deleted files and folders

[Guest]

Some of my folders and files, including pst files were deleted. They are not
in the recycling bin. I was installing a software shortly before that came
from a trusted source. Later on it was discovered that the CD was corrupt.
The first indication was that all of my e-mails were deleted along with
personal folder (Microsoft outlook).

 

[Meinolf Weber]

Hello Val,

And your question is?

Best regards

Meinolf Weber
Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers
no rights.

 

[Guest]

Why did this happen? How can I get them back

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

This can happen if the software you installed is flawed.
The best way to get your files back is from your backup
medium. If you don't believe in backing up your important
files then you can try one of these file recovery programs:
http://www.hddrecovery.com.au
http://bootmaster.filerecovery.biz
http://www.runtime.org/ (GetDataBack - has a trial version)
http://www.softwarepatch.com/software/filerecoverysecdownload.html
http://www.snapfiles.com/get/restoration.html

To avoid that the recovery program overwrites your data
during its installation, you must install it on another PC,
then connect your disk as a slave disk in that PC. You must
also stop using Windows immediately, for the same reason.

 

[Guest]

How do I find out why it happened?
--
Val

This can happen if the software you installed is flawed.
The best way to get your files back is from your backup
medium. If you don't believe in backing up your important
files then you can try one of these file recovery programs:
http://www.hddrecovery.com.au
http://bootmaster.filerecovery.biz
http://www.runtime.org/ (GetDataBack - has a trial version)
http://www.softwarepatch.com/software/filerecoverysecdownload.html
http://www.snapfiles.com/get/restoration.html

To avoid that the recovery program overwrites your data
during its installation, you must install it on another PC,
then connect your disk as a slave disk in that PC. You must
also stop using Windows immediately, for the same reason.

 

[Dave Patrick]

I'm guessing some profile corruption occurred and that you also may have
lost your desktop, shortcuts, favorites, etc. If so then your stuff is
probably still there in the now orphaned profile folder.


--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

 

[Guest]

How can I find that orphaned profile (folder)? When I searched for .pst
files, I found some but they were small. I created .pst files for each year
from 2002 to 2006. These year by year .pst files had a lot of old e-mails and
were 70% to 90% filled. You are right that I also lost a lot of shortcuts,
files and folders.
--
Val

I'm guessing some profile corruption occurred and that you also may have
lost your desktop, shortcuts, favorites, etc. If so then your stuff is
probably still there in the now orphaned profile folder.


--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

How do I find out why it happened?

 

[DL]

You've searched for *.pst to include hidden files?

How can I find that orphaned profile (folder)? When I searched for .pst
files, I found some but they were small. I created .pst files for each
year
from 2002 to 2006. These year by year .pst files had a lot of old e-mails
and
were 70% to 90% filled. You are right that I also lost a lot of shortcuts,
files and folders.
--
Val

I'm guessing some profile corruption occurred and that you also may have
lost your desktop, shortcuts, favorites, etc. If so then your stuff is
probably still there in the now orphaned profile folder.


--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

How do I find out why it happened?

 

[Guest]

Yes.
Also I downloaded a recovery freeware. After scanning the drives (C and D),
I could see the deleted .pst files (reduced in size), folders, Excel
spreadsheets, etc. The date and time showed the time that I was installing
the software. Also, my computer was connected to the Internet for several
hours by that time.
--
Val

You've searched for *.pst to include hidden files?

How can I find that orphaned profile (folder)? When I searched for .pst
files, I found some but they were small. I created .pst files for each
year
from 2002 to 2006. These year by year .pst files had a lot of old e-mails
and
were 70% to 90% filled. You are right that I also lost a lot of shortcuts,
files and folders.
--
Val

I'm guessing some profile corruption occurred and that you also may have
lost your desktop, shortcuts, favorites, etc. If so then your stuff is
probably still there in the now orphaned profile folder.


--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
How do I find out why it happened?

 

[DL]

I think the cd you were installing from was more than corrupt
If the cd software had damaged your profile/user account the files would
still be there in their entirety but in an orphan folder.
As it appears they have been deleted more was going on.
Me thinks you should be undertaking a full system scan with eg trendmicro or
some such

Yes.
Also I downloaded a recovery freeware. After scanning the drives (C and
D),
I could see the deleted .pst files (reduced in size), folders, Excel
spreadsheets, etc. The date and time showed the time that I was installing
the software. Also, my computer was connected to the Internet for several
hours by that time.
--
Val

You've searched for *.pst to include hidden files?

How can I find that orphaned profile (folder)? When I searched for .pst
files, I found some but they were small. I created .pst files for each
year
from 2002 to 2006. These year by year .pst files had a lot of old
e-mails
and
were 70% to 90% filled. You are right that I also lost a lot of
shortcuts,
files and folders.
--
Val


:

I'm guessing some profile corruption occurred and that you also may
have
lost your desktop, shortcuts, favorites, etc. If so then your stuff is
probably still there in the now orphaned profile folder.


--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
How do I find out why it happened?

