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I recently tried to use the recovery disc that came with my laptop to recover files I lost through a software upgrade. All it did was erase the whole disk and nothing was restored. What happened?

The Purpose for Recovery Discs

Recovery discs are often provided by computer manufacturers as a means of resetting your computer to its factory condition. They often contain tools for partial recoveries as well as full recoveries. When using the recovery discs, it’s crucial to pay attention to all prompts and understand the consequences of each action.

When using the recovery disc to reset the computer to its factory condition, all of the data and programs as well as all system updates and personal settings currently on your computer will be removed. In their place will be all the original operating system and any preinstalled programs that came with the computer. Your computer will look just as it did when you originally purchased it. However, if you’ve since changed out any hardware, your new hardware may not be recognized as the drivers for the new equipment is not pre-loaded on the recovery disc.

After Using Recovery Discs

When a recovery goes well, there’s still a lot of work to be done. For example, the operating system will need to be updated with the latest updates, security software installed, network configured, email configured, programs installed, data restored from backups (if any), recently added hardware reinstalled with the appropriate drivers, and so on. When a recovery goes bad as yours did, there’s even more work involved.

It sounds as though perhaps the hard disc was reformatted which could have been one of the options presented by the recovery disc. However, if you’re using a different video card or monitor than the computer originally came with, it’s possible that the recovery went well but you can’t see that because nothing is appearing on your screen. When you can’t see what’s on screen, it’s hard to troubleshoot or even install the appropriate drivers. If you think that the video card or monitor may be the issue, try inserting the disc for the new hardware and then rebooting the computer. Upon reboot, the computer may search for drivers for the “new hardware discovered” and may find the drivers if the disc is installed.

If you don’t think the video card or monitor is to blame and you believe that the disc has been wiped completely clean, you may be able to use the recovery disc to at least install the operating system and original programs. Place the disc in the drive and reboot. You should be prompted with choices for recovering the system to its original state.

Recovering Data

If your computer has been restored to factory condition, your data will no longer be accessible - unless you use data recovery software. Even with data recovery software, some data may have been overwritten. However, for about $50 or so, you can use a data recovery product such as ParetoLogic’s Data Recovery to get most of it back. This program has a free scanner that will tell you what data is available for recovery. If you decide recovering that lost data is worthwhile, you’ll need to purchase the full version in order to recover it.  

I have a recorded video file on my handy cam and it was accidentally formatted by my wife. Is there a possibility that we can still recover my video file on my handy cam? Maybe my wife formatted the memory of the cam. Please help me with what to do or software that can help me to recover those file. Thanks a lot.

I have been there. It is so devastating when you think that you have lost your files forever. Fortunately, this does not need to be the case. Whether you have lost your data on a USB stick, CD, the hard drive, or an electronic device, you can get it back again.

How to Recover Formatted Video File: the Basics

Fortunately for many of us, certain applications have been created that can help us to retrieve files that we have inadvertently deleted or have lost due to formatting issues. Video recovery is accomplished in much the same way that you would recover other data that has been lost- with a data recovery application.

How Is It Possible to Recover Files After Formatting?

When a disk or drive is formatted, the file is not erased. It is the reference to the file that has been removed. You can no longer see the file when you search for it. However, the file is still there unless it is written over with new data. It is possible to use data recovery software to retrieve the missing file. The software can see the file even though you cannot. The software bypasses the allocation tables and goes directly to the location where files have been stored. It retrieves the files and allows you to select which files you wish to restore.

How to Recover Formatted Video File: Using Data Recovery Pro

One program that I can recommend is Data Recovery Pro. This powerful application can retrieve data from most handy cams in many cases. As long as you haven’t written over the file already, you should be able to use Data Recovery Pro to retrieve it. Simply purchase, download, and install the application onto your computer. Attach your handy cam. The software should detect the handy cam.

Data Recovery Pro provides a handy series of steps that you follow in order to retrieve the lost files. You can follow these prompts to recover your data even though it has been formatted.

Using Data Recovery Pro to Retrieve Handy Cam Files

For the best results, make sure that you hook your handy cam up to the computer before launching the software. Additionally, the software needs to be able to access the handy cam as though it is a removable hard drive so make sure that is how it is labeled. It will probably be listed as “E” drive or something similar.

