Aargh Night mare - how do you recover data from a memory stick if you have deleted it?

[KatyMac]

Oh I could scream

But anyway

Memory stick, had data on, data been moved/copied off (not sure which) & cleared

Is it still there? Or am I stuffed??

As long as you haven't put new files on the data stick the old ones will still be there. Windows (I'm assuming you're using Windows?) doesn't remove deleted files. It just tells the file system that they aren't there any more. It's like a library removing a book from its electronic catalogue but leaving the book on the shelf. The book is still there but you can't find it.

You need a piece of software to check the memory stick and "recover" the files. If you go to www.tucows.com and search for "file recovery" you should find lots of tools that you can download.

Thanks for that

Is there a particular one anyone would suggest?

Bump for help

Were the files deleted on your computer? If so, perhaps have a look in the Recycle Bin. If so, you can plug the memory stick back in and use the "restore Files" function; they will then end up where they started.

Like nocake, I'm assuming you're using Windows!

Nope I delete my recycle bin

Yes using windows

Feeling a pratt

I haven't used the software nocake mentioned, so can't advise on that.

However, one more thing you might try is going to Recent Documents (click the start menu button (bottom left of screen)) and move up the list to find Documents. Let that expand, and see if any of the urgent files are there. It's possible that something was saved as a TEMP file. This is just theory, though, so I'd like to hear whether this works!

Don't have that on option in start

I'll go into my computer & see there

Have a look on tucows as nocake suggests. There's plenty of good file recovery programs out there, I haven't needed to use one for years so I can't remember the name of the one I did last use to recover files from an external hard drive. Have a look - the files are there, don't give up hope!

If it does not pop up from your Start menu, try going into the program you use to access the file, e.g. Word. There is often a list of recent documents there.

However, this is getting more and more tenuous, so I think you had better listen to everyone else!

I would recommend TestDisk.

Thanks - I'll have a look