Disappearing files?? Recycle Bin??

On Thu, 08 Jan 2015 16:33:39 -0800, "W. eWatson"
wrote:

On 1/8/2015 2:13 PM, Nil wrote:
On 08 Jan 2015, "W. eWatson" wrote in
alt.windows7.general:

I can easily see what's in the RB. As I said above, there are five
(small files) in the RB.

When you view the Recycle Bin with Windows Explorer you see the
original file names. If you think one of those files is the file you
seek, just restore them and check them out.

I really don't understand your problem. Data files don't just delete
themselves. Windows doesn't delete them without permission. Your AV
might delete them or move them to its protected area if it thinks the
file is infected. It will tell you it's going to do that, but if you
missed the notice you can check there.
AV?

I think you deleted the file yourself and then emptied the Recycle Bin.
In other words, Windows did what you told it to do.


Doubtful that I deleted myself.

If your files were in the Recycle Bin, then you deleted them. That's how
they get there. The Recycle Bin isn't a storage folder, it's a trash can,
just like the one on the floor beside your desk.

As I think I said somewhere, It's
usually a long time between emptying the RB.

Once your files are in the Recycle Bin, Windows can and will delete them as
it sees fit, especially when it needs to make room for more deleted files.

What on earth prompted you to think you could store files in the trash can
and have them be safe there? That makes no sense.

--

Char Jackson

Char Jackson wrote:
On Thu, 08 Jan 2015 16:33:39 -0800, "W. eWatson"
wrote:

On 1/8/2015 2:13 PM, Nil wrote:
On 08 Jan 2015, "W. eWatson" wrote in
alt.windows7.general:

I can easily see what's in the RB. As I said above, there are five
(small files) in the RB.
When you view the Recycle Bin with Windows Explorer you see the
original file names. If you think one of those files is the file you
seek, just restore them and check them out.

I really don't understand your problem. Data files don't just delete
themselves. Windows doesn't delete them without permission. Your AV
might delete them or move them to its protected area if it thinks the
file is infected. It will tell you it's going to do that, but if you
missed the notice you can check there.
AV?
I think you deleted the file yourself and then emptied the Recycle Bin.
In other words, Windows did what you told it to do.

Doubtful that I deleted myself.

If your files were in the Recycle Bin, then you deleted them. That's how
they get there. The Recycle Bin isn't a storage folder, it's a trash can,
just like the one on the floor beside your desk.

As I think I said somewhere, It's
usually a long time between emptying the RB.

Once your files are in the Recycle Bin, Windows can and will delete them as
it sees fit, especially when it needs to make room for more deleted files.

What on earth prompted you to think you could store files in the trash can
and have them be safe there? That makes no sense.


You know, this thread is giving me a serious case of deja vu.

I seem to have had heated arguments with some people at work
about this practice. Eons ago. And it was funny back
then too. And they were quite adamant about continuing the
practice. Like it was an addiction or something.

Paul

Paul wrote:
Char Jackson wrote:
On Thu, 08 Jan 2015 16:33:39 -0800, "W. eWatson"
wrote:

On 1/8/2015 2:13 PM, Nil wrote:
On 08 Jan 2015, "W. eWatson" wrote in
alt.windows7.general:

I can easily see what's in the RB. As I said above, there are five
(small files) in the RB.
When you view the Recycle Bin with Windows Explorer you see the
original file names. If you think one of those files is the file you
seek, just restore them and check them out.

I really don't understand your problem. Data files don't just delete
themselves. Windows doesn't delete them without permission. Your AV
might delete them or move them to its protected area if it thinks the
file is infected. It will tell you it's going to do that, but if you
missed the notice you can check there.
AV?
I think you deleted the file yourself and then emptied the Recycle Bin.
In other words, Windows did what you told it to do.

Doubtful that I deleted myself.

If your files were in the Recycle Bin, then you deleted them. That's how
they get there. The Recycle Bin isn't a storage folder, it's a trash can,
just like the one on the floor beside your desk.

As I think I said somewhere, It's usually a long time between
emptying the RB.

Once your files are in the Recycle Bin, Windows can and will delete
them as
it sees fit, especially when it needs to make room for more deleted
files.

What on earth prompted you to think you could store files in the trash
can
and have them be safe there? That makes no sense.


You know, this thread is giving me a serious case of deja vu.

