How do I recover .aspx.cs files?

Question

I accidentally deleted my root project folder. I was able to recover the other files except *.ASPX.CS files. So far I tried Recuva & Pandora.

Any idea how I can recover a double extension file? Please don't blow off saying this is not a programming question. I have 2 weeks worth of coding in these files and lost my project backups also.

Answer 1

You could try looking in the Temporary ASP.NET folder - you might be able to find some remnants of your files there. This is usually C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v[XXXX]\Temporary ASP.NET Files or sometimes C:\Users\[myuserid]\AppData\Local\Temp\Temporary ASP.NET Files

Version control is your friend in these cases.

Answer 2

If you still have the project's DLL file(s) somewhere, e.g., on a test server, you may be able to reverse engineer the C# from those. See post by Caddre in this thread:

.NET reverse engineering links

Answer 3

Jetbrains has a tool called dotPeek which can decompile any managed assembly. It works extremely well and, best of all, it's free. In order to get your source code back, you'll need a copy of your web site's binaries.

Answer 4

A file recovery util often work pretty well. At least it will show file name and a message that file content is rewritten by another file. If it doesn't show special file types at all (like *.cs for C# project (yes, *.aspx.cs file's extension is .cs)) most likely this only means these files aren't deleted. Why? Because something saved it fot you.

E.g., on Windows System restore is enabled by default and will track all *.exe, *.ini, *.ico, *.cs, etc. files. You can use something like System Restore Explorer to browse restore points (not working on Windows XP) or browse it by hands: <drive letter>:\System Volume Information\_restore<GUID>\RP<integer>\<new short name>.<original ext> (and original modification date).