Any computer Wizzes?

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SOG7dc

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So, maybe 90% of my files on my computer just randomly dissappeared. Is there any way to get them back?

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MasterKungFu

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SOG7dc

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magnablue

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Take it to a bestbuy. They probably could get some of it back

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willpayton

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@sog7dc said:

So, maybe 90% of my files on my computer just randomly dissappeared. Is there any way to get them back?

Randomly??

If they were deleted, you should stop using the computer immediately and either:

  • take it to someone who can run some software to recover the files, or
  • install recovery software yourself and run it, hoping that it wasnt installed over some files you need

The longer you continue to use your computer the less likely that those files will be recoverable.

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MasterKungFu

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@sog7dc: oh damn. you should do what willpayton is saying

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Chibi_cute

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Have you used system restore before?

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SOG7dc

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@willpayton:

Yeah I literally saw them one minute, went back a few seconds later to open one and I went from 909 GB to 300.

Thanks for the advice.

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willpayton

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@sog7dc said:

@willpayton:

Yeah I literally saw them one minute, went back a few seconds later to open one and I went from 909 GB to 300.

Thanks for the advice.

There are some free and paid programs you can use if you want to go it alone.

http://lifehacker.com/5237503/five-best-free-data-recovery-tools

http://www.techradar.com/us/news/software/applications/best-free-recovery-software-1141256

If the stuff you want to recover isnt that vital, I would just try one of these. If it was vital I'd go to a professional.

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Bruxae

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@sog7dc said:

@willpayton:

Yeah I literally saw them one minute, went back a few seconds later to open one and I went from 909 GB to 300.

Thanks for the advice.

The hell? That should not even be possible in such a short time span, putting that aside though one of these things happened:

-Someone trolled you and magnetized your HDD/Shift deleted all your stuff when you weren't looking. (Might be a friend, a virus, or if you are on an open network)

-You somehow managed to accidentely do a system restore.

-Your HDD is broken/loose and somehow disconnected itself. Did your max storage space change at all or only used space?

Anyway the first thing i'd do is google a recovery program, it shouldn't be very hard since there are many free ones you can easily download, the downside is that even if you do that you are unlikely to get -all- of it back and it's going to be time consuming and possibly a little tricky if you aren't great with computers. Saved files are physically stored on a mechanical HDD which means that even when deleted they will remain for a while until replaced by newer files, therefor i'd avoid using my computer as much as possible until this has been done, even browsing the internet can lessen your chances of recovering all your files due to the temp folder replacing files. If this fails you can also try restoring your computer to how it was just before your files were lost assuming you have an appropriate restore point, keep in mind anything added afterwards will be removed if you do.

More importantly once you have done what you can, back up your files and do a full system restore/format, install a good anti virus program and make sure your network settings are set so that outsiders has as little access to your files as possible, in order to keep this from happening again. Also thouroughly scan anything you are backing up and skip the things that aren't necessary to make sure it isn't infected by something.

If you are not comfortable in your ability to do these things on your own your other option would be to just turn your computer off until you can visit a professional for help, hopefully there's not too much embarassing porn for him to find.

Oh and, it's a little awkward to point this out but I don't know how knowledgeable you are about computers so I might as well put it out there - before you mess with anything make sure you aren't mistaken your lost files for an entire HDD gone missing, if your max storage space has changed at all this is probably it, and in that case you'll just have to open up your computer and make sure nothing came loose, or that your HDD simply burned out.

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PrinceAragorn1

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@sog7dc: If you have something really important, STOP using the computer and go for a professional - don't try to work it out yourself. If it's just movies and all, things you can replace, the data recovery can be pretty costly. Use free tools and experiment for the good of humanity.

Idk how it is even possible for files to vanish instantly like that, maybe some problem with your hard disk itself.