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Help! Deleted files. Need to recover them...
- Thread starter adammusic
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well if none of them and you have already got rid of trash then i'd say your Buggered
hate to say it but this is why everyone needs to backup
http://www.google.co.uk/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=&q=os+x+file+recovery&btnG=Google+Search&meta=
Any products on that search might be able to help you. Unless you secure emptied the trash the files are probably mostly still there.
Any products on that search might be able to help you. Unless you secure emptied the trash the files are probably mostly still there.
The actual data does stay on the drive until that section of the drive is written to again, which is why a file recovery app might still save you. Just do as little on the system as possible (to avoid the possibility of writing over the parts of the disk where the files might still be).
STOP USING YOUR COMPUTER STRAIGHT AWAY! you may risk the chance of your files being overwritten if your files where on the main boot disk.
take a look at the products that edesignuk suggested.
take a look at the products that edesignuk suggested.
Absolutely right. I inadvertently deleted 30GB of precious photos last year and was able to recover 100% of them using Subrosa's FileSalvage.
It is worth every single cent of it's $89.95 price tag and then some.
Good luck.
I used File Salvage also, when my daughter deleted a bunch of files off her comptuer. I was able to restore everything she needed with file salvage, but it can be a chore.
Get started on this ASAP, and don't use your computer for anything else until you get your files back (ie don't leave anything up and running like mail, etc).
As I recall, File Salvage can't get the names of the files, so you end up with alot of files with generic names (file1, file2, file3, etc). You will be sorting through them to find out which ones are OK, and which ones aren't and then you can rename them once you figure out what they are.
It's worth it in the end, but it takes some time. Well worth the $90.
After you get through all of that, then get yourself an external drive (some are under $100), and backup your music and pictures, etc. Use Time machine if move to Leopard (if you can't afford a big drive, then exclude everything but your user folder), or at least drag copies of the Music and Pictures folders off to the external drive.
You can also use iTunes to burn multiple CD/DVD's for backup, but it is a pain if you have lots of music.
Get started on this ASAP, and don't use your computer for anything else until you get your files back (ie don't leave anything up and running like mail, etc).
As I recall, File Salvage can't get the names of the files, so you end up with alot of files with generic names (file1, file2, file3, etc). You will be sorting through them to find out which ones are OK, and which ones aren't and then you can rename them once you figure out what they are.
It's worth it in the end, but it takes some time. Well worth the $90.
After you get through all of that, then get yourself an external drive (some are under $100), and backup your music and pictures, etc. Use Time machine if move to Leopard (if you can't afford a big drive, then exclude everything but your user folder), or at least drag copies of the Music and Pictures folders off to the external drive.
You can also use iTunes to burn multiple CD/DVD's for backup, but it is a pain if you have lots of music.
A tip for the time after a (partly) successful recovery. If you end up with generic file names (file 1, file 2, etc.) you might want to use iEatBrainz, to auto-tag your mp3 files.
/Rupert
/Rupert
Do you have these files on an iPod? Because if so, then I believe that there is an application called Senuti or something like that, which can rip the files from your iPod's hard/flash drive and put them on your computer, this may be a little bit easier and cheaper than file recovery programs.
Tried Data Rescue 3. Not very impressed.
When files are recovered it categorises files by type.
So you navigate through a series of nested folders.
I had some screenshot I wanted to to recover.
I didn't remember the file name precisely, but knew within a five minute window when it was created.
The recovery process needs a big USB external drive to dump contents.
I had to wipe that to trial the software out. Grrr. It took several hours to complete....
It ended up giving PNG names like P1048x245-09999.png and the timestamp of all the file names was an identical moment in time, presumably when the file names were generated on the USB drive today, not a few days ago - i.e. the original file creation timestamp...
The problem is there were thousands of them, and the only viewer they permit using is the same thing you get with Time Machine.
