HELP - files recovered cannot open them

[ViolentA79]

What i did was i installed vista, moved all my my documents and favorites back to the c drive and then something went weird so i reinstalled a fresh copy of windows forgetting to backup my mydocs. Recover my files has supposedly recovered the my documents folder and i can see all the files, BUT when i try to open them after saving, all the files are not opening. Any idea what the problem might be and why i cannot open them?? This is all my word, access, excel files... they just won't open...

[GDH]

In the Recover My Files resulsts screen can you actually click on the files found and preview the contents of the .doc and .xls files in the Recover My Files preview window?

[ViolentA79]

I can preview, but what i see is not what the file should be. I can see the file types and file names of the files i lost... but it seems they do not contain the info...

[GDH]

What type of search did you run with Recover My Files?

If you are running one of the Format Recover options then you are recovering files using the old Operating System file records (MFT) records. Every file on a PC has a MFT record which contains the name of the file and the location of the data for that file on the disk. In your case it would appear that the file names are still intact but the location to which they point no longer contains valid data.

In your situation it would be best to run a "Complete File Search" specifically for .doc and .xls files. Pay particular attention to files in the results screen that start with the name "Recovered_...". These files have been located by searching for the header and the footer and are thus more likely to contain valid content.

[ViolentA79]

I did a complete format search. I will let the complete file search run over night and check the results in the morning.

[ViolentA79]

One other piece of info that may help us here. I had the files backed up on my D drive. I then cut and pasted them to the C drive. I later did the re-format and lost them. Is there any way to possibly recover them from the D drive being that there were no changes or formats made... just a cut from and paste to c??

[GDH]

Yes, a 'cut and paste' is essentially the same thing as a 'copy and delete'. You should be able to find them on your D: drive.

[ViolentA79]

What search would work best for searching the d drive for cut and pasted files? I feel that may be my best bet for finding uncorrupted files. Also, when I do the complete file search on C should i do the C: drive or the 0 physical drive?

[GDH]

Run a Complete File Search on C. Run the same search on D. Search the drive letter not the physical drive.

[ViolentA79]

Still not showing these files. The only time i see them is when i do a complete format recovery but like i said i cannot open the files. I really think they should be on the d drive somewhere as i recently cut them and pasted them to c and then formatted a day later. They should still exist somewhere on d.