RogerH Posted August 13, 2019 Report Share Posted August 13, 2019 (edited) I know this is the wrong forum but I need as much help as possible. Earlier today I down loaded the DR3A wiper info posted by Tony T I did a Save as into an existing folder Not sure what happened next but all the files in the folder disappeared except the DR3A wiper file. This folder had all my Car Info stuff for traders, part numbers ect etc So being really clever I did a restore going back to 13/7/19. This did not restore my folder but did remove google Chrome Any ideas how I can get my old folder back (Car Contacts) Roger PS - more info. The folder call Car Contacts was in fact a file. When I did a save as a new box popped up asking if I wanted to replace. I clicked yes. Has it gone forever Help Edited August 13, 2019 by RogerH Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Waldi Posted August 13, 2019 Report Share Posted August 13, 2019 Hi Roger, if you have Windows: It could well be you have accidentally deleted this file, it should be in your deleted items box, AKA Dustbin.There is an icon on your desktop normally. Look in there. A 2nd method is to use the search option, left hand bottom corner, type (part of) the file name in there, using exactly the same letters. Do NOT clean your computer until resolved. Hope this helps. Waldi Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted August 13, 2019 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2019 Hi Waldi, I may have done it wrong already. I did a restore - went back a month. The icon did say that files etc would not be touched. I'll check the dustbin. Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted August 13, 2019 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2019 Hi Waldi, sadly nothing in the dustbin except rubbish. Did a search but on;y the atest copy turns up. Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChrisR-4A Posted August 13, 2019 Report Share Posted August 13, 2019 Hi Roger, this does not sound good. Is this on a PC, what sort of file was it, word doc xl or an other? Have you ever accessed the contacts file from another device like a tablet or phone, either of these may have converted the file to a readable format and saved a copy, For example iphone uses "files" Google uses "WPS office" "Files" or "docs" and saves a copy. Hope this helps Chris Quote Link to post Share on other sites
iain Posted August 13, 2019 Report Share Posted August 13, 2019 Roger do you have the option to restore a “previous version” of the file. This is an option with more recent copies of Office. Got to “file explorer” and locate the latest version, I think then a right click will give a dialogue box which will include “restore a previous version.” Good luck Iain Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RobH Posted August 13, 2019 Report Share Posted August 13, 2019 (edited) A file delete generally doesn't actually erase the data, it just erases the pointer (header) that allows the computer to find it. Unless that part of the disk has been over-written with new data the information will still be there. How to retrieve it is another matter but if you can I suggest you stop using that particular machine until wiser minds have responded. Sometimes it is possible to get it back by using a retrieval program. I have no experience with Win10 boxes but this sort of thing may help: https://www.winzipsystemtools.com/sus/file-recovery.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIyZDX372A5AIVWeDtCh0gtAmWEAAYASAAEgJXp_D_BwE Edited August 13, 2019 by RobH Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Charlie D Posted August 13, 2019 Report Share Posted August 13, 2019 Roger, +1 for what Rob says. DO NOT USE THAT COMPUTER UNTIL YOU HAVE RECOVERED THE DELETED FILE. Normally all that "Deletion" does is replace the first character of the file name with a different character (I think it used to be "$".) That means that with quite easily available software you can recover deleted files. But... if you keep using the machine, and there is not a lot of spare space, you could over write those "$" files. I'm off to have a bath just now, but if no one comes up with the answer before tomorrow, I'll try to point you in the right direction. (I've done it before myself, when I've deleted things and they have gone from the waste bin.) Charlie. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Malcolm Tatton Posted August 13, 2019 Report Share Posted August 13, 2019 Roger, is the wiper motor file now called car contents? Just wondering if you have accidentally used the same name and overwritten the old file which is why you got the pop up asking if you wanted to replace it. I've done the same in the past but can't help with a solution... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted August 13, 2019 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2019 Hi Malcolm, that is what I have done. I wish I had read that pop up box. I'll try the file restore if it has one. Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted August 13, 2019 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2019 Iain wins the coco nut. There was a right click file restore. It is back as per two months ago. Excellent Is this forum good or what Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
iain Posted August 14, 2019 Report Share Posted August 14, 2019 Pleased that worked Roger. Cheers Iain Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ransomes256 Posted August 14, 2019 Report Share Posted August 14, 2019 Roger, I know this is a bit like shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted but I suggest you purchase a stand alone portable hard drive and back up your files on a semi regular basis. I had a PC where the drive failed and I lost everything on the computer but luckily had a second laptop with most files on it albeit a little older. We all consider computers reliable but can easily get caught out. Pleased your current problem resolved. Neil Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted August 14, 2019 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2019 Hi Neil, I do have another hard drive but forgot about it - doh. As it happens the missing file was not on it - not sure why. Perhaps I should back up files more regularly. Motto for the day - I must be more organised. Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MilesA Posted August 14, 2019 Report Share Posted August 14, 2019 Phew! Lucky escape Roger. +1 for the additional hard drive. I use a Mac but have a separate hard drive permanently linked to it. When the internal hard drive of the last Mac failed I had everything already copied to and stored on the separate one and was able to transfer everything to the new Mac. I am also able to recover the odd file when like you I do something stupid. Started this when I managed to lose 7 years worth of family photos which even professionals could not recover. I am sure there is a way of doing this with Windows and for about £70, well worth the peace of mind. Miles Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted August 14, 2019 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2019 My actions were not 'something stupid' I was caught out by some nasty MS programming that snuck up and caught me unawares. And if you believe that........ Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stillp Posted August 14, 2019 Report Share Posted August 14, 2019 Yeah, Microsoft cheated! In the far-off days when I had a PA, and PCs were relatively new, she asked me how often she should back up (to a few floppy disks in those days). I told her that depended on how much work she would be willing to re-do if the PC crashed. For ever after she would save every letter to the hard disk, then make a backup of the entire disk... Pete Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MilesA Posted August 14, 2019 Report Share Posted August 14, 2019 2 hours ago, MilesA said: ... when like you I do something stupid. Quite right Roger. Could have worded that better... Miles Quote Link to post Share on other sites
foster461 Posted August 14, 2019 Report Share Posted August 14, 2019 Glad you got that sorted Roger. Even without shooting yourself in the foot PC disk drives are notoriously unreliable and can fail at any time. I have local backups to USB drives and and also backup to a cloud system just in case the house burns down. https://www.backblaze.com/cloud-backup.html Stan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Malcolm Tatton Posted August 14, 2019 Report Share Posted August 14, 2019 Not only files, but a recovery disc or USB is important... I'm now running an old version of Windows 7 after the SSD hard disc (which was the boot drive for Windows 10) failed this morning and I don't have a recovery disc! Fortunately I retained the old hard drive as a back up and it still has a version of Windows 7 which I've got running....... ho hum Quote Link to post Share on other sites
keith1948 Posted August 14, 2019 Report Share Posted August 14, 2019 Hello Roger From years of 'experience' of losing data I always back up important stuff on 2 separate hard drives. Why 2? Lets just say....'From years of 'experience' of losing data. Secondly I ditched Windows several years ago because I spent many long hours trying to recover information, wrestling with antivirus software that never seemed to work properly (one locked me out saying I was too young to surf the net) and performing 'defragmentation' that used to go on for hours. I have a Mac and everything works and has done for several years. Only had a couple of glitches but they were my own fault. I still back up though. Another tip is to have an organised filing system (says he who hasn't!) so you don't overwrite stuff you want to keep. Unfortunately it doesn't get any better as you get older and you accumulate more and more data. I thought I was doing well to get my email inbox below 1,000 recently but it is creeping up again. However I do know people who have over 40,000 emails in their inbox and others who have tens of thousands of photos- be warned. Keith Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stillp Posted August 15, 2019 Report Share Posted August 15, 2019 My daughter came round the other day complaining that her laptop wouldn't do anything because her C drive was full. Its a 240 GB SSD, with a 1 TB hard drive. She only had a few Meg free on the C drive, but had 180 GB of photos on it! Spent a half hour moving them all to the D drive, and the laptop functioned again. Pete Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tthomson Posted August 17, 2019 Report Share Posted August 17, 2019 Roger, I was really sorry to hear that downloading one of my files led to all this trouble, but glad you were able to recover. I have a iMac that runs auto-backup (Time Machine) to a Western Digital 4Terabyte Network Attached Storage (NAS) device "WDMycloud" That I have been using for 3 or 4 years. Prior to that I had locally attached hard disks, but remembering to back up was the biggest issue. Even though Time Machine would have worked, I just kept forgetting to set it up. I was fortunate in that I never had a serious loss of data, but now I feel much safer with this belt and braces approach. I do also use a locally attached hard disk from time-to-time for the spare brown trouser moments! I create and run business training programmes so I cannot afford to lose 20+ years worth of developed material. TT Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MilesA Posted August 19, 2019 Report Share Posted August 19, 2019 Just remembered that the other 'back up' facility I have for photos is via a Flickr Pro subscription that gives unlimited photo storage. As photos appear on my iMac they are automatically uploaded to Flickr. Obviously I pay a subscription for this - I think it was about £35 for 2 years. But recently SmugMug has bought Flickr from Yahoo! and their first action was to increase the fee to about £38 a year. Its a great service (I don't use Flickr for anything else) but I will need to think whether it is worth the annual 'insurance' cost given my other backup arrangements (which are almost identical to Tony T's). Miles Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lebro Posted August 19, 2019 Report Share Posted August 19, 2019 I have a USB connected Hard drive of the same capacity as the internal one. Every so often (probably not often enough) I perform a "Clone" of the working drive to the USB one. this copies everything including the operating system. So in the event of disaster I can swap them over, & boot & run from the clone. ("HDClone" is the software if you were wondering) Bob. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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