# Hard Disk Recovery **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 5, 2003, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-disk-recovery/211533 "2003-11-05T12:04:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SummersSon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7993a0/32.png) [@SummersSon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SummersSon)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2003, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-disk-recovery/211533/1 "2003-11-05T12:04:21Z")
So, recently i dug up my old Pentium 1, to relive some old Commander Keen Memories, etc… when i rememberd that someone thought that because i had a new Athlon 1Ghz computer i wouldnt need the P1, and ran the “delete d:\games” command Oh yes, my rage was indiscribable, but i’ve cooled down since then, and have recently been pondering… in what i’ve learnt about computers: the delete command doesnt acually scrub the hard disk, but just marks areas to be written over… now i know that nothing (or very little) has been written since the devious “delete” command. so what are the chances that i could recover some of my old time memories? Rewrite history with the zulus, by having every world wonder every built in the same city Run through a mad labryinth with a prince in white pyjamas Turn a total wuss whose only skill is holding his breath into a famous pirate… any chance at all? ---
**Author:** ![SlickRoenick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@SlickRoenick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlickRoenick)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2003, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-disk-recovery/211533/2 "2003-11-05T12:23:00Z")
Entries are deleted from the FAT but the files are still on the disk. [www.hackers.com](http://www.hackers.com) has a SecureClean program for about $30 that will show you the files that have been deleted/still available for recovery/ and wipe the disk clean. There are other programs that will wipe disks but i don’t know of anything free. ---
**Author:** ![SummersSon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7993a0/32.png) [@SummersSon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SummersSon)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2003, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-disk-recovery/211533/3 "2003-11-05T13:30:46Z")
Umm, thats cool 30 squids is rather a lot though… does anyone know of a cheaper version of this? ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2003, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-disk-recovery/211533/4 "2003-11-05T17:27:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SummersSon \* > \*\*Umm, thats cool > 30 squids is rather a lot though… > does anyone know of a cheaper version of this? \*\* MS DOS [Undelete](http://www.computerhope.com/undelete.htm) is free. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2003, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-disk-recovery/211533/5 "2003-11-05T22:22:21Z")
What operating system? Don’t write to the HD. Try [download.com](http://download.com) might be some undeleters there. ---
**Author:** ![SlickRoenick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@SlickRoenick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlickRoenick)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2003, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-disk-recovery/211533/6 "2003-11-06T02:18:07Z")
But if running FAT32 or NTFS, **undelete** won’t do anything b/c it can’t even read the disk at all. ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2003, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-disk-recovery/211533/7 "2003-11-06T07:27:36Z")
Undelete’ll work… I’ve used Drive Rescue (v 1.9b) to undelete files from a FAT32 system. (Note that the guy released that version free, but charges for his later versions so you have to search a bit). Try to make sure you’re undeleting to a location other than the drive in question. If it really is CK you’re after, I bet you can get it online. [This site](http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Castle/1561/keen.htm) claims to have it. For old games you can’t buy anymore, it’s probably easier to go to some [abandonware](http://www.the-underdogs.org/) site and see if they’ve got it. ---
**Author:** ![SummersSon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7993a0/32.png) [@SummersSon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SummersSon)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2003, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-disk-recovery/211533/8 "2003-11-06T13:55:05Z")
thanks for the replys i’m running win95 on the old p1, although i think NT is installed too… i’m not sure which one of the two was used to run the delete command though i’ll try some of these things suggested tonight