I seem to have had heated arguments with some people at work
about this practice. Eons ago. And it was funny back
then too. And they were quite adamant about continuing the
practice. Like it was an addiction or something.

Paul
Maybe all those Outlook Express users believed that 'safe practice'
not when they got what they wished for and learned that OE puts a
backup copy of dbx files in the RB and figured it must be good for
everything else too.

--
....winston
msft mvp consumer apps

On Thu, 08 Jan 2015 20:10:13 -0600, Char Jackson
wrote:

If your files were in the Recycle Bin, then you deleted them. That's how
they get there. The Recycle Bin isn't a storage folder, it's a trash can,
just like the one on the floor beside your desk.

As I think I said somewhere, It's
usually a long time between emptying the RB.

Once your files are in the Recycle Bin, Windows can and will delete them as
it sees fit, especially when it needs to make room for more deleted files.

What on earth prompted you to think you could store files in the trash can
and have them be safe there? That makes no sense.



A strong ditto to all you say here. And if I can add to what you say
here, it's a trash can that lets you change your mind and get back
what you put there, **if** you quickly decide you want to get it back.
If you wait too long, the garbage man has collected it and it's gone.

....

Photorec or Recuva or many other utilities, can try to find
the file for you. If you've taken good care of the partition
in question since the loss, chances are good it can be
recovered.

HTH,
Paul

Well, I tried Recuva, but no vendors.txt I had something of an odd
result though. It showed files from 2005 to 2010.

On 1/8/2015 6:10 PM, Char Jackson wrote:
On Thu, 08 Jan 2015 16:33:39 -0800, "W. eWatson"
wrote:

On 1/8/2015 2:13 PM, Nil wrote:
On 08 Jan 2015, "W. eWatson" wrote in
alt.windows7.general:

I can easily see what's in the RB. As I said above, there are five
(small files) in the RB.

When you view the Recycle Bin with Windows Explorer you see the
original file names. If you think one of those files is the file you
seek, just restore them and check them out.

I really don't understand your problem. Data files don't just delete
themselves. Windows doesn't delete them without permission. Your AV
might delete them or move them to its protected area if it thinks the
file is infected. It will tell you it's going to do that, but if you
missed the notice you can check there.
AV?

I think you deleted the file yourself and then emptied the Recycle Bin.
In other words, Windows did what you told it to do.


Doubtful that I deleted myself.

If your files were in the Recycle Bin, then you deleted them. That's how
they get there. The Recycle Bin isn't a storage folder, it's a trash can,
just like the one on the floor beside your desk.
No kidding #1.

As I think I said somewhere, It's
usually a long time between emptying the RB.

Once your files are in the Recycle Bin, Windows can and will delete them as
it sees fit, especially when it needs to make room for more deleted files.

What on earth prompted you to think you could store files in the trash can
and have them be safe there? That makes no sense.

No kidding #2.

W. eWatson wrote:
...

Photorec or Recuva or many other utilities, can try to find
the file for you. If you've taken good care of the partition
in question since the loss, chances are good it can be
recovered.

HTH,
Paul

Well, I tried Recuva, but no vendors.txt I had something of an odd
result though. It showed files from 2005 to 2010.

Just be aware, that the longer C: is used as your OS drive,
the higher the odds that the data clusters holding vendor.txt
are going to get overwritten.

On noting a very important file was deleted by accident...

1) Shut down computer (assuming the file was on C:, your OS drive).
2) Do not use C: as your OS drive, until recovery is complete.
3) Connect the hard drive containing C: to another computer.
For example, my laptop drive can be pulled, and SATA cables
in the desktop machine, used to connect to the drive.
4) Now, start using your data recovery candidates.
5) Do *not* let the data recovery program store the discovered
files on the C: drive you're working on. Any recovered
files should be stored on the "technician machine" being used
for the recovery effort. You don't want any software writing to
C: if at all possible.

By following those rules, you are minimizing the risk to the
deleted file on the C: drive.

If you run an OS like WinXP, with System Restore enabled, and
you continue to run it after the accidental deletion, WinXP
may make a System Restore point, which will use as much as
1GB of data clusters. There is a high probability, that the
deleted copy of vendors.txt is then gone completely. And
you'll have to fetch one from your collection of backups.

To save that file, you must make the file system it is on
"quiescent" immediately, for best results in terms of data
recovery. The data clusters are not FIFO or LIFO, and a
recently freed cluster stands a high probability of being
reused soon. Which is why you have to take action as soon
as is practical (move disk to another machine, attend to the
problem).

