I accidently deleted folder which contained several big files (6-7 GB size each) along with some smaller files (~1 GB size each). The problem is that if I try to recover big files, Recuva shows that they are zero byte size. I tried several other undelete tools, and they showed the same picture. However I could recover smaller files perfectly. I guess the problem is not with Recuva, but maybe with NTFS file system or something, that if you delete huge files, you are unable to recover them. I couldn't find any information on this issue on Internet, maybe somebody could explain me why deleted huge files turn to zero byte size and you unable to recover them. Thank you.
My system specs:
Windows 2000 SP4
File system: NTFS
HDD: 160 GB
hmm that's interesting...
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I am not able to recover large files like MPG, AVI, PST, QBW (Quickbooks), etc. or they recover as 0 bytes. What can I do?
There are two possibilities here.
1. If the file system is FAT : Try recovering the data through the Contiguous Mode. After scanning the FAT partition, click on the Tools menu and go to Change Linking Mode. Now click on Contiguous Mode and attempt the recovery again.
2. If the file system is NTFS : In case the file system is NTFS, it may not be possible to recover such files. This is because the NTFS file system has its own recovery methods and keeps fixing errors to the file system while the disk is in a working condition. Therefore, any fragmentation is a direct result of the file system's failure to correct inconsistencies to the partition. In this type of a situation, the software recovers what it finds in the first cluster occupied by a particular file. Often, that is not good enough as the file system's failure to correct errors results in extreme fragmentation.
(source: http://www.stellarinfo.com/esupport/users/..._id=5&sid2= )
this is the only information i could find about it