Desperate help for lost files

[djhall]

There is a related feature that might help. There is a Windows feature that may or not have been enabled on your drive which dedicates a percentage of it's space to storing previous versions of your files. If it was enabled then you may be able to go to the parent folder of the missing folders, right click on it, and select the option to restore previous versions.

I should probably have added an additional warning. If this feature is enabled and you decide to try it then you can't right click on the folder that is no longer there in order to restore it to its previous version. That means you'd have to roll the entire parent folder back to a previous version.

If your folder structure was something like this:

Documents\Important Documents
Documents\Missing Folder
Documents\Other Important Documents

and you roll the Documents folder to a prior version then you may get your Missing Folder back. However, you will also be rolling back all other files and folders inside Documents as well. Be aware of this since I would hate to see you accidentally lose additional data in the process.

[SkyHawk]

I should probably have added an additional warning. If this feature is enabled and you decide to try it then you can't right click on the folder that is no longer there in order to restore it to its previous version. That means you'd have to roll the entire parent folder back to a previous version.

If your folder structure was something like this:

Documents\Important Documents
Documents\Missing Folder
Documents\Other Important Documents

and you roll the Documents folder to a prior version then you may get your Missing Folder back. However, you will also be rolling back all other files and folders inside Documents as well. Be aware of this since I would hate to see you accidentally lose additional data in the process.

So the thing to do is make a copy of the Documents folder, put it somewhere OUTSIDE the Documents folder tree using a temp name, THEN roll back the Documents folder. Then merge them together keeping the most recent copy of a given file, or do it manually.

If you don't have volume shadow copies running or System Protection enabled , then try Zero Assumption Recovery against the SD card first, then the hard drive.

http://www.z-a-recovery.com/

But the very first thing to do is check for 'Previous Versions' in Windows Explorer -> properties of the folder.

If you want some free remote assistance via Webex, PM me.

[stilly]

Oh yes. The ninja cloning and do everything on the cloned drive trick! Works well in some cases, in other cases it well, I believe it still works, as long as you clone it properly. Which means like a raw sector copy or something. Do not just clone the file data obviously...

In all honesty when creating folders, I will typically delete a folder that has a lot of stuff in it, then I will go back and recreate that folder and then delete the empty one. I have found that many times, a lot of software recovery programs get fooled and will recover the folder that is empty and no matter HOW hard you try, they always grab the empty folder because it was the last version I guess. This is why I say do NOT create anything with the same names. Somehow the fat tends to link to the latest version and then it allows the old version to sink like a rock and lose all hope.

[djhall]

So the thing to do is make a copy of the Documents folder, put it somewhere OUTSIDE the Documents folder tree, THEN roll back the Documents folder.

Well, it is very important that they make any copies of the Documents folder to a completely different storage device. Copying the files to a different folder on the same drive would overwrite previously deleted files. If some of those files are ones he is trying to recover then a deleted file recovery program will no longer be able to recover them.

A total hack job would involve plugging in an external USB flash drive or portable hard drive and copying or recovering files to it.

A risky job would involve using a different computer, connecting the drive we are trying to recover data from as an additional drive (so we are not running Windows from the drive we are attempting to recover the data from), and copying or recovering the data to either the system drive or an external USB drive.

Really though, nothing should be done with that drive once the data loss is discovered except for a sector by sector clone of the drive. That clone becomes the source you use to make sector by sector clones to a working recovery drive. You do your recovery work on the working clone. If the recovery efforts result in further destruction of data then you re-clone the working clone from the source clone and try again. If your efforts fail then the original drive is untouched other than reading it once to make the source clone and it can be sent to a professional data recovery company with minimal additional degradation.

[djhall]

I feel a little bad about you constantly getting told, "you could do this, but don't do it."

Unfortunately, anything you do, even just turning the computer on, has a chance of making otherwise recoverable data permanently unrecoverable.

We want to help you get your data back, but part of that is making sure this story doesn't end with you sending the drive to a professional data recovery company which tells you your data would have been recoverable if you hadn't done all this stuff to it before you sent it in.

[tackdriver]

Thanks to everyone. I believe now what happened to the files on the card and external drive is, sometime during the delete phase, I stopped and decided, just in case, to back up the good folder. Here I thought I was being smart. It appears that the files had already been deleted at that time. I was of course totally unaware and overwrote the good folder with the deleted one. I looked a the files Recuva found and a lot of them are there. I have to open each and every recovered file to find out exactly which one it is. Recuva changed the name on all of them. i.e I had them labeled "Smith Letter" or Jones Letter" and it changed them all to just "Letter".
We'll see how much I can get back. It's just going to take me a lot of time on the computer.
In reading the comments it doesnt appear there's a program that does exactly what I need it to do.
I did try the "previous versions" method. And Im sure in using Recuva and putting the recovered files back on the C drive I screwed up the chances of a good recovery.
I did check with a profesional company and they said it would be way to much money. Id pay it if theyd guarantee to bring back the files the way I need. Plus it could take up to a month. I need the files for court and cant be without the computer for that long
Once again, thanks for the input. Makes me glad to be part of the Calguns group! Live and learn.

[stilly]

If you still need help, you know you can PM me. My offer is still on the table. I am free for the next two days only. After that it is all over the place.

I hope it works out for you.

[uparmor]

shut the computer off NOW. Do not boot it again. Either boot to a special cd made to recover lost files and then write the files to a usb drive or another hard drive.

DO NOT WRITE to the same drive.

They are a few really good programs and a lot of crappy ones.

PM me if you want the same tool I use all the time to recover lost files. It will take a long time to look at the drive.

Its best to boot another computer and search the drive as a slve drive. That way it boots the accelerated disk support not done in other manners.

[moond0ggie]

Buy two hard drives, one to install Windows on & your recovery programs ....the other will be your 'Save to'
drive. Install Windows on the drive all by itself...then connect your 'Save to' drive & your 'Original' drive .....3 hard drives total

That will prevent anymore 'Writes' to your original drive as you run the recovery SW.

[artb]

When the dust settles, look into Carbonite Backup.
May not be right for you, but for about $6 per month I have all my user files backed up and accessible from any computer or smartphone.