i accidently deleted my outlook archive, the file was 220mb and i really need to get it back if at all possible!!! the file was erased from the recycle bin, and i ran the program "restoration.exe" and searched for part of the filename to no avail. does anybody know how i can recover this file, or if it is hopeless...

I do not know what restoration is, but the longer you run this machine, the less likely it is you will be able to recover it.

If you can, shut it down, pull the harddrive, install it in another machine, and run an undelete utility from there

here's a freebie

http://www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/UK/welcome.htm

I think you need your XP cd for this type of recovery(deletion of files) but gerryf will look in to it

No, you don't need the XP cd..the real issue with recovering files is how windows works...windows does not delete files, but pointers to files. When the pointer is gone, windows will place other files (or parts of files) in the space previously occupied by the file, overwriting the file (or parts)

So, the longer you use the drive the file is on, the greater the change those files (or parts of those files) will be overwritten.

So, when I accidentally delete a file, I pull the drive and put it in another machine as soon as possible, and undele using the other machine

this one can run off a USB fash drive...

FreeUndelete

FreeUndelete is a freeware data recovery program for deleted files.

In case of accidental deletion of files on a NTFS (used by default in Windows XP, 2000 and NT), FAT32 or FAT16 file systems FreeUndelete is the utility to help.

It is our pleasure to emphasize that FreeUndelete is free. There is no charge, direct or hidden, to download and use a fully functional copy of the program. The program does not install any spyware or adware along with it. It does not populate user's desktop with pop-up ads or forcefully subscribe user to mailing lists.

Proper Usage Techniques

A deleted file is essentially an area on disk designated as free and ready to accept data (such as contents of some other file). Luckily, unless the area has already been overwritten, it still holds the contents of the deleted file. Due to this fact it is possible to undelete files.

This fact also dictates the following procedure for using FreeUndelete:

1. Minimize (and whenever possible, stop) any activity on the disk you are going to undelete files from! Remember that writing to that disk can damage the contents of the deleted files. Examples of disastrous activity include: copying files to the disk, installing programs there or running programs that use the disk as their swap media.
2. Download and install FreeUndelete. Whenever possible, save the setup executable and install the program to a disk that does not hold files you need to undelete.
3. Run and use FreeUndelete.

Tip: It is common that the only drive user has is C: and this is also the drive from where files need to be undeleted. In that case a good solution is using a USB flash drive as FreeUndelete download and install destination.
get it here
http://officerecovery.com/freeundelete/#properusage

ok i tried both programs. ive put the drive in another machine

the first program seems to give the option to look only for media files, and i dont see an option for .pst, which is what i need to find

the second displays a folder list, but i put the filename in the file filter and it doesnt change the results at all, so i dont know if it found the file or not...

hmm, no, I've undeleted non-media files with that.



The fact the file was so large is probably the culprit,,,,with that big of a space, Windows was just dying to fill it up and overwrote it faily quickly..



You can try other undelete programs and hope something picks it up



http://www.woundedmoon.org/win32/driverescue19d.html



(oldie but goodie)



shareware, can use for 30 days, 1 file a day, but that is all you need



http://www.handyrecovery.com/download.shtml

yeah, none of those worked either.

i assume it was overwritten...

thanks anyway.

Sorry we couldn't help, but I suspect that is the case.

well....unlike some other OSes When you erase something from your recycle bin, its really deleted. They figure they give you one chance when you put it in the recycle bin....He's right it does delete the pointer, but you're not going to be able to restore the file, especially if it's on XP home