Recovering recently erased files?

[Pulsar_t]

I don't know whether I'm alone in this, but Windows keyboard shortcuts can be a pain at times. The impulse to press Delete+shift to remove files can sometimes lead me to delete files that I might have needed otherwise (which is why the recycle bin is there I suppose). It seems NTFS is a pain when it comes to file recovery though. Using PC Inspector and Data Recovery Wizard it's almost impossible to find recently deleted files with a quick scan. I seem to recall FAT didn't have such issues. Can you recommend any software package that can handle NTFS more efficiently is it more a filesystem thing?

[GSZX1337]

I've had some luck with Recuva, it's developed by the same guys as Crap Cleaner. (I refuse to call it CCleaner)

[Anapan]

The best program I've ever found is called R-Studio http://www.r-tt.com
It's saved a lot of my customers data.

[Ziggy]

I've had some luck with Recuva, it's developed by the same guys as Crap Cleaner. (I refuse to call it CCleaner)

I've tried out all the free ones from CNET and found Recuva to be the best one.

http://download.cnet.com/Recuva/3000-22 ... ?tag=mncol

[s8n]

1 tip you may not know is you dont want to copy and paste new data onto the space the previous files were on. The previous data then becomes unrecoverable.

s8n

[Niode]

try getdataback I used that to recover an external drive that decided to initialise itself without my consent. Lost 1TB of video work. A friend recommended me getdataback and it recovered it all onto my spare drive and then I just put it all back on the drive. It helps that it's very simple to use too.

Of course, if you delete files and don't recover them straight away they may be completely lost, since these recovery programs work on the fact that when you delete a file from a HDD all you're doing is removing it's location from the file table. The data stays on the drive until something else needs the space. The recovery tool just scans sectors for data and extracts it without the need for a file table.

[Ivo]

It's important to not use too much (or at all) the drive in which the files you need to recover are in. Recuva is decent, and I heard good things about getdataback.

Both of those were already recommended.

Ivo.

[Pulsar_t]

Thanks for the help everyone.