The filesystem does only one thing when you delete a file: it erases the
entry in the file allocation table (like ripping out an index-line of
book) thus in effect making the still used filesystemblocks available
for overwriting...
Formatting a disk does the same: either just write a new file allocation
table or first check the sectors on the disc if they can be used (if not
register them as such) en then write the file allocation table. The
content of the disc remains intact until overwritten.
The only time when you can restore a file almost certainly is when you
notice the accidental delete,you stop all harddisc access. Otherwise
this access might just overwrite the datablocks on the disc that were
just released from the file allocation table.
Vista maybe, but Windows Server 2003 certainly have a feature called
shadow copy. Study it an use it. It allows for undeleting files after
deleting them, but only for as long as the shadow copy of that
particular file is still on the server and not replaced.
As for the tools: google for "undelete windows 2000" and you get quite a
big selection of tools available.
Last but not least: as some others said: backup backup backup
and...backup (with history).
Greetings
Eric
Ertugrul Söylemez wrote:
> Ojas <ojasrege@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> Does anyone have any recommendations for the best file undelete
>> software?
>>
>> For example, for when I empty the recycle bin with a file that I
>> didn't want to delete.
>>
>> What I want is something that I can have on computer for when I do
>> something really stupid.
>
> The filesystem driver assumes that you don't do "something really
> stupid" in the first place, so it does not preserve deleted files in any
> way. You have no guarantee that you can restore deleted files.
> Assuming otherwise would render today's filesystems totally inefficient.
>
> Stick to the recommendation of another poster in this thread and use
> backups instead.
>
>
> Regards,
> Ertugrul.
>
>
Best Windows undelete software 
Linear Mode
