# Data recovery from Ext HD **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 10, 2009, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/data-recovery-from-ext-hd/502562 "2009-07-10T15:03:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/data-recovery-from-ext-hd/502562/1 "2009-07-10T15:03:02Z")
Checked the sticky above and didn’t see anything on this, so… I recently had to change hard drives on my computer. In doing this, I moved some files from the old drive to an external HD for transfer to the new drive. Somewhere along the line, I deleted the files from the external drive before the transfer to the new one (late night, in a hurry, etc). I should point out that that I realized what I had done shortly after doing it, and haven’t written anything to the external drive since (haven’t done anything with it at all actually). The deletion was simple highlight and click “delete”, no fancy overwriting or anything (that I know of anyway, unless Windows does that automatically or something). If the external HD had a recycle bin, the files would be in it. It seems these should be easy to recover, so before I pay someone, is there something I could try. I’m looking at freeware like [Recuva](http://www.recuva.com/) or something similar. Good idea or would this possibly screw things up worse? Any other programs that you would recommend? Should I just grin and bear it and pay someone to do this? Thanks for any advice! ---
**Author:** ![HorseloverFat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8e8cbc/32.png) [@HorseloverFat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HorseloverFat)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/data-recovery-from-ext-hd/502562/2 "2009-07-10T18:08:07Z")
Each drive has a recycling bin, its a hidden folder. This site explains it and also recommends undelete software if you need some: [http://www.geekgirls.com/windows\_recycle\_bin.htm](http://www.geekgirls.com/windows_recycle_bin.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/data-recovery-from-ext-hd/502562/3 "2009-07-10T20:28:48Z")
Go to [Snapfiles.Com](http://Snapfiles.Com) or [FileHippo.Com](http://FileHippo.Com) and look up data recovery. There are a lot of free programs that will help you recover files as long as they have been rewritten over. If one doesn’t work try another. Sometimes one will find stuff the other doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/data-recovery-from-ext-hd/502562/4 "2009-07-10T21:46:02Z")
If it’s FAT, the old DOS UNDELETE command will work (supply your own first letter, done.). If it’s NTFS, you’ll need something special like **Markxxx** says.