Recover My Files uses three methods to find and recover your files. These methods are to:
Search Temporary and User-Defined folders
Search for "Deleted" Files
Search for "Lost" Files
Many software applications automatically create temporary files without the users' knowledge or intervention. Notable examples are Microsoft Office products like Word, Excel and PowerPoint. In the event of file loss, recovered temporary files may contain exact copies of the files that you were working on just prior to deletion of the original.
Recover My Files is configured to search the "default" folders that contain temporary files on your computer. You can alter these settings in the second wizard screen when conducting a search. The following screen capture shows two folders which be searched for temporary files:
You can add new folders to search by simply double-clicking on the text at the bottom of the list. Or you can double-click on a folder to delete it from the search. By default, Recover My Files will search the Recycle Bin and the Documents and Settings folder. Research indicates that these two folders are most likely to contain lost or temporary files.
It may seem obvious that when your computer's Recycle Bin is emptied, all contents of the files it contained are permanently deleted. However this not necessarily so, as the file data usually remains on the drive until the Operating System copies new data over it (typically when a new file is created. Recover My Files will scan your computer for such Deleted Files, including those previously emptied from the Recycle Bin. When such a Deleted File is located, Recover My Files will analyse it; if it is of a File Type that is recognisable by Recover My Files, then it will be recovered into the folder of the matching application. If the Deleted File can be recovered but its File Type cannot be recognised then it is recovered into the "Other Types" folder.
Note: Deleted Files of unknown type can be recovered but their content cannot be previewed.
A Lost File is different from a Deleted File because there is no longer any reference to its location or even to its properties in the Operating System [i.e. Windows]. Whereas "Deleted Files" may retain properties such as Filename, Created Date, Last Modified Date and Size, "Lost Files" do not. Furthermore, "Lost Files" cannot be recovered using many commonly-used Undelete utilities. It is the ability of Recover My Files to recover Lost Files - as distinct from files that have merely been deleted - that differentiates it from other utilities and applications. Recover My Files uses advanced algorithms to find lost files by searching for and examining the entire hard disk (or other media such as a floppy or CD) and reconstructing the file from remaining binary data traces, which are invisible to other Undelete utilities.