Recover Deleted Files in Windows - The 1 Fatal Mistake to Avoid

The first thing you need to know is the way that Windows handles deleted files after the trash bin has been emptied. The fact is, even those files are not yet physically deleted from the hard drive. They are simply logically deleted, becoming invisible in the file system. However, on the physical level, as magnetic states of the hard drive, they are still there... but not forever!

The trick is that once new information is written to the hard drive, deleted files (actually, ones marked for deletion) can be overwritten without your knowledge. So, in fact, the absolute #1 rule for recovering a deleted file is:

STOP using the PC right NOW!

The less you touch the filesystem, the greater your chances of recovering a deleted file successfully. Another thing that you should avoid is defragging (defragmentating) the HD. This also runs a good chance of losing deleted files irrecoverably, as data are reshuffled physically on the HD by this process.

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Recover Deleted Files in Windows - The 1 Fatal Mistake to Avoid