Topic: Lost photos!

[Lindsay]

Hi.
I had a folder which I kept all my best photographs in which I have been collecting for a few months, and I let my younger brother onto the computer. He was going through photos and somehow has managed to loose the entire folder. I have tried searching for it and checking recycle bins but it is nowhere to be found!
Please tell me there is a way of getting them back!
Thanks  :'(

[Rodders]

Hiya Lindsay,

If they're not in your recycle bin, there's still a slim chance that the folder may simply have been moved somewhere else.

I recommend you use the 'Search' facility and enter the name of one of the files that are missing.  Then thrash your brother within an inch of his life.

Hope this helps.

[Hiatus]

I think you can also use MS-DOS to search for files/folders.
Open DOS (or "Command Prompt" depending on your OS), type cd.. a few times so that it reads:

C:\>

Try typing: dir *(name of the file or folder)* (with the stars on both sides) /s

So it will read something like this:

C:\>dir *my folder* /s

This might be the same as the search option in Windows, but I think MS-DOS finds more stuff usually.

Good Luck!  

[Lindsay]

Ok I've tried both of those things, the search didn't find anything at first but when I chose to include hidden files and system folders it found 2, one was a shortcut which didn't work because it said the file had been removed or deleted and the other had the icon of a web page and said it was in my computer..but when I tried that, it just opened internet explorer and said it couldn't be found. Waw that was a long sentance.

...Then I tried the command prompt method. I'm not really sure what is supposed to happen though. I typed in everything Hiatus told me to, and a big list of stuff came down. I don't know what it means though. Here I'll paste it:
               1 File(s)         12,150 bytes

 Directory of C:\Office52\share\gallery

16/11/2001  09:34    <DIR>          photos
               0 File(s)              0 bytes

 Directory of C:\Office52\share\gallery\flags

08/05/2000  06:20            25,036 mexico1.wmf
08/05/2000  06:20            52,664 mexico2.wmf
               2 File(s)         77,700 bytes

 Directory of C:\Office52\share\gallery\photos

08/05/2000  06:20            42,649 meadow.jpg
               1 File(s)         42,649 bytes

 Directory of C:\Office52\share\gallery\surface

08/05/2000  06:20             9,618 metal-blue.jpg
               1 File(s)          9,618 bytes

 Directory of C:\Office52\share\gallery\symbols

08/05/2000  06:20            22,794 medal.wmf
08/05/2000  06:20            33,924 meeting.wmf
               2 File(s)         56,718 bytes

 Directory of C:\Office52\share\gallery\www-graf

08/05/2000  06:20             1,287 men@work.gif
               1 File(s)          1,287 bytes

 Directory of C:\Office52\share\samples\english

16/11/2001  09:35    <DIR>          menu
               0 File(s)              0 bytes

 Directory of C:\Office52\share\template\english\layout

08/05/2000  06:20            50,176 metal.vor
               1 File(s)         50,176 bytes

 Directory of C:\Office52\share\template\english\officorr

08/05/2000  06:20            78,848 memcont.vor
08/05/2000  06:20            61,952 memeleg.vor
08/05/2000  06:20            49,664 memprof.vor
               3 File(s)        190,464 bytes

 Directory of C:\Office52\share\template\english\presnt

08/05/2000  06:20            91,648 meeting.vor
               1 File(s)         91,648 bytes

 Directory of C:\Program Files

20/03/2004  21:04    <DIR>          Messenger
               0 File(s)              0 bytes

 Directory of C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Reader

07/02/2004  00:17    <DIR>          Messages
               0 File(s)              0 bytes

 Directory of C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Reader\HowTo\ENU\Images

29/03/2003  14:36                76 measure_loop.gif
               1 File(s)             76 bytes

 Directory of C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop Album Starter Edition\2.0\Shared_
Assets\bitmaps

17/07/2004  09:53    <DIR>          media_player
               0 File(s)              0 bytes

 Directory of C:\Program Files\Common Files\Network Associates\VirusScan Engine\
4.0.xx

08/12/2003  05:32            38,154 MESSAGES.DAT
               1 File(s)         38,154 bytes

 Directory of C:\Program Files\Common Files\Network Associates\VirusScan Engine\
4.0.xx\OldEngine

14/02/2002  18:34            56,378 MESSAGES.DAT
               1 File(s)         56,378 bytes

 Directory of C:\Program Files\Common Files\Real\Plugins

01/02/2004  18:45            65,579 memf3260.dll
               1 File(s)         65,579 bytes

 Directory of C:\Program Files\Freeserve\FSBar

19/01/2004  19:01    <DIR>          Menus
               0 File(s)              0 bytes

 Directory of C:\Program Files\Freeserve\help\swfs

13/08/2003  16:48               459 menu.txt
06/08/2003  01:14             3,668 menu_build.swf
15/08/2003  16:25               464 menu_sasi.txt
               3 File(s)          4,591 bytes

