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Original poster

Could use a little technical help, please.

36 replies

Squirrel3 · 26/02/2006 14:40

My sil has deleted my db as a user on the computer, everything of his has gone. He is self employed and all of his invoices etc were on there.

Is there anyway of getting it all back?

OP posts:
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hunkermunker · 26/02/2006 21:48

SD, my first computer was an Acorn Electron with 28k of memory! PMSL!

Original poster
Squirrel3 · 26/02/2006 16:04

Lol, thanks again quanglewangle.

OP posts:
quanglewangle · 26/02/2006 15:53

Good luck!!
Once, years ago, I was feeling very virtous by working on Saturday. Until, that is, I deleted the whole c: drive on my bosses pc by mistake!! I spent the rest of the day in panic mode recovering stuff (I begged a utility from someone). I recovered everything including loads of stuff he didn't want back!!

Original poster
Squirrel3 · 26/02/2006 15:46

quanglewangle, I'm sure it might be worthwhile her buying it, she/they are always doing stuff like this with the computer. Thanks for finding it for me.

OP posts:
quanglewangle · 26/02/2006 15:43

I only skimmed quickly through the winundelete stuff, but I think the trial version lets you see what is there to recover. I think you may have to buy it to actually perform the recovery. But you would at least be able to see if it the files are there, and it sounds fairly safe.

Original poster
Squirrel3 · 26/02/2006 15:33

Pixiefish, I wouldn't tell her to take it to PC world, they charged her a small fortune to do a system restore last year and I could have done it for her if she had asked.

OP posts:
Original poster
Squirrel3 · 26/02/2006 15:31

quanglewangle, I'll show her it, maybe even have a go at doing it for her, but I must admit I am bit scared of doing something wrong and making things worse.

OP posts:
Original poster
Squirrel3 · 26/02/2006 15:28

I remember learning how to do word-processing using 'word-perfect 5.1' and you had to use the function keys for everything. When I had to start using a mouse I didn't think I would ever get the hang of it.

OP posts:
quanglewangle · 26/02/2006 15:27

Is this worth trying winundelete ?
If she decides to give it a go, better download to a floppy or usb stick to avoid over-writing the files she wants to recover.

Pixiefish · 26/02/2006 15:27

not necessarily squirrel. if she finds a small independent shop that does repairs it shouldn't cost too much.It's the big PC world type shops that charge the earth for stuff like this

Original poster
Squirrel3 · 26/02/2006 15:24

MMmmmmmmmm, I don't remember the Sinclair ZX81, and I am really old (just ask the grandchildren).

OP posts:
SoupDragon · 26/02/2006 15:22

Oh, I was a pro at Minesweeper! It got to the point where I couldn't beat the times at all...

And I remember getting a Sinclair ZX81 with a whopping 1K of memory... how old does that make me?

hunkermunker · 26/02/2006 15:21

Oh, bloody hell, SD, I used to do that! I'd forgotten! Anything rather than do my dissertation...

The Minesweeper open on top of everything looks v familiar too - I was good at that

Squirrel, I'm not old so therefore neither are you

Original poster
Squirrel3 · 26/02/2006 15:19

I remember, does that mean I am old?

OP posts:
SoupDragon · 26/02/2006 15:19

I still think fondly of the amount of time I spent arranging all the windows so they opened nicely on the desktop...

hunkermunker · 26/02/2006 15:16

Windows 3.1 - that's a blast from the past!

Bit flashier now, isn't it!

Original poster
Squirrel3 · 26/02/2006 15:15

Oh well, it was just a thought, think she may have to take it to a professional.

OP posts:
SoupDragon · 26/02/2006 15:13

Not if they've been deleted, no. I think you need to be more technical than that. IIRC, deleted files have the first letter replaced with a ? - there used to be a "undelete" option with good old Windows 3.1

Original poster
Squirrel3 · 26/02/2006 15:12

What if next time I go around there I do a 'search' to see if I can find a doc that he knows the name of, will I be able to find them that way?

OP posts:
SoupDragon · 26/02/2006 15:09

Deleted things aren't deleted as such, they're marked so they can be overwritten. Provided you don't write much to the hard drive, or reformat it then as HM says, they should be there.

hunkermunker · 26/02/2006 15:07

Unless you've taken a mallet to the hard drive, stuff's usually recoverable by a professional - take it into one.

quanglewangle · 26/02/2006 15:06

Oh I see - that's why I never keep files in the default Windows places lke My Documents etc. Windows takes too many liberties in my opinion so I make my own folders.

Rhubarb · 26/02/2006 15:06

She would have got a choice to delete his files. I recently deleted dh (I love talking like this!) but was given the option to delete or keep his files. I kept his files as I was doing him a new user id.

However I assume that everything you delete stays in the pc for a time at least.

SoupDragon · 26/02/2006 15:05

I guess she deleted the files but as a long shot, suggest she looks on the desktop for an icon with his name on!

SoupDragon · 26/02/2006 15:05

quanglewangle, when you delete a windows User Account (log on ID), you have the option to delete or keep files.

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