Hi everybody, today we will discuss how to recover a deleted file after it is removed from your machine. I have done, you have done it, and essentially everybody has done it. At some point in time, we have hit the delete option and emptied out the recycle bin only to find that an important document or picture has been accidentally deleted. Depending on the importance of the document, panic can start to set in as we realize that something we worked on so hard has been so quickly erased. If you act quickly there are times when these files can be retrieved.

Accidental deletes do not always come from user action, Sometimes a computer crash can occur with an unsaved document and any work on the document is lost when the computer is restarted. Sometimes a Blue Screen might be the thing to dampen your parade. In all cases, once you find that your document is gone, shut down the computer immediately. I will explain why in the next paragraph.

Whenever a file is deleted, it is not actually gone, at least at first. What the deletion process actually does is to mark the sector where the deleted file is as free. This will allow a new file to replace or overwrite the file that you “deleted”. If you continue to use your computer, there is a greater chance that you will overwrite the file and it will be gone forever.

Once you shut down your computer, you are going to have to work from a second computer. You will need to remove the hard drive from the system with the file you are trying to recover and you will need an adapter or an external hard drive enclosure so you can connect that drive to your second computer using a USB port. In addition, you are going to have to download and purchase file recovery software. There are lots of choices with different price ranges so choose one that will fit your budget. Once you have your software installed and the drive attached to your computer, you can start searching using the instructions supplied with your chosen download. The process can be tedious and there is no guarantee that the file will not be corrupted when you finally do find it.

In order to help prevent unintended deletions due to computer crashes, always periodically save your work as you go, especially if it is a large document. This will help to ensure that at least if a crash occurs, you will not loose the entire document.

 

Author:  Joe Zelenak, Staff Writer