up vote 0 down vote favorite
share [g+] share [fb]

Is there a way to recover overwritten txt file, my system went crazy and put nulls in one file . I know what text should be in this file, so something what can search through hdd for text might be needed.

link|improve this question
50% accept rate
chances are low on this – Michael K Sep 9 '11 at 12:27
@Michael Unless you know how the software that changed the file contents works, there's no way to say for sure. Some programs perform atomic saves by saving to a temporary file, removing the original, and then renaming the new file. In this case, it's quite possible to find the original file. – Daniel Beck Sep 9 '11 at 13:12
Well if I had something what can search for text located on hdd, I think it will be good for me, but it would have to search sector by sector – Darqer Sep 9 '11 at 13:44
feedback

1 Answer

up vote 0 down vote

The best method is to restore the file from one of your daily or weekly backups.

The second best way is probably to use something like Recuva. Tools like this probably can't recover the overwritten sectors but might find an older version of the text file if you are very lucky and edited the file a lot.

link|improve this answer
feedback

Your Answer

 
or
required, but never shown
discard

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.