BleepingComputer.com: Undo System Recovery?

My PC completely failed and I had no choice but to hit F10 at re-start and perform a System Recovery. I was actually told that this shouldn't affect things like Word and Excel docs, pictures, music files, etc. When it restarted it was like I just took the PC out if the box. Everything is gone. My last back-up was 4-5 months ago so there's lots that's been lost. Any help to undo this if possible would be greatly appreciated. I hear there's an undo option in System Recovery but I can't find it. All of my previous restore points have also been wiped clean so I can't restore to before the recovery. Thank you very much for any advice.

I am afraid that someone may have given you some bad information.

A full system recovery is designed to put the system back to an "out of the box" state. That is its purpose. As part of the process, the hard drive is formatted effectively wiping it clean before reinstalling the OS. I know of no means to undo this proceedure as after a format there is nothing on the drive to "roll back" to.

You might try Recova by Piriform to see if you can recover your files but the chances of doing so, unfortunately, are minimal as the sectors may have been overwritten with new data. It might be worth a shot though.

For future reference, always back up your data on a routine basis. If your hard drive were to fail suddenly, which they often do, You would be in the same predicament.

Also, you might want to take the time to make a set of recovery DVD's for that exact reason.
If the system is an HP/Compaq you want to use the DVD+R media the -R disks will not work.
I found that out the hard way.

Thanks for telling me about Recova. Seems like my only option at this point. I ran the MagicCute Formatted Recovery option and it actually found quite a few files, no idea what kind of shape they're in or how much is usable but there are several thousand versions of docs, jpegs, music files, etc. I "Saved Scanned Results" and have a file of it now on my PC. However when I click "Next" it says "Please input license code below - check your email, then copy the license code and paste it below. It looks like F1F;;...;;DataRecovery;;...;;F1F". I assume I need to buy the software at this point, which is fine if it works. Just want to make sure I'm in the right place and don't lose anything that I've already done. Where do I buy or how do I proceed from this screen as I see no other place to click? Thanks.

It kind of strikes me as odd that nowhere on the MagicCute website does it say how much the program is.
This kind of makes me leery of it

Try recuva first as it is recommended many times on BC

Some additional freeware options you might try before doling out money for a program:

Partition Find and Mount — free partition recovery software - http://findandmount.com/

Recovery Software, Partition Table Doctor - http://www.ptdd.com/

Recovery Software, Recover My Files - http://www.recovermyfiles.com/

I've never used any of these programs, but others have reported success with them during my time here at BC.

I actually have used and paid for GetDataBack - Data Recovery Software - http://runtime.org/data-recovery-software.htm .

Louis

Thanks for your help so far. I've actually found just about all of my jpegs and music files, but when trying to copy anything to a blank DVD at this point, I'm getting an error message saying that "Windows has encountered a problem". I'm not sure if damage was done to the point that I can't transfer anything, but right now I can view images and listen to music on my current PC and it seems perfect. I'm going to scrap this PC though and get a new one so I need to try to transfer the data if possible. Not sure is there's any way for me to do this at this point. Since this data appears to be back on my current PC, I'm hoping there is. Any advice or has it been corrupted?

What is the exact error message when you try to copy?

What is the destination that you are attempting to copy to?

Are you using a burn program...to move the images to DVD? If so, which one?

We need to know the exact steps you are taking...and the exact error...and at what stage the error message appears.

Louis

Try copying your files directly onto a flash drive or USB external hard drive if you have one.

As Louis said we do need to know the steps that you are attemting to accomplish this.

Was using Nero but seems like the problem was with that and not my jpegs. I just moved them over to some CDs and an external hard drive and it worked fine. I seem to have recovered just about everything so I've been very fortunate.

My last step is to back-up my iTunes again onto some DVDs in preparation of transferring everything to my new PC. When I last did this just 5 months ago, I believe I just clicked File - Library - Back Up To Disc. This newest version of iTunes doesn't seem to have that. Under File - Library is an Export Playlist option but no option to back everything up. I remember it was very simple in the past and prompted you to switch DVDs when one filled up. What is the latest procedure? Thanks again for your help.

Well done .

Your questions about iTunes can probably be answered better in the forum for Audio/Video Applications, http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/forum65.html or the iTunes forums.

Louis

Good job!

You got pretty lucky!
Did you use Recuva or another method?
Just curious

Recuva got back a few them, in particular my Word and Excel docs, but Recover My Files seemed to work the best and found most of the jpegs and music files. Many thanks to all for the suggestions.