I am devastated...

gregory

Before you do ANYTHING else that could overwrite anything further, download (to a portable HD so it won't overwrite) RECUVA (https://www.piriform.com/recuva - it's free !) and run it. It can find all sorts of things... It found and recovered 973 photos my granddaughter accidentally erased from her camera card.... some she had deleted MONTHS earlier, on purpose !
 

blackroseivy

Now that sounds intriguing. I'll try it if my sis will help me! (She's the family expert.)

OK, I just put the link into an e-mail so we'd have it, she says she'll help me next time she is here which will be around the week of the 22nd.

Thanks awfully, I sure hope it works! Of course by then we'll know whether or not they are on her computer. Here's hoping they are!
 

Onion Budgie

If you can remember when you last saw/accessed the files, perhaps you could try a System Restore back to that time?

If you have Windows 7, try this on the folder where your files were kept: In Windows 7, right clicking on folders and selecting Properties, there is a previous versions tab. This uses System Restore and will have copies of your files.

The longer you leave it, the trickier it may be to locate what you've lost. :(

A daft question, this, I'm sure, but -- have you double-checked your Recycle Bin?
 

blackroseivy

I recently emptied my recycle and I always take a look at it, these sure weren't there! And it was a VERY long time ago that I last saw them, months and months, not at all sure when. It may very well have been as much as a year. I'll try this thing gregory gave me the link to, you never know, it might work. Also have to wait for my sister to check her files, she hasn't left yet so it'll be another couplea days there to know for sure. But I sure value everyone's suggestions!
 

HudsonGray

It's always a good idea to have a flash drive/thumb drive/jump drive or two to do another backup. They hold a ton of stuff, are cheap, and can help stuff like this never happen.

Have the computer techs check your system, it's very likely they can retrieve things for you.
 

gregory

If you can remember when you last saw/accessed the files, perhaps you could try a System Restore back to that time?
Heads up for others in this position - system restore does NOT bring back deleted files.
 

Onion Budgie

Heads up for others in this position - system restore does NOT bring back deleted files.

Not even by using this method, as I mentioned in the same post?:

If you have Windows 7, try this on the folder where your files were kept: In Windows 7, right clicking on folders and selecting Properties, there is a previous versions tab. This uses System Restore and will have copies of your files.

I haven't tried it myself, but according to a member on a techie website, they managed to retrieve their own lost files that way.
 

Rhapsodin

It's a sincere hope that others learn from this too. Most people in any creative field relying on computers will have their stuff backed up on multiple devices - at least one portable hard drive and a flash drive. The cloud has yet to be tested for long-term reliability. These devices aren't expensive relative to the heartbreak they can save when your computer crashes or, as in this case, files just disappear. Even so, don't go for the cheapest option. Have a look through reviews and user ratings.

Blackroseivy, I so hope you've now bought a portable hard drive on which to back up all other data files on your computer. If the art files have "just" disappeared then you have a problem. Files can't just disappear but there might be an internal problem with the system that operates your computer (its OS) that corrupts files or loses them from the directory. Could even be that the files have become hidden in some way.

My kids are obsessive about backing stuff up. It's three portable drives for them. (One's a "family" one!) Apparently every week they "dump" all the data files datestamp them and keep a couple of generations. Bit of a palaver to me, though I back up the stuff every month.

.
 

gregory

Not even by using this method, as I mentioned in the same post?:

If you have Windows 7, try this on the folder where your files were kept: In Windows 7, right clicking on folders and selecting Properties, there is a previous versions tab. This uses System Restore and will have copies of your files.

I haven't tried it myself, but according to a member on a techie website, they managed to retrieve their own lost files that way.
Fair enough. I don't have Windows 7 ! That sounds good. But RECUVA is also very useful - free -and as long as you don't keep using your machine (which will mean you may overwrite anything that is deleted) it can find all sorts.

I have about 6 backups. Sometimes this gets to be a pain... :D
 

Rhapsodin

I can say this much - for reasons of a bit of suspicious software originating from a USB device (that set up a drive Y - I don't know if anyone else has had this) I did a system restore from about a month earlier. It did not exhume any files I'd deleted in the meantime, nor did it restore any sent to the recycle bin.

I recall it checking to warn if any recently installed programs are going to be affected.

(Which reminds me, it's time I set a new restore point).

Edit: spelling.