Files missing form HDD but folders intact!

[aztecman]

Apparently these are easy-to-replace files, so no reason to make more work than necessary.

Yes you are right. They're easy to replace. Just need to find out what happened and a solution if such should happen in future but touch wood.

I am gonna try Hiren to see whether it will work but I have already added files to the same HDD and may have render the lost files unrecoverable.

[caretaker2k2]

Try getting properties of the folder to see the size of it. this should let you know if they are still there and you cant see them or if they are gone forever

[teflon05]

Yes, I would definitely check folder size...Also, did you try enabling "show hidden files & folders" to make sure the folder contents hadn't become hidden somehow?

EDIT: Nevermind, I see on the other page that you already tried that

[megabyteme]

Yes you are right. They're easy to replace. Just need to find out what happened and a solution if such should happen in future but touch wood.

I am gonna try Hiren to see whether it will work but I have already added files to the same HDD and may have render the lost files unrecoverable.

The new files will overwrite available space on your drive. If you are close to capacity, there will be fewer undamaged [old] files; larger free space will reduce the loss. I still encourage you to play with it as a lab experience. No harm on this project, so go in with experimentation in mind.*

IMPORTANT NOTE (again): Every time W$ starts, it writes files on your Windows partition- this can overwrite your old, important data. Even a damaged block (part of your file) can make it irrecoverable. Again, the safest way to recover files from a Windows system (even one where Windows will not start) is via a live distro of Linux on a USB thumb drive (apparently, Hiren's fits this description). Bios loads, USB is enabled, then Linux runs. After that, you simply look on your old HDD for the files you need to transfer to the thumb drive.


*Did I just try to entice you into the ghey secks?