How do I restore e-mails that were sent to my trash folder and deleted? They are important e-mails.

Web-Based or Computer Based Emails?

While it is possible to recover some deleted email messages, even if the Trash folder has been emptied, the first task is to identify whether the email is stored in a Web-based account such as Yahoo Mail or Gmail or locally on your personal computer. If you use an email client such as Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, or Windows Live Mail to download the messages to your computer, you have far more email recovery options than if you simply access your Web-based email messages online.   

Recovering Web-Based Emails

For cases when a message has not yet been emptied out of the Trash folder, recovery is a simple matter of opening the Trash folder, finding the message, and moving it back to the Inbox.

Unfortunately, if you are using a Web-based email account such as Yahoo Mail or Gmail and the Trash folder has been emptied, then the message is gone for good. According to Yahoo Mail’s help files, “When messages are emptied from the trash folder, they are permanently deleted from the Yahoo! Mail server and cannot be recovered.”

Similarly, Google has this to say about recovering trashed email messages, “If you’ve deleted a message permanently, by clicking Delete Forever in your Spam or Trash, it isn’t possible to recover the message.”

Recovering Computer Based Email Messages

If you are using an email client that downloads emails to your computer, email recovery may be possible. Like Web-based emails, if the messages are in the Trash or Deleted Items folder, recovery is a matter of dragging and dropping the messages back into the Inbox. However, this isn’t the case so you will need to invest in a software product designed for recovering email messages in order to recover your emails.

Before you run out and buy a data recovery program, it’s important to understand how data recovery works. When a file or email message is deleted and then “permanently deleted” by emptying the Recycle Bin or Trash folder, it’s not instantly deleted. In fact, the file or message remains intact until a new file is created and occupies the original space on the hard drive. You can no longer view the deleted file because Windows has hidden it and marked the location as “free space.” Until new files overwrite the data, deleted files and messages can be recovered with data recovery tools.

Email data recovery is slightly more complex than standard data recovery because email clients like Outlook store email messages in “PST” files. Standard data recovery programs may not be compatible with your email client, so make sure to select a data recovery program that is designed for your email client.

For example, we often recommend ParetoLogic’s Data Recovery Pro version because it can recover Outlook and Outlook Express messages. In fact, the demo version will even show you if the emails are recoverable or not. You can download the Data Recovery Pro scanner before you buy the full featured version and find out if the messages are recoverable or not.

Can I get my deleted emails back?

Deleted Emails

Yes! There’s a good possibility that you can recover your emails, especially if you use an email client such as Outlook or Windows Live Mail rather than a Web-based email program. This is because email clients store the messages locally on your computer’s hard drive where you may be able to perform a data recovery. If you are using a Web-based email program, recovering deleted emails is limited to checking the Deleted Items or Trash folders.

Recover Deleted Emails

Let’s start with the basics for recovery deleted emails. When you delete an email message from within the email program, the message is sent to the Deleted Items folder where it will remain until you (or the email program) empty that folder. Depending on the email program’s settings, the Deleted Items folder may be set to empty itself every time you close the program. If so, you may not be able to find your deleted emails here. It’s worth checking though, so click on the Deleted Items folder and see if you can find the messages that you want to restore. Once found, simply drag the messages into the Inbox.

Data Recovery Software

If it’s too late and your Deleted Items folder has been emptied, another option exists: data recovery software. Data recovery software can recover files that have been deleted or even wiped clean from formatting because when a file is deleted or the drive formatted, the file hasn’t really been deleted and the formatting doesn’t actually erase data. Instead, deletions and formatting cause changes to the master file system index. When a file is deleted, the index is modified so that the file no longer is displayed. The space that the file occupies is then marked as “free space” which can later be overwritten. Formatting makes similar changes though on a much larger scale.

Data recovery software ignores the index and looks for the actual file. If found, you can easily recover it. Not that not just any data recovery utility will do. Email files are complex with different recovery processes than standard files. Use a product specifically designed to recover email files. We recommend Data Recovery Pro which is capable of recovering Outlook and Outlook Express files. Try the free download first to see if the emails are good candidates for recovery. If so, you will need to purchase the full version in order to extract the messages.

