computer help: Please can someone help. - Help.com

Once you do a pc recovery the data is gone. You can look it up on the web for data recovery but it is expensive. Next time do a system backup or backup all of your data on a CD then when it happens again you will be able to replace the missing information. Hope this helps :-)

I just feel so terrible about this.

I am prepared to pay for him to get it all retrieved. I guess I better get the yellow pages out and look for someone that does that kind of thing.

Thanks for your help Clue. Not what I wanted to hear but I kinda knew it.

This is why I keep all my documents, music, photos and… ehh… other stuff that violates the TOS… on an external drive and use an online email service.

Is it really that hard to retrieve the data? I think I had some application for that sometime long long ago.

Hi Anthrax,

Yeah, it really is a wake up call for me. My laptop contains my whole life. I am about to go into town and buy an external drive for myself and backup everything.

I have called around to all the technicians where I am and they all suggest they can try and retrieve the files with software they have but they can’t guarantee everything will be brought back. And with use the computer continues to overwrite the space that is occupied by the deleted files technically wiping it forever.

There is however places that do just this retrieving thing - I guess that’s what cops use to extract info from reformatted hard drives etc that you hear about. And these places charge $500-600 bucks for a complete system retrieval. Which I don’t think is bad considering how much information has been lost in this instance.

Cheers… Karen

Oh that reminds me… I need a new external. My old one is hissing and wheezing, so I guess it’s just a matter of time before it goes under. Also I need a LOT more space. 400GB just doesn’t go as far as it used to… lol

Even with other data occupying the space, it should still be possible to retrieve the lost data. You’ll be looking at a lot of broken files though. I used to run a small application called “Necrofiler” to ensure all deleted files stayed deleted (don’t ask… lol). Used to overwrite “empty” space 15-20 times to corrupt the data beyond recognition.

I know there is a lot of programs fotr this, even FREEWARE !!!

You need help to find them, contact me and tell me what kind of Windows you have…

Windows 98/98 SE
Windows ME
Windows XP Home with or without SP1/SP2/SP3
Windows XP Pro with or without SP1/SP2/SP3
Windows Vista Home Basic
Windows Vista Home Premium

Hi Cokebottle,

Vista Home is what he is running at the moment - not sure whether Basic or Premium.

I have also just learnt that he’s even lost his Office suite - which he doesn’t… err… have a replacement to reinstall. So I guess thats the end to that.

Hi Anthrax,

400GB!! Holy cow, you got alot of stuff. I bought a 320GB one yesterday in my panic buying to backup all my stuff and it is a huge overkill for my laptop. But still nice to have it should I ever need it.

Yeah I am feeling more confident that some stuff will be able to be restored. I am just hoping his emails can be saved more than anything. I forget sometimes how much information, dates, addresses, important stuff is contained in emails.

Cheers… Karen

PC INSPECTOR™ File Recovery 4.x is a data recovery program that supports the FAT 12/16/32 and NTFS file systems. The current version 4.x replaces the previous version 3.x, which is now over 6 years old.

Here are some of the new features in PC INSPECTOR™ File Recovery 4.x

» Finds partitions automatically, even if the boot sector or FAT has been erased or damaged

» Recovers files with the original time and date stamp

» Supports the saving of recovered files on network drives

» Recovers files, even when a header entry is no longer available. Competition products cannot recover such files. The “Special Recovery Function” supports the following disk formats:

ARJ AVI BMP CDR DOC DXF DBF XLS

EXE GIF HLP HTML HTM JPG LZH MID

MOV MP3 PDF PNG RTF TAR TIF WAV

ZIP

PC INSPECTOR™ File Recovery 4.x is so-called FREEWARE. This means that the software does not cost you a single penny.

All you have to do is go to our download area to download the latest version of PC INSPECTOR™ File Recovery 4.x.

PC INSPECTOR™ File Recovery 4.x cannot help if you have mechanical problems with the disk drive. If the hard disk is no longer recognised by the BIOS or is making unusual noises, you should contact the specialists, “CONVAR - The Recovery Team”. They will certainly be able to help

www*pcinspector*de/Sites/file_recovery/info*htm?language=1

(Change all “*” to “.”, good luck, hope it helps you…)

Thanks for that CokeBottle.

I have read to be cautious of freeware for this purpose as it can contain spyware, adware etc. Any idea how to tell?

I have check this with 3 different Anti-spyware program and ESET Smart Security 3.0 (NOD32 Antivirus)…

Spyware Terminator
Spyware Doctor (part of Google Pack)
SUPERAntiSpyware

No problem at all, but if you find any garbage in this program contact me, please.

I uesd this program for more then 3 years no problem at all, no spywae/adware !!!

Cool, I’ll look into it. Thanks for sharing the info.