I feel like a complete dumbass right now... and besides that I think I'm going to cry.

I just pressed the wrong button (a slip of the mouse), and all of 2005's digital photographs disappeared from my computer. (No, they're not in the "papelera".)

Anyone know anybody who can recover lost data from a hard drive? Is this possible? Expensive?

Kristin

You can try this utility that's free to download: have no idea if it's any good, but it's on the pcworld website and all the stuff I've downloaded from them has worked.

http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,23108,00.asp#

...hope this helps

i am so not comp lit, but isn't there a way to reset the computer back a few days and then everything that was there will be there again??

techies out there...fabrizio, roland, jer????

Candela, that would only put her system back the way it was (programs and such) but as far as i know would not recoup her deleted files.

hey Kristin, sorry to hear that

let us know if the program scooter sent you to works for you.

i for one know of no way to get that stuff back.

i know you said it is not in the trash can, did you empty the trash can as well?

saludos,
jer...

Yeah, what scooter suggests is a good idea. Otherwise, there are specialists in this area, who you have to bring your computer to and they will be able to get most of the data you deleted out. I don't know of any specifically around madrid.

I think what is most important is to try not to use your computer until you get it sorted out. When you hit delete, files don't get deleted, pointers to the file do. As you use your computer, new files get added or moved, and the physical file that you want to recuperate will get overwritten then, though it may be perfectly intact right now.
good luck...

Kristin, when my desktop hard drive went south a few months ago i did not have stuff backed up

javi (of j&j books and coffee) gave me the contact info for a friend of his named cesar who has a company named "trilowave sistemas", see http://www.trilowave.com .

i brought them my hard drive and they recuperated all of the info off of it and burnt it to a few dvds for me

granted i had not deleted anything like you have but maybe they can recuperate your stuff as well.

they have very reasonable prices. charged me 50 euros to look at the hard drive and burn me 4 dvds with all of my data. i would have paid 10 times that as i was soooooo desperate to recuperate what was literally YEARS of work.

- web: http://www.trilowave.com
- e-mail: trilowave@trilowave.com
- tel.: 91 569 05 12

hope that helps.

saludos,
jer...

You could try this site.

http://www.geocities.jp/br_kato/

I've used in the past and seems pretty
good. Its just a small exe so you don't
have to even install.

Normske

One more thing, have you tried searching for the files? From the start menu, select search, and look for files that are ".jpg"? Just realized if they weren't in the trash, it may be because you just moved them somewhere by mistake rather than deleting them.

good call Fab.

that was why i asked her...

quote:

i know you said it is not in the trash can, did you empty the trash can as well?

kristin, if you righ mouse click on the trash can on your desktop and open its properties, you will see there is a check box that says "Do not move files to the Recycle Bin. Remove files immediately when deleted".

as far as i know, the only way that the files would not be in the trash is if you had that box checked (NOT A GOOD IDEA). if that option was not checked, the files had to go to the trash bin before being deleted.

if you cannot see them in the trash bin, try the following...

open your recycle bin (papelera de reciclaje) and select "tools" --> "folder options" --> "view". in "view" under "hidden files and folders", make sure the "show hidden files and folders" is checked off.

if it was not, check it and hit ok, then go back to the trash bin and see if the deleted photos are there now. if they are, [B]RESTORE THEM[/B.

saludos,
jer...

Hey everyone, sorry I didn't get back to you earlier. I only get online in the evenings, usually.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for your ideas.
I tried Scooter's program right away, which I think is the same one that's mentioned by Normske. Unfortunately, it gives me an error message every time I run it. No luck.

The pictures aren't in the recycle bin or anywhere else I can see...
The problem is that I didn't delete them in a "normal way" - I deleted them using the software that came with my Cannon camera. I was trying to delete another empty folder and must have had the wrong folder selected. And I didn't stop to read the pop-up warning message which must have told me, "Are you sure you want to delete, permanently, the folder '2005'?". (I often ignore those messages anyway and, as bad luck would have it, my hubby came into the room to ask me a question right when my eyes should have been scanning it...). I hit the "ok" button, and my computer froze for a good while while that massive deletion was taking place.

Thanks for all your suggestions. And I might be calling Trilowave, Jer.

On the upside: Backup lesson learned.

Kristin