Software for reclaiming deleted files

[Seajay]

Hi all Did something rather stupid yesterday. Was in the hide after I'd just cleaned and replenished the bird tables and feeders when my robin perches some 6' away and begins it's song! I've been waiting for him to do this for ages! Took 34 shots. Conditions were very poor with low light and rain but I managed to get 30 excellent shots with the added bonus of reflections in a raindrop just above the bird's head. Resulted in a group of shots that stand out from the rest if you get what I mean. Downloaded them to Picture Project and processed them - colours spot on (I often find this with using auto on this application no need to do any more processing).
Next up comes Elements 6 and I downloaded the NEF files just to experiment. Did 4 of them on auto but didn't like the colours (colour cast and they were not true) so deleted the lot and you guessed it - deleted them from the hard drive and of course the files in Picture Project cannot connect now! Talk about devastated! Had a look on the internet for file recovery software but the choice is bewildering. Anyone recommend anything?
One of the chaps in the IT Dept at the college where I work is pretty confident he can recover them from the memory card even though I deleted them at download from camera so fingers crossed.

[glsammy]

The memory card is the way to go. You can download a free utility, do a search for PC inspector and install it. You tell it where the card is, and it will recover them.
One thought, have you checked your recycle bin? If all you did was delete them, they should be there. In which case you can un-delete them just as quick!

[Seajay]

Hi Graham. Checked the recycle bin to restore but nothing! Perhaps Elements 6 bypasses the bin?
Will check PC Inspector out. Thanks.

[Ukwildlifeo]

the best program Ive found is Rescue Pro, the one you get free with san disk extreme SD cards. Not if its avalible seperately

[HowlinWolf]

I agree with Graham, here. This time last year, I accidentally turned-off an external hard drive without ejecting it first, thus temporarily loosing all that was on it! I downloaded PC Inspector Smart Recovery and used it to recover all the data on that drive. If it works on a drive, it should be easy to retrieve data from a memory card, which will still have the files you deleted until you overwrite them.

Good luck.

HW

[pressld2]

Originally Posted by glsammy

One thought, have you checked your recycle bin?

That was going to be my suggestion too. I know if I tell Lightroom to "Delete from disk" it sticks them in the recycle bin, and it's an Adobe product just like PS Elements. I wonder if it's something that can be configured? No help for your current problem, I know, but might prevent similar mishaps in future.

Good luck with PC Inspector - let us know how you get on.

Dave P.

[Seajay]

Thankyou all for you help. I've downloaded Pc Inspector and when I've finished my night shifts I'll try and work out how to use it (not particularly good with computers and at first glance the instructions look sparce).
My friend in IT at work has the memory card so with a bit of luck he'll retrieve the files.
I'll put one of the shots on this thread if all goes well (if I can work out how to do it. Uploading to the Gallery is easy but I've never had success putting an image into a posted reply as yet. Bit of a bind really).