SAVE A MARRIAGE - Lost Photos

[dhoffmann]

I installed the XP over my windows 98. Little did I know
that when windows installed over my "windows directory"
that ALL of our photos (which are not saved elsewhere)
where on a desktop folder. Now they are all gone but the
directory structure is still there. (no, they aren't in
the new trash folder). Is there any way to get them
back? Thanks a million if you have an answer.

[Amethyst]

dhoffmann wrote:
> I installed the XP over my windows 98. Little did I know
> that when windows installed over my "windows directory"
> that ALL of our photos (which are not saved elsewhere)
> where on a desktop folder. Now they are all gone but the
> directory structure is still there. (no, they aren't in
> the new trash folder). Is there any way to get them
> back? Thanks a million if you have an answer.

Nope - they're gone. Suggest you should have thought about backing things up
before installing a new OS. You'll know better next time.

--�
Cassandra
Card carrying member of the Fresh Start Club 'The Undead Are People Too!'

Reply address is fake. Please send all praise, abuse, insults, bequests
of £1million to cassandra (at) craigy34 (dot) freeserve (dot) co (dot) uk.
Change the obvious to the obvious.
Requests for private assistance will not be acknowledged. Please post all
correspondence to the group so that all may benefit. Thank you.

[Joseph Conway \(MSFT\)]

Check your documents and settings folder for a user account with a ~ on it.
Maybe it renamed your user account from the 9x install. There are other
recovery options out there as well like www.ontrack.com but its not cheap.

--
Joseph W. Conway, MCSE
Windows 9x/NT/2000/2003 Server Group

Opinions expressed here are my personal opinions and are provided without
warranty.

318752 HOW TO: Install and Use the Recovery Console in Windows 2000
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=318752

"dhoffmann" > wrote in message
...
> I installed the XP over my windows 98. Little did I know
> that when windows installed over my "windows directory"
> that ALL of our photos (which are not saved elsewhere)
> where on a desktop folder. Now they are all gone but the
> directory structure is still there. (no, they aren't in
> the new trash folder). Is there any way to get them
> back? Thanks a million if you have an answer.

[R. C. White]

Hi, Drew.

One last shot...

Open a "DOS" window. At the C:> prompt, type: dir C:\*.jpg /s

If there is a .jpg file anywhere in C:, this should find it. The "\" starts
in the Root of C:, and the "/s" switch searches all subdirectories - which
will mean the entire drive in this case, so it may take a while. If there
is any chance the files were hidden, system or read-only, add the "/a"
switch, to show all files, no matter what their attributes might be. Type
dir /h for a short help file that may give you more ideas.

If you find no .jpg files, try again with .bmp, .pic and any other suffix
you can think of. Or try "pic*.*" or whichever filename you might have
used. And, of course, try it with D:\, E:\ and any other drives that might
have a chance.

Good luck!

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX

Microsoft Windows MVP

"dhoffmann" > wrote in message
...
> I installed the XP over my windows 98. Little did I know
> that when windows installed over my "windows directory"
> that ALL of our photos (which are not saved elsewhere)
> where on a desktop folder. Now they are all gone but the
> directory structure is still there. (no, they aren't in
> the new trash folder). Is there any way to get them
> back? Thanks a million if you have an answer.

[Kenny]

Easy Recovery from Ontrack may get them back if the space hasn't been
overwritten. Get trial version from:
www.ontrack.com


--

Kenny
"dhoffmann" > wrote in message
...
> I installed the XP over my windows 98. Little did I know
> that when windows installed over my "windows directory"
> that ALL of our photos (which are not saved elsewhere)
> where on a desktop folder. Now they are all gone but the
> directory structure is still there. (no, they aren't in
> the new trash folder). Is there any way to get them
> back? Thanks a million if you have an answer.

[Vaughn McMillan - Executive Software]

Hi -

Contrary to Cassandra's bright outlook on things, if the files have
not already been overwritten by other file activity, you can recover
them with Undelete, from Executive Software. It's important to avoid
as much disk activity as possible, to avoid overwriting the file.
(And considering you did a full install of Win2K, there's already been
a bunch of disk activity. Still, there's a chance the files are still
recoverable.)

The Executive Software site has a free utility you can download to see
if the files are still recoverable. If you go to www.undelete.com, go
to the "Downloads" section of the website and look for the "Deleted
File Analysis Utility". Run the utility, and you'll see if the files
can still be retrieved.

I can only vouch for Undelete by Executive Software, because I work
there, but there are other file recovery products available as well.
A Google search on "undelete" will point you in the right direction.

I hope this helps, and good luck -

Vaughn McMillan
Executive Software

On Wed, 21 May 2003 05:23:32 -0700, "dhoffmann"
> wrote:

>I installed the XP over my windows 98. Little did I know
>that when windows installed over my "windows directory"
>that ALL of our photos (which are not saved elsewhere)
>where on a desktop folder. Now they are all gone but the
>directory structure is still there. (no, they aren't in
>the new trash folder). Is there any way to get them
>back? Thanks a million if you have an answer.

