How To Recover Deleted Files Using Undelete Utilities

This article describes how to recover deleted files . First of all make sure the file is not still in your Recycle Bin, these files can be copied back from the Recycle Bin before it is emptied. Also perform a search across your file system to make sure you haven't simply misplaced it. This is also a good time to remind you to regularly back up your data for just such a situation. If you still can't get to the file there are undelete utilities that may solve your problem. These utilities are effective because files are not actually deleted from the hard disk. The data is not removed from the hard drive when you delete a file, rather the file system merely deletes the pointer (or address) to the file and marks the space that it occupies as free on the hard drive. This pointer and other pointers for files on the hard drive are used to produce the directory structure and to locate files. Specialized software can be used to recover the file data. The important thing to remember is that by deleting the pointer file, the file space becomes available to the operating system and the hard drive will write data over the old file's location. It's thus important to perform recovery as quickly as possible. Undelete utilities are available on the Internet that enable you to recover deleted files by taking advantage of this. These utilities check for data on the hard drive that does not have pointer information and enable you to view and recover these files. Your chances of fully recovering a file decrease the longer you use your computer after deletion since the chances of the file being overwritten increase. Often, however, you can still perform partial data recovery of a file that has not been completely overwritten.