 

[Dave Patrick]

Have a look in the \documents and settings folder for the profiles matching
your windows logon

The default store for the *.pst file is;
%userprofile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook


--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

 

[Guest]

Sorry that I just logged in and am responding to your messages.
Here is what happened in the last few days:
1. One to one image of my drive was created
2 A lot of files (.xls; Word, etc) appeared as temp files.
When I tried to open, it does not. If I change the extension to .xls, it
does open but it is unreadable (bunch of 1s and 0s).
I looked in the folder that was suggested by Dave P., and there are .pst
files there but not my old files.
By the way the technician that was creathing the image of the drive told me
that drive C has a corrupted spot. He fixed by recommends to replace with a
new drive.

--
Val

I think the cd you were installing from was more than corrupt
If the cd software had damaged your profile/user account the files would
still be there in their entirety but in an orphan folder.
As it appears they have been deleted more was going on.
Me thinks you should be undertaking a full system scan with eg trendmicro or
some such

Yes.
Also I downloaded a recovery freeware. After scanning the drives (C and
D),
I could see the deleted .pst files (reduced in size), folders, Excel
spreadsheets, etc. The date and time showed the time that I was installing
the software. Also, my computer was connected to the Internet for several
hours by that time.
--
Val

You've searched for *.pst to include hidden files?

How can I find that orphaned profile (folder)? When I searched for .pst
files, I found some but they were small. I created .pst files for each
year
from 2002 to 2006. These year by year .pst files had a lot of old
e-mails
and
were 70% to 90% filled. You are right that I also lost a lot of
shortcuts,
files and folders.
--
Val


:

I'm guessing some profile corruption occurred and that you also may
have
lost your desktop, shortcuts, favorites, etc. If so then your stuff is
probably still there in the now orphaned profile folder.


--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
How do I find out why it happened?

 

[Dave Patrick]

You may have meant *.chk files. What happened when you restarted the pc was
chkdsk ran and found broken chains/ lost clusters, then created *.chk files
of them so you can delete them and regain the otherwise lost drive space.
The drive may have failed so run the manufacturer's diagnostic tools on the
disk.

--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

Sorry that I just logged in and am responding to your messages.
Here is what happened in the last few days:
1. One to one image of my drive was created
2 A lot of files (.xls; Word, etc) appeared as temp files.
When I tried to open, it does not. If I change the extension to .xls, it
does open but it is unreadable (bunch of 1s and 0s).
I looked in the folder that was suggested by Dave P., and there are .pst
files there but not my old files.
By the way the technician that was creathing the image of the drive told
me
that drive C has a corrupted spot. He fixed by recommends to replace with
a
new drive.

--
Val

I think the cd you were installing from was more than corrupt
If the cd software had damaged your profile/user account the files would
still be there in their entirety but in an orphan folder.
As it appears they have been deleted more was going on.
Me thinks you should be undertaking a full system scan with eg trendmicro
or
some such

Yes.
Also I downloaded a recovery freeware. After scanning the drives (C and
D),
I could see the deleted .pst files (reduced in size), folders, Excel
spreadsheets, etc. The date and time showed the time that I was
installing
the software. Also, my computer was connected to the Internet for
several
hours by that time.
--
Val


:

You've searched for *.pst to include hidden files?

How can I find that orphaned profile (folder)? When I searched for
.pst
files, I found some but they were small. I created .pst files for
each
year
from 2002 to 2006. These year by year .pst files had a lot of old
e-mails
and
were 70% to 90% filled. You are right that I also lost a lot of
shortcuts,
files and folders.
--
Val


:

I'm guessing some profile corruption occurred and that you also may
have
lost your desktop, shortcuts, favorites, etc. If so then your stuff
is
probably still there in the now orphaned profile folder.


--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
How do I find out why it happened?

 

[Guest]

I did not mean *.chk. At that time (when the problem occured), the .pst
files, other folders, a lot .xls and .doc files were gone. I searched my
drives for one file that I work with a lot. It is .xls file. Now it looks
like this:
TPS1 (vgusinsky v1).xls~RF1382f54.temp. When I try to open it with Exel, I
get a message "This file is not in recognizable format". I tried to use
notpad or Wordpad but it has either all 0s or buch of letters, signs and
numbers.
--
Val

You may have meant *.chk files. What happened when you restarted the pc was
chkdsk ran and found broken chains/ lost clusters, then created *.chk files
of them so you can delete them and regain the otherwise lost drive space.
The drive may have failed so run the manufacturer's diagnostic tools on the
disk.

--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

Sorry that I just logged in and am responding to your messages.
Here is what happened in the last few days:
1. One to one image of my drive was created
2 A lot of files (.xls; Word, etc) appeared as temp files.
When I tried to open, it does not. If I change the extension to .xls, it
does open but it is unreadable (bunch of 1s and 0s).
I looked in the folder that was suggested by Dave P., and there are .pst
files there but not my old files.
By the way the technician that was creathing the image of the drive told
me
that drive C has a corrupted spot. He fixed by recommends to replace with
a
new drive.

