Recover Data with Kato Restoration - Ultimate Microsoft Replacements
(Archived in: Nomad Resources Open Source)
Series Number Seven on Resources for Digital Nomads
KATO RESTORATION
"Restoration" by Brian Kato restores files that have been deleted. I have not disabled the Recycle Bin, but if you have been reading this blog then you know that I have "hidden" the recycle bin and my deleted files automatically bypass the recycle bin.
You can read a hack on how to skip the recyle bin at this Saman Sadeghi post. Below is a screen shot of the Restoration utility window and controls on my PC.
From the SNAPFILES Website:
"Restoration is an easy to use and straight forward tool to undelete files that were removed from the recycle bin or directly deleted from within Windows, and we were also able to recover photos from a Flash card that had been formatted. Upon start, you can scan for all files that may be recovered and also limit the results by entering a search term or extension. In addition, it also provides the option to wipe the found files beyond simple recovery..."
Restoration is a small "undelete file" freeware utility that does not require installation. I rarely use this utility, as I am very careful about performing regular data backups and am cautious about deleting files.
Read more about the highly user rated "Restoration" and download it for free at Snapfiles Dot Com.
Update: Use Darik's Boot N Nuke (DBAN) to permanently remove files from your drives. This is a self-contained boot floppy that securely wipes the hard disks of most computers. DBAN is appropriate for bulk or emergency data destruction and you can download it free at this SourceForge.net link.
Resources for Portable Professionals and Extreme Telecommuting™
4 comments:
YUP
that's a great tool! So i guess it actually searches the drive surface for file traces left behind...
When a file is permanently deleted (off the recycling bin for example) the file data is not removed, but instead, the first character of the file name will be replaced with a question mark, which tells the computer it's a deletd file and should not be indexed or read. It's faster thsi way - and whne a new file is being written, that part of the harddrive will simply be overwritten, instaed of the harddrive having to wipe out that section.
It's a great tool. Downside? Obviously if that part of it has been overwritten by new files, you have no chance of getting it back anyhow.
Thanks Jeff. I am pretty careful about backing up and watching what I delete.
Digital Nomad,
Is there a tool you can use to permanently delete sensitive data so that tools like this cannot retrieve it?
To Ashlex-
Spybot Search & Destroy contains a shredder in the Advanced mode under tools.
You can do a search on "permanently remove computer files", and see what freeware and commercial products are available. These programs basically bombard
the HD with ovewritten files.
I have also read that you can encrypt files and then delete them. If files are recovered,
then the files information will be encrypted. Just don't store the encryption key on your computer and be sure to remove the encryption program.
Darik's Boot N Nuke (DBAN) is supposed to be a permanent solution:
http://dban.sourceforge.net/
You always can replace the old hard drive with a new one, and destroy the old drive.
I am not really a techie, so ask around and do some research.
Post a Comment