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Author: Michael Porteous
It happens all the time all around the word on business machines
and personal computers, a file you may think you don't need any
more or one you accidentally delete without looking too closely
and then you empty the recycling bin and ... that's it; the file
is gone ... Or is it? Can you find a deleted file or is it totally
lost? The answer is yes.
To understand why we must understand how windows and other operating
systems find and display files on your computer. Every file and
program and bit of data that your operating system can access
has what is called a reference or pointer to where that file is
stored on your hard disk. This file may not even be stored sequentially
on your disk it may be stored in bits and pieces if it is large
and the file itself has pointers referencing where the next pieces
is and so on. These pointers are absolutely essential for windows
to be able to see if a file exists, if there is no pointer to
that file then as far as the operating system is concerned it
does not exist.
Data on a hard drive when deleted is not lost, the same sequence
of 1's and 0's that make up all parts of data and software are
still there sitting on the disk it just cannot be found as there
is no reference, it is lost not deleted. To truly delete a file
the locations where the file is stored must be scrambled so that
it does not make any sense to any system, only then is a file
unreadable and effectively destroyed.
However when you delete a file it does not scramble and destroy
the file it simply removes the pointers that reference it. This
means that while windows cannot find your file and never will
be able to the file exists and will continue to exist until such
a time when that space on the hard disk is used to store other
data.
So if you cannot find a deleted file at the moment you will not
be able to get it back without some outside help from third party
programs that can scan your hard disk and find your files for
you. While annoying (or possible job security threatening!) losing
a file does not have to be the end of things as it still exists!
About the Author:
Is your file defiantly deleted and gone?
how important was it?
If you really need that file and want the capability to undo any
accidental damage you do to data click hereto find out more.
Don't panic! You can retrieve it very quickly!
Article originally posted at EzineArticles:
http://ezinearticles.com/?Can-You-Find-A-Deleted-File-Even-If-Windows-Cant?&id=930251
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