I'd deleted a load of similar screenshots and was looking to restore a specific one. The granularity was too unclear and it was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
I remember seeing undelete functionality on a Dos/Windows machine, whereby when you tried to recover deleted files, only the first character of the original filename was corrupted. I'd expected something of a similar nature. What a rude awakening. :-(
When files are recovered it categorises files by type.
So you navigate through a series of nested folders.
I had some screenshot I wanted to to recover.
I didn't remember the file name precisely, but knew within a five minute window when it was created.
The recovery process needs a big USB external drive to dump contents.
I had to wipe that to trial the software out. Grrr. It took several hours to complete....
It ended up giving PNG names like P1048x245-09999.png and the timestamp of all the file names was an identical moment in time, presumably when the file names were generated on the USB drive today, not a few days ago - i.e. the original file creation timestamp...
The problem is there were thousands of them, and the only viewer they permit using is the same thing you get with Time Machine.
I'd deleted a load of similar screenshots and was looking to restore a specific one. The granularity was too unclear and it was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
I remember seeing undelete functionality on a Dos/Windows machine, whereby when you tried to recover deleted files, only the first character of the original filename was corrupted. I'd expected something of a similar nature. What a rude awakening. :-(
Well, looks like he has had three years to save up for one.Or in the case of the OP, he could use that money to buy a backup drive.
Would FileSalvage or Data Recovery 3 be able to recover data off an external HDD that had backup files on it but was then quick formatted to NTFS and some files copied on it?
I had about 300GB of backup on it and only replaced it with about 100gb of data on NTFS, but I don't know if the recovery software will be able to pick up the old HFS data.
If there was a free trial for either I'd be happy to pay for one but I just don't know if it will do what I want before I shell out ninety bucks!
I had about 300GB of backup on it and only replaced it with about 100gb of data on NTFS, but I don't know if the recovery software will be able to pick up the old HFS data.
If there was a free trial for either I'd be happy to pay for one but I just don't know if it will do what I want before I shell out ninety bucks!
You might have better luck if you started a thread. This thread is three years old.
HAHA! I did a search and came up with this thread, but because the last two posts that I could see on my screen were from today I didn't even go up to see the OP date.
At least I wasn't the one that resurrected the 3yo thread to begin with!
And now I get the joke you posted right above me... sigh.
"no time machine. still running on tiger.
no external. no backup
nothing bought through itunes. mostly beatport. please help."
No backup?
No external storage?
Well - the truth is, those files are probably "gone".
Maybe this will teach you something about why one needs to "back up" if one wishes not to lose important data!
Actually, it _might_ be possible to get the files back, but it will take time, learning, and MONEY.
Also - STOP USING THE COMPUTER THE FILES WERE ON IMMEDIATELY!
THIS MEANS NOW!
You may be OVERWRITING the old files, if you keep using the computer.
If you are communicating to us on the same computer that has the lost files, you are probably over-writing the space the files were on, and making any kind of recovery forever impossible.
Once you have that computer turned off, and
once you are up on a different computer,
...get back to us.
You have a lot of learning to do, if you want those files back.
no external. no backup
nothing bought through itunes. mostly beatport. please help."
No backup?
No external storage?
Well - the truth is, those files are probably "gone".
Maybe this will teach you something about why one needs to "back up" if one wishes not to lose important data!
Actually, it _might_ be possible to get the files back, but it will take time, learning, and MONEY.
Also - STOP USING THE COMPUTER THE FILES WERE ON IMMEDIATELY!
THIS MEANS NOW!
You may be OVERWRITING the old files, if you keep using the computer.
If you are communicating to us on the same computer that has the lost files, you are probably over-writing the space the files were on, and making any kind of recovery forever impossible.
Once you have that computer turned off, and
once you are up on a different computer,
...get back to us.
You have a lot of learning to do, if you want those files back.
I hope the OP gets back to us soon as this thread is over five years old
Great advice though! I know so many people that never backup at all
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