Ann Ferguson

A: If you've recently deleted a file via Windows Explorer by highlighting the file and pressing the <Delete> key, or by selecting Delete from the right-click menu, restoring the file will likely be a breeze.

That's because Windows did not really delete the file-it simply moved it to the Recycle Bin. To get the file back, you need only double-click the Recycle Bin icon on the desktop, find the file, right-click it, and select Restore.

Things get trickier if you deleted the file from within an app or at the DOS prompt. If you have emptied the Recycle Bin between deleting the file and realising it was a mistake, the deleted file's space on your drive has been made available to other files. But until another file uses that space, the data is still there and perhaps can be recovered. For that reason, avoid creating or changing files until you recover the lost one.

You'll need a special program to undelete the file. Be sure to install it before you need it, because installing a program involves putting files on your drive, and those files might overwrite the very deleted ones you need to recover.

DOS 6 came with such a program, simply called Undelete. Unfortunately, the program isn't in Windows 9x (Note: Microsoft hasn't kept Undelete up to date, and it doesn't work with FAT32 files.)

Utility suites such as Symantec's Norton Utilities (www.symantec.com) include undelete programs. (In Norton, launch the UnErase Wizard.) If you don't have one of these packages, I recommend Briggs Softworks' Directory Snoop (see Figure 1), a $US29 shareware program. You can download Directory Snoop from our cover CD or from www.briggsoft.com.

Of course, your best solution is to do all your deleting through the Recycle Bin, and think twice before you empty it. Keep your important files backed up, too.

By Lincoln Spector