Mac Question

[Rod Hagen]

Hi. I accidentally deleted an important WORD file on my Mac today. What is the cheapest Deleted-File-Recovery Software? Thank You.

 

-Hagen

[Flower]

Hey Rod--first, be careful about saving any new files. As you probably know, when you delete a file, the name of the file is erased but not the content and that can be salvaged in many cases.

 

But if you continue to save files you are running the risk of writing over and then they usually cannot be salvaged. You probably know all of this, but just in case.

 

The only disc utilities I know of for Mac are NORTON'S UTILITIES (Disc Doctor) which I use, DISC WARRIOR, TECH TOOL, none of which are inexpensive

[Rod Hagen]

Thanks Flower.

 

Dropped $100, loaded Norton, it hasn't found the file yet, but I'll keep looking. It's VERY important to me.

[Guest in yer face]

of course, since you had to load the new utility, you may have lost the file by overwrite.

[FrancoDiSantisxxx]

Techinically

 

You can run Norton off the CD-Rom.

 

One of the tools within Norton will let you recover almost everything you have deleted recently, including things you do not realize were deleted, like internet cache files. I actually spent more time going through all that crap until I finally just saved it all on a zip disk drive to go through every so often and honestly still have not gotten through it. I did, however, recovered what I needed.

 

If you continue to do it thus, versus actually copying Norton onto your system, it works best, especially if you need to use Norton to start up from your system.

 

Finally, it is very inexpensive, if you just borrow the software or have you own personal Techno Geek Twink who can burn it on a nice new Maxell CD-ROM for a batch of buttered popcorn and all the old classic movies you can tell him about.

 

All Norton cost me was a Norma Sherer film festival and lecture.

[Flower]

I'm sure you are aware that you can send the hard drive off to a data recovery service--I had to do this once. I think the min charge was $75 or $100, but I had no choice.

[BobbyB]

Rod,

 

All the replies you have received so far are all true. Be advised, though, that

whether or not you're writing over the document (and thereby losing it) depends greatly on how big your hard drive is (and I hear yours is big), and how much free space you have. If it's pretty full, you could be in trouble. If there is a lot of open space, you may be fine. The sooner you retreive it, the better.

 

There are two things you will always want to do:

 

1. Once you have loaded Norton onto your hard drive, documents are much easier to retrieved once you turn on their feature called "File Saver." Once that bad boy is loaded, you just select the "Undelete " feature and voilà!, there it is.

 

2. Optimise your hard drive often. Optimising means compacting all the used bits together. This will not only speed up your hard drive, you will be less likely to write over things. Your manual will explain all this.

 

There are advantages from being able to launch from both your hard drive and the disc which the manual should also explain.

 

Finally, don't be afraid to call tech support. As long as you are using a registered copy of Norton, they give you free tech support for up to a year, if I recall correctly. They also have a FAQ section on their website.

 

Good luck.

 

-BobbyB

[+ deej]

RE: Techinically

 

>Finally, it is very inexpensive, if you just borrow the

>software or have you own personal Techno Geek Twink who can

>burn it on a nice new Maxell CD-ROM for a batch of buttered

>popcorn and all the old classic movies you can tell him

>about.

 

This is, of course, software piracy (or THEFT).

 

Software piracy takes a big toll on the software industry, and takes money out of the pockets of people like me who tend to put money into the pockets of people like you. ;-)

 

(I can't believe this next sentence is about to come out of me.... and HERE of all places!)

 

Surely you're not advocating (or practicing) illegal activity?

 

LOL!!!!

 

I strongly suspect the license agreement from Symantec for Norton Utilities does NOT condone "loaning" the software. It probably specifically forbids it.

[FrancoDiSantisxxx]

Techini Speaking

 

>(I can't believe this next sentence is about to come out of

>me.... and HERE of all places!)

>

>Surely you're not advocating (or practicing) illegal

>activity?

 

Actually, this particular Twink is very well connected in Silicon Valley and obtained the particular version of Norton that I needed for my older Power Mac (using System 7.6) from Norton directly, so I do own that particular software license. It is the upgrade, which Norton would have provided me for free, as Apple provided the free upgrades up to System 8.6 on their web site for individuals to download.

 

I never advocate illegal activiities, although given the state of sodomy laws and the continuing belief on the part of Congress and the D.E.A. that infrequent marijuana use somehow does major harm to myself and to others, practicing may be a different tale.

[ready182]

Rod,

 

One more useful tip. To avoid accidently deleting important files

in the future, unplug your mouse and keyboard.

 

(this technique is only guaranteed to work on MACs, as WinTel

computers have been known to delete files on their own)

 

Ready

[dick_nyc]

If all else fails, offer your body to someone to come rescue your file for you. I'm sure someone would love to help you out.

[Rod Hagen]

Thanks Everyone.

 

Bob, i optimized and turned on the file protection thing, thought I believe that will only be useful for items I delete from now on. I'm simply not having any luck retrieving this file. I'm sincerly pissed. And of course the more time passes, the smaller my chances are. I have several gigs of free space. What the fuck?!

[Guest Tampa Yankee]

My hard drive crashed once and Norton failed to recover but Techtool did -- the whole thing. Of course, that was a directory problem. Might be worth trying here. I don't know if the free version will work but give it a try -- you have nothing to loose. I have the full version.