A reader asks:

a long time ago i got a refurbished computer and i was using it normally but one day it turned off and the screen went blue and i think i accidentally restored it when it was starting up again.

all my data was lost cuz i guess i accidentally pressed the wrong button cuz when it came back on, everything was gone…so i kept using it like that and then the sound stopped working so i took it in to the store to get it fixed and they restored it again! but i kept using it like that.

but now i think i got viruses and my brother (I THINK) restored it again to get rid of them… in conclusion, is there ANY way i can get my ORIGINAL stuff back?? i know it’s pretty ridiculous to hope but i just wanted to know…

Rob Says:

Aw, sorry there’s nothing that can really be done at that point. Basically the way data recovery works is, you can get stuff back as long as nothing has been re-written over the space where it used to be.

By 2 or 3 restores, there’s probably nothing left of the original data from before. If something bad happens again, there’s a chance you can recover your data – just don’t restore it! That will probably write over the spots where your information was before.

Of course I have to give the standard advice of “Always Have a Backup”. I love these:

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=WD+Passport&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=11207888701682775106&ei=5QPpSba8Np30tAOJ7ZD0AQ&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&resnum=4&ct=result#ps-sellers

$85 for a 320GB drive that’s pretty small and just one cable is really a great deal, and probably more space than you have on your laptop.

I hope that helps! Sorry about your data

Best,

Rob

PS: To restore data, I am a fan of Prosoft Data Rescue II for Mac and Data Rescue PC for PC. http://www.prosofteng.com/