A few questions

[Maxal]

I wanted to know is there any timeframe after which data cannot be recovered? Like after 1 year or so?
Secondly and basically, I want to recover a folder which I had deleted accidently. I know the name of the folder. The folder was residing on a partition of my C drive which was named D. C was formatted and system was reinstalled but this folder was safe there on D and was deleted by me some days later. can I make a search with the title fo the folder?

Thanx

[GDH]

The length of time after which a deleted file can be recovered is determined by the useage pattern of the PC after the deletion.

A deleted file will stay on a computer system up until the space occupied by that file on the hard drive is used to store new data. Once a deleted file has been overwritten then it is permanently destroyed.

There are many factors which influence how quickly a deleted file gets overwritten, but basically the more you use your computer after the event the more chance you have of overwriting and destroying deleted files. Essentially if you keep using your computer heavily and the deleted files are on C: drive then it just comes down to luck as to what deleted files are overwritten.

Microsoft Windows has tends to dump large amounts of data on a drive as part of its normal operation. To avoid the risks of overwriting and destorying that was deleted from your C: drive the safest thing you can do is remove the drive and connect it to another comptuter as a secondary drive. There is virtually no risk that data will be written to a D: drive, unless of course it is specifically done by the user.

You cannot use Recover My Files to search only for a specific folder. You need to run a Complete Format Recover and then look in Folder View for either that folder name or specific files that were located inside this folder.

[Maxal]

Thanx GDH for the prompt and indepth reply.

As I said earlier that my disk was partitioned into two drives and the said folder was saved on the D part of the disk. But physically speaking, it was one. So I understand that it will be considered as only one (C) drive. Right? And C was not formated.

Secondly, it has been over a month since the folder was deleted. Since then, the PC is being used only to hear music, play games and Yahoo and MSN chatting. No huge amont of files has been deleted since then. Does it improve my chances to recover that folder? Another thing, I am out of town for another 3 months and won't have access to my PC for this much of time. Could you please suggest me measures to improve chances of recovery?

Thank you again
Max

[GDH]

As long as your D: drive is not being used by Windows then you are relatively safe from data being written to the drive. If someone writes data to the D: drive then you are at risk of overwriting and destroying deleted files. The sure way to preserve it is to turn it off for 3 months.