Lost Data

Welcome to Backup Critic, an information resource about Windows backups. You've landed on our "lost data" page, which hopefully means you're interested in that topic (and hopefully doesn't mean you just wiped out your only copy of the Great American Novel). Here are a few links into our site that you might find helpful.

The Recycle Bin

If you're lucky, you can get back a file you just deleted with just a couple of minutes of clicking! That's the great thing about the Windows Recycle Bin -- when it saves the day (by recovering your lost data), it's the greatest thing since sliced cheese. Hop over to our Recycle Bin page to learn how the recycle bin works, how to get lost data back out of it, and why it doesn't always catch all deleted files.

How to Undelete Files

If the Recycle Bin doesn't have the file you just deleted, it's still possible you could get that lost data back. When you first delete a file, there's a good chance that file's lost data isn't really lost -- at least not right away. With a little luck and the right software, you can still get that lost data back by undoing what the operating system did when it deleted your file. Our Undelete page can give you more information about this process.

Data Recovery

Of course, not all lost data is due to you accidentally pressing the wrong key. The things we store data on sometimes just stop working, leading to the worst kind of lost data. Even then, however, not all hope is lost. If you have the money, a variety of firms can do an amazing job of recovering lost data from dead hard drives, scratched recordable CDs, bent recordable DVDs, and other mishaps of media.

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