Undeleting deleted files

(I'm not sure this fits under hardware but here goes.)
My son in another city accidentally deleted a large number of pictures (.jpg files). Is there any way he can undelete them without installing a utility that has undelete capability? The installation might overwrite some of the files he wants to recover. Does he need to take his PC to a repair facility like BestBuy?

 

Only if you want to make things worse

You need to buy a program called RecoveryExpert Deluxe and it will recover the delete files. HOWEVER, if you use the computer before you install the program, then you will not be able to recover them. You can read more about the program by going HERE. It is one of the best programs out there

 

Thanks, Wet. Isn't there a chance that the Recovery Expert files will be written over some of the picture files? I was hoping that maybe this could be accomplished from a CD or web site w/o having to install software.

 

There are standalone apps for free that will recover any deleted file. They are never really deleted the reference to them in the FAT table is just removed, the files are still there unless overwritten by installing something over it. The best bet would to take that drive out of the PC, set up another OS drive or clone that one to another drive and install the drive only when you are ready to recover the data.

 

How many partitions do you have?

Do you have a second hard drive you could borrow to recover the files with? You would only need a very small one...

 

I'm willing to bet you couldn't provide a link to one

What you will find is a free program that will DETECT the missing files, and then they will give you a screen saying "if you wish to recover these files, please send $79.95 to ..."

They are also done in DOS and VERY hard to understand. I know one person that ironically deleted the very files that he was trying to recover, with this "free" software. The program listed above is very easy to use, inexpensive, and works every time. It can also be booted to, and recover lost partitions

 

I will look for it...I am well aware of the demo versions. There are Windows versions that I will have to find a link for. If you can afford it, it might be worth the money for later use and support.

 

His is a plain vanilla PC--no extra drives or partitions so no help there.

 

If it's just one big partition then you'll most likely lose some data because you're not supposed to recover from the same drive. How much free space does he have on the drive?

 

I don't know, WC. I'll try to find out when we talk with him over the weekend.

 

K

...also if he is using that computer now, then he is also hurting his chances of ever recovering those files...