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Help With Recovery?


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Question, i have a pc that was running windows xp. i just updated it to windows 7. after updating the guy says did you save me outlook express folder.... ie all the contacts and emails/folders. i said no... how can i go about recovering this please and is this possible.

Thanks

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Did you install Windows 7 onto the existing Windows partition or did you format the drive?

If you formatted the drive, you're out of luck.

If you installed Windows 7 onto the existing Windows XP partition, you could be lucky - Outlook Express on Windows XP stores the user files in the folder

C:\Documents and Settings\<User>\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities\{GUID}\Microsoft\Outlook Express

Good luck.

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Well did you format the drive during the Windows 7 installation? If not, use Windows Explorer to navigate to the folder with the OE data files and hope they're still there.

That being said, why didn't you back up all user data before installing Windows 7 to begin with??

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He's asking if you did a custom install or an update install.

If you did an update install, then the items ought still be there. If you did a custom install (and format) then you are buggered >.<

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damn... this isn't good. this guy tells me after the fact. did you back my outlook express info up. all my email, contacts and folders.. we had emails in there from my divorce lawyers, we need them... unreal

thanks for the help

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damn... this isn't good. this guy tells me after the fact. did you back my outlook express info up. all my email, contacts and folders.. we had emails in there from my divorce lawyers, we need them... unreal

thanks for the help

You might want to try Testdisk or Photorec (http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk). Downside for Photorec is that the recovered files are renamed.

I'd recommend you try Testdisk first. After searching the harddrive/partition press P to list files, and from there you can select and copy files to another harddrive.

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You could also try something like Recuva (though TestDisk is good too). This file recovery stuff also depends on how often the computer has been getting used since you reformatted it... e.g. the more you use the computer the more likely the old Outlook Express folders have been overwritten by newer files.

Keep in mind, even if you do manage to recover the files, you'll then need to look at importing the old Outlook Express files into Windows Live Mail (Outlook Express was phased out as of Windows Vista).

Can't do anything about it now, but in the future you've definitely got to back up stuff like that when you reformat. Or at least triple-check that they're OK with losing their email files, documents, browser bookmarks, etc.. you'd be surprised how often people forget to tell you stuff like that ;)

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well thanks i will try them both. i am running run now called GetDataBackNTFS now... how it finds something. this guys saying can't you just undo everything... after the fact after he didn't say save this....

Thanks

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well thanks i will try them both. i am running run now called GetDataBackNTFS now... how it finds something. this guys saying can't you just undo everything... after the fact after he didn't say save this....

Thanks

The installation of Windows 7 and whatever other apps overwrote (most of) the data on the partition. Chances of recovery tools finding the files in question are really slim.

To be brutally honest most of the blame is on you - always back up all user data before switching from XP to Windows 7, and definitely always ask the customer what needs to be backed up.

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Well just have the user restore their files from their backup - what a user that does not back up their super important files, say emails from divorce lawyers for example ;) Who would of thunk it, a user that does not backup their data.. hehehehe

I would rate the odds of recovery pretty freaking low on a install, which more that likely overwrote the data.

Lesson learned on both sides I would say, its a good idea to image any user system before you do anything with it. Its also prudent for users to backup up their ****!

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i did ask him and he didn't say outlook express just everything else. so i put in a second drive and copied everything over to it.. all the user accounts and all

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And that is not an image, and could loose many many user files they do not mention. Vs doing a copy - take an image! This allows you to grab anything that is on the hard drive, be it a dll a reg key entry, etc. Also if needed could just put the machine back to exactly how you got it from the user if they have any complaints, etc.

There are plenty of FREE tools for taking an image, it should take that much longer than trying to copy all the files and profiles, etc. And since its an actual IMAGE of the disk, its impossible to miss a file that user say had odd permissions on, or even say a truecrypt volume with a keyfile that you don't grab, etc.

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Also if you are trying to find his contacts they won't be in the identities directory but instead in the (user)\application data\Microsoft\Address book\ folder.

In the future you may want to recommend something like "Carbonite too him" or have him go to walmart and pickup a 500gb 2.5 external for like $53.00, and setup automatic backups for him.

Also one great feature about windows (like what budman was talking about) is the ability in windows 7 to create a system image. (something sorely missing from the home versions of Vista)

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Seems like everyone is forgetting the obvious here - his e-mails could still be on his POP3 server....

Who is he with? Does he have webmail? Can he check?

Agreed This is also why I really recommend Gmail. You can pop3 it, you can imap it and in both case it saves everything.

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If the guiy turns out to be a &$%&$*&$*!!!! you can suggest a data recovery service such as SEAGATE offers yes he will pay thru the nose for the service but the chances for getting the data back increases

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