Big problem lost files - Help badly needed!

panama

I have a fairly new Asus X501u notebook laptop.

Cut a long story short, had some issues with it recently and last night I managed to hit 'reset your pc' function when trying to sort out a problem which was causing the mouse to freeze.
i was going to use system restore but having just installed itunes I was worried I would lose all the music files I'd put on and saved etc.

So foolishly without reading through it properly I used the reset to pc function which I thought only reset to last known good settings but of course it's basically wiped the laptop of everything, programmes and files AND previous restore points.

I've lost documents and photos etc from my desktop.

When I startup the laptop I can login and then the screen just goes dark as if there's nothing there. It doesn't even load Windows 8. It's almost literally factory settings.

I can click f9 on startup which gives me the following options:

Continue - Exit and continue to Windows 8
Troubleshoot - Refresh or reset your PC, or use advanced tools
(this is what I used when wiping it accidentally)
Turn off your PC

So when I click troubleshoot, it gives me these options:
Refresh your PC- If your PC isn't running well, you can refresh it without losing your files.
Reset your pc - If you want to remove all of your files you can reset your PC completely (what I did previously in error!)
Advanced options

If I click Advanced options I then have these options:

System Restore - Use a restore point recorded on your PC to restore Windows
System Image Recovery - Recover Windows using a system image file
Automatic Repair - Fix problems that keep Windows from loading
Command Prompt - Use the Command Prompt for advanced troubleshooting
UEFI Firmware settings - Change settings in your pc's UEFI firmware
Start-Up Settings - Change your Windows start up behaviour

So 1. It tels me there are no restore points created on my computers system drive so that option is basically useless
2. System Image Recovery - It says Windows cannot find a system image on this computer and 'Attach the backup hard disk or insert the final DVD from a backup set and click Retry. Alternatively close this dialog for more options"
When I click choose a system image - the box is empty so there's no image to select.
3. Automatic Repair I presume is useless as its only going to try and repair it in its current state and won't restore my now deleted files etc.

There is no disk drive on this laptop and I don't have my files backed up externally or anything.

They dont have a freephone customer service line so calling their helpdesk is probably going to take all my credit.

So am I basically screwed or is there some way possible to recover and put it back the way it was before my silly mistake??

From googling it seems some pc forum replies on the same topic mention how the data will still be somewhere on the pc's hard drive and won't have been deleted permanently. So this is the hope I'm clinging to.
But I don't have the know how to know where to start.

Neil_Sedaka

You could try this
If you can get windows to boot that is.

If possible, run it from a USB drive and make sure you save anything found to an external USB drive also.

Youtube Vid here

If you can't boot to windows, download Hiren's Boot CD on another PC
Have a good read and boot into Hiren's "Mini XP" and see if any of the recovery tools work.
Youtube vid here

The most important thing is do not use the notebook until you are ready to recover your files.

Good luck

Torqay

panama wrote: »

From googling it seems some pc forum replies on the same topic mention how the data will still be somewhere on the pc's hard drive and won't have been deleted permanently. So this is the hope I'm clinging to.

Some of your data might be still recoverable.

panama wrote: »

But I don't have the know how to know where to start.

1. Do not use the use the computer.

2. Go to a professional with the means and the know how to recover files.

The first thing is not to do anything to the said computer yet, as in writing anything to the hard drive.

The most sensible thing to do before anything is to clone the hard drive, and work on that to recover the files, which I suspect are in your username, ie MYDovuments, Music. etc.

panama

Thanks for the quick responses folks, appreciated.

Neil_Sedaka

Depending on your knowledge of PC's and just how important the lost data is to you, as Torqay said taking it to a Pro could well be your best option.

Can't be said enough times though, DO NOT USE THE NOTEBOOK in the meantime.