Recovering files that say " File size zero"

[Yukiko-berrie]

Hello people of Recuva forums!

 

I'm new to this whole tech thing and have spent the last 3 days learning about recovery programs and disk space. I installed Recuva on my pen drive and am using it to find my novel.After my brothers decided to wipe our computer.

 

I have found the file and it says this : "No overwriteen cluster detected" and "0 bytes Unable to recover a file of zero size."I've read over some of the other forums and people have apparently been able to recover there things just as they were. So i wanted to know if anyone can help me with this, and get my file back, and please in a simple easy to understand way!

 

Thanks for your helps in advance!

 

I have fixed the issue and have retried my document, but not with Recuva, with Easy Recovery, it's a wonderful program and much more advanced and detailed then Recuva. Please use this program it will save you ours and days of trying to find your document. I'm not advertising for them i am just sharing information that worked for me.

Edited December 20, 2010 by Yukiko-berrie

[Augeas]

The extent of the damage depends on what you mean by 'my brothers decided to wipe our computer.'

 

If your novel was a large file then it is likely to have multiple extents, and the data runs that locate the file clusters may be held in a second MFT record. The Windows cleanup when deleting a large file will overwrite most of the data runs in the MFT records, and recovery utilities will not be able to establish the original size of the file, or its location. In this case is is impossible to recover the file except by finding and reassembling the lost file clusters, an expensive job.

 

If you let us know what wipe means then we may be able to help.

[Yukiko-berrie]

The extent of the damage depends on what you mean by 'my brothers decided to wipe our computer.'

 

If your novel was a large file then it is likely to have multiple extents, and the data runs that locate the file clusters may be held in a second MFT record. The Windows cleanup when deleting a large file will overwrite most of the data runs in the MFT records, and recovery utilities will not be able to establish the original size of the file, or its location. In this case is is impossible to recover the file except by finding and reassembling the lost file clusters, an expensive job.

 

If you let us know what wipe means then we may be able to help.

 

 

by wiped I mean that they removed all the programs and internet, and put Windows XP Entertainement and Media, leaving just the basic functions.

The novel was pretty large i don't know the exact size, it was on Open Office. i was wondering if i were to install open office on my thumb drive and install it on the computer.Would that help it to find it? the path- the part where is says where it is- says" c:\?\Open Office.org\3\user\backup . Pardon my inexperience but i think it can't find the "My Documents" folder,that's why it can't be found, because if it has the word processor and the place that it's in ( c drive) all it needs is the right folder.

 

Could you explain what MFT is?

 

Does that make sense?

[Augeas]

If your disk, or partition, was formatted then most of the data should still be available. Try running Recuva with Scan for Non-Deleted Files checked in the Options box.

 

If you say that the file size is now zero then you must have found some version of the file. Did you find the file using a normal scan?

 

When the file size is zero it usually means that the file has been specifically deleted, as mentioned above.

 

You might find a copy of your file by doing a deep scan, which will take some time.

 

The MFT is the Master File Table, which holds the address of every file on your drive. If the contents of the MFT are altered then it makes it more difficult to recover the file.

[Yukiko-berrie]

If your disk, or partition, was formatted then most of the data should still be available. Try running Recuva with Scan for Non-Deleted Files checked in the Options box.

 

If you say that the file size is now zero then you must have found some version of the file. Did you find the file using a normal scan?

 

When the file size is zero it usually means that the file has been specifically deleted, as mentioned above.

 

You might find a copy of your file by doing a deep scan, which will take some time.

 

The MFT is the Master File Table, which holds the address of every file on your drive. If the contents of the MFT are altered then it makes it more difficult to recover the file.

 

Yes my disk is formatted.

 

I couldn't find the file in normal scan, and have been using Deep Scan to find it.

 

So MFT is the path? like it tells you where it is in the hard drive? Could i manually try to find it by clicking "RUN" and searching?

 

I had found the file where it says ; backup, user, 3, Open Office. but my file wasn't in there...

 

I hope i can find it.

[Augeas]

I should have said 'Did your brothers format the drive when they wiped it?'

 

You could try a normal scan with Scan for Non-Deleted Files checked, but I wouldn't hold much hope as you've already run a deep scan.

 

In a deep scan try sorting the file list by name to see if there are other copies that can be recovered. If you find the files and they have a size of zero then recovery is not really possible by any way I know.