# Missing MP3 files **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 26, 2004, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-mp3-files/252307 "2004-06-26T13:12:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RickQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@RickQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickQ)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2004, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-mp3-files/252307/1 "2004-06-26T13:12:30Z")
I have lost all the MP3 files I had on my PC. I don’t know when it happened, probably some time in the last month. I don’t know how it happened. I came to put some on my portable MP3 player and they were gone. I have tried searching for \*.mp3 but nothing shows up. I have the albums for about 99% of them, but there are some which I purchased online at Napster (now that it has gone legit). I know I can recopy all the songs from my albums, but that is going to be a pain in the butt and I still won’t have the other songs I paid for. Does anyone have any clues as to what could have happened or how I could find out? ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2004, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-mp3-files/252307/2 "2004-06-26T13:25:40Z")
> [@RickQ](#): > > I have the albums for about 99% of them, but there are some which I purchased online at Napster (now that it has gone legit). I know I can recopy all the songs from my albums, but that is going to be a pain in the butt and I still won’t have the other songs I paid for. Wait… since when does “Napster” sell MP3s? I thought they only had WMA files. Did this affect all music files on your PC, or only MP3s? ---
**Author:** ![Aagramn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Aagramn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aagramn)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2004, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-mp3-files/252307/3 "2004-06-26T13:30:58Z")
Try using an undelete utility on your computer. The files might just have been deleted, and a lot are probably still recoverable. As to how they went missing, do you have an up-to-date virus scanner and firewall? ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2004, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-mp3-files/252307/4 "2004-06-26T13:40:38Z")
When I had the Klez virus, it chewed through my mp3s mercilessly - I caught it within 10 minutes of downloading it, and in the end, it ate about 500 mp3s in very little time. If I’d not caught it right away, I imagine it could have eaten all of them no problem. Have you done a virus scan? Maybe it’s not a virus at all, or if it is, perhaps not Klez, but it’s worth a try. ---
**Author:** ![RickQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@RickQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickQ)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2004, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-mp3-files/252307/5 "2004-06-27T12:43:28Z")
**Mr2001** , I have also lost my wma files. For simplicity I just said mp3s because that is what the majority of my files were. **Aagramn** , I am using PC Cillin 2003, which I always keep up to date and which does have a personal firewall. I am going to look for an undelete utility, does anyone have any suggestions as to a good one? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2004, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-mp3-files/252307/6 "2004-06-27T13:02:56Z")
No problem. Whenever I accidentally delete a file, I just recover it from a backup. You do have a backup copy, don’t you? :dubious: :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2004, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-mp3-files/252307/7 "2004-06-27T13:21:30Z")
Yes, I’m sure he simply had a backup he could get the files from, but decided to post here anyway. Very helpful, **Musicat** … :rolleyes: **RickQ** , this might be too obvious to ask, but did you check your trash/recycle bin? I suppose your \*.mp3 search would have found these, but it couldn’t hurt to look. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2004, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-mp3-files/252307/8 "2004-06-27T13:29:25Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > Yes, I’m sure he simply had a backup he could get the files from, but decided to post here anyway. Very helpful, **Musicat** … :rolleyes: I know, I know. 🙂 But sometimes it takes a bad experience to learn that backups are important. It’s not a question of IF your hard drive will fail, but WHEN. The backup concept seems to be ignored by most home users, probably because Gates doesn’t make the process easy. So much grief could be avoided. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2004, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-mp3-files/252307/9 "2004-06-27T14:11:49Z")
If only smartassery could be avoided too… 😉 I have to admit I also do not back up my mp3/video media files, so no doubt I’ll lose a bunch of them if (or when) my drive crashes. My important documents and such can be compressed into something like 2 megabytes, so that’s easy to backup, I just upload it to my Yahoo! briefcase or email it to my gmail account. But my media files are like 21 gig (and of course already in compressed format). I know I should get a tape system of something though. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2004, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-mp3-files/252307/10 "2004-06-27T14:44:31Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > But my media files are like 21 gig (and of course already in compressed format). I know I should get a tape system of something though. Haven’t priced tape systems lately – I used to be a big fan of 'em – but consider a DVD burner. DVD burners are cheap, blanks are $1 and store 4.7GB (and double layer burners are just coming on market). Unlike tape, anything you burn to CD or DVD will play on most computers for a while to come; it’s random access; media is cheap, etc. It’ll save your ass! ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2004, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-mp3-files/252307/11 "2004-06-27T15:05:59Z")
Money’s pretty tight, so there will be no computer equipment purchasing by me for while. Plus, if I lose my media it wouldn’t be the end of the world. But, I think I’d prefer a system that can do it all to one piece of media, like I hope a tape drive could. Plus, I like reusable media, so I’d have like three tapes that I would alternate and re-use. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2004, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-mp3-files/252307/12 "2004-06-27T15:25:59Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > Money’s pretty tight, so there will be no computer equipment purchasing by me for while. Plus, if I lose my media it wouldn’t be the end of the world. > > But, I think I’d prefer a system that can do it all to one piece of media, like I hope a tape drive could. Plus, I like reusable media, so I’d have like three tapes that I would alternate and re-use. You could also use DVD-RWs. I have about five I use to burn test DVDs. I have [this drive](http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=27-136-029&DEPA=1). The price has even dropped since I bought it just two months ago. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2004, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-mp3-files/252307/13 "2004-06-27T15:46:07Z")
That might be a decent option, thanks. When my money situation improves, that might be the way I go. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![RickQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@RickQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickQ)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2004, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-mp3-files/252307/14 "2004-06-27T19:57:38Z")
I know I should back things up because I work in IT, but I have never investigated backing stuff up at home because it is a PITA and I don’t really know what the options are. I’m going to expand this thread to include: How can I back up valuable files easily? What is the best media to use (I already have a CD burner)? Is there any free/cheap software I can/should use? Cheers Rick ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2004, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-mp3-files/252307/15 "2004-06-27T20:56:12Z")
If it was a klez virus there ought to be vast destruction of other media files as well. Here is the list of what klez hits asp bak c cpp doc htm html jpg mp3 mpeg mpg pas pdf rtf txt wab xls It sounds like you might have accidently deleted your music directory. Have you been moving your mp3 files around in the last few weeks and accidently hit “select all” for a move or delete process ? Did you have your music files in the directory of a program that you uninstalled? ---
**Author:** ![RickQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@RickQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickQ)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2004, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-mp3-files/252307/16 "2004-06-28T00:22:34Z")
**astro** , I haven’t been moving them around recently. The only thing I do with them really is transfer them to my MP3 player. I don’t think I have removed any programs recently. I don’t often install things on this PC and I remove stuff even less. Thanks for the good ideas though. I’m going to keep searching for answers but if I don’t find any, I can re-copy them from my CDs. Up to this point I had only bought about a dozen or so songs, so I won’t have lost much.