Recovering Lost Files After Restore Point My compter is screwed up.

[arza1 0]

ahhhhh! ok, Last night i was on my computer. just like always i went to shut it off. so i went down to shutdown just like always. it shutoff fine. i booted it up again this morning and now everythings gone. it is just as if i had reinstalled windowsxp. some of my files that i have saved to mydocuments are gone. but everything else is gone.i thought...... hmmm no problem i will just do a system restom to get my computer back to how it was. uhh no cant do that. a parantly the system tools folder is freakin empty.please some one help. i have no idea what to do. :Pedited: just tried to do a system configuration, ou know to set it back to the last known good configuration. that didn't work.i thought all the programs were gone but i found them in the add remove program section. but i still cannot find my documents.i need to figure out a way to do a manual system restore. so i can set it back to a certain date.

Edited August 11, 2007 by arza1 (see edit history)

[odomike 0]

I guess the reason why your computer is behaving in that wierd manner is most probabbly becuase of a virus attack. When was the last time you scanned your computer for viruses? DO you update your antivirus? Check to see if you have a very good antivirus and try scanning your compuiter thoughrouly.

 

Assuming you aint got any virus in your computer, and that doesnt solve your problem, then, I guess reformatting everything will be the final stop. But, before you do that, you might want to use a file scavenging software to try and retrieve your lost files and save them into another location but your hard drive. A good example if File Scavenger. It is a windows based graphical undelete program that scans your hard drive's MFT records for records of deleted files and/or partitions.

 

Maybe that would help you recover your files at least, But, u definitely have to reformat your HDD if you want everything to start working fine again.

 

I hope that help you in solving your problems.

 

Oh No.......another double posting. pardon me please and delete the 2nd post.

 

Notice from BuffaloHELP:

Second post deleted. You can use REPORT to let moderators know next time

Edited August 11, 2007 by BuffaloHELP (see edit history)

[arza1 0]

how do i reformat my harddrive? oh and i don't use anti virus software because i have never had the need. i always thought they did more damge than good.just tell me what i got to do to reformat my computer.or if possible another way to do a system restore with windows. becuase the icon under programs is gone.edited:i just tried to download the program you suggested. qnd it keeps showing this:internet explorer cannotdownlooad 32fsu20.exe from qtcorp.cominternet explorer was unable to open this internet site. the reguested site is either unavalible or cannot be foundplease try again later.

Edited August 11, 2007 by arza1 (see edit history)

[shadowx 0]

oh and i don't use anti virus software because i have never had the need.

You have had the need methinks but because you never had anti-virus to tell you that you have a virus. If you get everything back definitely get yourself anti-virus and a firewall. I recommend Avast and Comodo, google them and get something to protect yourself!

[odomike 0]

oh and i don't use anti virus software because i have never had the need. i always thought they did more damge than good.

 

Oh my God!!! you aint using an antivirus program? OUCH! hey dude, thats the biggest risk you can take where your computer is concerned. Apart from contacting viruses through the internet, there are several other ways through whicvh your computer can get infected by some dreaded viruses.

 

I would recommend you use Avast or PCTools Antivirus for free antiviruses or Norton or Microsoft LiveOne Care for paid ones. And make sure to back up your antivirus with a very good firewall. Again PCTools Firewall is recommended for a free one and ZoneAlarm Firewall Plus is recommended for the pain one. Please Ignore the paid ones if you aint got the money to pay for them.

 

Now, i am convinced that your problem is because of a virus infection in your PC.

 

i just tried to download the program you suggested. qnd it keeps showing this:

 

internet explorer cannotdownlooad 32fsu20.exe from qtcorp.com

Consider using an internet download manager/accelerator. WTF..you are trying to download via internet explorer's default downloader? OMG..for how long have you been using your PC? You sound more like you dont know much about the internet and the way it works. Anyways, Internet Download Manager is a very good example and it will download your files in real time.

 

how do i reformat my harddrive? oh and i don't use anti virus software because i have never had the need. i always thought they did more damge than good.

 

just tell me what i got to do to reformat my computer.

Take a look at this my post here ...http://forums.xisto.com/topic/49771-how-to-wipe-your-hard-disk-completely/. I have explained the procedures you have to undergo in order to reformat your hard Drive in there. Do read carefully though. Make sure that you have already recovered and backed up your files before reformatting as the reformat might permanently damage the files you are trying to recover.

