Recover My Files Data Recovery Software 3.40 Online Manual

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q. If I purchase a product activation key on-line, how long will it take to be sent to me?

A. When you purchase on-line your product activation key is provided in web page at the end of the purchase process. It is also then sent to you by email. However, if there is a delay in your credit card provider authorizing the transaction, your product activation details will only be sent to you by email and only after credit card validation has taken place. For further purchase information, visit our Customer Care Center.

Q. My product activation key says that it is invalid?

A. If you have entered a valid product activation key but it fails check the following:

• Did you cut and paste both the user name and the key into the fields provided in the product activation screen?

• Are you using at latest Version, as your key may not work with earlier versions? The latest version is available from www.recovermyfiles.com or by clicking the "Update" button (in version 2.53 and greater).

• If you have recently updated the version of Recover My Files that you are using you may need to update your registration key. Update your key on-line here.

• Are you trying to register Recover My Files on a CD? Unless you include a file called "RecoverMyFiles.ini" on the CD, you will need to enter the product activation key each time you run the program from CD. The file "RecoverMyFiles.ini" should be a plain text file (create it using Winodows Notepad) containing your product activation details in the following format:
  
  [Registration]
  UserName=Your user name
  UserKey=Your registration key

If you continue to have product activation problems, please contact us via http://support.getdata.com?group=RMF.

Q. Can Recover My Files recover files from a CD?

A. Recover My Files will recognize a limited number of CD file formats. If you get a message stating "Recover My Files does not recognize the file system on Drive D:" then it will not work. You need to search the Internet for CD recovery software.

Q. Does Recover My Files Work on a RAID System?

If your RAID system is functional then Recover My Files will work. We recommend you search the logical RAID drive (e.g.: drive C:).

If your RAID system is not functional and you are running a Mirror then Recover My Files will recover files from either of the hard drives.

If your RAID system is not functional and you are using a Striping RAID then you will not be able to recover files (as a single file is written to two or more physical hard drives). We suggest you search the Internet for a specialised RAID repair tool.

Q. What is the difference between a "Deleted File " and a "Lost File"?

A. "Deleted Files" are those files that can be recovered by searching for Microsoft Windows file reference information which remain on your computer's hard drive. This is the standard method used by data recovery programs.  

"Lost Files" are files that no longer have Microsoft Windows file reference information remaining.  Recover My Files searches the entire hard drive and identifies these files by their structure (i.e. unique header, content, and footer information). Because the Microsoft Windows file reference information is no longer present the original name of the file is no longer available.  Recover My Files renames Lost Files in the format "Recovered_[filetype]_1".   

Q. How do I rename a "Lost File", e.g. "Recovered_[filetype]_1" back to its original name?

A. For "Lost Files" the original file name has been destroyed but the content remains intact.  

If the lost files are Microsoft Office documents with file properties, such as "Author" and "Title" it may help you to rename the files using the properties as the file name. If you have recovered a large number of Microsoft Word documents as Lost Files you may wish to try our automated Mass Renaming utility which is available for free download from our online knowledge base at: http://support.getdata.com/?group=RMF&_a=downloads

To use the Mass Renaming utility, run the program and then drag and drop the files you want to rename into the grid at the top of the program window. Select the properties you would like in the file name. Click "Test" to see the results of the renaming without finalizing the renaming process. Select "Rename" when you are happy with the new filenames.

Q. Can I run Recover My Files from CD?

A. When you install Recover My Files on you computer the file "RecoverMyFiles.exe" is written to your computer (the default installation folder is "C:Program FilesGetDataRecoverMyFiles"). To run Recover My Files from a CD, or any other location, copy the RecoverMyFiles.exe file to a CD and then execute this file from the CD.

Unless you also include a file called "RecoverMyFiles.ini" on the CD, you will need to enter the registration key each time you run the program from CD. The file "RecoverMyFiles.ini" should be a plain text file (create it using Windows Notepad) containing your registration details in the following format:

[Registration]
UserName=Your user name
UserKey=Your registration key

Using the Recover My Files CD Front End

If you would like to use our CD front end, shown here:

download the following file: http://www.recovermyfiles.com/downloads/Autorun.zip (9MB). This zip file contains the following:

1. ‘RecoverMyFiles.exe: This is the Recover My Files program.

2. ‘RecoverMyFiles-Help.chm': The Help File.

3. 'RMF_PDF.dll': A file that enable the preview of PDF files in the results window.

4. ‘WinAspi32.dll’: This file enables Recover My Files to save files found to a CD or DVD.

5. ‘CDB_WIN32.dll’: This file enables Recover My Files to save files found to a CD or DVD.

6. ‘Autorun.exe’: This program automatically starts the Recover My Files CD when it is inserted into a CD drive.

7. ‘Autorun.inf’: This file automatically starts the Recover My Files CD when it is inserted into a CD drive.

8. ‘RecoverMyFiles.ini’: Insert your Recover My Files product activation details in this file (if the contents of this file are not changed Recover My Files will run in Evaluation Mode).