*******

I've done a quick test of Photorec, using a deleted JPEG
file as a candidate, and it recovered it for me. But that
doesn't say that every attempt will be successful. I don't
know if a fragmented drive, for example, the vendors.txt
clusters will all be sequential and all get copied properly.
If the vendors.txt is smaller than a single cluster, chances
are good it will all be intact. For very large files, you
may end up with several fragments, and need to "glue" them
back together (if that's even possible). I've dealt with
data recovery efforts before, where I got a hundred thousand
crap fragments, no file names, and no idea where to begin!
It's not exactly a slam dunk, to get the stuff back. It
requires a good deal of luck.

Paul

On 1/9/2015 2:32 PM, Paul wrote:
W. eWatson wrote:
...

Photorec or Recuva or many other utilities, can try to find
the file for you. If you've taken good care of the partition
in question since the loss, chances are good it can be
recovered.

HTH,
Paul

Well, I tried Recuva, but no vendors.txt I had something of an odd
result though. It showed files from 2005 to 2010.

This looks a bit steep. See below comments--at end.
Just be aware, that the longer C: is used as your OS drive,
the higher the odds that the data clusters holding vendor.txt
are going to get overwritten.

On noting a very important file was deleted by accident...

1) Shut down computer (assuming the file was on C:, your OS drive).
2) Do not use C: as your OS drive, until recovery is complete.
3) Connect the hard drive containing C: to another computer.
For example, my laptop drive can be pulled, and SATA cables
in the desktop machine, used to connect to the drive.
4) Now, start using your data recovery candidates.
5) Do *not* let the data recovery program store the discovered
files on the C: drive you're working on. Any recovered
files should be stored on the "technician machine" being used
for the recovery effort. You don't want any software writing to
C: if at all possible.

By following those rules, you are minimizing the risk to the
deleted file on the C: drive.

If you run an OS like WinXP, with System Restore enabled, and
you continue to run it after the accidental deletion, WinXP
may make a System Restore point, which will use as much as
1GB of data clusters. There is a high probability, that the
deleted copy of vendors.txt is then gone completely. And
you'll have to fetch one from your collection of backups.

To save that file, you must make the file system it is on
"quiescent" immediately, for best results in terms of data
recovery. The data clusters are not FIFO or LIFO, and a
recently freed cluster stands a high probability of being
reused soon. Which is why you have to take action as soon
as is practical (move disk to another machine, attend to the
problem).

*******

I've done a quick test of Photorec, using a deleted JPEG
file as a candidate, and it recovered it for me. But that
doesn't say that every attempt will be successful. I don't
know if a fragmented drive, for example, the vendors.txt
clusters will all be sequential and all get copied properly.
If the vendors.txt is smaller than a single cluster, chances
are good it will all be intact. For very large files, you
may end up with several fragments, and need to "glue" them
back together (if that's even possible). I've dealt with
data recovery efforts before, where I got a hundred thousand
crap fragments, no file names, and no idea where to begin!
It's not exactly a slam dunk, to get the stuff back. It
requires a good deal of luck.

Paul
vendors.txt probably contained about 100 lines, with maybe 30 lines of
txt per line.

I've been spending some time with Recuva this afternoon.

At one time I got vendors.txt, but it was overwritten by something on my
L: drive (backups). I tried a number of options, but struck out.

I powered down L:, and tried again. Recuva barely showed any files.
Well, one, it was useless.

Well, I think it's time to throw in the towel. Good-bye missing data.
I'll live with it. Thanks for the help.

W. eWatson wrote:
On 1/9/2015 2:32 PM, Paul wrote:
W. eWatson wrote:
...

Photorec or Recuva or many other utilities, can try to find
the file for you. If you've taken good care of the partition
in question since the loss, chances are good it can be
recovered.

HTH,
Paul

Well, I tried Recuva, but no vendors.txt I had something of an odd
result though. It showed files from 2005 to 2010.

This looks a bit steep. See below comments--at end.
Just be aware, that the longer C: is used as your OS drive,
the higher the odds that the data clusters holding vendor.txt
are going to get overwritten.

On noting a very important file was deleted by accident...

