Restoring Flash Drive Files or Ones Emptied from Recycle Bin

 

Step 1

Open your Web browser and download a free undelete application that lets you restore files deleted from USB flash drives or those emptied from the Recycle Bin. Free applications such Pandora Recovery, EaseUS Free USB Flash Drive Data Recovery and Easy File Undelete provide relatively easy-to-use interfaces that allow you recover and restore all types of deleted files from USB flash drives and external hard drives -- even those you already emptied from the Windows Recycle Bin (links in Resources.) Save the downloaded file in a folder on your computer.

Step 2

Click the Start button, then "Computer." Browse to the folder where you saved the undelete program setup file. Double-click the file and follow the prompts to install the application. Restart your computer if the setup wizard prompts you to do so.

Step 3

Connect the USB hard drive or flash drive to your computer and wait a few seconds for Windows to detect and initialize it automatically.

Step 4

Open the undelete application on your computer. Select the drive letter associated with the USB flash drive or external hard drive that contains deleted files you want to recover. Click the "Next" or "Search" button and then wait for the application to search the drive for deleted or changed file indexes and tables that indicate which files marked for deletion and removal. Depending on the size of the drive and the number of files on it -- both active and deleted ones -- the search for deleted files on the device may take only a few minutes or it might take a couple of hours. After the file search completes, the undelete programs displays a list of deleted filenames. Some applications might also display a graphic or icon of some sort indicating the chances of successful file recovery.

Step 5

Select the file or files on the USB drive that you want to recover. Click the "Recover To" or "Save In" drop-down box and select the folder on your primary system hard drive to which you want to save files you recover from the USB drive. Click the "Start," "Recover" or "Undelete" button and wait as the undelete software attempts to recover the deleted files and copy them to the selected folder. After the program completes the recovery and copy process, it displays a message providing details of which files it recovered successfully and those it could not restore.

Tips

• You can improve your chances of a successful recovery considerably if you run an undelete application immediately after deleting files inadvertently. The longer you wait to attempt recovery of the files, the less your chances of being able to restore them. Chances for a successful recovery diminish even further if you write or copy other files to the USB hard drive before running the undelete program. To ensure the best possible chance of recovery, download, install and run the undelete program as soon as you realize you deleted the needed files.

Warnings

• You can use the Restore function in Recycle Bin only for external USB hard drives and not flash drives. Windows treats flash drives as temporary storage devices and does create a Recycle Bin partition on them for storing deleted files. If you delete a file from a flash drive, the process bypasses the Recycle Bin and marks the file for removal immediately. If you copy a new file to the flash drive, Windows treats the area occupied by the file marked for removal just as it would any other free space on the device.