How to Recover Deleted Files From Network Drive

By TS Jordan

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A network drive is a shared drive that can be accessed by any member of the network and is useful as a type of communal storage space. However, accidents can occur with a shared drive, as one user will be able to destroy the data of another user. Almost anything is recoverable from a computer's hard drive, however, requiring only the use of a simple piece of file recovery software.

Step 1

Download and install a piece of file recovery software such as Recuva, Undelete, or NTFS Undelete. Install this hardware to the computer which is physically attached to the network drive. Some of these programs are freeware (such as Recuva and NTFS Undelete), so choose the one that best fits your budget. In general, the best approach is to start with a piece of free software to see if you can accomplish the recovery, then move to more expensive pieces of software.

Step 2

Run your chosen file recovery program. Upon startup, the file recovery software will scan your hard drive for recently deleted files and folders and display a list of recoverable files on screen. This is possible because upon deletion, a file is not removed from the drive, but is only renamed to something that is unrecognizable by your operating system.

Step 3

Select the file to be "undeleted" and click on the "Recover" button to restore it to your hard drive. This will simply change the file back to its original name, so that it can once again be seen by the operating system.

Step 4

Repeat as often as needed to recover additional files from the drive.

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