Restore Overwritten Files

[RSA2000]

Does anyone know of any software that can be loaded to restore files that have been inadvertently overwritten? Most of the software packages I have found must be on the system before the files have been overwritten in order to restore the files.

 

[smitee]

RSA2000

I use Directory Snoop

http://www.briggsoft.com/

Smitee

 

[paulwood]

If we're talking data files, then it depends whether it has been physically ovewritten, in which case there is nothing to be done, or deleted but not physically overwritten, in which case something like Norton Utilities can recover some if not all of it.

Even if a file has been altered and then saved with the same name, it may not physically be saved in the same place on disk, so there is some hope if recovery is attempted quickly. I have to say though, that the latter situation is a pretty long shot.

If we are talking programs or dll's then I don't know of any way back.

 

[paulwood]

On the other hand, I obviously don't know everything From a brief look Directory Snoop could be a life-saver if the file has been erased but not overwritten!

 

[smitee]

Nice of you to add that post..Thanx

smitee

 

[mscallisto]

Usually programs or DLL's CAN recovered by virtue of someone else (maybe the vendor or a friend), having a copy.

The personal files e.g. .doc,.xls etc. were covered very well by Paulwood and Smitee

 

[teknikal]

Depending on how sensitive the data, you can pay big bucks to have a specialized company do it for you (though I don't know of one off hand). When data is physically written to the disk, it is done so in layers. Although you may delete a file using the recycle bin, followed by the hard drive writing data to the same spot, it is still possible to recover the original data. This is why there is software out there that can "shred" files off your hard drive using the government's "7-pass" security method which wipes the disk 7 times to make sure that any traces left are unreadable. The recycle bin doesn't even perform one wipe. It just removes the association from the FAT, which is like removing a "pointer" telling the Hard Drive that the space is now empty, even though data is still written there.

I believe software like directory snoop can only recover data that hasn't been overwritten yet.

3rd-party vendors have this capability to recover data that has been overwritten, though it can run expensive. Chances are, the data that was lost isn't worth the money to recover professionally. Just making the point that it is possible!

 

[RSA2000]

Thanks for all of the excellent advice. Does anyone know of a company that can recover overwritten information? I am not having any luck.

I guess they really want their files back. Ten years of information is gone!

 

[paulwood]

Take a look at Ontrack, it's a well-known company, and they can sometimes recover data remotely

http://www.ontrack.com/