TCX file recovery

Skinner2k3

Need some file recovery advice please.

I have a folder on my laptop for TCX files which I occasionally save to from my Garmin. I just copied a few recent TCX files off the Garmin, went to the folder right clicked and hit paste. I can only assume I tripple clicked or something as I now only have the new files in place of about 18 months worth that was there.

The missing files are not in the recycle bin.

Any ideas for recovering them?

Cheers

ElectronShepherd

You could try pulling them back from a restore point. See http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows7/Recover-lost-or-deleted-files

The other possibility (a very slim chance of this) is that since Windows can remember the location of icons in an Explorer window, the files are still there, but you can't see them. Switching to a different view (e.g. a list view) should force them to display in the window if they are still on the disk.

Skinner2k3

Tried the system restore and no luck.

Think the files are gone. One click and 18 months of data gone

Its all on Strava but no longer able to do a bulk download. Oh well, hopefully I won't need it.

Thanks anyway.

wongataa

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19701473#p19701473]Skinner2k3[/url] wrote:

Any ideas for recovering them?

Cheers

Stop using the disk in question in case they get overwritten. Put this disk in another computer. Run file recovery software to see if you can get them back (likely if you have only just managed to accidentally delete them. When files are deleted they aren't actually removed. They are just hidden and marked that they can be overwritten so this is why file recovery software can get them back and why you need to stop using the disk.

ElectronShepherd

This is good advice, but the fact it's a laptop makes life a bit more tricky. Most laptops are very difficult to take to bits.

The other option for recovery, depending on your level of technical ability, is to boot the laptop from an Ubuntu Live CD, and then use ntfsundelete to attempt recovery. See https://help.ubuntu.com/community/DataRecovery/NtfsUndeletefor some more information.

The risk you run with this sort of utility is that you can lose even more data, or even render the system unbootable if you do the wrong thing. I'd certainly make sure the rest of your data is backed up to an external device before going down this route.

Skinner2k3

Thanks for the advice guys. Getting a bit in depth for my IT skills.

I found I had my data since getting a PM backed up in another file. It's the older stuff that's gone.

Bit annoying as I am still not sure how I managed it. Oh well. Thanks again.

jgsi

iCare Data Recovery is a download you can try.
It may help if you have not been saving files since that deletion date.. as space on hard disk can get overwritten.
Deleted files are actually very hard to get rid of completely , forensically this has helped in many an investigation.