Vanished documents and empty folders on desktop, etc

Hello there,

I was surfing the internet recently and my computer was affected by a Trojan, spyware or malware. My documents suddenly disappeared from my Windows desktop. I had folders with documents that are empty now. The bookmarks I created in Internet Explorer have gone. MS Word also seems to have some of its settings changed.

In an attempt to get things the way they were, I did do a system restore for the day before but it didn’t make much difference. I posted my problem on your Virus, Spyware & Malware Removal forum and I got help removing the Trojan, etc (http://forums.whatthetech.com/index.php?sh…118247&st=0). While my computer has been given the all clear, unfortunately I still have this issue with the missing documents, etc as mentioned above. I really fear I may have lost all my work.

The tech/ helper suggested I try asking in the techs in the Windows forum as you may have some ideas. Can you help?

Regards,

JB

Reason for edit: Make malware thread a link

Hey John Boy,

I did a look around to find a file recovery software and found this with a free trail

http://www.wondershare.com/data-recovery/

I don't know how good it is, but you may be able to get the files back using it if you are quick enough (i.e. deleted files remain for a certain period on your Hard-Drive before they are overwritten.

Try that and see if you can find your files.

Thanks,
Redeye

Hello John Boy,

There are a couple of important things to consider when performing File Recovery.

1. Never perform File Recovery using the same disk or partition where the target files may be located!
—-Why? because the utility and the working operation of recovery consumes Hard Drive space which could be over-writing the very files you wish to recover.

2. Therefore, the best file recovery is performed by removing the target Hard Drive and attaching it to another known-good working machine.
— The second machine can then install the Recovery utility and perform its magic using space on the second machine, and only "reading" and "copying" from the target.
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Alternately, you can use a system from Bootable CD to scan, copy, and save files.

Before you go shopping for a full Recovery Utility, consider using Linux Puppy, which is a small operating system complete with file browsing and support of USB and CD/DVD drives to which your data can be copied.
Puppy, runs directly in RAM and is based from the CD that you create, thus never "touching" the target Hard Drive, except to read from it.
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If you don't find what you are looking for with the use of Puppy, then it is time to remove that Hard Drive and attach it to a known-good working machine upon which you have installed the File Recovery utility of your choice.

Are you sure they are really gone and not just moved? Have you tried searching for all document (.doc???) files? Have you looked at your hard drive using Windows Explorer or My Computer and see what is available under C:\Documents and Settings??

Hey mate, I tried the utility myself and found it to be lacking the ability to actually recover files without paying for it x/ However, there are some freeware ones out there. I would go with the other recommendations in the thread. -Daniel