Recover Deleted files

[delivering247]

Hi there,

At work some important mov files appear to have been deleted off the system. Is is possible to run a programme on each mac to determine if the files were deleted (accidentally or on purpose) and are they recoverable (like you can on windows PCs)??

Any help/advice greatly appreciated.

 

[Flint Ironstag]

If they are important, they must be in your backups, so look there first. Failing that, try https://www.stellarinfo.com or a commercial data recovery service.

Also, this is not Mac Pro specific.

 

[delivering247]

Thanks for the reply Flint Ironstag. Work are leading me to believe they don't back up the files - which, if true is exasperating.

So I was wondering does a programme like stellarinfo's manage to recover files even if the mac doesn't have an auto-backup set up?

 

[Fishrrman]

Chances are, those files were over-written by now and probably un-recoverable.

Question:
Does the Mac in question use a platter-based hard drive, or an SSD?
If it's an HDD, there is a small chance -something- might be recoverable (still not good if the computer is still being used).
If it's an SSD, you can all-but forget about it.

 

[delivering247]

good question - not totally sure if SSD or HDD. will find out. to check all our machines we'd be looking at stellar licenses totallying £500 so guessing that is a lot of money on a small chance. going forward what is the solution? a back up ?

 

[Flint Ironstag]

Fire whoever's in charge of IT for starters, then get comprehensive backups in place. I believe the stellar trial will scan your volumes and show you what's recoverable. If it finds what you're after, pay for the license. Look around, there may be free options I'm unaware of.

The more you use the machines in the meantime, the smaller the chance of file recovery. Ideally you'd turn them off until ready to run the recovery software.

 

[Fishrrman]

"going forward what is the solution? a back up ?"

Yes.
A backup.
For... NEXT time.

I don't think it's worth spending £500 for what I consider a very poor chance at recovery.