How to restore files in "E:\RECYCLED" directory?

[miles]

Hey guys, somehow one of my main media folders [with alot of my recorded videos/pictures/music etc] on my slave drive has ended up missing. The hard drive is 115GB FAT32.

After using a program called jdisk ive found out the folder thats gone missing [Recieved Files] is in the E:\RECYCLED directory.
If i right click on E:\RECYCLED and scan it with my firewall it scans all the files that are in the directory im missing so the folder is definitely still in there somewhere

image1: i6.photobucket.com/albums/y218/views/jdisk.jpg

However, when i go to the RECYLED directory, it says its empty, even when 'show hidden files and folders is enabled.'
Although: If I right click on the RECYCLED directory and go to properties it clearly shows the missing folder is in there. [13.2gb]

image2: i6.photobucket.com/albums/y218/views/harddrivewtf.jpg

Is there a simple method to get this missing folder out of "RECYCLED" and back into its normal place or do I need to invest in some file recovery software?

Thanks in advance! Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

p.s. If its relevant im using windows xp sp2

[charleski]

http://www.freebyte.com/filediskutils/#datarecovery has a bunch of free tools. Just remember to restore everything to a different drive and don't write anything new to the old one until you're sure you have your files back.

[miles]

Thanks for the reply. I'll give them ago.
Once ive restored the files, how can i permanently erase the "Received Files" folder from "E:\RECYCLED"?
Its taking up around 12gb that I cant access so i might as well completely get rid of it.
Im still confused how the folder ended up there in the first place, reckon my hard drives dying?

[CrazyMonkey]

Eraser (http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/) it will completely delete a file you can set the number of passes it does (how thorough it is).
If you have problems deleting a file, try Unlocker (http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/)

[charleski]

del "E:\Recycled\Received Files"
Always worth a try.

[miles]

del "E:\Recycled\Received Files"
Always worth a try.

Problem is according to windows the folder isnt there
When I put "E:\Recycled\Received Files" into explorer it says
"Cannot find 'file:///E:/Recycled/Received%20Files'. Make sure path or internet address is correct.
And when I go into E:\Recycled\ its just an empty folder.

Will anything happen if i simply deleted the whole "E:\RECYCLED" directory considering its 'hidden because its a "protected operating system file"?

Im so confused

[charleski]

Open a command window (Start->Run, type cmd.exe) and type into it cd "E:\Recycled\Received Files" (with the quotation marks) and see if that works. Sometimes Explorer gets confused.

[EvilMunky]

Might be worth doing as charleski says and grabbing the data recovery tools and seeing where you get with them. I have used many for different recovery situations, and the great thing about fat32 is, you seem to always be able toget stuff back as long as the disk isnt full.

I would be tempted to run some checkdisks and maybe even something like norton disk doctor to try and figure out if the hard drive is on the way out. might be a good idea to copy the good stuff off, if you have space, just in case it is on the way out and you end up losing more.

Another thing to try, if possible, is booting into dos rather than windows. but use like the windows 98 startup disks - if they let you see both drives you might be able to get into the locked folders.

good luck - let us know the outcome

[Splash]

what happens if you takee the disk out and mount it as a slave in another machine?

[miles]

Hey guys, good news!
Firstly thanks for all the help you've given me, much more replies on here than any other forum!
Using a program called "Recover My Files 3" I succesfully restored the whole "Received Files" directory from E:\RECYCLED onto my C:\ drive so I now have all my files back!
This means now all Id like to do now is empty the "RECYCLED" folder on my E:\ so i can free up the 12GB.

@charleski, when I put "E:\RECYCLED\Received Files" into cmd, it says ""E:\RECYCLED\Received Files" is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.

@EvilMunky, Ill try and get norton disk doctor asap

@Splash, unforunately I dont have another machine

Do you think its safe to just delete "E:\RECYCLED" or will it mess up my computer?
The only reason im worried that it will mess up my computer is because I can only see the RECYCLED folder when I uncheck "Hide protected operating system files."
When I uncheck the above it says 'deleting or editing these files can make your computer inoperable'

i6.photobucket.com/albums/y218/views/whatitsayswhenimakeRECYCLEDvisible.jpg

The 12GB[ish] isnt vital so I might just ignore it, but if there is a safe way to get the space back, please let me know!

Thanks again guys.