Friend did a HP system restore and lost their files,what's the easiest way to recover

[holden j caufield]

Somehow they did this and aren't sure how and I'm not getting all the info but by simply looking at the software and updates installed it looks like they did a system restore a few days ago.

Looks like they lost all their files with the restore, is there a way to save some of this stuff (relatively less time consuming, I don't want to spend a ton of time on it. I've tried Easus recovery and it's still scanning but I don't think it will find anything after a full system restore).

Thanks

 

[iwajabitw]

Probably all lost if they were not using some form of backup and instead did the HP Utility Center recovery/restore.

 

[Captante]

Anything that's been overwritten is almost certainly lost.

It is however possible that some files which have not been overwritten can be recovered but the more the disk is used (especially as a system-drive) the more data will likely be lost.

Let the Easus recovery tool finish since you already started running it and see how it goes (I'm not optimistic), but then I suggest moving the drive to another system before trying anything else.


Edit: Actually doesn't this belong in Computer help?

 

[steppinthrax]

It's possible to use software like "BadCopy Pro" (tool I used once to recover files). But in general it's most likely lost. And your friend is a noob.....

In general when I get a system from someone I never use the restore CD/DVD.

 

[holden j caufield]

ok thanks for the help. I'm helping them remotely from 3k miles away and I'm still not getting all the info. BTW all the pictures still seem to be there but they had to reinstall some of there programs etc.

 

[V00DOO]

One of my friend did a system restore without first unplugging her external backup drive. She of course restored the os to the external drive overwriting all her work files. She is a designer and needed the files for work. She spent a few grand to attemp to recovery her files to no avail. It took me awhile to figure out what she did when she came crying saying all her files all of sudden disappeared.

 

[holden j caufield]

I don't get it, if it's that important it should be saved in 5 times over and in geographically different places too.

 

[Brainonska511]

I don't get it, if it's that important it should be saved in 5 times over and in geographically different places too.

You shouldn't be surprised. People just don't get it when it comes to backing up. Having stuff in different geographic locations is nice, but many would be well served by a simple copy to external system (drive or NAS).

 

[Matt1970]

I don't get it, if it's that important it should be saved in 5 times over and in geographically different places too.

So true. I can't tell you how many people have left my shop in tears after finding out years and years of pictures and documents are gone.

 

[Captante]

Whats the old saying? If data doesn't exist in 3 separate locations it doesn't exist at all?

 

[Ketchup]

If you haven't already, tell your friend not to do anything on that computer.

This is a good one:
https://www.piriform.com/recuva

I encountered a similar situation several years ago, and the area was not re-written. If only the recovery was run, and nothing else was installed, the files are probably pretty close to where they were with the original install, so there is a good chance there is recoverable data on the drive. No further writes to the disk are key here.

One thing to point out: When Recuva finds files that you want to restore, make sure the destination is not on the drive the data is on.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Are you talking about the "System Restore" feature that allows you to roll back changes, in Windows 7, or the factory restore partition / media that puts things back to factory default state?

 

[holden j caufield]

Are you talking about the "System Restore" feature that allows you to roll back changes, in Windows 7, or the factory restore partition / media that puts things back to factory default state?

here is where it gets weird, it has to be some sort of HP system restore rollback to a certain date because their old pictures are still there. They however lost a lot of their documents and looking at the dates of of when things are installed they installed their MS office, antivirus a couple of days ago.

So they had to reinstall programs, they lost their documents but not pictures (could be that they put the pictures back, though unlikely, it's the spouse's computer, husband tried fixing it, so I'm getting this info third hand and have to piece some of it myself).

Now the teamviewer is unconnected and the easus data recovery was still running for over 6 hours.

 

[silicon]

You shouldn't be surprised. People just don't get it when it comes to backing up. Having stuff in different geographic locations is nice, but many would be well served by a simple copy to external system (drive or NAS).

i agree, until something is lost for good the importance of backups is a lesson that is ignored.

 

[phasseshifter]

if i may add to the pot..for in the future..for those new to computers ..get a copy of clonezilla...and get a 500gb external usb hdd make shure its sata 3 and usb 3 ...or simply use a 128gig ram thumb drive...and always keep that for the sole purpose.... but as for having piece of mind since i found clonezilla i have always used it..there are 32bit and 64 bit versions and they are free...this will allow you to work and store system drive images...and restore..there are help pages on the net for it....it is not a hard program to use it has a beginners mode..when followed it makes it easy......no diss meant but thought this advice may be helpfull to others...

 

[LPCTech]

I have done work for HP tech support in the past. HP has something called the "recovery manager" on all their PCs. From here you can do a system restore or recover the computer to a factory state. Meaning it will reinstall the factory shipped image.

If you do a system restore files are NOT affected. It just puts the settings and installed programs back to what things were like on the date you restore to. It doesnt erase files.

If you do a factory reinstall, it formats the drive and recovers the factory image from the recovery partition, thats what is in that partition.

If a factory reinstall was done, the files are ALL gone. If a system restore was done then all the files should be there, but if your friend is foolish enough to accidentaly do some kind of recovery or restore, then who knows what actually happened to their files.

A year of doing phone tech support has left me bereft of sympathy for those who dont have backups.

 

[Ketchup]

If a factory reinstall was done, the files are ALL gone.

Not quite. The system did a quick format, so the links to the files are gone. As I mentioned above, a file recovery program can find files that haven't been written over. If nothing has been done on the computer since the Factory Reset, most of the files that were added by the user probably haven't been written over yet.

 

[haggggler]

Another vote for Recuva, it's save me on more than one occasion.

If you haven't already, tell your friend not to do anything on that computer.

This is a good one:
https://www.piriform.com/recuva

I encountered a similar situation several years ago, and the area was not re-written. If only the recovery was run, and nothing else was installed, the files are probably pretty close to where they were with the original install, so there is a good chance there is recoverable data on the drive. No further writes to the disk are key here.

One thing to point out: When Recuva finds files that you want to restore, make sure the destination is not on the drive the data is on.

 

[silicon]

Not quite. The system did a quick format, so the links to the files are gone. As I mentioned above, a file recovery program can find files that haven't been written over. If nothing has been done on the computer since the Factory Reset, most of the files that were added by the user probably haven't been written over yet.

there is a program called Test disk made to recover lost files and pictures. Its free and easy to use.

 

[Homerboy]

https://www.runtime.org/data-recovery-software.htm

 

[denis280]

So true. I can't tell you how many people have left my shop in tears after finding out years and years of pictures and documents are gone.

Deja vue:thumbsup: