Downloads gone, need help.

mpic92 · 07-23-2006, 06:57 PM

I recently removed Compuserve which is an AOL type program from my computer. I used Compuserve for many years but then upgraded to DSL and no longer had a need for it. When I uninstalled the program off my computer, all of the things I had downloaded all went away with it since the downloads folder was part of Compuserve (downloads folder inside Compusevrew folder in Prgram Files).

I accessed my downloads from a shortcut folder on my desktop and when I went to remove Compuserve, the fact of my downloads also going never crossed my mind.

So now they are all gone and I'm wondering how I can possibly get them back. I had maany system restore points but I ran into an issue when doing that. I restored my computer to an earlier time and Compuserve came back as well as my downloads folder. However, there were no files in the downloads folder. All of the folders that used to be there came back but the things inside (mostly microsoft word/excel file) were gone. I find it bizarre that the folders all came back but theres no sign of the files.

Some of these download files are very important and I'm wondering what I possibly can do to try to get them back onto my computer.

ReverseFluxx · 07-23-2006, 07:00 PM

Did you notice a significant change in your hard drive usage? If not, I bet your desktop icon was just a shortcut to a folder that is still somewhere on your hard drive, most likely in the Program Files>Compuserve folder, or something similar.

mpic92 · 07-23-2006, 10:47 PM

Thats exactly right. The downloads folder was inside the Compuserve folder which was in Program Files but that whole folder is gone now. Now that it's back, all the folders are there as I said but the actual files are gone.

timothyb89 · 07-24-2006, 05:57 AM

If you use Windows XP (NTSF/HPFS Filesystem), use this:
http://www.download.com/Smart-NTFS-R...ml?tag=lst-0-5

For older Windows versions (FAT32 Filesystem), use this:
http://www.download.com/Smart-Fat-Re...ml?tag=lst-0-7

These should help you recover deleted files IF you haven't put new data on your disk since this happened. (The comp's hard dive just deletes the path to the file, so it can be overwritten. It's then going to be placed in the "line" for files to be overwritten)

mpic92 · 07-24-2006, 10:48 PM

Well it recovered most of the files... the only issue is I can't read any of them. When I open them in Microsoft Word/Open Office, the thing pops up where it asks for some kind of File conversion and when I open the files, they are all in that weird code kind of form that looks like a bunch of squares and other weird figures. Any ideas?

ReverseFluxx · 07-24-2006, 10:55 PM

Hmm... that's not good, sounds like the files weren't quite recovered completely. Maybe the tool you are using isn't quite doing the job. Check out http://www.snapfiles.com/Freeware/sy...arecovery.html. I've used PC Inspector File Recovery to get deleted files off of an SD card, and it worked really well. I don't know how effective it is on hard drives, but it's worth a try.

mpic92 · 07-25-2006, 12:38 AM

Thanks for the help but I didn't have any luck with that either.

07-23-2006, 06:57 PM	#1 (permalink)
mpic92 Silver Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: MA Posts: 180	Downloads gone, need help. I recently removed Compuserve which is an AOL type program from my computer. I used Compuserve for many years but then upgraded to DSL and no longer had a need for it. When I uninstalled the program off my computer, all of the things I had downloaded all went away with it since the downloads folder was part of Compuserve (downloads folder inside Compusevrew folder in Prgram Files). I accessed my downloads from a shortcut folder on my desktop and when I went to remove Compuserve, the fact of my downloads also going never crossed my mind. So now they are all gone and I'm wondering how I can possibly get them back. I had maany system restore points but I ran into an issue when doing that. I restored my computer to an earlier time and Compuserve came back as well as my downloads folder. However, there were no files in the downloads folder. All of the folders that used to be there came back but the things inside (mostly microsoft word/excel file) were gone. I find it bizarre that the folders all came back but theres no sign of the files. Some of these download files are very important and I'm wondering what I possibly can do to try to get them back onto my computer. __________________ New HP dv9000t Laptop: Genuine Windows XP Professional Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo processor T7200 (2.0 GHz) 17.0" WSXGA+ BrightView Widescreen (1680x1050) 512MB NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) Go 7600 2.0GB DDR2 SDRAM (2x1024MB)

