Recover Deleted Files

Oscar Sodani is a founder of Help2Go and owner of Help2Go Networks, an IT consulting firm in the Washington D.C. area. Oscar holds the CISSP certification as well as industry certifications from Microsoft, Cisco and Novell.

Have you deleted a file that you need and now you don't know how to get it back? Using a simple, free program, you can recover those deleted files!

The first step is to make absolutely sure that it has been deleted. Open your Windows Recycle Bin and double-check. Is it in there? If so, simply right-click on the file and choose Restore.

If you have emptied your recycle bin since deleting the file or folder you need, you still have an option, though. Restoration is a free utility that can search your computer for deleted files. Recovering them is a snap. And you don't even have to install the program - it can run from anywhere, including thumbdrives or CD-ROMs.

Download Restoration here.

After you have downloaded the file, double-click the icon and it will extract itself into a folder. Open the folder (it will probably be called something like REST2514) and double-click the icon that says Restoration. You should see a screen similar to this one:

Now, you can click the Search Deleted Files button, and it will display every file on your PC that was deleted and might be recoverable.

Note: Files removed from your recycle bin MAY NOT have the same name as when you deleted it. For instance, if I delete the file "Firefox Setup.exe", it may appear in Restoration as "DC411.exe". The trick is to look for files that are in a folder called C:\RECYCLER\ or something similar in the Restoration screen.

The best way to find a file by far is to sort by deletion date. If you know that you deleted the file today, it can go a LONG way towards finding the correct file to restore.

Once you find the file, just click on the Restore by Copying button, and you will be prompted to save the file somewhere. It's always a good idea to save the file to a different drive than the one you are recovering it from. 

We hope this helps you recover your deleted files!  

Discuss this article: Recover Deleted Files Discussion

Have a question? Need help? Get free, friendly person-to-person help with your computer questions or spyware questions in our help forums!