Several days ago, I took some family pictures in my camera and then downloaded them to my PC. Soon after, they were overwritten by some other photographs by mistake. Can I recover my earlier photos back?

Searching for Lost Photos

My first question is about the overwritten photos. I assume you mean that the photos on the PC are no longer there and were replaced by a new set of photos? Or do you mean the photos in the camera were overwritten when you took newer photos? The first thing I would do is double check the photo folder on your computer to be sure that they aren’t really there. For example, did you know that you can sort your images by date rather than name? Since you know the photos were taken a few days ago, it should be fairly easy to sort the photo folder by date and then scan through the list to see if they appear. Here’s how:

• Right-click the Start button and choose Explore
• Navigate to the photo storage folder, typically labeled My Pictures or Pictures (if you store your photos elsewhere, navigate to that folder)
• Click the dropdown arrow next to View and select the view that you prefer. For example, if you want to see a small preview of the image, select medium icon.
• Now, click the Date Taken box, this will sort all images in the file based on date. Clicking it again toggles it from ascending to descending order. If you know the exact date, click the dropdown box next to Date Taken and select the date on the calendar. This will filter the images to only those that were taken on the selected date.

Any luck?  

Recovering Photos

Once you confirm that the photos are not there, the next step is to check your digital camera. Many photo transfer programs delete the photos from the camera once downloaded, so they may be deleted. Not to worry! It is possible to recover your earlier photos with data recovery software. Data recovery software works on hard drives as well as peripheral devices such as digital cameras so long as you can connect the camera or its memory card to your computer and view its contents as a drive letter such as the E:\ drive.

Data recovery software typically costs about $30-$40, so you’ll need to weigh the value of the photos against the cost of the software. We recommend ParetoLogic Data Recovery software. In this case, you do not need the “Pro” version as the standard version does a fine job of recovering photos. What’s neat about this software is that you can download a free scanner version to find out if your photos are recoverable from either your digital camera or your hard drive. If the scanner finds the photos, you will then need to purchase the full version to recover them. On the other hand, if the photos are not recoverable, you will not have spent any money on a fruitless search.

The software is easy to use. I would start with scanning the digital camera. If the photos aren’t found there, then try the hard drive. Data recovery works on a basic principle: when data is deleted, it isn’t deleted until new data occupies its address on the disk or media; only the entry to the file and graphical pointers to it are removed. It’s like tearing out the table of contents of a book. Just because the table of contents page is gone, the chapters remain.

I’m trying to recover deleted emails from Facebook. What is the best way to get these files?

Recovering Facebook Emails

When Facebook sends emails to you, it sends them to the email address that you have on file with Facebook and according to the settings you have specified. Recovering the Facebook emails will depend on how you received them in the first place. For example, do your Facebook email messages arrive in Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express or Windows Live Mail or do you check your email account online such as via Gmail?

Email Recovery Steps

The first step for both email software and Web-based email is to check your Deleted Messages or Deleted Items folder. If you deleted the messages but have not yet emptied your Deleted Messages folder, the messages will be waiting for you. Simply click the folder and browse through the list in search of the missing Facebook emails. Another option is to use your email program’s search box to search all folders for messages from Facebook.

Email Recovery Software

Now, what if you emptied the Deleted Messages folder? If you emptied a Web-based folder, then you are out of luck unless you downloaded the messages to your computer. On the other hand, if you opened the messages from either Outlook, Outlook Express, or Windows Live Mail, you do have options! Email recovery software exists for recovering deleted messages. You need to be careful to select a data recovery program that has specific capabilities for recovering email messages for your specific email application. We recommend Data Recovery Pro from ParetoLogic Software. In fact, this tool has a free scanner so that you can see if your Facebook emails are recoverable before you invest any money in the product. Try the scan and see if your Facebook messages can be recovered.

Recover Deleted Facebook Messages

Here’s another situation: What if you deleted a message on Facebook and want to recover it? If you have the original email notification that Facebook sent you, open that notification and scroll down to the section that says, “To reply to this message, follow the link below” and then click the link. Since the message has been deleted, you won’t see it; however, a new link will be provided labeled, “Show deleted thread.” Click the link and view the deleted message.