Genealogy Chat

Just as a note, if you do delete files normally then they will usually be in the 'recycle bin' with any of the windows versions since about 1998 I think! If they have been deleted from the recycle bin then they are usually still on the hard disk, its just that the area that they have been saved on is marked as 'available to be written on', which of course means that the more stuff you write to and from the hard disk the more and more of the data will be lost. However this should have been picked up by the program being used by the 'professional', if he could not find them and there was not much time between loosing them and going to him then its highly likely that the photos were never on the laptop in the first place. It is therefore likely that the photos are still on whatever they were on before you copied them to the PC, hence why some people are asking how you go the photos onto the laptop in the first place...Were they on a CD, did you copy them direct of a mobile phone, or digital camera? did you scan them from the originals? Dont forget if you took it to a professional to look for 'deleted files' and the files were never deleted, they are just hidden in a directory that you have forgotten about then he would not have 'found' them, as he would not have been looking for files that had not been deleted!!! But if you tried using picassa then this should have found every image on your PC, as it does a search for all 'images' wherever they are on your hard disk. Also there are programs out there that you can use to search for deleted files yourself and 'undelete' them, but this will rely on you not writing over the top of the files in the mean time. There are programs out there that will allow you to recover your files yourself: http://www.winundelete.com/download.asp http://www.ontrack.com/easyrecoverydatarecovery/ Both these allow you to preview what it thinks it can recover before you buy the product to actually recover the files, the first one seems to be the best on the market and allows you to download a small enough version to save it direct to a floppy, which means it wont potentially overwrite any lost files (as mentioned earlier!) Good Luck, either way John PS BACKUP BACKUP BACKUP, and just for good measure BACKUP again.. .do it regularly.... I learnt the hard way, I had an external Hard disk, which I made a backup to, and was reorganising the files on it, before making a permanent DVD/CD backup and it was stolen, it was my ONLY copy and I lost 5 years worth of digital photos on it..... a total personal tragedy for me!!!

When you delete something from your hard drive the item deleted does not actually get deleted from the hard drive, what happens is that the file path to the item is removed so your computer cannot find it. It's still actually there on your hard drive, you just cannot see or find it. The item removed does not actually get removed until it is re-written over by installing something else. The program you refer to used by the police etc. will find the items deleted if they are still there and not re-written over. Regards Carol www.genealogyprinters(.)com

Just a thought - how did she load them onto the computer in the first place,,,? By that I mean did she scan them in, download them off the internet, copy them from a CD, email, etc? If a registry check doesn't show up anempty path, then that would mean something. Let us know - there is always an answer to these problems! Ian

HI ALL! Well, my daughter took her laptop to a computer specialist, HE used a programme which the police use apparently to find things on computers that have been deleted...................NO PICS FOUND!! It really IS a mystery, but it definately seems that they have gone! I can understand her deleting a couple by mistake but , to lose all of them is just unbelievable. Thanks for all your comments though. I still keep sending her the tips Ian, so who knows, she might find them! although I would have thought the specialist would have. Ann xx

> Apparently this seems to be quite a common occurence with using laptops!! No more or less than it is with any type of PC. 'A backup is like a spare tyre, don't go far without one!' Cheers, Bill Sydney, Australia

Ann, I've used a laptop for years and have never lost any pics! The only thing I have lost is a file I transfered from the hard drive to a floppy - edited it and as there wasn't enough memory to save again, deleted the original, forgetting I was working on the floppy and that it was my only copy. (I've never done that again!!) Sometimes I can't find things because I've forgotten the name I gave them, but I've always managed to find them eventually through the search facility, often by typing in a keyword like notelet. Or my partner has used explore and gone through every single folder and file. As other posters have said, unless they have been accidentally deleted, they will be there somewhere - it's usually a question of not panicing and being painstaking and systematic. Don't give up hope, just keep looking. Jay

The only way you can lose them is to delete them. I would reccomend using a registry clean up programme. This will identify the paths for all documents that no longer exist. You can then find out what happened to them. There is nothing different in the make up of a laptop to a desktop that could possibly cause files to mysteriously vanish! Of course, you should always run a good anti virus programme, but I never heard of a virus that will just attack image files! HAve a look at the symantec website. What format were the files saved as? Jpeg's, Tiffs, Bmps? Were they scanned or downloaded? If they were placed on the laptop and definetely not deleted, they MUST still be there. Keep trying, we will find them, I'm sure. Ian

Put them all onto a CD. It's quick AND easy. Gerri.

My daughter has lost ALL the photos + videos she had on her laptop! I was given some tips by folks on here about programmes to retrieve them BUT to no avail, they have gone completely. Apparently this seems to be quite a common occurence with using laptops!! She has heard from others who have had the same problems, SO ALWAYS keep copies/backups folks. Ann x