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Can I recover lost data from an .mdf or .ldf file?

Can you recover deleted files using softwares?

  • Windows XP can you really recover deleted datas? Even if it's not in recycle bin? How far back/old can the deleted files be for it to be possible to recover? Read the idea from link http://www.tech-pro.net/how-to-recover-deleted-files.html A section says: 'If you're running Microsoft Windows then Uneraser is the best undelete software you can buy. It is developed by a company that specializes solely in data recovery products. Uneraser uses the deepest search methods and the most sophisticated recovery algorithms to give you the best possible chance of recovering your files. It also has powerful tools including thumbnail preview for all files which allows you to quickly identify the files you need to recover. Other deleted files recovery programs have very limited preview capabilities, forcing you to recover files before you can examine them and see if they are what you want. Uneraser has the widest range of built-in "what-you-see-is-what-you-get" viewers to let you fully examine the files it finds before recovery. You can try it with no risk. A free trial version lets you see for yourself whether it can recover the files you lost. If a file looks perfect in the viewer then recovery is 100% guaranteed.' and 'Another reliable and effective Windows undelete software is Data Recovery Wizard. It is a full data recovery product that can even restore files from lost or corrupted partitions. Just like Uneraser you can try before you buy.' HMMMMMM

  • Answer:

    You can POTENTIALLY get back files. It all depends on how long ago and how much disk activity has gone on. When you remove a file permanently, the file information in the directory is remove and the location of the file (the sectors it occupied) are marked as free. So, they are available to be written to next time you surf the net, do a game save, etc. These tools are good at finding old files but can only retrieve based on these type of factors. If it is recent and in a far location on the disk, chances are good. But sometimes these programs find nothing or return a partly or fully corrupted file because the sectors have been reused.

guerrier... at Yahoo! Answers Visit the source

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Yes, with software, you can recover deleted files that no longer appear in the recycle bin. They use algorithms to either find a particular character marker which indicates to the file system that a file is deleted, or they search the hard drive's free space for specific file signatures. How long does it go back? That depends on how much free space you have and how many other files you've copied to and erased from your hard drive. If the physical location on the hard drive where a deleted file's contents resides has been written over by a newer file, then you probably cannot recover it.

newtypist

Yes - you can very often successfully recover deleted files from a PC, it all depends on what has happened since the files were deleted. When you delete files the data itself isn’t deleted, just the index entry that tells the system where the data for those files is located. The area containing the deleted data is also now marked as free space so it is available for any new files to be written there instead. If and when that happens, then it is too late to recover your deleted files so it is very, very important to not save any new files or data to the device concerned. Use another PC to browse the internet for a solution as internet browsing causes lots of temporary files to get written to the disk. Download any file recovery software, for example, to a memory stick, plug that in the computer with the deleted files and run it from there. One of the easiest ways to see if you can recover deleted files is to try some good file recovery software. A good tip is to try the free trial version of a commercial product that will scan the device for deleted files and show you exactly what files can be recovered as thumbnail images in the preview screen. At least that will show you if you can recover the deleted files or if it’s too late already. You can find more useful information on how to recover deleted files at http://www.GetDeletedFilesBack.com/index1.html

Top Chap

How far back depends on random chance. If the hard drive hasn't written over the sectors you are trying to recover from then the process is easy. If the hard drive happened to use the sectors holding the data you want than you are looking at a very complicated and expensive process. The best option is to stop using the hard drive immediately! Use a Linux live CD to undelete the data. You may want to make nice with the smelly guy in your IT department to get this done. If you don't have an IT department or a reclusive Linux/BSD using friend then look for an online tutorial. Good Luck!

Jon H

you can recover anything that has been deleted from the trash right back 2 when you got the computer, every file has been copied to a special drive

Distortion

Yes, you can recover files that have been deleted. I think it depends on how long ago though, for example, if you fill up your harddrive, and then delete alot of things, and not so long later fill it up again, then the old data will be overwritten (as opposed to removed when you 'deleted' it). There is a FREE program called Recuva, that is used for recovering deleted files you should try it.

AnFonE

Use Kernel for Windows data recovery software..You will be benefited with it.

Techonova T

you can purchase a lot of great software programs for undeleting or file recovery. ontrack or spotmau are really good... go online and look them up. avoid the MS products as they are not that thorough.

ktt

All Data still exists on Your PC until it is Over written As long as the Data has not been overwritten yet - It could have been a long time since that file was "deleted" - but part or all of the file could be recovered

steven m

The best, free, program that I've heard of is recuva. http://www.piriform.com/recuva

balplaya4404

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