Hi,
I've deleted a directory and its files and if Recuva can find very quickly files from an existing directory, it seems it can't see a deleted directory. Isn't possible?
Thank you .
Not really. Directories can't be recovered explicitly. If you can recover the files, just create a new directory and recover them to there. If you check Restore Folder Structure in Advanced Mode/Options/Actions then directories will be created implicitly.
Sorry, I did not answer earlier because I haven't received a mail response. I've changed the settings .
I've seen we can reconstruct the full path of the files but it works only if the file is in an existing directory. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard can restore deleted directories but it's very expensive (95 $) while I used this function 2 or 3 times in 10 years.
I don't know if it's very difficult to restore a directory, it's "only" a file with different properties.
Directories are not recovered or restored, but rebuilt during the recovery process. Recuva willl rebuild the directory structure including deleted folders if they are still accessible in the MFT. If they are not then the directory structure will end with an ?.
The owning directory for any file or folder is found from a refer-back address in the file's MFT record header. If this address does not find a valid directory then the directory cannot be recbuilt, hence the ?.
Do you specifically want to recover a directory, or the files within it?
I delete a whole directory under the root on an USB key before doing a backup. It's easier to avoid to keep files I've definitively deleted. This directory is very complex and it's difficult to search all the "bad" files.
Example, my key contains several directories : dir1, dir2, dir3. Under dir1, I have other directories dir21, dir22 with files in theses directories. dir21 contains file1, file2...
And I use this key to copy file between 2 computers which are not on the same network. I wanted to copy files from the USB key to the second computer, but I deleted dir1 from the USB key instead of the PC disk.
When I launched Recuva, it didn't find dir1, neither dir21, dir22, neither file1, file2...
It found files which were under dir2, dir3 because these directories were not deleted.
On 12/27/2017 at 09:14, sjlouis said:<div class="ipsQuote_contents"> <p> Sorry, I did not answer earlier because I haven't received a mail response. I've changed the settings <img alt="^_^" data-emoticon="" height="20" src="<fileStore.core_Emoticons>/emoticons/default_happy.png" srcset="<fileStore.core_Emoticons>/emoticons/happy@2x.png 2x" title="^_^" width="20"> . </p> <p> I've seen we can reconstruct the full path of the files but it works only if the file is in an existing directory. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard can restore deleted directories but it's very expensive (95 $) while I used this function 2 or 3 times in 10 years. </p> <p> I don't know if it's very difficult to restore a directory, it's "only" a file with different properties. </p> </div>
Have you actually successfully recovered directories in EaseUS Data Recovery or they show up as they appear on the screen as though recovered? I mean have you actually had them recovered so that you can use them? I am reluctant to spend $70 to buy software that looks like it works on the free trial, but only allows 500 MB to be read so a fee of $69.95 is offered to recover everything - I didn't do the recovery and now it appears that the drive is altered. It can no longer be recognized by other standard programs that could see it before. I missed the limitation and ran for about 48 hours recovering it said about 1600 files with 21 Gib of data. But I was only allowed 500 Meg so I got none. I am now running Recuva and it has been working for 21 hours, still no output.
Please keep talk of competition products out of public forum.. Thank you
As I've seen EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard can recover deleted directories, I've asked if it's possible to have the same possibility with Recuva. It's not a competition and there is no shame to add functions which exist in other products .
Jay, I could recover all my files but it was very very long, several hours , because I delete a lot of files on this key and it does a very strong research.
As I assume English is not your native language there’s a lot of confusion here. I can’t really understand your last two posts.
Recuva will reconstruct all the valid directories in a path up to the root. Right click on the list of files found and select Tree View to see what you will get.
As you’re recovering from a ‘USB key’ I assume that it’s FAT32.
It would be pointless 'recovering' a directory. The contents would be invalid, and it won’t work across different O/S’s. If the directory path can be established then Recuva will reconstruct it (if you select the right option). If the path can’t be established then no software is going to invent a path.
If you really want to recreate a directory then right click in File Explorer, select New/Folder, rename it, and away you go.
Yes I'm not easy in English.
I've done other tests with another USB key (in fact this key is the same model than the other) and the same files and directories and I'm surprised because with this key, Recuva can recover the deleted directory. Then I tried again with the previous key with which I don't do anything since the suppression but it doesn't find the deleted directory.
The only difference : one key is Fat32 formatted and the other is exFat formatted. The problem is with the Fat32 key.
I've done other tests and effectively it can't recover directories if it's a Fat32 key. It works well wit an exFAT key. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard did it with Fat32.
My tests have been on FAT32 only, and I can recover a deleted directory back to the root (they were simle tests however). I think that success depends on the circumstances of the individual.
I've deleted several directories and I can't recover anyone in Fat 32 but it would be able to recover very old files.