 

Hope this help you this time.

Edited August 11, 2007 by odomike (see edit history)

[arza1 0]

Consider using an internet download manager/accelerator. WTF..you are trying to download via internet explorer's default downloader? OMG..for how long have you been using your PC? You sound more like you dont know much about the internet and the way it works. Anyways, Internet Download Manager is a very good example and it will download your files in real time.

did i mention that i lost everything.
i would use fire fox but i can't seem to find it.

edited:

i have found the firefox that i had installed. i downloaded the download manager and i am now protected by avast.

now for the reformatting part.
Edited August 11, 2007 by arza1 (see edit history)

[dre 0]

That's why you download AVG 7.5 Free and let it constantly scan any file being run. They update their library about every 1-2 days, so you have a very good chance of stopping the virus as soon as it's found.

[acantocephala 0]

Most of the good "PC freaks" doesn't use antivirus because they are invasive, and slow down the computer... (virus does the same thing). If you have a PC for work and don't need to be connected to internet DO NOT use antivirus... just keep your PC away from internet. It's just a suggestion...I you know where are you surfing (safe places, dont use p2p, torrents, direct downloads, porn, hacker sites) you can live without an antivirus.If you don't wanna use an antivirus get a software like Norton Ghost, install everything, make a image of your hard disk and backuo everything in anothr partition or external HD... if you have a problem just format everything and takes 15 minutes to come back to the original setup.

[arza1 0]

That is one reason why i don't like antivirus software because it becomes a virus itself. ex. not letting you run programs or at least delaying you from running them, pop-ups, updates, and the fact that it pretty much takes over your computer.anyway, i go to this school that provides chances to take classes for a skilled trade at other schools. i am taking an information technology class/computer tech. alot of the classmates in there remind me of the members on trap. but anyway. i was kinda having trouble figuring out how to reformat my pc's HDD. some of them were a big help. but know i have everything up and running again. i decide i didn't want to go throught the trouble to recover lost items so i started over. this time i am backing everything up on disk. or at least the most important stuff.

[odomike 0]

Another thing is you could use a file/partition recovery software to recover your files back. I mean scavenging through your hard drive's MFT records to recover back your deleted/wiped file. A very good example is file scavenger. I cannot remember the link to their website. Do a lil' googling with file scavenger as your search query and you should be able to get their web url.

 

I bet you are gonna recover back all your files irrespective of having reformated your partitions/HDDs.

[shadowblade 0]

Theory 1.have you ever used program to protect your computer state?(DeepFreeze, Norton Ghost or such)Maybe you got it on somehow and it made your computer back to the first time you install the program and lose your data.Theory 2.Your HDD got short electricity and made its particle to change (than you're lucky because you still can use it).Theory 3.Because of virus, I've once my .doc and .xls document changed into .txt file with blank text in it(I've given up and wanted to reinstalled the OS). luckily I've got my friend who came up with Norton Antivirus and recover my data back(.txt back into .doc and .xls)Theory 4.Human Error - You said your system folder is empty, then it is possible you 'unpurposely'/'unconciusly' delete the system folder.(maybe wrong icon which you wanted to delete)but all of them are just theory ^^

[rayzoredge 2]

I suggest that you utilize the services of an antivirus in the future, but prevent it from running in the background. That's how I do it, anyway.You can always undo a System Restore and see if that brings files back, but it might be malware that's killing or has killed your files. You could try Undelete to see if you can restore your deleted files, but if you've been writing to your hard drive recently, you may have dropped the ax unintentionally on some files, which cannot be restored once the computer writes to the portion of the hard drive that contains those "deleted" files.Save what you can onto an external media (HD, DVD, CD, tape), try to recover your stuff, and SCAN THE BACKUP for any potential malware you may have carried over with you. Kill any perpetrators, stick in your Windows XP/2000/Vista CD/DVD, then commence the reformat.If you don't know how to reformat:1.) Stick the CD in and restart the computer.2.) Press any key to boot from the CD. (Of course, do this when you're prompted to.) 3.) Attempt to set up Windows again on your machine following the onscreen prompts. When asked if you want to repair the current Windows installation, say no and continue with normal setup.4.) Create your partitions, choose a partition to install to, and follow the onscreen prompts.