How do I know what files to recover?

[love2cats]

My brother did something to my computer. All he was supposed to do was installing drivers so my DVD-RW would work. I asked him not to do that until I could back up all my files, but he did it anyway.I think he installed a different OS that was not compatible with my computer. I think he then installed another OS. Since he did this I have lost all programs, Mozilla bookmarks, Word documents. I don't even have Word any more. He also changed the computer by adding 3 separate user accounts. Now there are three. One is the account we have always used. Then there are two more. The original acct lists the lost programs in Program Files, but I can't open them. I've done the deep scan. Should I restore all the recovered files? I don't understand how to use the the info in the beginners guide. Could someone "Dumb it down" for me? I would appreciate any help. I hope I am posting this in the appropriate place. Thanks, love2cats

[Augeas]

Well, this would be better in Recuva or software discussion, but never mind.

 

From your description your pc seems well and truly to have suffered the electronic equivalent of crash and burn. I'm not surprised that you can't run any programs. What were the two O/S's that your brother instralled (assuming you are still speaking to him)? Were they installed on top of the existing O/S, or was the disk formatted?

 

Can you do a system restore to some point before you brother touched the pc? This might get your pc back to some semblance of working properly. I would try that first.

 

If not then the best solution seems to be a disk format, fresh O/S install, and reinstall all of your programs. I appreciate that this might be difficult. I think that things have gone too far to recover a working system form the debris on your pc.

 

You could try to recover some of your files to a separate drive. A Recuva deep scan will produce thousands of files, as you no doubt have discovered, so selecting what to save could be a problem. It's really your own data you want to recover. When you get your pc back to working state you can then copy back your favourites, etc.

 

Recovering program files does not usually prove effective, there are too many other variables to consider. What do you recover, what dlls, etc. What's missing from the registry? Where does everything go?

 

I would then password protect your pc, or buy a large lock for your door, or keep a basball bat next to your pc. Good luck.

[love2cats]

Thank you so much for your reply. I needed a good chuckle this morning. I have no idea what the first or the second OS my brother installed. Actually, the computer is working. I mean we can use the internet. I'm suffering serious Microsoft Word withdrawal symptoms . I need my Microsoft Word back! The 3 user accounts are a pain. I wish i could merge all of them into one. It's weird, I can see all our program files on our original user account. I just can't open them. If I do a System Restore it won't convert my documents to their original format will it? It would be so great if it would. I did not find a Recuva forum. Could you please tell me how to get to it.I'm sorry I posted in the wrong forum. Thank you for being so kind. Susan

[davey]

Hi love2cats,

Welcome to the Forums !!!

WOW !!! Bad luck and good luck !!!

We can help you.

The important thing right now is "not to use that PC" if there is some data that you "really" want to recover.

Each time that you use use it, you may lose any chance of recovery.

We do need to know the following.

1. What OS , edition and version are you using ?

 

2. Did your brother do any "cleaning or erasing" ?

 

3. What is your system like ? All on C drive, multiple Hards Drives, space available to "recuva" your data from where it is to where you can save it?

 

4. What is your experience level? Do you know how to find things and copy them etc. ?

davey

[love2cats]

Hi love2cats,

Welcome to the Forums !!!

WOW !!! Bad luck and good luck !!!

We can help you.

The important thing right now is "not to use that PC" if there is some data that you "really" want to recover.

Each time that you use use it, you may lose any chance of recovery.

We do need to know the following.

1. What OS , edition and version are you using ?

 

2. Did your brother do any "cleaning or erasing" ?

 

3. What is your system like ? All on C drive, multiple Hards Drives, space available to "recuva" your data from where it is to where you can save it?