In order to save files found by Recover My Files, a product activation key must be entered into the program. When running Recover My Files from CD it is best to permanently ‘activate’ the CD, otherwise you will need to enter your product activation details each time the CD is used. Activate the CD by editing the file "RecoverMyFiles.ini" to insert your product activation name and key (which can be purchased online at www.recovermyfiles.com) in the following format;

[Registration]
UserName=Paste your product activation name here
UserKey=Paste your product activation key here

Burn the above files to a CD. Once the CD is inserted into your computer the Recover My Files should start automatically (if it does not, navigate to the file 'Autorun.exe’ and run this file).

Q. When performing a Complete Search Recover My Files takes a long time. How do I speed up the search?

A. You can speed up the search by reducing the number of file types that Recover My Files is searching for.  This can be done either at the start of the search when selecting the file types or during the search by selecting the "Options" button.  You can also preview the recovered files as the search takes place.  If you have located the file you wish to retrieve, simply stop the search, select the file (by placing a tick in the box) and save the file.

Q. The preview window says "Preview not available for this file type".  Can I still recover this file?

A. Yes, it is still possible that the file may be recovered. The reason why a recovered file may not preview is because Recover My Files does not yet have the ability to preview the contents for that file type.  One option you have is to go to the "Options" button, select the "General" tab and turn on the "Show unknown file types in Hex view".  This will allow you to see the "raw" binary contents of any unknown file type.

Q. The preview window says "Corrupt File, Preview not available".  What does this mean?

A. This occurs when the beginning of a located file is correct, however the internal contents are damaged and therefore the file cannot be previewed by Recover My Files.  It is unlikely that a file which displays this message will be viewable once it is saved. However, there are some tools available to repair specific file types. First try and open the saved file with its creating application. If this does not work, you may try to open the file using another utility application (for example, Irfanview from http://www.irfanview.com/ can often open partially corrupted pictures). If you are still not able to read the file search the Internet for a repair tool specific to your file type.

Q. Is it always possible to recover files emptied from the Windows Recycle Bin?

A. Not always. When you empty a file from the Windows Recycle Bin the contents of the file remain on your hard drive.  Windows makes the space occupied by the deleted file available for use.  If a new file is saved to the same area of the hard drive it will overwrite the deleted files contents, permanently erasing it.  This is why we recommend that you limit the use of your hard drive from which the file needs to be recovered.

Q. I have accidentally formatted my drive. How do I recover my files?

A. If you have lost important files due to the format of your hard drive the best option is to use the "Complete Format Recover" search.  Recover My Files uses a different approach to other data recovery programs when recovering from a format.  Recover My Files searches for lost Windows file records (MFT records and FAT entries) and Lost Files simultaneously.  It then uses an advanced algorithm to reconstruct any partitions. We recommend that you only select 4 or 5 file types to search for that you know were on the partition prior to the format taking place.  If you have accidentally formatted your Windows installation drive then we highly recommend searching for .WAV, .DOC, .XLS and .AVI files as these commonly occur on most Windows installations.   

Q. My drive has disappeared. How do I recover my files?

A. Sometimes a problem can happen that makes a drive no longer be recognized by Windows. The drive letter can disappear altogether or a message will be displayed saying "The drive is not formatted. Do you want to format the drive now?". Often this happens because of the incorrect use of "FDISK" command, or it can happen for no apparent reason at all.  

Recover My Files can recover data in this situation. First try a "Fast Format Recover". This will scan your drive to see if the lost partitions can be quickly rebuilt. If this does not locate your data then try a "Complete Format Recover". You may need to search the "Physical" drives if you cannot see a drive letter in the drive selection window.

Q. I recover lots of graphics and HTML files that I have never even seen before. Where do they all come from?

A. You are probably looking at files written to you computer during the normal process of surfing the web. A Windows computer uses an "Internet Cache", which saves web page files to your hard drive while you are visiting web pages.  The purpose of the cache is to speed up Internet access by only downloading web page content that has changed since you last visited a web page and reusing the files that are stored in the cache.  On Windows 2000/XP the cache is stored separately for each user of a PC.  

Many users regularly delete their cache, causing many deleted graphics files and HTML files to be deleted.  Recover My Files can recover and view these files.  By performing a search for Graphics and HTML web pages you can potentially view the web pages that have been previously visited by users on a PC.  Using this method it is possible to recover web based email content such as Hotmail and Yahoo mail.  

We also recommend that you add the following folders to your search so as to view and locate pages contained within the cache that has not yet been deleted. For Windows 2000/NT/XP add the folder "C:Documents and Settings".  For Windows 95/98/ME add the folder "C:Windows".

Q. Where do I save my recovered files?

A. You must save the recovered files to another drive or storage media. This is so that the recovered files do not overwrite the other important data on the hard drive being searched.  Some suggestions are:

• Network shared drives.  Map a network drive to a drive letter using Windows Explorer.

• USB flash drive.  These devices are relatively inexpensive and can hold many megabytes of valuable data.

• Removable drives such as Jazz^®, Zip^®, LS-120.

• Floppy disk.

• Writeable CD/DVD (you must be using Recover My Files Version 2.93 or above).