a jam created by our own stupidity.

it works for me

GeoC320 wrote:

I downloaded this program and played around with it.
I loaded 5 files and a sub directory onto a spare 32mb compact flash card. I DELETED the files (did not format). Ran the program and it found the 5 files minus first letter of each file name. It did not recover the sub directory. So, unless you know the exact name of all the files you are still up the creek. There has to be better programs out there. Backing up your GPS to a DVD is the best solution.

there could be some kind of problem on this software. I got same thing when this involved deleted sub-directories, so be careful in using it. But, I was able to recover picture files I accidentally deleted from SD. It is great that this utility is free and handy, as I do not expect to use it often (knock wood), or, I would more than happy to pay for it.

Nature of the beast

abin wrote:
GeoC320 wrote:

I downloaded this program and played around with it.
I loaded 5 files and a sub directory onto a spare 32mb compact flash card. I DELETED the files (did not format). Ran the program and it found the 5 files minus first letter of each file name. It did not recover the sub directory. So, unless you know the exact name of all the files you are still up the creek. There has to be better programs out there. Backing up your GPS to a DVD is the best solution.

there could be some kind of problem on this software. I got same thing when this involved deleted sub-directories, so be careful in using it. But, I was able to recover picture files I accidentally deleted from SD. It is great that this utility is free and handy, as I do not expect to use it often (knock wood), or, I would more than happy to pay for it.

It's the nature of the beast.. I'm not as familiar with NTFS file systems, but with FAT systems there never was an easy/bulletproof way to recover directory names.

Far easier to recover individual files since a normal delete changes the first letter of the file name & flags the sectors/clusters it used as being available for writing. And files aren't written in consecutive sectors but rather the most efficient pattern for the drive. That's why it's important to not write anything to the drive in question, as it's a dice throw if a new file writes on even just one of the old sectors, making total recovery less/not possible. The connection between the file and folder name was a bit more convoluted, as I recall.

Be thankful if you even get anything back.. and make backups if you tend to delete things without pausing REALLY long before that last click!

Lastly, Recuva's Advanced mode gives you more options than the defaut Wizard mode but it's way more time consuming.

--
It's about the Line- If a line can be drawn between the powers granted and the rights retained, it would seem to be the same thing, whether the latter be secured by declaring that they shall not be abridged, or that the former shall not be extended.