 Directory of C:\Program Files\Kodak\Kodak EasyShare software\bin

05/05/2003  15:20           622,592 MediaEngine.dll
               1 File(s)        622,592 bytes

 Directory of C:\Program Files\LitexMedia\Audio Conversion Wizard

12/08/2001  23:11               211 menu.url
               1 File(s)            211 bytes

 Directory of C:\Program Files\Maxis\The Sims Creator

18/01/2004  22:08    <DIR>          SamplePhotos
               0 File(s)              0 bytes

 Directory of C:\Program Files\Maxis\The Sims Creator\Scripts\GUIFragment

24/07/2001  19:54               376 MenuFilePaletteHelp.adg
18/12/2001  20:32             3,745 MenuWorldView.adg
21/12/2001  04:51             4,974 MenuWorldViewContext.adg
               3 File(s)          9,095 bytes

 Directory of C:\Program Files\McAfee\McAfee VirusScan

30/04/2001  05:51           350,720 Medb632.dll
30/04/2001  05:51           741,376 Mew800.dll
30/04/2001  05:51           751,104 Mew801.dll
               3 File(s)      1,843,200 bytes

 Directory of C:\Program Files\McAfee\McAfee VirusScan\Backups\DatBackup

08/12/2003  05:32            38,154 MESSAGES.DAT
               1 File(s)         38,154 bytes

 Directory of C:\Program Files\Real\RealOne Player

01/02/2004  18:45            15,819 menus.vs
               1 File(s)         15,819 bytes

 Directory of C:\Program Files\Real\RealOne Player\DataCache\CDBurning

03/09/2002  18:28               575 mediafinalizecd.ini
               1 File(s)            575 bytes

 Directory of C:\Program Files\Real\RealOne Player\DataCache\GPFeat

25/07/2002  14:43               168 medialibraryshown.ini
               1 File(s)            168 bytes

 Directory of C:\Program Files\Real\RealOne Player\Firstrun

01/02/2004  18:45            32,973 media.swf
               1 File(s)         32,973 bytes

 Directory of C:\Program Files\ScanSoft\PaperPort\LINKSUPP

05/01/2000  13:56           603,648 Meapi32.dll
05/01/2000  13:56           350,720 Medb632.dll
               2 File(s)        954,368 bytes

 Directory of C:\Program Files\Viewpoint\Viewpoint Media Player

03/06/2002  20:04               170 MetaStreamID.ini
               1 File(s)            170 bytes

 Directory of C:\Program Files\Wanadoo\Help\images

03/02/2004  11:43               502 menux.gif
               1 File(s)            502 bytes

 Directory of C:\Program Files\Wanadoo\Help\xml

10/05/2004  16:26    <DIR>          menus
               0 File(s)              0 bytes

 Directory of C:\Program Files\Wanadoo\WSBar

31/05/2004  20:13    <DIR>          Menus
               0 File(s)              0 bytes

 Directory of C:\Program Files\Yahoo!\Shared\Graphics\Indigo

07/06/2004  14:04             2,780 menubar.bmp
07/06/2004  14:04               220 menubar_states.bmp
07/06/2004  14:04               172 menuitem.bmp
07/06/2004  14:04             2,620 menu_bg.bmp
07/06/2004  14:04               460 menu_scroll.bmp
07/06/2004  14:04                88 menu_sep.bmp
               6 File(s)          6,340 bytes

 Directory of C:\Program Files\Yahoo!\Shared\Graphics\Maverick

07/06/2004  14:05             2,776 menubar.bmp
07/06/2004  14:05               224 menubar_states.bmp
07/06/2004  14:05               172 menuitem.bmp
07/06/2004  14:05             2,624 menu_bg.bmp
07/06/2004  14:05               460 menu_scroll.bmp
07/06/2004  14:05                92 menu_sep.bmp
               6 File(s)          6,348 bytes

 Directory of C:\WINDOWS

16/11/2001  09:05    <DIR>          Media
               0 File(s)              0 bytes

 Directory of C:\WINDOWS\Cursors

18/08/2001  13:00             5,674 metronom.ani
               1 File(s)          5,674 bytes

 Directory of C:\WINDOWS\Downloaded Program Files

29/05/2003  16:00           160,864 messengerstatsclient.dll
               1 File(s)        160,864 bytes

 Directory of C:\WINDOWS\ehome

29/08/2002  11:41            13,312 medctrro.exe
               1 File(s)         13,312 bytes

 Directory of C:\WINDOWS\I386

18/08/2001  13:00            24,686 MEM.EX_
18/08/2001  13:00             1,686 MEMCARD.IN_
18/08/2001  13:00             1,047 MEMSTPCI.IN_
18/08/2001  13:00         1,796,045 MERLIN.AC_
18/08/2001  13:00             2,773 MERLIN.GI_
18/08/2001  13:00            85,129 METADATA.DL_
18/08/2001  13:00            66,213 METAL_SS.DL_
18/08/2001  13:00               791 METRONOM.AN_
               8 File(s)      1,978,370 bytes

