[G4] File "Unerasing"

[Snow White]

If the data has been overwriten it is gone.  If the data has some 
overwriten bits it may be recoverable, but remember - it really depends 
on what bits have been overwriten - luck is a big factor.  There are 
bits in every file that describe where it starts/ends, bits that flag 
the start/end of any links (fragmented files) and more.  If the flag 
bits are lost the computer can no longer recognize the stuff left as a 
file or maybe it can only retieve part of it.

Try Disk Warrior and/or TechTools - They may find a bit more if you are 
lucky.  But cross your fingers that he did not use Secure Empty Trash.
The less you use the computer the better - boot from another disk and 
then access this one, so as to not erase more.  These tools may not be 
able to boot or your copy may be older so booting from another disk or 
partition is key.

There are companies that do this but it is extremely expensive.  
Where's the back-up?  I know I back up once in a while, but if it all 
went, I could be out a month or twos email and bookmarks.  Work is 
backed up every couple days and eventually burned to CD for posterity, 
or that future year when they need that cute photo they remembered oh 
so long ago.  And I purge after burning a CD.

An external firewire housing with a 160 gig or better is my 
recomendation - the bigger the better - digital photos, digital music, 
digital ...

jj


On 5-Oct-05, at 1:06 PM, g4-request at listserver.themacintoshguy.com 
wrote:

> File "Unerasing"
> To: "A place to discuss Apple's G4 computers."
> 	<g4 at listserver.themacintoshguy.com>
> Message-ID: <p06230971bf6968370fc3@[204.255.236.138]>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed"
>
> A friend brought in his G5 (OS 10.3.9) hoping to use Norton's
> "Unerase" utility to recover some mistakenly deleted files. I used to
> use NUM with File Saver installed and had successfully recovered
> deleted files so I had some hope for helping him get at least some of
> his data back.  After booting from the Norton Utilities 8.0 CD, we
> ran Unerase which only returned a dozen or so very old and useless
> files. He had not been using Filesaver as recommended, but I expected
> better results than that.
>
> We then did an experiment where we trashed a small file and
> immediately tried to recover it using Unerase. No intervening disk
> activity to mung the directory. The utility did not find it, showing
> only the handful of files it had located earlier. A second attempt at
> file retrieval using Techtools proved ineffective also.
>
> Are file retrieval utilities that dependent on assisting components
> like File Saver, or is there something else going on with my friend's
> system?
>
> DaleH