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General discussion

Lost My Document files

Nov 19, 2003 5:08PM PST

Hi,
This is the first time I have posted but have been really frustrated.
A few weeks ago I noticed that many of the files in my "My Documents" folder were missing. I did not delete them.It is only the files with names starting from H-Z that are missing. The files starting with A-G still are in the folder. The weird thing is that I can still access some of these other files if I am in Photoshop and click on "My Recent Documents".
At about the same time my I/P hangs after first starting and I can't close it by Cntl-Alt-Dlt but only by restarting the computer. The only way I can access the Internet is by going through my HP support link which automatically logs onto the Internet.(This happened once before and I had to uninstall the I/P software and reinstall it.)
Background data: Windows XP, HP Pavilion model 523n,
80GB h/d, 512 MB memory.
I have tried to delete some unneeded programs. I tried to do a memory test but the computer said it was unable to run the test.
I did a system restore back to a date beyond which I last accessed one of the missing files but they did not come back into the folder.
Would appreciate any and all help.
Thanks, Cheryl

Discussion is locked

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Re:Lost My Document files
Nov 19, 2003 7:55PM PST

I did run into someone who didn't know how to scroll down a detailed view in Explorer. Your post is about what one could expect if they didn't know how to scroll the view.

Tell more. Is Windows new for you?

Bob

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Re:Re:Lost My Document files
Nov 20, 2003 5:14AM PST

No Windows is not new to me. I have done professional digital imaging and photo restoration for 4 years and I know how to scroll.

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Re:Lost My Document files
Nov 19, 2003 8:03PM PST

Did you do a search for those files to see if they still exist?

Start | Search.

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Re:Re:Lost My Document files
Nov 20, 2003 5:30AM PST

Yes, I did a search for some of the files that are missing but they did not show up on the search. I can still access some of them thru Photoshop by opening My Recent Documents. Another thing is that if I try to save a file starting with a letter higher than "G", it will not save to My Documents (don't know where it goes?). I created a folder named a-photo restoration to replace my Photo Restoration folder which I can access by My Recent Documents. I then have to individually save each file into the folder starting with "A". The folders that do show up still have files that start with all the letters.
Because many of my files are large graphic ones, I'm thinking it may be a memory problem but I can't figure out why, when I run a memory test, the computer states it is unable to run test.

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Re:Re:Re:Lost My Document files
Nov 20, 2003 5:43AM PST
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Re:Lost My Document files
Nov 20, 2003 6:40PM PST

r-studio 2.0 will recover anything

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r-studio 2.0
Jan 9, 2005 5:48AM PST

how do i work this?
thanks

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Re:Lost My Document files
Nov 22, 2003 8:22AM PST

A really easy way to fix problems that just appear like this is System Restore. Unlike Windows ME, XP's System Restore is very easy to use.

1. Go to Start-All Programs-Accessories-System Tools-System Restore
2. Select "Restore My Computer to an earlier time" and press Next.
3. Select a date on which these documents were there.
4. Follow through and answer the prompts appropriatly.

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sevenupdude!
Nov 22, 2003 11:31AM PST

Read the oryginal post again Sad(
"I did a system restore back to a date beyond which I last accessed one of the missing files but they did not come back into the folder"

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It's possible....
Nov 22, 2003 12:29PM PST

that you accidently moved them to another folder (I once accidently moved an entire directory). Since they are showing up in "recent documents", they're still on your PC somewhere.

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its not possible...
Jan 9, 2005 5:42AM PST

because the new files named with g-z also dissappear...
i have a similar problem only its all files in my my documents folder... quite distressing actually... for now i've just started using another folder but i would like to restore those files...
i have been able to download r-studio 2.0 and am about to try using it...
the other suggested programs could not be downloaded at the websites given...

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Desperate ? Try the unusual and...
Jan 9, 2005 9:57AM PST

...seemingly unconnected.

# See whether they appear in Safe Mode.
# Enable "show all files" and then search.
# Log in as the main Administrtor, and other user accounts.
# Open up other users' Documents....
# Ran a "check disk" for invalid file names....
# Ran sfc.
# etc.

Its crazy, but you never know....

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Re: Lost My Document files
Jan 9, 2005 1:16PM PST

Just in case you haven't found a solution.
Try doing a search for "jpg" files.
Start>Search>For Files or Folders and type *.jpg or *.doc

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Two other things
Jan 9, 2005 6:42PM PST

to try.

You say that these files appear in Photoshop "My Recent Documents"

If Photoshop uses the same "Recent" folder that Windows does, open up WIndows Explorer ad navigate to "Documents and Settings > Username, (Your username), > Recent, and see if there are any shortcuts to your files there. If so, right click a shortcut, select Properties, and under the "Shortcut" tab, click "Find Target".

If that doesn't work try this. Open up Photoshop, and open one of the recent files. Goto File > Save As, and see where Photoshop attempts to save the file to. It should try to save the file in the same folder it opened it from. If it does, then that is the folder where the original file is. Try that for each file in the Recent list.

Good luck,

Mark