 Directory of C:\WINDOWS\I386\COMPDATA

18/08/2001  13:00             1,052 MELCO.HTM
18/08/2001  13:00               411 MELCO.TXT
               2 File(s)          1,463 bytes

 Directory of C:\WINDOWS\inf

18/08/2001  13:00            13,259 memcard.inf
16/11/2001  09:06            17,180 memcard.PNF
18/08/2001  13:00             2,257 memstpci.inf
16/11/2001  09:05             8,932 memstpci.PNF
               4 File(s)         41,628 bytes

 Directory of C:\WINDOWS\msagent\chars

18/08/2001  13:00         2,180,663 merlin.acs
               1 File(s)      2,180,663 bytes

 Directory of C:\WINDOWS\PCHEALTH\HELPCTR\Indices

10/03/2004  13:14         2,369,277 merged.hhk
               1 File(s)      2,369,277 bytes

 Directory of C:\WINDOWS\PCHEALTH\HELPCTR\Vendors\CN=Microsoft Corporation,L=Red
mond,S=Washington,C=US\Remote Assistance\Escalation\Common

16/11/2001  17:14             1,473 messenger_big.gif
               1 File(s)          1,473 bytes

 Directory of C:\WINDOWS\Resources\Themes\Luna\Shell

16/11/2001  09:05    <DIR>          Metallic
               0 File(s)              0 bytes

 Directory of C:\WINDOWS\ServicePackFiles\i386

29/08/2002  11:41            13,312 medctrro.exe
29/08/2002  09:28            24,448 memstpci.sys
               2 File(s)         37,760 bytes

 Directory of C:\WINDOWS\system32

18/08/2001  13:00            39,274 mem.exe
               1 File(s)         39,274 bytes

 Directory of C:\WINDOWS\system32\dllcache

18/08/2001  13:00            39,274 mem.exe
18/08/2001  13:00           362,496 metal_ss.dll
               2 File(s)        401,770 bytes

 Directory of C:\WINDOWS\system32\oobe\images

18/08/2001  13:00             2,700 merlin.gif
               1 File(s)          2,700 bytes

     Total Files Listed:
             126 File(s)     13,713,231 bytes
              24 Dir(s)  27,023,294,464 bytes free

C:\>

See!  
(oh by the way I searched for the name of the folder)

[joudi]

Hi Lindsay,

Have I been in your place, I would try to get them back by using one of the recovery programs. You have: "Easy Recovery" and "Recover My Files", and some others which may be suggested by the techies in case they don't find for you another solution.

Here's the link to get a free trial version which - probably will work at least one time for you, (as you don't need it for always):

 http://www.ontrack.co.uk/freesoftware/

In fact, you'll be lucky if you have a second HDD connected to your pc. (I forgot if it works by having a second partition on the same HDD). In case you need a second HDD, perhaps you can borrow an external one from a friend. That's necessary to record the result of the recovery on it.

Another thing worthy to be mentioned:  The recovered files will not have the same name which you've given to them before they were deleted. The files will be named by numbers starting from 1 to ..., and so on to each kind of file.

Hope that will be helpful for you.

Good luck...

[Lindsay]

I need another HDD? Umm, I have one upstairs that I took from an old computer I found but it doesn't have any cables or anythin..
Are we talking about the same thing? Do I really really need one?

[Sandra]

I just had a quick read through the userguide for the ontrack program that Joudi recommended.
The free trial looks like it will show you if the files you are looking for are still on your pc but wont allow you to recover them until you pay for the program.
We can work on that later if it finds the files are there.
It says that it recovers to a floppy or another hard drive or removable media so I think its assuming your drive may be damaged and wants to recovery the files to a different location.
It may be able to recover to a folder on your existing drive though but doesnt actually say that in the part that I read.
What I suggest you do is download the trial, install it and run the program first to see if it can detect the missing files.
If it does we can check out the options available to you.
Do you know how big the missing folder is, roughly ?

[Lindsay]

Uh.. it's round about 12MB.
I did try downloading it but something happened as it finished and it said 31.0 MB of 31.0 MB copied but it didn't say it was complete and the only option I had was cancel. I'll try again though.

//Update

I tried the program and I found 2 of the photos.

[Dack]

Try this software to see if the pictures are still on the disk.
http://www.datarescue.com/photorescue/

If it finds them then I've written some software which allows you to extract JPGs from the saved disk image it allows you to take

[Lindsay]

I downloaded that, thanks, and Sandra sent me something as well which I'm hoping will get them back, if it doesn't then I guess there's nothing else I can do.
Thanks very much for all your help