Ways to restore lost data

This video tutorial shows you ways of restoring files four different ways. I do not claim this video to be the ultimate way to restore files. These are just suggestions, so if you know of better methods, please leave a comment with the suggested method. Listed below are the four different ways and the programs needed.

Step 1: Restoring files that have been deleted from the Recycle Bin

A great program for doing this is called Restoration. Download it and install it. The program installs itself to a folder in c:/restoration. Double click on the ".exe" file in that folder. Once the program launches, it will allow you to search the specified drive. Once the results are pulled up, highlight any files that you intend to restore and click the "Restore By Copying" button.

Comments

[carlos-felo]

It`s good for people what their data is "lost"... Sorry, but my English is very bad... I'm a Chilean...

[wgarciamachmar]

Just because we are from Chile, it doesn't mean we don't speak (orwrite) proper english.

[rocketman7]

He probably meant that he was living in Chile!

[jaketeater]

This guide goes through a few different recovery methods:
 The Hard Drive Recovery Guide for Non-Geeks 
 All of the tutorials are written in plain language and use free software.  It has worked for me a couple of times 

[Punkguyta]

Unbootable! Not unbotable.

[amithav]

You ..LIfe saver...Thanks

[woofboy111]

Maybe somebody could give me some hints on what to do to get some files off of a computer that I'm having trouble with. Its a HP computer running windows 2000. When I start up the computer, I get the message that the computer didn't shut down properly, and I get the option to start normally, in safe mode, etc. Whatever I select here, what happens next is the same. The normal windows startup screen comes up for about 5 seconds, and then a blue screen comes up telling me: "A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer. UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME It gives some other instructions that don't help much after that. Does anyone know how I could get my files off of the computer? I tried the last step of this instuctable, but I don't have the startup cd that came with the computer, so that didn't work? Thanks!

[ikem]

I had the same problem with the pc of my mom. Here is the solution: *boot from the windows xp cd into the system recovery console *in this console type: 'chkdsk /r c:' *after this task has finished type: 'exit' Now, your system should normally start. :)

[DamionLee]

It may be too late for this particular issue, but I have sent an e-mail with details of how to get that data back, and other solutions/preventative measures. I will write a detailed Instructable on the same issues soon for other people who experience this problem or similar issues.

[juggalo_assassin183]

we had a similer problem with a hp runing xp home sp0 first i triede formating and installing xp pro sp2 but the problem came back after a week we gave up and bought a new custom built comp from a guy in the next town over

[ikem]

@'Restore deleted files':
My favorite freeware for windows is:

Recuva
http://www.recuva.com/

It is active developed and works like a charme.

[kekelka]

i like to use Screen VidShot! i found this prog more useful,helpful and very simple! i advice you to try this perfect tool)

[bart430]

If you download a file and extract it on the same drive you lost your data on, you could be overwriting the file you are looking for.

[Kent]

If it is a Mac, the format will almost always be HFS or HFS Plus. These are not readable on Windows, but a Mac can read NTFS and FAT32 formats. That is a good way to deal with a Windows drive that has problems. The Mac will ignore Windows security, boot sectors, viruses, etc. If it is a Mac drive, there are some great utilities to recover it, but none are free. Disk Utility (part of the OS install) will not solve very serious problems, but it a good first step. Disk Warrior has never failed me if the drive is mountable. TechTool Pro is also good. Be sure you are using the latest versions of these utilities if there is any chance the drive has been used with recent version of the OS. There have been subtle changes to the HFS Plus format that can confuse older versions of the utilities, and then they can destroy what is left of your data.

[DamionLee]

This is not entirely accurate. There are many software solutions (such as Transmac, Mac Disk and Mac Drive) which allow the reading from and writing to HFS and HFS+ drives on Windows machines.

[Kent]

Being a Mac guy, I was not familiar with those. Still, those Mac utilities are my favorites for Mac format drives. There are a few others, but I have had poor results from them.

[Tailslvr7_7]

OMG NOW I CAN COPY THOSE GH2 FILES WITHOUT THAT DUMB CYCLIC RTEDUNCANCY CHECK CRAP! THANK YOU!!! P.S. I SAID THIS COMMENT ENTIRLY IN CAPS

[gmoon]

If you're going the 'live' linux route, then SystemRescue is specifically designed for data recovery.

[boldinvest]

@kent You could also use linux to recover the windows files. And you can use some distros of linux to read the mac file system.

[GorillazMiko]

Great Instructable! Easy to read and follow steps/ pictures, I like it!

[Sergeant Crayon]

Good, well organized Instructable! One question, however, Whats with that mouse in the video? (4:21 to 4:40)

[gigafide]

So that I could screen capture the CD startup, I used Microsoft Virtual PC to boot to the CD and then just recorded it using CamStudio. So the computer isn't acutally booting up to the CD, it's actually just booting up in a window on my desktop...and the screen capture program I have follows the mouse, so I couldn't hide it :-)