[GDH]

Hi,

It sounds l ike the files have been overwritten with other data.

At the start of the disk is a table called the Master File Table. Each file on the pc has MFT record within this table.

An MFT record points to the location of the disk where a file resides. This is even true of deleted files.

However, it is possible that that location on the disk for the deleted file can be used by Windows to store new data, thus overwriting what was previously there.

The MFT record does not know this, and it is still used to recover the file. It is only when you open it that you find it is full of gibberish - i.e. the data that has been recoverd does not belong to that file and cannot be properly read by the opening program.