The times have moved on from optical storage (CDs, DVDs) to drive storage. Everyone computer user today owns at least 1 zip/pen drive and / or an external hard disk drive. But what happens if data in it gets deleted or is simply vanished suddenly – could be a virus' job or simply an accident. Some people get frustrated and even formats the disk or drive assuming that all's lost already. But that's not the case always – read on to know how to retrieve your valuable files and folders that you thought were deleted.
It's worth noting here that this post explains how to retrieve such files without installing any software by using the DOS Commands. Here's how:
First, we must know which drive letter has been assigned to the pen drive (E.g. D:\).
Type CMD in Run command and hit enter – this will take us to DOS prompt window.
In the DOS prompt window, type in the drive letter of the pen drive. In this e.g. D:\
Now type: DIR/AD. This will list only the directories in the pen drive. If you need to move in to one of the listed directories, use the CD command.
This clearly lists out all the files that you thought were deleted!
That showed the list of items, now how to retrieve them? It's a set of DOS commands! Type this (there are spaces in between the attributes):-
Attrib -r -s -h /s /d D:*.*
Check your pen drive now – all the files and folders will be restored. This will also show up and virus infected folders that made all your files invisible in the first place. You may now use this chance to copy only the required files and delete the rest.
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