1) Shut down computer (assuming the file was on C:, your OS drive).
2) Do not use C: as your OS drive, until recovery is complete.
3) Connect the hard drive containing C: to another computer.
For example, my laptop drive can be pulled, and SATA cables
in the desktop machine, used to connect to the drive.
4) Now, start using your data recovery candidates.
5) Do *not* let the data recovery program store the discovered
files on the C: drive you're working on. Any recovered
files should be stored on the "technician machine" being used
for the recovery effort. You don't want any software writing to
C: if at all possible.

By following those rules, you are minimizing the risk to the
deleted file on the C: drive.

If you run an OS like WinXP, with System Restore enabled, and
you continue to run it after the accidental deletion, WinXP
may make a System Restore point, which will use as much as
1GB of data clusters. There is a high probability, that the
deleted copy of vendors.txt is then gone completely. And
you'll have to fetch one from your collection of backups.

To save that file, you must make the file system it is on
"quiescent" immediately, for best results in terms of data
recovery. The data clusters are not FIFO or LIFO, and a
recently freed cluster stands a high probability of being
reused soon. Which is why you have to take action as soon
as is practical (move disk to another machine, attend to the
problem).

*******

I've done a quick test of Photorec, using a deleted JPEG
file as a candidate, and it recovered it for me. But that
doesn't say that every attempt will be successful. I don't
know if a fragmented drive, for example, the vendors.txt
clusters will all be sequential and all get copied properly.
If the vendors.txt is smaller than a single cluster, chances
are good it will all be intact. For very large files, you
may end up with several fragments, and need to "glue" them
back together (if that's even possible). I've dealt with
data recovery efforts before, where I got a hundred thousand
crap fragments, no file names, and no idea where to begin!
It's not exactly a slam dunk, to get the stuff back. It
requires a good deal of luck.

Paul
vendors.txt probably contained about 100 lines, with maybe 30 lines of
txt per line.

I've been spending some time with Recuva this afternoon.

At one time I got vendors.txt, but it was overwritten by something on my
L: drive (backups). I tried a number of options, but struck out.

I powered down L:, and tried again. Recuva barely showed any files.
Well, one, it was useless.

Well, I think it's time to throw in the towel. Good-bye missing data.
I'll live with it. Thanks for the help.

Give Photorec a try. It claims to be able to
search for up to 200 different file types, and
the file types are listed on the site.

http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/File_...ed_By_PhotoRec

".txt Text file"

There is nothing really distinctive about .txt files,
which makes it rather hard to detect them. Some media
formats on the other hand, contain plenty of hints
(4CC codes), making it easier to select for them.

Paul

....

I powered down L:, and tried again. Recuva barely showed any files.
Well, one, it was useless.

Well, I think it's time to throw in the towel. Good-bye missing data.
I'll live with it. Thanks for the help.

Give Photorec a try. It claims to be able to
search for up to 200 different file types, and
the file types are listed on the site.

http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/File_...ed_By_PhotoRec

".txt Text file"

There is nothing really distinctive about .txt files,
which makes it rather hard to detect them. Some media
formats on the other hand, contain plenty of hints
(4CC codes), making it easier to select for them.

Paul
Where do I find a download file for Photorec?

On 09-Jan-2015 20:39, W. eWatson wrote:
...

I powered down L:, and tried again. Recuva barely showed any files.
Well, one, it was useless.

Well, I think it's time to throw in the towel. Good-bye missing data.
I'll live with it. Thanks for the help.

Give Photorec a try. It claims to be able to
search for up to 200 different file types, and
the file types are listed on the site.

http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/File_...ed_By_PhotoRec

".txt Text file"

There is nothing really distinctive about .txt files,
which makes it rather hard to detect them. Some media
formats on the other hand, contain plenty of hints
(4CC codes), making it easier to select for them.

Paul
Where do I find a download file for Photorec?

http://preview.tinyurl.com/pzr563z

....
There is nothing really distinctive about .txt files,
which makes it rather hard to detect them. Some media
formats on the other hand, contain plenty of hints
(4CC codes), making it easier to select for them.

Paul
Where do I find a download file for Photorec?

http://preview.tinyurl.com/pzr563z
That doesn't look like a download.
https://www.google.ca/search?q=Photorec&i
e=utf-8&oe=utf-8&gws_rd=cr&ei=9Yi
wVMfcFJKPsQSbyoLQDA

W. eWatson wrote:
...

I powered down L:, and tried again. Recuva barely showed any files.
Well, one, it was useless.

Well, I think it's time to throw in the towel. Good-bye missing data.
I'll live with it. Thanks for the help.

