So I did a 'PC Restore', but where did all my files go?

Alright so I was missing a few drives on my notebook PC and I decided to do the PC Restore to get them back. Before I went through with it, it told me that it would not delete the data files that I created. After I was finished with the restore, none of the files I had were where they were before. I thought maybe they all got wiped out but when I click on the C drive under My Computer, it says that I only have 2.10 gigabytes left (out of 60 gigs) so I have a feeling the files are still on here. What should I do?

 

Were you missing drives or drivers? Big difference between the two. If you did a system restore and added new partitions (or drives), it might have wiped out your data and explain the difference in size. How many drives show up in Windows explorer?

Did you do a system restore to previous restore point? Or did you do an re-install of the operating system? If you did a system restore, check in Windows explorer to see if you can see your files. Or do a search for a file name you know you had in My Documents.

If you did a re-install of the OS, that would wipe out your data files. If you simply re-installed drivers from a driver CD, then your files should be there.

 

undo the restore back up the files then try agian, also make sure the that the files are not hidden they might have been made hidden. just a thought

if they are not hidden try and undo the restore and it should give you them back....

 

Sorry about that. I was missing a driver for my CD drive. I did not re-install the OS.

 

OK. Thanks for clarifying.

You could do a system restore to a time before you installed the driver (you'll lose the new driver). I've had problems with new drivers doing odd things, so am very careful about updating drivers. Never from one of those "driver update" sites, very seldom from the manufacturer's site.

And only if the device is really not operating. Then, I'll go to the device maker's website first and check for drivers there.

 

Well I just did the PC Restore a few hours ago so should I do the system restore to 12/31/06? Will my files get erased if I do that?

 

I'm still not clear on what is meant by a "PC Restore". If you just installed a driver, that would be a driver installation. What steps did you take when you did the PC Restore?

Before trying anything else, I'd do a search for a file you knew you had before - a doc, music, photo, whatever - and see if it comes up in a search.

 

I didn't mean PC Restore, I meant PC Recovery. I clicked on Start > All Programs > System Recovery > PC Recovery

I tried to do a search for several files and I didn't find any.

The only other thing I just noticed is that under Documents and Settings, you know how if you have multiple accounts on a computer, there is a folder for each account? Well, one of my folders I can access (call it laguy01) but when I try to get into the other folder (call it laguy02) it says Access is denied. I'm thinking all my files can be in there. The only problem is I only have one account (administrator) on this laptop so is there any other way to get into that folder?

 

OK. It sounds like it's either not Windows or a version of Windows I don't know. So hopefully someone else can step in with advice. I've never seen PC Recovery on a Windows PC - just System Restore. Here's what I can suggest that's non-destructive:

1. If you are using Windows XP, check out this Microsoft Knowledgebase article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/810881

2. If that doesn't work, go into User Accounts. Check to be sure that laqguy01 is an Administrator.

3. If neither of those work, can you logon as laguy02? If this is a new account, chances are good that there's no password.

 

I have Windows XP. And I can't logon as laguy02. So I guess I'm going to go ahead and try the System Restore. So should I just put it to yesterday's date? It shouldn't do too much damage to my computer right?

 

If you do a system restore, just restore it to the last one before you installed the driver. You should not lose any data (no guarantees). Alternatively, I found these instructions for both Win XP Home and XP Pro:

 

Thanks for all the help! I tried everything and none of this seems to work but obviously most of my memory is gone so I know these files are somewhere on my computer. Is there any way to gain access directly to my hard drive?

 

If you are running XP Pro using NTFS I suspect this is an issue of file ownership. I cannot recall the exact steps but you need to reset the owner of the files/directory. I ran into the same problem when one of my laptops died about 10-days ago.

Search the MS site for something like the "access denied" error message or something close. Your files are not gone your current user naem just does not have the right to access the files. BTW, if there are a bunch of files in the directory it might take a LONG time to complete the task. I had around 40gb of files and it took several hours on a P4 2.2ghz machine...in my case I was access the drive from my old system via usb on my backup system. But the error you describes sounds similar.

Also I think you will need admin rights to make the change in ownership. These are YOUR files right?


If you are using XP Home then your issue is different from mine as I am pretty positive it does not support NTFS only FAT32.

 

hehehehe...or what sanpablo said!!! hehehehehe...I issed that!

 

You could try booting up a Linux live disc with NTFS support (like BackTrack 2) or maybe a Windows Boot CD (Google "Ultimate Boot CD for Windows" for a good one; it'll require that you have an XP or 2003 disc, though) and searching for your files with one of those. If they're on your hard drive, you will see them.

 

Guys what he is talking about is the built in HP System Recovery tool that is designed to comb through programs and revert any changes deemed harmful. It could also be from whatever notebook manufacturer that made your notebook. A lot of your programs should be unuseable/corrupt upon recovery, which is normal since their .dll files may have been removed or registry entries deleted, but your documents and media files should be intact.

Where do you usually store your documents? Better yet, why not just do a search for a file that you know of. Go to Start, Search, and search All Files and Folders for a file name along with its extension that you know of. Once you find a few of these you'll know where they are located at.

Do this before you try something drastic.

 

Thanks for all the help everyone! I had to go through safe mode and change a few things around but I found everything!

 

Dunno much about PC recovery too, but I know if your using an HP system restore it sometimes does delete the files in my document. Depends on which version of HP recovery you have.

With windows system restore, it sometimes only remove the startup menus but still keeps the files under program files.

Which is why I disable system restore, haven't used it for years. Never had and hope I won't need it. fingers crossed.