Recover deleted file folder

A few days ago I think I deleted a folder (entitled "Scans") in "My Documents" folder. I tried "Recuva" and used all the different options to search (except, advanced). When files come up in the search, they are listed in numbers, like, 1a55t2r277z12, etc. rather than a name, like "Scans," the one I am looking for. Am I going about the search correctly,and if so, how do I idenfiy the folder I am looking for?

I do not have an answer to your question right now, but I will research and possibly others will come by. In the meantime use the computer as little as possible.. Each use of the HD makes it more difficult to recover the files.

This software has an excellent reputation of finding lost files
http://diskdigger.org/

Try this free for one day, 11/4
http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/

When I scan (and I just did one to check), I notice that some show up as numbers and some show up as names. Since the initial sort is by name, the numbers will appear first and may get you thinking they are all that way - they aren't.

First, try clicking on the column header to sort by Name and scroll to see if you can find Scans listed just like that (though not likely since those are filenames and not folders). If you know a specific filename in Scans, then search for that instead to see if you can find it by name. I found 52,800 files, so it may be a long list and using the scroll bar on the right might be a lot faster to get to where you want to be.

If not, try clicking on the path header to sort by Path and scroll to the Documents folder folder itself - there should be considerably fewer there (and if you want to recover all of Scans just click all the entries in that path). It may even list a Scans folder specifically (since the listing is by files, and you should be able to take it from there). If it is still just numbers, restore everything in the Scans folder or the Documents folder even and see if that works - you may end up needing to delete a lot of corrupted and/or overwritten entries that get restored when done this way but you may find some or all of what you're looking for as well.

You can click on advanced which doesn't help much, but click on Options and then click on Actions and select the settings you want - they are probably all blank but most likely you have some preferences. Especially consider the recovery box where it offers to restore the folder structure. Click on General and select the number of passes.

In advanced, sometimes preview works especially for picture files like .jpg files - but usually it shows nothing. Info tells you nothing you can't get from the primary view. Header is mostly in code, but sometimes to the far right, if you look hard, you can see there's actually some writing that may help identify the file even if the filename is just numbers. Again, you're looking at filenames and not folders - they aren't sorted by folders to my knowledge (but I'm not certain as I've never deleted and tried to recover an entire folder before). I had no folders included in my report.

BTW, since this is Vista and not XP (I'm assuming), you should be looking in C:\users\<username>\Documents and not "My Documents." If you actually got past security and deleted from "My Documents" in Vista, I'm not sure how that would work or if this program could recover those files as that's a junction point and not a real folder with real files and should never be touched.

I hope this helps.

Good luck!

If Recuva, doesn't work, perhaps you can try some of these others where you may have more success:

Files aren't actually deleted until they are overwritten (though they're no longer available through conventional methods). If you decide to try these recovery programs, you should stop using your hard drive immediately so you don't overwrite the data you are trying to recover. Slave it to another PC and run the recovery from that PC. Even now you may have permanently lost some of them if you're using that same PC. If you can't do that (slave to another PC), you run the risk of overwriting the data with every action you do on the PC (but you still may be able to recover some or most or even all of the files - it's a matter of luck).


http://www.snapfiles.com/get/diskdigger.html(try this next - if it doesn’t work either chances of recovery are very slim but you can try the other options if you wish)

http://www.snapfiles.com/get/easusdfr.html

http://www.snapfiles.com/get/restoration.html

http://www.snapfiles.com/downloads/recuva/dlrecuva.html

http://www.softperfect.com/products/filerecovery/

http://techpaul.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/how-to-recover-your-lost-files/

Only you can decide if the data is important enough to take the PC to a data recovery expert to recover the files (they will have better programs and equipment to do so than any of us do and than I provided above). Do NOT go to Geek Squad or any of those big store centers - they mostly don't know what they're doing - take it to a data recovery expert. It will cost quite a bit (I mean, a LOT) and they usually offer no guarantees – you typically pay the same price if they recover everything or if they recover nothing. The decision is yours.

TY for the kind words Neb. Try the one day offer first. Pay products are usually the best (sometimes). If my two suggestions do not work, Lorien has given you much to read and consider. His advice is always helpful.