Cause of loss · erased or vanished data
Every case depends on where your file originally sat. If you deleted it off a traditional mechanical hard drive, then all you would have done is remove the directory reference for the file; the actual data will continue to reside on the cluster(s) until new data overwrites them. On the other hand, if your deleted file was stored on an SSD (solid state drive), this device will begin to erase the cell(s) containing the data automatically as soon as you delete the file, typically within seconds. Below we outline both examples, and the very first question we ask when you send us a job from Maidenhead is which of the two you have.
Describe the fault to an engineer
0800 6890668
| The signs | The likely cause | Start here |
|---|---|---|
| The file is now gone and the bin is empty | Your deletion did not go through the bin: removable storage (like USB flash drives, memory cards, etc.), Shift + Delete, or files greater than the size limit | Do not put anything else onto that disk |
| Files larger than the maximum allowed by the bin | File was erased directly by Windows without going into the recycle bin | Data normally remains in the same location |
| Deleted from a memory card or thumb drive | No recycle bin exists on removable media; once you hit delete, entries are immediately marked as deleted | Just pull it out and leave it alone |
| Everything was gone following a sync | OneDrive or a similar client followed a delete made somewhere else with the exact same action | Look at the provider's own web bin first |
| Everyday folders emptied for no reason | The other profile and/or a delete/sync conflict | Turn the power off before you look around any more |
| Data deleted from an SSD | Windows issues TRIM, which allows the controller to clear those blocks very quickly (often within seconds) | Pull the power immediately |
Nothing is chargeable until you say yes. Every item gets a case number of its own immediately upon receipt, an engineer determines what has failed, and you get a clear picture of which files have a real possibility of being recovered. The single quote that follows is fixed, written down and does not cost anything.
Machines remain active and continue to write information without prompting. Thumbnails, browser cache, update packages etc. All of which may land in the area of your original file(s) on the disk. Therefore the disk comes out of the computer, travels to our lab on its own, and we create an image of it before anything else.
If the directory tree exists then name, date, and path for each file will also exist along with the recovered data. If the directory tree did not exist then we use byte signatures for each format type to identify the location of the individual files within the image.
File counts tell us very little, therefore every item returned is opened and checked to confirm that the items previously named by you as being of importance are present.
You don't get charged anything until you've confirmed and authorised that everything is fine after seeing the entire list of what was recovered. Any recovered items are returned via brand-new storage media and the postage costs for these are covered by us. We do not consider a project complete here until we receive confirmation that you have been able to successfully access and review every item you received back.
One keypress, two entirely different timelines: with a mechanical disk the data remains in its exact same location until overwritten. Sometimes years later. Then enter TRIM (a Seagate BarraCuda SSD, a WD Blue) and those same cells are cleared usually within minutes; often seconds. Identical action, opposite outcome. This is why we ask about the hardware first, before the filename.
In an office setting, only one single keystroke removed one year's worth of bookkeeping off a machine, bin included. The disk was imaged that day, the file table rebuilt from that image, and the folder came back as originally named, dates included.
On a mechanical disk, generally yes, unless something has been added since then. On an SSD using TRIM, probably not. The controller performs garbage collection on these blocks quickly, sometimes in just seconds. This is determined by the storage device and not what the user deletes.
The Recycle Bin doesn't save the deleted file. However, if you're deleting from a traditional hard disk, the deleted files stay in the exact same spot they would if you deleted normally. The bin wasn't protecting your deleted files.
None. Windows considers your deletion confirmed once you select "Yes", and there is no intermediary step. Even so, the contents generally stay in the flash memory regardless, and that is the level we read at.
An SSD cleans itself out. A block is identified through TRIM for deletion, and then cleaned by the controller in the background to help ensure future write operations occur at high speeds. This isn't shown to you so an SSD takes hours to complete its deletion.
Every additional power-up asks for even more of a drive that is already starting to fail. First open a case with us, and let the free diagnosis tell you how much remains.