PLease help! My Videos folder just disapeared into thin air (1 Viewer)

[Rolando]

I can't explain it.

the "My Videos" folder in "My Documents" just dissapeared. it is no longer there. all the videos I had are gone as well and they do not turn up in any search. 5 minutes past midnight all was normal then I get some error message on my PC, and when I open my documents forlder it is gone.

I am on the verge of tears here. at least 50 Gb worth of movies is just gone. Got McAfee at 100% and no virus that it can see. I even did a system "roll back to 6pm the day before when i know it was still there but still nothing.

someone, anyone. PLEASE HELP!!!

 

[Vivek_IVB]

odd - everything else is still there? And it's not in your recycle bin?

 

[Kimmo Jaskari]

That system rollback was probably a mistake. Anything that writes to the disk after something disappears is a really bad idea.

Get some software that helps you recover stuff. There are options like Getdataback and similar stuff. They will go over your hard drive and find deleted stuff for you, and are usually quite effective.

The more you write to your disk while the stuff is missing, though, the bigger the chance that you'll overwrite the files you want to recover.

 

[SethH]

Go to My Computer and right-click on your HD and see how much free space is available. I would think this would tell you pretty clearly if the videos are still somewhere on your computer. If they are, you might use something like GoogleDesktop to track them down. However, if they have been erased this could definitely hinder your ability to get them back (as Kimmo mentioned)

 

[Rolando]

I did searches for file names and even for the video folder itself and the search function came up with nothing.

I checked the recycle bin as well but nada.

is Getdataback any good. can anyone recomend an easy to use recovery program. I mean really user friendly.

 

[Marko Berg]

This is a really long shot, but perhaps the folder was hidden - either by mistake or by malicious software - and your user permissions and/or view settings prevent viewing of hidden folders (though I believe the files should still turn up in the search results). You can check this by starting Windows Explorer and choosing Tools | Folder Options... On the View tab, make sure the Hidden files and folders option is set to Show hidden files and folders.

If that doesn't help, it's worth checking your McAfee logs. I have no experience with McAfee, but if it includes some sort of quarantine option, the software may have quarantined your entire My Videos folder if an infected file came through somehow. Perhaps the folder should be manually released after cleaning up.

 

[SethH]

Marko brings up a good point. As an extension of that, do you have multiple user names on your computer? If so, try logging in under each user name and looking in "My Videos"

Also, did you check to see if that space is still allocated on your hard drive? I should be pretty easy to tell by clicking on properties if those 50GB are still being used or not.

 

[Rolando]

Thanks for the help guys.

unfortunately I have double checked and it is not "hidden". did folder options show hidden files and included search hidden files during the search function.

Hard disk properties indeed account for all space used. shows 107 Gb used, 120 available and 127 total capacity.

nothing in McAfee logs either, no files quaranteened.

am going to give up I guess. Most of it I can get again.

thanks again dudes.

 

[ChristopherDAC]

You could try logging in as Administrator (an option usually hidden except in Safe Mode). Your file permissions could have gotten changed somehow.

 

[MarkHastings]

That doesn't add up right. Is it supposed to be 227 total capacity??