Recover deleted MKV files possible?

[ithehappy]

I deleted a pair of matroska files right in front of my damn eyes. I selected then wrongly and hit shift+delete and they were gone in front of me!

Anyway, are there any way to recover those files? I have two software so far, Recuva and one I had installed for a long time, EaseUS Unlimited, nothing found them. Quite astonishingly the latter app can find some files which I have deleted maybe yesterday or some days before that but not the file I deleted just an hour ago!

Are they gone for good?

Thanks.

 

[John Connor]

I have the same programs and Ontrack EasyRecovery Enterprise and what's interesting about shift+delete is that it will make your files go POOF! Gone, forever lost. I don't know why. I'm sure the FBI could recover them.

I don't know what you can do.

 

[lxskllr]

http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec

 

[oynaz]

Check out Ultimate Boot CD and Hiren's Boot CD. Both have some file recovery software, and since they run off CD or USB key, you do not risk overwriting the sectors.

 

[Dulanic]

Check out Ultimate Boot CD and Hiren's Boot CD. Both have some file recovery software, and since they run off CD or USB key, you do not risk overwriting the sectors.

This. Don't save any new files or you risk overwriting the files. The files are still there (unless overwritten), but the references to it are gone, and parted magic on UBCD can usually record the files.

 

[sm625]

usually when you delete something accidentally you can just get it out of the recycle bin. Why arent you able to do that?

 

[Elixer]

I had 3 8GB mkv files that got deleted accidentally by someone else using shift+delete, and I tried everything to recover them, and tried a ton of different programs, both with and without the OS being booted, and none of them could get them back.
No, nothing was written to the drive.
You would think that it would be easier to recover 3 8GB files, but, apparently, it is more difficult for some reason.

I did have backups of those files, but they weren't local, so eventually, I did get them back.

 

[John Connor]

Like I already said. The Shift + delete destroys the file! Maybe the FBI could retrieve it.

 

[ninaholic37]

I had 3 8GB mkv files that got deleted accidentally by someone else using shift+delete, and I tried everything to recover them, and tried a ton of different programs, both with and without the OS being booted, and none of them could get them back.
No, nothing was written to the drive.

That is strange, because even if Windows wrote to that drive afterwards, you wouldn't think it would overwrite more than 8GB of space, so the last 2 should still have all their raw data on the drive, and the first one should still have partial data.

Does Shift-Del put in the effort to replace every byte/bit of a file with 0s? Everywhere tells me that it just changes the index file in NTFS, not the actual data... has this changed in Windows 8/8.1? Maybe it can't find them because they were in "locked" User Profile space?

 

[SKORPI0]

usually when you delete something accidentally you can just get it out of the recycle bin. Why aren't you able to do that?

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/239754

When you press the SHIFT+Delete key combination in Windows, the expected behavior is that you are deleting files or folders permanently without sending them to the Recycle Bin.

 

[Carson Dyle]

That is strange, because even if Windows wrote to that drive afterwards, you wouldn't think it would overwrite more than 8GB of space, so the last 2 should still have all their raw data on the drive, and the first one should still have partial data.

Does Shift-Del put in the effort to replace every byte/bit of a file with 0s? Everywhere tells me that it just changes the index file in NTFS, not the actual data... has this changed in Windows 8/8.1? Maybe it can't find them because they were in "locked" User Profile space?

No, the files aren't purposefully destroyed or overwritten by Windows. They just aren't placed in the Recycle Bin.

I don't follow your logic about the 8GB if Windows writes to the drive. You have no control over where Windows will write new or updated files. If just a few pieces are overwritten, then the file could become unrecoverable. Especially with very large media files, the probability of overwriting pieces of the file greatly increases. And a media files that is missing critical headers may not be playable even if recovered.

I long ago learned to never (or very seldom) use Shift-Delete. It's a bad habit that will eventually bite you in the ass. It's easy enough to periodically empty the Recycle Bin when you have to.

 

[ninaholic37]

edit: Unfounded technical babble removed.

 

[lxskllr]

The files should be there, unless they were overwritten. Photorec(the program I linked) will get them back if they're still intact. The more the machine is used, the lower your chances are though.

 

[Elixer]

The files should be there, unless they were overwritten. Photorec(the program I linked) will get them back if they're still intact. The more the machine is used, the lower your chances are though.

That is the thing though, they were not, and I tried testdisk, photorec, and lots others. None of them could recover them.
Since this was not a OS drive, nothing was writing to it, and index was off. So, yes, they still should have been there, but, for whatever reason, none of the programs I tried could find them.
I am wondering if being highly fragmented had something to do with it...though, even 'deep scans' failed.

 

[Fayd]

Recuva?

 

[John Connor]

Did you NOT read the OP's post?

 

[Morbus]

Recuva?

This.

And that's the end of the thread and all threads like this.

Did you NOT read the OP's post?

No.

 

[lxskllr]

That is the thing though, they were not, and I tried testdisk, photorec, and lots others. None of them could recover them.
Since this was not a OS drive, nothing was writing to it, and index was off. So, yes, they still should have been there, but, for whatever reason, none of the programs I tried could find them.
I am wondering if being highly fragmented had something to do with it...though, even 'deep scans' failed.

I've never had to recover files that big before. Even if fragmented, you'd think it would still find the headers. The biggest files I recovered using photorec were ~700Mb. I also found lots of stuff I barely remembered having :^D

I had to do a full recovery, and it was tedious, but interesting to go through the old files, and see what lingered years after deletion.

 

[Ketchup]

I've never had to recover files that big before....

And I think that's the key right there. If these files are fragmented at all, it would be incredibly easy for something to write over the a small portion, making the entire file unrecoverable.

A good reason for backups, sure, but also for using the recycle bin. Of course, it stinks to lose data this way, but look at it this way: if it gets you into a good backup routine, it is a small price for protecting from something much, much worse.

 

[ithehappy]

Oh dear, so many replies, thanks guys.

Well I didn't bother to check this topic for two days, and in the mean time I got frustrated and re-downloaded the files! Seemed like a better option at that time, especially after wasting hours behind them.

Still thanks for the suggestion, I will try to use that software called Photorec, see if it works or not.

By the way, about shift+delete, I always shift+delete stuffs, I don't remember when was the last time I actually sent something to recycle bin, but EaseUS was able to find a lot of those files, but not the ones I wanted.

 

[Carson Dyle]

Jeezus ... All of this and they were files that you could simply download again?

 

[Morbus]

Jeezus ... All of this and they were files that you could simply download again?

Joke's on you.

Fayd and I said Recuva.