 

4. What is your experience level? Do you know how to find things and copy them etc. ?

davey

 

My brother says he did not delete anything. He installed one OS and then another OS on top of that one. I have found information about my computer. I can find things and copy them. I did the "deep scan" using Recuva. It has so many files listed that I have no idea about. I can get to the internet and I see all the lost files on the C drive Program Files under our old user name. I just can't open them. Word is in the Program files, but I can't get any documents to open. You will be able to tell my experience level when you look at my computer info. I did not know what info. might be needed to help me so I just found everything I could. Thank you. I at least have hope that I can recover my files. Susan

System:

Microsoft Windows

Home Edition

Version 2002

Service Pack 1

 

OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition

Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 1 Build 2600

OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation

System Manufacturer MEDIONPC

System Model MS-6743

System Type X86-based PC

Processor x86 Family 15 Model 2 Stepping 9 GenuineIntel~2600 Mhz

Processor x86 Family 15 Model 2 Stepping 9 GenuineIntel~2600 Mh.

BIOS Version/Date Phoenix Technologies, LTD 6.00 PG, 9/16/2003

SMBIOS Version 2.3

Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS1

System Directory C:\WINDOWS1\System32

Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1

Locale United States

Hardware Abstraction Layer Version= "5.1.2600.1106 [xpsp1.-020828-1920]"

Time Zone Pacific Standard Time

Total Physical Memory 512.00 MB

Avialable Physical Memory 327.88 MB

Total Virtual Memory 1.69 GB

Avialable Virtual Memory 1.26 GB

Page File Space 1.20 GB

Page File C:\pagefile.sys

Windows DireBoot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1 C:\WINDOWS1

 

 

 

 

Computer: Intel[R]

Pentium[R] 4 CPU 2.60GHz

504 MB of RAM

 

User Profiles

Profiles stored on this computer:

Name Size Type Status M...

G\gary 33.4 MB Local Local 12...

G\stacy 1.14 GB Local Local 12...

G\sue 12.5 MB Local Local 12...

 

[boot loader]

timeout=30

default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS1

[operating systems]

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS1="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /fastdetect

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /fastdetect

 

Virtual memory

A paging file is an area on the hard disk that Windows uses as if were RAM

 

Drive [Volume Label] Paging File Size (MB)

C: 756-1512

D: [RECOVERY]

 

Total paging file size for all drives: 756 MB

 

Drive: C:

Space avaiailable: 101245 MB

 

Custom size:

Initial size (MB): 756

Maximum size (MB): 1512

 

Total paging file size for all drives

Minimum allowed: 2MB

Recommended: 754 MB

Currently allocated: 756 MB

 

Drive: D: [Recovery]

Space available: 1563 MB

No paging file

 

Total paging file size for all drives

Minimum allowed: 2MB

Recommended: 754 MB

Currently allocated: 756 MB

 

Disk drives

ST3160021A

 

CVD/CD-ROM drives

Pioneer DVD RW DVR-106D

Sony DVD-ROM DDU1612

 

Floppy disk controllers

Standard floppy disk controller

[rridgely]

From what I think is going on here you may be out of luck as far as getting MS word back(recuva isn't going to be able to fix that). However if your missing word documents or pictures you can use recuva to get those back(hopefully depending on what your brother did by "installing an os and then another os".)

 

To do that you should get a wizard that will guide you through what you want to recover when you start up recuva.

 

I'm still not really clear on what your brother is telling you he did.

Did he reformat the computer?(reinstall windows completely) Did he try to install linux and then switch back to windows? Maybe he can get on here or explain to you more clearly what he did.

 

To get MS word/office back your going to have to find your registration key and then reinstall it from your disc.

[davey]

Hello again,

Mr rridgely has been helping people for years and his advice is always very good.

Take his advice seriously and do your best to answer his questions.

 

Thank you for the information. It helps us to help you better.

You have done very well in giving us a good description as to what is going on.

 

I have used a PC very similar setup as yours except I have no experience with the "Recovery" partition.

What is the old user name that you all used before this problem ?

Can you still use that user account ?

Can you tell us more about that ? We want to get that user account working again.

I feel that there is just a few things like settings to reset and you will be able to access most if not all of your programs and files.

 

Go into your Control Panel > User Accounts and make sure that each user is assigned as an Administrator.

You can change this later to limit certain users but you are going to need to do this to test everything again after you do this. Test again using each account and see what is possible.

 

Do not do any cleaning or deleting of anything for now.

 

I will get back with you later after you try everything again.

davey

[love2cats]

Hello again,

Mr rridgely has been helping people for years and his advice is always very good.

Take his advice seriously and do your best to answer his questions.

 

Thank you for the information. It helps us to help you better.

You have done very well in giving us a good description as to what is going on.

 

I have used a PC very similar setup as yours except I have no experience with the "Recovery" partition.

What is the old user name that you all used before this problem ?

Can you still use that user account ?

Can you tell us more about that ? We want to get that user account working again.

I feel that there is just a few things like settings to reset and you will be able to access most if not all of your programs and files.

 

Go into your Control Panel > User Accounts and make sure that each user is assigned as an Administrator.

You can change this later to limit certain users but you are going to need to do this to test everything again after you do this. Test again using each account and see what is possible.

 

Do not do any cleaning or deleting of anything for now.

 

I will get back with you later after you try everything again.

davey

 

 

Thank you for your reply. My brother gave me this computer. We (My daughter and I) always used the computer with his user acct. "gary." The computer started to run really slow. I mentioned to Gary that I was thinking about taking the computer to Staples for an evaluation. I told him I was not going to do anything until I backed up all my files. He knew my CD-ROM/DVD did not work. I can play DVDs, but I can't save anything to a disk. He said he found the things that came with the computer and he would install drivers so I could back up files onto CDs.

I told him not to do anything until I signed up for Carbonite to back up all of my files. He insisted he had everything to fix the computer. It was working but was slow. Again I told him thanks, but no thanks. I wanted to sign up for Carbonite before anyone did anything. I went to take a shower and when I got out Gary was sitting at the computer. He said he had installed the drivers. He said he had created user accounts for Stacy and me. I told him I did not want separate user accounts. He was telling me how wonderful having separate accounts was going to be. He showed me how to log off one account and switch users. The screen went to black (memories of dos.) The black screen asks a question and I just have to hit enter to bring Windows up. I kind of freaked out and started asking him questions. He said when he was installing the drivers Windows stopped working and he had to reinstall it. He said the os he installed did not work either so he found the disk that came with the computer and installed Windows from that. He insisted all my files and everything else were intact. He said I did not lose anything. So now I have 3 accounts. The one we always used was "gary." Yes, I think he reinstalled Windows completely. He did not do anything like linux. As far as him getting on here to better explain what he did, that would be a problem. I do not want him to know there is anything wrong with the computer. I asked him exactly what he did. He still insists he did not delete anything and I still have all my files. If he thought I was having any problems with the computer he would get back on the computer and do God-knows-what. I do have a disk with Microsoft Office, but I'm not sure where I would find a registration key. I am going to check the accounts and I'll post more info. asap. Thank you guys so much, Susan

 

 

[rridgely]

Sounds to me like he tried to do a non destructive reinstall and when that didn't work he went for the full reformat. If your files are not in the "gary" user account then they are probably gone. Recuva may be able to get them back, what recuva does is look for files that are seen by windows as deleted and tries to get them back before the data is overwritten.

 

As far as playing dvds but not being able to burn anything, that sounds like a failing disk drive.

 

User Profiles

Profiles stored on this computer:

Name Size Type Status M...

G\gary 33.4 MB Local Local 12...

G\stacy 1.14 GB Local Local 12...

G\sue 12.5 MB Local Local 12...

 

This is what makes me think your files are gone. 33.4 mb in the "gary" account. Unless he moved all your stuff into a folder somewhere on "stacy" then they are gone. Did you try using the search feature in windows to look for any files?

[love2cats]

Sounds to me like he tried to do a non destructive reinstall and when that didn't work he went for the full reformat. If your files are not in the "gary" user account then they are probably gone. Recuva may be able to get them back, what recuva does is look for files that are seen by windows as deleted and tries to get them back before the data is overwritten.