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi,

Another utility (free) that may help if the lost files are not under =
another profile and have not been overwritten:

http://hccweb1.bai.ne.jp/~hcj58401/

--=20
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Win9x - =
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone -
www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
Win98 Help - www.rickrogers.org

"dhoffmann" > wrote in message =
...
> I installed the XP over my windows 98. Little did I know=20
> that when windows installed over my "windows directory"=20
> that ALL of our photos (which are not saved elsewhere)=20
> where on a desktop folder. Now they are all gone but the=20
> directory structure is still there. (no, they aren't in=20
> the new trash folder). Is there any way to get them=20
> back? Thanks a million if you have an answer.

[Jim Macklin]

Should he download that to a floppy so as to limit hard
disks writes? Will it run from the floppy?


"Vaughn McMillan - Executive Software"
> wrote in message
...
| Hi -
|
| Contrary to Cassandra's bright outlook on things, if the
files have
| not already been overwritten by other file activity, you
can recover
| them with Undelete, from Executive Software. It's
important to avoid
| as much disk activity as possible, to avoid overwriting
the file.
| (And considering you did a full install of Win2K, there's
already been
| a bunch of disk activity. Still, there's a chance the
files are still
| recoverable.)
|
| The Executive Software site has a free utility you can
download to see
| if the files are still recoverable. If you go to
www.undelete.com, go
| to the "Downloads" section of the website and look for the
"Deleted
| File Analysis Utility". Run the utility, and you'll see
if the files
| can still be retrieved.
|
| I can only vouch for Undelete by Executive Software,
because I work
| there, but there are other file recovery products
available as well.
| A Google search on "undelete" will point you in the right
direction.
|
| I hope this helps, and good luck -
|
| Vaughn McMillan
| Executive Software
|
| On Wed, 21 May 2003 05:23:32 -0700, "dhoffmann"
| > wrote:
|
| >I installed the XP over my windows 98. Little did I know
| >that when windows installed over my "windows directory"
| >that ALL of our photos (which are not saved elsewhere)
| >where on a desktop folder. Now they are all gone but the
| >directory structure is still there. (no, they aren't in
| >the new trash folder). Is there any way to get them
| >back? Thanks a million if you have an answer.
|

[Ben Williams]

XP has the desktop in a different location that 98.
Have you checked c:\windows\desktop and see if the pictures are there?
You can also do a search for the name of the folder and see if it is tucked
away in some hidden user.
Check in C:\Documents and Settings there are a bunch of desktop folders in
there also.
Last resort you may want to roll-back your installation of XP, if you choose
the option at the beginning of the XP install.
--
Ben Williams

"dhoffmann" > wrote in message
...
> I installed the XP over my windows 98. Little did I know
> that when windows installed over my "windows directory"
> that ALL of our photos (which are not saved elsewhere)
> where on a desktop folder. Now they are all gone but the
> directory structure is still there. (no, they aren't in
> the new trash folder). Is there any way to get them
> back? Thanks a million if you have an answer.

[Vaughn McMillan - Executive Software]

Yes, the utility can run from a floppy, and in fact the installation
instructions outline that plan exactly. Good call on your part for
bringing it up.

Vaughn McMillan
Executive Software

On Thu, 22 May 2003 03:32:58 -0500, "Jim Macklin"
> wrote:

>Should he download that to a floppy so as to limit hard
>disks writes? Will it run from the floppy?
>
>
>"Vaughn McMillan - Executive Software"
> wrote in message
...
>| Hi -
>|
>| Contrary to Cassandra's bright outlook on things, if the
>files have
>| not already been overwritten by other file activity, you
>can recover
>| them with Undelete, from Executive Software. It's
>important to avoid
>| as much disk activity as possible, to avoid overwriting
>the file.
>| (And considering you did a full install of Win2K, there's
>already been
>| a bunch of disk activity. Still, there's a chance the
>files are still
>| recoverable.)
>|
>| The Executive Software site has a free utility you can
>download to see
>| if the files are still recoverable. If you go to
>www.undelete.com, go
>| to the "Downloads" section of the website and look for the
>"Deleted
>| File Analysis Utility". Run the utility, and you'll see
>if the files
>| can still be retrieved.
>|
>| I can only vouch for Undelete by Executive Software,
>because I work
>| there, but there are other file recovery products
>available as well.
>| A Google search on "undelete" will point you in the right
>direction.
>|
>| I hope this helps, and good luck -
>|
>| Vaughn McMillan
>| Executive Software
>|
>| On Wed, 21 May 2003 05:23:32 -0700, "dhoffmann"
>| > wrote:
>|
>| >I installed the XP over my windows 98. Little did I know
>| >that when windows installed over my "windows directory"
>| >that ALL of our photos (which are not saved elsewhere)
>| >where on a desktop folder. Now they are all gone but the
>| >directory structure is still there. (no, they aren't in
>| >the new trash folder). Is there any way to get them
>| >back? Thanks a million if you have an answer.
>|
>