Give Photorec a try. It claims to be able to
search for up to 200 different file types, and
the file types are listed on the site.

http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/File_...ed_By_PhotoRec

".txt Text file"

There is nothing really distinctive about .txt files,
which makes it rather hard to detect them. Some media
formats on the other hand, contain plenty of hints
(4CC codes), making it easier to select for them.

Paul
Where do I find a download file for Photorec?

(Sorry, I was out getting groceries...)

On the same site.

http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Download

"TestDisk & PhotoRec 6.14 (30 July 2013), Data Recovery"

Windows --- 32 bit for 32/64 systems.

Extract the ZIP and you'll find a set of files.

cygwin1.dll
photorec_win.exe

Now, I have a set of disks with "twitchy" properties
running right now. If I double click photorec_win.exe,
a command prompt window opens, but the program won't list
the disks. (You can try double-clicking anyway, as it'll
likely work for you.) The following is if you're stuck
and cannot get it to run.

Instead, use Start : Run to run "cmd.exe", right-click what
the search finds and select "Run as Administrator". CD
(change directory) until you get to the folder containing
the executable. Run the program from the command prompt
window.

photorec_win

The step by step instructions are here.

http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec_Step_By_Step

The "File Opt" step is where you select the file type to find.
Press the "s" key to de-select all four hundred formats, then
scroll until you find the single one for text (.txt). That way, the tool will
not cough up everything on the face of the earth, and will
only look for text files. You don't want to find every file
on the computer, because it will. You want to be more
selective than that.

If you need to quit the program at any time, these
programs respond to "control-c" like you were on a
Linux or Unix computer. Instead of control-c being for
"copy", control-c will tell the program to quit. That
knowledge is for situations where you might otherwise panic.
As a rule, many of the screens have a "Quit" command
anyway. But control-c is available if you're "stuck"
and cannot figure out what else to do. I've used
control-c while running TestDisk, because it makes
me feel good...

Paul

On 1/9/2015 6:06 PM, Leala wrote:
On 09-Jan-2015 20:39, W. eWatson wrote:
...

I powered down L:, and tried again. Recuva barely showed any files.
Well, one, it was useless.

Well, I think it's time to throw in the towel. Good-bye missing data.
I'll live with it. Thanks for the help.

Give Photorec a try. It claims to be able to
search for up to 200 different file types, and
the file types are listed on the site.

http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/File_...ed_By_PhotoRec

".txt Text file"

There is nothing really distinctive about .txt files,
which makes it rather hard to detect them. Some media
formats on the other hand, contain plenty of hints
(4CC codes), making it easier to select for them.

Paul
Where do I find a download file for Photorec?

http://preview.tinyurl.com/pzr563z
Doesn't work for me.

....
Where do I find a download file for Photorec?

(Sorry, I was out getting groceries...)

On the same site.

http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Download

"TestDisk & PhotoRec 6.14 (30 July 2013), Data Recovery"

Windows --- 32 bit for 32/64 systems.

Extract the ZIP and you'll find a set of files.

cygwin1.dll
photorec_win.exe

Now, I have a set of disks with "twitchy" properties
running right now. If I double click photorec_win.exe,
a command prompt window opens, but the program won't list
the disks. (You can try double-clicking anyway, as it'll
likely work for you.) The following is if you're stuck
and cannot get it to run.

Instead, use Start : Run to run "cmd.exe", right-click what
the search finds and select "Run as Administrator". CD
(change directory) until you get to the folder containing
the executable. Run the program from the command prompt
window.

photorec_win

The step by step instructions are here.

http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec_Step_By_Step

The "File Opt" step is where you select the file type to find.
Press the "s" key to de-select all four hundred formats, then
scroll until you find the single one for text (.txt). That way, the tool
will
not cough up everything on the face of the earth, and will
only look for text files. You don't want to find every file
on the computer, because it will. You want to be more
selective than that.

If you need to quit the program at any time, these
programs respond to "control-c" like you were on a
Linux or Unix computer. Instead of control-c being for
"copy", control-c will tell the program to quit. That
knowledge is for situations where you might otherwise panic.
As a rule, many of the screens have a "Quit" command
anyway. But control-c is available if you're "stuck"
and cannot figure out what else to do. I've used
control-c while running TestDisk, because it makes
me feel good...

Paul
I hope to get back to this later today. Got a few irons in the fire.