Recover data in Windows

When you delete a file permanently from your hard disk - in other words, you bypass or empty the Recycle Bin - you may think that the file is physically deleted. This isn’t actually the case. To speed up performance, Windows XP replaces the first few bytes of the file with a little flag that tells it that the space currently occupied by the file is up for grabs. The file vanishes from Windows, but until that space is physically filled by another file, the original file’s contents remain intact.
   How long that file remains available for retrieval is an inexact science - some files can be recovered months or even years after they were originally deleted, while others might be overwritten in days or even hours. If the file is fragmented then you may find parts of it remain while other sections have been overwritten.

Act quickly
If you want to boost your chances of recovering deleted files, don’t wait. As soon as you’re aware of a file you’ve lost, stop everything and take the steps required to recover it. The first thing to do is identify a drive you can copy any recovered files to - this shouldn’t be the same drive or partition as the deleted file itself, so if you don’t have a second hard drive or partition you’ll need a removable drive like floppy, Zip or USB flash drive.
The next thing you need is your data recovery tool. Ideally this will have already been installed - if not, check out the FAQ for various workarounds to try before you risk data loss by installing it on to the same partition or drive as your deleted file. You’ll find three programs that can help you recover deleted data - one is PC Inspector File Recovery, which is explained in-depth in its own section here. Your other option depends on which file system your drive is formatted in. The three-step walkthrough below reveals how to use either Smart NTFS Recovery or Smart FAT Recovery. You can download both for free from here and here respectively.

Save corrupt data
Even if a file is marked as recoverable, don’t assume it’ll be in perfect condition when you retrieve it - as mentioned above, parts of the file may have been overwritten. If this is the case, you’ll soon find out the worst when you attempt to open the file after recovering it.
   All may not be lost here - if you’re attempting to recover a text document you may find you’re able to access enough of the file to recover a large chunk of its contents. Corrupt program files are lost forever, while other file types - notably Microsoft Office documents, image files and Zip archives - may also contain data you can rescue, although you’ll have to pay for the privilege. Click here to find out more.