 

As far as playing dvds but not being able to burn anything, that sounds like a failing disk drive.

 

This is what makes me think your files are gone. 33.4 mb in the "gary" account. Unless he moved all your stuff into a folder somewhere on "stacy" then they are gone. Did you try using the search feature in windows to look for any files?/quote

 

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

 

Test again using each account and see what is possible.

 

I took a look at the "gary" account.

 

From the start menu I clicked on My Documents.

 

First I clicked on Sample.abm I got, "To open this file, Windows needs to know what program created it. Windows can go online to look it up automatically, or you can manually select from a list of programs on your computer. What do you want to do?" Use the Web service to find the appropriate program is checked. The other option is Select the program from a list.

 

When I right click the Sample.abm I get,

"Type of file: ABM File

Opens with: Unknown application

Location: C:\Documents and Settings\gary.GARY-3DVHWP9

Size: 232 KB (238,240 bytes)

Size on disk: 236 KB (341,664 bytes)

Created: Thursday, November 27, 2008, 9:40:38PM

Modified: Thursday, November 27, 2008, 9:42:38PM

Accessed: Today, December 17, 2008, 3:54:36 AM"

I wanted to go through each part of each user name, but that will take lots more time than I have now.

 

You should get a wizard thet will guide you through what you want to recover when you start up recuva.

 

Is wizard refering to a mentor or some type of program?

 

Your brother does sound like he knows what he is doing.

 

Gary really doesn't know wnat he is doing. His computers never work because he has always been reloading Windows. Half (or more) of the time he can't get to the internet. He has a habit of fixing things that aren't broken. He coulcn't even figure out how to get his computer to network so he could get internet here at my house.

 

You need to get him back there and Back up your complete drive like you wanted to do.

 

I did a backup with Carbonite.

 

From your explanation and reports it seems to me that the data is still there.

 

I think the data is still there. It looks like everything is on the C drive under Program Files. Word is there in the Program Files. When I click it I get, "To open this file, Windows needs to know what program created it. Windows can go online to look it up automatically, or you can manually select from a list of programs on your computer. What do you want to do?"

 

Also the "stacy user" has apparently what was "gary user" before.

 

I will check on that for you.

 

Did he just rename the old "gary user" account to "stacy user" name.

 

No, I think he just created 2 new user accounts. The one we always used, "gary" and two new ones.

 

What is the old user name that you all used before this problem ?

 

"gary" I'm using his user account now.

 

Can you still use that user account ?

 

Yes, I can use all of the accounts.

 

Go into your Control Panel > User Accounts and make sure that each user is assigned as an Administrator.

 

Each account except "guest user" is assigned as an Administrator.

 

Profiles stored on this computer:

Name Size Type Status M...

G\gary 33.4 MB Local Local 12...

G\stacy 1.14 GB Local Local 12...

G\sue 12.5 MB Local Local 12...

This is what makes me think your files are gone. 33.4 mb in the "gary" account.

 

Does that mean there is too small amount in the "gary" user name to have all my files? I see all of my files in Program Files.

 

Unless he moved all your stuff into a folder somewhere on "stacy" then they are gone. Did you try using the search feature in windows to look for any files?

 

No, I haven't tried a search to look for files. Could you give me an example of what file to look for?

What would happen if I installed the Microsoft Office I have?

I can't thank you enough for the help you are giving me. Susan

[rridgely]

Lets try this. First log into the stacy account.

Now go to start>my computer. Right click all your hard drives and click properties. Write down the following things, capacity, used space, free space. You will find all that info by the little chart in the properties menu.

 

Next in the stacy account go to start>search. On the right click on documents. Then click search.

Let it run and see if your ms office files pop up somewhere on the drive. Then you could do the same for pictures.

 

If you install office from that disc you will need a license key. It won't work without it.(it will install you just wont be able to use it).