We have lost everything

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Guest

Yesterday we tried to re install Acers empowering-program on our laptop.
Probably something went terribly wrong because out computer deleted
everything, such as programs, pictures, favorites and so on. We use Windows
xp home, but no everything looks exactly as it did when the computer was
new.Everything we have saved for the last 2 years seems to be lost. Does
anybody know how we could undo this, and get "our" computer back?
Please help us!
Katt
 
Katt said:
Yesterday we tried to re install Acers empowering-program on our laptop.
Probably something went terribly wrong because out computer deleted
everything, such as programs, pictures, favorites and so on. We use Windows
xp home, but no everything looks exactly as it did when the computer was
new.Everything we have saved for the last 2 years seems to be lost. Does
anybody know how we could undo this, and get "our" computer back?
Please help us!
Katt
Click to expand...

You've posted in a newsgroup for Vista-related hardware, but since
you're here...

It sounds like you did not just reinstall the Acer Empower program. It
sounds like you did a complete restore to factory condition. If this is
correct, then simply create user accounts as desired and restore data
from backups.

No backups? Then you will need to try data recovery software or, if the
data is crucial and expense is not an issue, send the hard drive to a
professional data recovery company like Drive Savers (my preference) or
Seagate Data Recovery. General prices run from $500USD on up. Drive
Savers recovered all the data on a failed laptop drive for one of my
clients and it cost $2,700. He thought it was worth the money; only you
know what your data is worth. I understand that some insurance companies
are now covering data recovery charges so check with yours.

Drive Savers - http://www.drivesavers.com
Seagate Data Recovery Services - https://www.seagatedatarecovery.com/

If you wish to try data recovery software yourself, DO NOTHING FURTHER
ON THE DRIVE. The data is still on the hard drive but if you overwrite
it, it will be extremely difficult or impossible to recover it. If you
use data recovery software, install it on another machine and either use
it from that operating system or create a bootable cd/floppy and work
with that. If you don't have the skill and/or equipment to do these
procedures and the data is crucial, take the machine to a professional
computer repair shop that has experience in doing data recovery. This
will not be your local version of BigStoreUSA. In-shop data recovery is
usually not exactly cheap (for ex., my charges are generally
$150-350USD), but it normally costs less than sending the drive to a
company like Drive Savers. You need to make the determination of the
value of your data and decide what to do.

Here are some links to various data recovery programs. I use Easy
Recovery Pro, but it is expensive. People whom I respect have
recommended R-Studio and Restoration. YMMV.

http://www3.telus.net/mikebike/RESTORATION.html
PCInspector File Recovery -
http://www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/welcome.htm
Executive Software “Undelete” -
http://www.execsoft.com/undelete/undelete.asp
R-Studio - http://www.r-tt.com/
File Scavenger - http://www.quetek.com/prod02.htm
Ontrack's EasyRecovery - http://www.ontrack.com/software/

When this is all over, create and *use* a backup strategy.


Malke
 
Hi, Katt.

Step one: Don't panic! (I'm quoting MVP Malke. <g>)

Step two: Don't write anything to that hard drive until you've got a clear
idea of what is REALLY gone from it.

I've never had an Acer, or any laptop, and I've never run WinXP Home, so I'm
not the best source for advice on your situation. But I have "lost" whole
hard drives before - and usually recovered all or most of the files on them,
so I know that your situation is not necessarily hopeless.

There are many hard drive recovery businesses out there who can probably
recover everything - for a fee, and they are not cheap. And there are many
recovery utilities available at moderate cost. (R-Studio from www.r-tt.com
has saved my bacon more than once; it costs less than $100.) But, of
course, you need a way to run such a utility on that drive.

....

I see that Malke has replied while I've been typing, so I'll quit here and
defer to her expertise. ;<)

Good luck!

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP
(Running Windows Live Mail beta 2 in Vista Ultimate x64)
 
Yesterday we tried to re install Acers empowering-program on our laptop.
Probably something went terribly wrong because out computerdeleted
everything, such as programs, pictures, favorites and so on. We use Windows
xp home, but no everything looks exactly as it did when the computer was
new.Everything we have saved for the last 2 years seems to be lost. Does
anybody know how we could undo this, and get "our" computer back?
Please help us!
Click to expand...

Please don't write anything to your hard drive and try to recover your
lost data
using Easy File Undelete:

http://www.munsoft.com/EasyFileUndelete/

Hopefully, it will help you.
 
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