07-23-2006, 07:00 PM	#2 (permalink)
ReverseFluxx Silver Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Nebraska Age: 20 Posts: 125	Did you notice a significant change in your hard drive usage? If not, I bet your desktop icon was just a shortcut to a folder that is still somewhere on your hard drive, most likely in the Program Files>Compuserve folder, or something similar. __________________ Gaming: Athlon64 3500+, 1024MB RAM, PCI-e 6600GT, 200+400GB HDD, 19" LCD + 19" flat CRT, Windows XP Pro Test Server: PIII 450Mhz, 320MB RAM, TNT2 32MB, 12+10+8GB HDD, Windows 2000 Pro Notebook: Turion64 ML-40, 1024MB RAM, ATI XPRESS 200M, 100GB HDD, 17" WXGA, Fedora Core 5 64-bit, Windows XP Pro

07-23-2006, 10:47 PM	#3 (permalink)
mpic92 Silver Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: MA Posts: 180	Thats exactly right. The downloads folder was inside the Compuserve folder which was in Program Files but that whole folder is gone now. Now that it's back, all the folders are there as I said but the actual files are gone. __________________ New HP dv9000t Laptop: Genuine Windows XP Professional Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo processor T7200 (2.0 GHz) 17.0" WSXGA+ BrightView Widescreen (1680x1050) 512MB NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) Go 7600 2.0GB DDR2 SDRAM (2x1024MB)

07-24-2006, 05:57 AM	#4 (permalink)
timothyb89 Gold Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 357	If you use Windows XP (NTSF/HPFS Filesystem), use this: http://www.download.com/Smart-NTFS-R...ml?tag=lst-0-5 For older Windows versions (FAT32 Filesystem), use this: http://www.download.com/Smart-Fat-Re...ml?tag=lst-0-7 These should help you recover deleted files IF you haven't put new data on your disk since this happened. (The comp's hard dive just deletes the path to the file, so it can be overwritten. It's then going to be placed in the "line" for files to be overwritten) __________________ And now that I'm running my life support equipment through Windows 95, I'll never have to worry about - beeeeeeeep... Registered Linux User #425668 Registered Linux Machine #333299

07-24-2006, 10:48 PM	#5 (permalink)
mpic92 Silver Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: MA Posts: 180	Well it recovered most of the files... the only issue is I can't read any of them. When I open them in Microsoft Word/Open Office, the thing pops up where it asks for some kind of File conversion and when I open the files, they are all in that weird code kind of form that looks like a bunch of squares and other weird figures. Any ideas? __________________ New HP dv9000t Laptop: Genuine Windows XP Professional Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo processor T7200 (2.0 GHz) 17.0" WSXGA+ BrightView Widescreen (1680x1050) 512MB NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) Go 7600 2.0GB DDR2 SDRAM (2x1024MB)

07-24-2006, 10:55 PM	#6 (permalink)
ReverseFluxx Silver Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Nebraska Age: 20 Posts: 125	Hmm... that's not good, sounds like the files weren't quite recovered completely. Maybe the tool you are using isn't quite doing the job. Check out http://www.snapfiles.com/Freeware/sy...arecovery.html. I've used PC Inspector File Recovery to get deleted files off of an SD card, and it worked really well. I don't know how effective it is on hard drives, but it's worth a try. __________________ Gaming: Athlon64 3500+, 1024MB RAM, PCI-e 6600GT, 200+400GB HDD, 19" LCD + 19" flat CRT, Windows XP Pro Test Server: PIII 450Mhz, 320MB RAM, TNT2 32MB, 12+10+8GB HDD, Windows 2000 Pro Notebook: Turion64 ML-40, 1024MB RAM, ATI XPRESS 200M, 100GB HDD, 17" WXGA, Fedora Core 5 64-bit, Windows XP Pro

07-25-2006, 12:38 AM	#7 (permalink)
mpic92 Silver Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: MA Posts: 180	Thanks for the help but I didn't have any luck with that either. __________________ New HP dv9000t Laptop: Genuine Windows XP Professional Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo processor T7200 (2.0 GHz) 17.0" WSXGA+ BrightView Widescreen (1680x1050) 512MB NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) Go 7600 2.0GB DDR2 SDRAM (2x1024MB)

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