Alan_B

Whenever Windows is involved I always assume the worst

By even reading this post the O.P. is allowing Windows to write to C:\ and if his important files are present on C:\ they are in danger. Most of the automatic Windows writing is unlikely to hit the important files, but every accidental mistake in the use of unfamiliar tools and misunderstanding of instructions could lead to disaster.. I am generally competent to fix whatever goes wrong on my computer, but I would prefer to pay for my mistakes with money rather than my life

Welcome to the forum. DO NOT restore to the old drive or you will corrupt what you are trying to recover. You can expect to regain the correct folder structure but on a different RELIABLE drive, but any shortcuts to the old drive should still work after you give the reliable drive the original drive letter. Under Options / Actions check the boxes :- Scan for non-deleted files; Restore folder structure. It is just possible the lost files are of the "non-deleted" type, because I find that under Windows 7 the files which are cut are NOT deleted until I have chosen a valid destination and pasted to that destination. I would have expected that under your Windows ??? the same would apply, and that if the destination stopped working during the paste operation then files not yet pasted would still be safe on the old drive and files fully pasted would be present on the new drive and accessible to Recuva even if Windows Explorer cannot see them, and the only casualty would be the single file that was in the middle of the transfer. Unfortunately Windows often fails to meet expectations. I cannot predict your outcome.

If you spend 1 hour defragging your computer it may run slightly faster in the remaining 7 hours of the day. If you do not bother to defrag it will do more work in the 8 hours available that day, but after a week or so you possibly break even. Your Q:\ recovery cannot have any effect on normal use of System C:\. Hopefully you will never need to use Q:\, and if you do use it you should be finished in less than 1 hour. You can never benefit by defragging the recovery partition.

I STRONGLY SUGGEST RECONSIDERATION OF THE DANGER THAT MTA REFERRED TO - SHOUTING BECAUSE IT IS IMPORTANT ! Although Windows delights in giving surprise annoyances, it is almost certain that your I.E. v10 still keeps its junk within something like c:\users\your account\appdata\local\microsoft\windows\temporary internet files\ By attacking the target you have selected you are deleting files that Windows creates whilst performing Power diagnostics. The probability is that there are other types of diagnostics that utilise that target. There may be other non-diagnostic reasons for the use of that target. It would be prudent to determine what is creating the content you find in ...\temporary internet files\ and then to determine whether the "temporary" reason for their existence still remains. By using Locate32 or any similar utility you may find which permanent files were created at the same time as your "temporary" junk files, and then deduce what is causing your SSD to lose its free space. http://locate32.cogit.net/

There is a simple solution. Use Options/Advanced / "Save settings to INI" Close CCleaner AFTER you have defined (without using) an Include of C:\ Open the folder holding CCleaner.exe and then use Notepad to edit CCleaner.INI and change something like Include1=PATH|C:\ and change it to something like Include1=PATH|C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\ and save this file. N.B. '1' in "Include1" may be a bigger number if there are other Includes also defined. When you next launch CCleaner it should correctly target this special folder that most of us were unaware of. If you wish you can now cancel Options/Advanced / "Save settings to INI" and your settings will then be held in the registry and should still target this special folder. Personally I always use the Portable version of CCleaner because I hate using the registry. That relationship is tenuous. I have never at any time allowed Internet Explorer to run on my Windows 7 Ultimate, but I have exactly the same path. It is a Windows thing, or possibly a Trident thing. On my system that path holds only one folder with two files totalling 18 KB C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\892A5CK9\ The two files are both dated 27 ‎July ‎2013, ‏‎12:27:59 They are desktop.ini and IDR_XML_DEFAULT_TRANSFORM[1] I have just used Locate32 and found all the files modified around that time, and the guilty party is C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Power Efficiency Diagnostics\energy-ntkl.etl etc.

Might I suggest getting a printer that works with a pen inside it http://www.delupe.co.uk/computer_-_hardware/printers/ink_ribbons?q=stylus%20printers

THAT IS A CURE THAT MAY BE WORSE THAN THE PROBLEM. It was part of a "standard solution" that was normally recommended for a successful update of my security software package. It was expected that after a computer reboot the repository would be rebuilt so that Windows would recognise that the old software package had been replaced by a new one. The repository was never rebuilt properly, even after many reboots and many attempts at repairing Windows XP. The only way to fix a "Manifest Error" upon every system start-up was to restore a partition image that restored normality - and brought back the obsolete software package. I guess most people are lucky and the repository is correctly rebuilt, but so many people come unstuck that I lost count of the quantities of solutions that Google found for me (and which failed when I tried).

What is your operating system ? C:\Documents and Settings\ is NOT a folder but a junction on Windows 7.

Perhaps it is NOT banned for copyright reasons but because the relevant piece makes a reference at 22:54 to "Intelligence Service Snooping". The Thought Police will not tolerate potential criticism of Big Brother.

If you click the bottom left corner "Start" button and right click on "Computer" and select "Manage" you can choose Storage / Disk Management. A screen shot could be useful. It might be useful to power down and then use a different USP port and power up again and take another look at Disk Management, and post a second screen shot if there is a significant difference.

I understood that there were 10 copies of many files and initially all of them were selected to restore with an INAPPROPRIATE total of 3600 GB, and that after deselecting almost everything a CORRECT total of only 100 GB was deducted from the initial total of 3600 GB to give an INCORRECT new total of 3500 GB. Hence my approach of avoiding the inappropriate total from the start and avoiding any chance of arithmetic overflow or any of the other nasty surprises that Windows is full of I do however defer to your much greater experience of Recuva and how to get the best out of it.

Thanks for the explanation. I knew it was Win 8 but did not realise how different it was from Win 7.

What is a full reset of Windows ? So far as I am aware it is not possible to cure a corrupt Windows without re-writing Windows System Files, e.g. by using an installation disc to Repair Windows or to Install Windows. If a "full reset" is little more than an enhanced reboot / restart then you are simply cancelling out volatile errors that are not part of the Windows Installation. Is it possible that your RAM is defective ?

I have already told you how Recuva AND OTHER UTILITIES can count the same sector many times and over-estimate the PREVIOUS content of the drive. Perhaps you failed to understand what I concluded with Please refrain from SELECTING the 3.6 TB that Recuva suggests. After the Deepscan start with a ZERO GB size of zero files selected, and then add the files that you really want, and if you select wisely the selected amount will gracefully increase from zero GB to 100 GB or whatever you reach before calling it a day. As I previously said, I have never needed Deepscan nor had the patience to waste a day or two, but if Recuva Deepscan is unlike other utilities and always starts with a grand-slam of 3.6 TB, then I suggest you post a complaint in the BUG Report forum requiring that it ONLY select what the user chooses.

I would guess that you could create a new *.REG file that excludes all of the Norton stuff, i.e. [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{09D32393-10DA-4eca-91AA-AD11C69DB966}] @="Symantec Norton AntiVirus MediaStatusSink Class" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{09D32393-10DA-4eca-91AA-AD11C69DB966}\Implemented Categories] [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{09D32393-10DA-4eca-91AA-AD11C69DB966}\Implemented Categories\{FCB0C2A3-9747-4c95-9d02-820AFEDEF13F}] @="Norton Media Status Sink" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{09D32393-10DA-4eca-91AA-AD11C69DB966}\InprocServer32] @="C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Norton Internet Security\\Engine64\\20.4.0.40\\McStatus.dll" "ThreadingModel"="Apartment" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{09D32393-10DA-4eca-91AA-AD11C69DB966}\ProgID] @="NortonAntiVirus.MediaStatusSink.1" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{09D32393-10DA-4eca-91AA-AD11C69DB966}\TypeLib] @="{37651A5F-5423-4134-9FCF-C279ABC26E82}" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{09D32393-10DA-4eca-91AA-AD11C69DB966}\VersionIndependentProgID] @="NortonAntiVirus.MediaStatusSink" Then Norton will have no reason to stop you from merging the new *.REG file and re-instating the other registry items. Although you would not restore Nortions keys, perhaps Norton has already recreated all that it needs. I SUGGEST YOU PAUSE AND WAIT CONFIRMATION - I have no recent experience of Norton and a moderator may suggest otherwise.

Yes it is possible. FIRST make a copy of the file and change the extension from REG to TXT Then reply using the bottom right corner button "More Reply Options". Above the "Add Reply" button is "Attach Files" and you can browse to and select your *.TXT copy and when it has loaded use "Add Reply".

Perhaps a file was :- defragged a few times ; or edited a few times ; or shuffled around by Windows because it loves to annoy users ; and each time it occupied a different region of the disk. Recuva is prepared to attempt any instance you select. I have read that Recuva will designate a deleted file as OVER-WRITTEN only WHILST the overwrite exists but if the OVERWRITE file has in turn been deleted then Recuva may fail to recognise that an overwrite ever occurred. I have seen alternative recovery programs that have the same failing, and any given sector cluster may be counted as part of the contents of hundreds of different files that occupied it at ANY time in the past. I have even seen them discover :- 7.295 TB in a 127.96 MB FAT32 partition; and 27.125 TB in a RAW DATE scan of a 600 GB HDD. I vaguely remember once seeing what looked like an arithmetic overflow with a 64 bit utility under 64 bit Windows Ultimate that should have known better. Although Recuva may wrongly count each instance of use of a sector in the grand total of what can be recovered (addition total 3.6 TB) maybe it correctly counts only a single instance of a sector when you deselect multiple files that each used that sector (subtraction total 100 GB) hence the result fell to only 3.5 TB. Is it possible to DeepScan without selecting everything, and only select what is needed after the scan ? (I did not need Deepscan and do not have the patience to try )

What is/are the full path(s) that are shown in your registry backup file ?

Hazel posted whilst I was typing. Her solution is probably adequate for you. In my particular case I was using Windows XP and had a problem with a Comodo Antivirus key that had been locked under the authority of a previous administrator, and the "super admin" ability did not work for that particular key. and even though Comodo had been uninstalled, Windows would still not release that key until I "took a chainsaw to it".

This is a Registry Hive as presented in a registry backup file [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE] This is a registry key [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\services\HTTP\Enum] You will find the CCleaner backup file has on or more registry keys. I have had the experience of full control over a Hive, but NO control over they key I needed to control. Perhaps you need to check whether you have full access to the registry keys that are in the backup file

All those deleted files sit in what Windows considers as free space. When windows is asked to save a file it saves it in free space, and I have observed that it prefers to use second-hand free-space nearer to the start of the disc rather than brand-new free-space at the other "end", so the most recently deleted files are most likely to be over-written, though some may have survived thus far. Recuva is like other powerful tools - if used wrongly it will do more harm and make it harder and more expensive to fix what you tried to repair yourself. If it is important that you retrieve these files you can pay a professional to use specialist tools, I doubt that I can assist you any further, but others with more experience and knowledge may if you start your own topic with suitable title and full information on :- Version of Windows; The drive that holds your deleted files (size, drive letter); the path to the folder you deleted; the content of the folder (music, photos, applications, system files, etc.). A screen shot showing Windows Disk Management may also be useful.

When I know a short cut home and the GPS woman keeps on telling me to take the first available opportunity to turn around and take the route she knows, I think to my self "Why do I need you when I already have a wife"

How is that a bug ?

On a day out with the wife after you tell her that you remembered to switch it on before leaving, and then you realise you failed and there could be consequences.