Is there any way of getting my files back?

a0ifee

So there was a problem with my sony vaio laptop, something to do with where the charger goes in (i am not fluent in IT talk ok) and I wasn't able to turn it on, fair enough it was still under warranty so I rang sony who said they'd fix it. Explained that I couldn't turn it on so I couldn't back up my files and they said that they probably wouldn't have to reset it if it was a physical problem and if they absolutely had to they'd let me know in advance.

I think you guys might know where I'm going with this....

so my laptop came back today and it works! but literally everything is gone. Essentially it's a new laptop, all my settings and files have been wiped. Please please tell me there's something I can do. I had a lot of important stuff on there and I'm furious that sony didn't inform me like they promised.

mordeith

a0ifee wrote: »

So there was a problem with my sony vaio laptop, something to do with where the charger goes in (i am not fluent in IT talk ok) and I wasn't able to turn it on, fair enough it was still under warranty so I rang sony who said they'd fix it. Explained that I couldn't turn it on so I couldn't back up my files and they said that they probably wouldn't have to reset it if it was a physical problem and if they absolutely had to they'd let me know in advance.

I think you guys might know where I'm going with this....

so my laptop came back today and it works! but literally everything is gone. Essentially it's a new laptop, all my settings and files have been wiped. Please please tell me there's something I can do. I had a lot of important stuff on there and I'm furious that sony didn't inform me like they promised.

If Sony did a Windows re-install then there is no chance of getting your stuff back. They also may have replaced the hardrive if that was the issue. In which case there is a slim chance the old one might be around somewhere.
What have Sony said about the repair and not informing you of how they proceeded?

Luckydog69

If they did a windows reinstall there should be a folder in the C drive named Windows.old, in this folder all your old pictures, documents etc would be located, this is of course if they didn't install a new hard drive. Otherwise its a case of getting your old hard drive back and hooking it up to another computer and using a Linux cd to access and recover your files providing the old hard drive is recognized by the Linux operating system.

a0ifee

Luckydog69 wrote: »

If they did a windows reinstall there should be a folder in the C drive named Windows.old, in this folder all your old pictures, documents etc would be located, this is of course if they didn't install a new hard drive. Otherwise its a case of getting your old hard drive back and hooking it up to another computer and using a Linux cd to access and recover your files providing the old hard drive is recognized by the Linux operating system.

can't find windows.old anywhere..the strange thing is I rang them and asked what they did and they told me there's no reasons for the files to be gone as they didn't touch the harddrive?? they replaced the motherboard I think, but that's pretty much all they did.

mordeith

a0ifee wrote: »

can't find windows.old anywhere..the strange thing is I rang them and asked what they did and they told me there's no reasons for the files to be gone as they didn't touch the harddrive?? they replaced the motherboard I think, but that's pretty much all they did.

Had you a profile setup before you sent the laptop off to Sony. If so is the login information the same. Might be a new profile is setup and your files are in the old one. Check C drive >> Users and see what's listed

a0ifee

mordeith wrote: »

Had you a profile setup before you sent the laptop off to Sony. If so is the login information the same. Might be a new profile is setup and your files are in the old one. Check C drive >> Users and see what's listed

as far as I can tell this is the only profile, the only other user is the public one

i was angry and first but now it's actually baffling me, especially as when I turned on the computer my old background is still there! how can the background be here but not the file, or any other file?

a computer person I know has given me instructions to try and get my data back, I'll try what he says and I'll post back here if it works (or doesn't )

mordeith

Do you know how much storage your files were taking up approx. Open Computer and right click on the C drive and select Properties. See how space is being taken up?

beauf

You can recover files off the hard drive if its the same hard drive and its not been overwritten. Where the HD has been overwritten by re-installing Windows that data is gone. But where there is free space there may be data in that free space that can be recovered.

At this point I would expect you'd only get some of the files back and you have to balance the cost of doing this (either by buying software or paying someone to do it) with how important the data is. Note the more you use the laptop the more data you will be losing. You should stop using it.

For example. http://blog.pluralsight.com/data-recovery

I would get a IT person to help you with this. Ideally someone who knows about data recovery. As many people including IT people don't know much about it.

Luckydog69

Google and download this free program Recuva ( not allowed to post a link to it, even though I have posted links in the past!). If your files are on the hard drive it will find them.. if all they done was install a new motherboard. The paid for version of this program just offers online support. Enable Deep Scan when your are starting the program...simple wizard interface.

riclad

i used it to recover data on a formatted drive,
got 90 per cent of the files back.
http://www.piriform.com/recuva

Its free to use.
Don,t install any other programs apart from recuva,
don,t download any music or video files.

ie Try not to overwrite hard drive sectors.
They might have used sony restore windows from hardrive ,
built in to most sony laptops.

a0ifee

whoops forgot to post back here! so i actually was recommended recuva before i read these replies and I ran it, and I've gotten files back (more than I anticipated and it might take me awhile to get rid of the rubbish :pac:) but hey i got the majority of what i needed back! appreciate the advice!

beauf

Good news.

Luckydog69 wrote: »

Google and download this free program Recuva ( not allowed to post a link to it, even though I have posted links in the past!). If your files are on the hard drive it will find them.. if all they done was install a new motherboard. The paid for version of this program just offers online support. Enable Deep Scan when your are starting the program...simple wizard interface.

Why not?

Its made by Piriform who also make ccleaner, Defraggler and Speccy. Great apps.

bumper234

beauf wrote: »

Good news.



Why not?

Its made by Piriform who also make ccleaner, Defraggler and Speccy. Great apps.

I think he means he can't post links due to the new rules, anyone with less than 50 posts can't post links.

rozeboosje

Yup I was going to suggest something like recuva - in fact, the advice is to STOP. Do not use your laptop for anything new until you've run recuva (or something similar) and you have recovered as much as possible. The longer you use the laptop BEFORE running something like recuva, the more you'll be overwriting those precious files. I know you've already run it, but I thought I'd mention it in case someone with a similar problem stumbles across this thread :-)

beauf

ahem....http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=90321236&postcount=8

mordeith

a0ifee wrote: »

whoops forgot to post back here! so i actually was recommended recuva before i read these replies and I ran it, and I've gotten files back (more than I anticipated and it might take me awhile to get rid of the rubbish :pac:) but hey i got the majority of what i needed back! appreciate the advice!

I hope you've gone and bought an external drive for backup or are using a cloud service

rozeboosje

beauf wrote: »

ahem....http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=90321236&postcount=8

Indeed - soz I hadn't read that far back [blush]

beauf

its worth repeating!

mordeith wrote: »

I hope you've gone and bought an external drive for backup or are using a cloud service

As is this...