--
Val

I think the cd you were installing from was more than corrupt
If the cd software had damaged your profile/user account the files would
still be there in their entirety but in an orphan folder.
As it appears they have been deleted more was going on.
Me thinks you should be undertaking a full system scan with eg trendmicro
or
some such

Yes.
Also I downloaded a recovery freeware. After scanning the drives (C and
D),
I could see the deleted .pst files (reduced in size), folders, Excel
spreadsheets, etc. The date and time showed the time that I was
installing
the software. Also, my computer was connected to the Internet for
several
hours by that time.
--
Val


:

You've searched for *.pst to include hidden files?

How can I find that orphaned profile (folder)? When I searched for
.pst
files, I found some but they were small. I created .pst files for
each
year
from 2002 to 2006. These year by year .pst files had a lot of old
e-mails
and
were 70% to 90% filled. You are right that I also lost a lot of
shortcuts,
files and folders.
--
Val


:

I'm guessing some profile corruption occurred and that you also may
have
lost your desktop, shortcuts, favorites, etc. If so then your stuff
is
probably still there in the now orphaned profile folder.


--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
How do I find out why it happened?

 

[Dave Patrick]

I'd still run run the manufacturer's disk diagnostic tools. Sounds like file
system corruption and or hardware failure.

--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

 

[Guest]

The tech fixed the drive. Are you saying that I should still run Dell's
diagnostic tool?
--
Val

I'd still run run the manufacturer's disk diagnostic tools. Sounds like file
system corruption and or hardware failure.

--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

I did not mean *.chk. At that time (when the problem occured), the .pst
files, other folders, a lot .xls and .doc files were gone. I searched my
drives for one file that I work with a lot. It is .xls file. Now it looks
like this:
TPS1 (vgusinsky v1).xls~RF1382f54.temp. When I try to open it with Exel, I
get a message "This file is not in recognizable format". I tried to use
notpad or Wordpad but it has either all 0s or buch of letters, signs and
numbers.

 

[Dave Patrick]

If the drive was replaced then there's probably no need to check the disk
but the file system corruption may still exist. After backup you can run
chkdsk /r
from the recovery console command line. (/r implies /f )

To start the Recovery Console, start the computer from the Windows 2000
Setup CD or the Windows 2000 Setup floppy disks. If you do not have Setup
floppy disks and your computer cannot start from the Windows 2000 Setup CD,
use another Windows 2000-based computer to create the Setup floppy disks. At
the "Welcome to Setup" screen. Press F10 or R to repair a Windows 2000
installation, and then press C to use the Recovery Console. The Recovery
Console then prompts you for the administrator password. If you do not have
the correct password, Recovery Console does not allow access to the
computer. If an incorrect password is entered three times, the Recovery
Console quits and restarts the computer. Note If the registry is corrupted
or missing or no valid installations are found, the Recovery Console starts
in the root of the startup volume without requiring a password. You cannot
access any folders, but you can carry out commands such as chkdsk, fixboot,
and fixmbr for limited disk repairs. Once the password has been validated,
you have full access to the Recovery Console, but limited access to the hard
disk. You can only access the following folders on your computer: drive
root, %systemroot% or %windir%


--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

 

[Guest]

I will try this. I do not know if I have enough expertise to do it.
--
Val

If the drive was replaced then there's probably no need to check the disk
but the file system corruption may still exist. After backup you can run
chkdsk /r
from the recovery console command line. (/r implies /f )

To start the Recovery Console, start the computer from the Windows 2000
Setup CD or the Windows 2000 Setup floppy disks. If you do not have Setup
floppy disks and your computer cannot start from the Windows 2000 Setup CD,
use another Windows 2000-based computer to create the Setup floppy disks. At
the "Welcome to Setup" screen. Press F10 or R to repair a Windows 2000
installation, and then press C to use the Recovery Console. The Recovery
Console then prompts you for the administrator password. If you do not have
the correct password, Recovery Console does not allow access to the
computer. If an incorrect password is entered three times, the Recovery
Console quits and restarts the computer. Note If the registry is corrupted
or missing or no valid installations are found, the Recovery Console starts
in the root of the startup volume without requiring a password. You cannot
access any folders, but you can carry out commands such as chkdsk, fixboot,
and fixmbr for limited disk repairs. Once the password has been validated,
you have full access to the Recovery Console, but limited access to the hard
disk. You can only access the following folders on your computer: drive
root, %systemroot% or %windir%


--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

The tech fixed the drive. Are you saying that I should still run Dell's
diagnostic tool?

 

[Dave Patrick]

Just be sure you have backups before hand. Also note this isn't going to get
back any files you have previously lost due to disk damage and or file
system corruption.

--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

 

[Guest]

Hi,
I am still dealing with this issue. One of the Excel files became corrupted.
Error message says it is not recognizable format.
--
Val

Have a look in the \documents and settings folder for the profiles matching
your windows logon

The default store for the *.pst file is;
%userprofile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook


--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

How can I find that orphaned profile (folder)? When I searched for .pst
files, I found some but they were small. I created .pst files for each
year
from 2002 to 2006. These year by year .pst files had a lot of old e-mails
and
were 70% to 90% filled. You are right that I also lost a lot of shortcuts,
files and folders.