Moved files to CD, now gone?!

  • Thread starter Thread starter Aunt Joanie
  • Start date Start date
A

Aunt Joanie

Moved a number of document files to a CD-R to re-install in new computer.
Went through CD Wizard - all files transferred OK according to wizard.
Placed CD in to confirm list of files - nothing! Not one single folder is
isted on the CD. The folders are gone from "My Documents" Are they lost
forever?
 
Moved a number of document files to a CD-R to re-install in new computer.
Went through CD Wizard - all files transferred OK according to wizard.
Placed CD in to confirm list of files - nothing! Not one single folder is
isted on the CD. The folders are gone from "My Documents" Are they lost
forever?
Click to expand...

First you must verify that the CD drive is reads disks OK.
Test it with another CD.

If the CD drive is in good working order, search the hard drive
for one of your document filenames. CD Wizard menus
are misleading and the Wizard may have copied your files
only to its temporary workspace prior to writing to CD.
 
Aunt Joanie said:
Moved a number of document files to a CD-R to re-install in new
computer.
Went through CD Wizard - all files transferred OK according to wizard.
Placed CD in to confirm list of files - nothing! Not one single
folder is
isted on the CD. The folders are gone from "My Documents" Are they
lost
forever?
Click to expand...

The wizard is not what you should have used to confirm there was data on
the CD. You should have used Windows Explorer for that. If this data is
precious and if you think you may have deleted it, you should stop using
the PC; any further use may hinder your ability to salvage whatever data
is left. You can:

remove the hard drive and attach it as a slave in another PC

remove the hard drive and place it in a USB enclosure

or

boot off a live Linux CD like Knoppix

Then you can see what you may be able to salvage by using a data
recovery program. The only one I have experience with is Restoration,
which can be downloaded for free from:

http://www.snapfiles.com/get/restoration.html

Perhaps there are better utilities available. I'm sure many aren't free.

If this is too complex, you can take your PC to a competent, local PC
repair shop (*not* a chain store).

In the future, if you do something similar, I recommend that you choose
Copy rather than Move. Furthermore, you should really begin a regular
backup regimen. External hard drives are fairly inexpensive, and a
program like Acronis True Image is a breeze to use.
 
Daave,
Thank you for the concise reply. I have checked the CD on explorer - no
files. I have also tried to copy the files to same CD - some work - some do
not. I believe it's the hardware. I will try the restoration site you
suggested and let you know of my progress. In the meantime - I will email
myself the document files I need and place the pictures on a flash drive.
Luckily I do not have a massive amount of data to transfer. Thanks again for
you help...
 
YW and good luck.

Aunt said:
Daave,
Thank you for the concise reply. I have checked the CD on explorer -
no files. I have also tried to copy the files to same CD - some work
- some do not. I believe it's the hardware. I will try the
restoration site you suggested and let you know of my progress. In
the meantime - I will email myself the document files I need and
place the pictures on a flash drive. Luckily I do not have a massive
amount of data to transfer. Thanks again for you help...
Click to expand...
 
Don,
After a few more attempts to copy files to a CD - it does seem the CD drive
is not in good working order. I have searched the hard drive for the lost
files with no results. Thanks for taking the time to give me an answer...
 
Aunt Joanie said:
Moved a number of document files to a CD-R to re-install in new computer.
Went through CD Wizard - all files transferred OK according to wizard.
Placed CD in to confirm list of files - nothing! Not one single folder is
isted on the CD. The folders are gone from "My Documents" Are they lost
forever?
Click to expand...

Lesson one - always have a backup.

Lesson two - always have a backup.

I could keep that up for a while, but lesson three - confirm that the files
have reached their destination (the new computer) undamaged and
in the right folders _before_ deleting the originals (copy rather than
move).
 
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