Weekly Computer Tip # 122
6 August 2005

Restore deleted items (Microsoft Windows)

Apparently as much as 65% of loss of data is caused by accidental deletions. This can obviously lead to decisions based on incomplete or out-of-date information, causing loss of time, money and productivity - not just loss of your file! Luckily, most of the time we realise our mistake immediately (recognise that sinking feeling?!) in which case we can easily recover the item from the Recycle Bin and return it to its original location.

Here's how:

1. Double-click the Recycle Bin on your desktop.
2. Right-click the item you want to restore.
3. Select Restore from the short-cut menu.

To retrieve several items at once, hold down CTRL, and then click each item that you want to retrieve. When you have finished selecting the items you want to retrieve, right-click any of the selected items and click Restore. Or to move all items back to their original locations, click the "Restore All" button (Windows 2000) or "Restore All Items" hyperlink (Windows XP) that appears on the left side of the Recycle Bin window.

Please note items deleted from network locations or from a removable disk, such as a USB flash drive, are not sent to the Recycle Bin and therefore cannot be restored. Similarly, if you did the SHIFT-trick as described in tip # 42 (http://www.roem.co.uk/tip_42.html) the item is permanently deleted without placing it in the Recycle Bin.

Rest to advise that if you don't want to live an emotional roller coaster, you should make regular back ups! (My halo is choking me.)

Until next week.

PS I’m committed to sharing the best of what I know with others so please don’t keep me a secret. If you enjoyed today’s tip, please forward it to anyone you feel may benefit. Alternatively, feel free to reprint it (with full copyright and subscription information) in your newsletters and message boards.

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