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I just deleted a file and I want to recover it. I have seen many similar questions in here suggesting using Photorec but this recovers everything and has an estimated search time of more than 4 hours in my case.

I just want to find a specific file by using its name. Is that possible with Photorec or other software?

Adam
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1 Answers1

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You can limit PhotoRec to search for a specific file type, for example jpeg files. It saves a lot of time and effort compared to searching for all files. PhotoRec uses typical patterns in the beginning of the data stored on the disk to identify, when a particular file starts, and what type it is.

I don't think it can search for a particular file [name]. So when the file 'is not in the trashcan', and there is no backup, I don't know any other tool than PhotoRec. The problem is exactly that the name and the address to the data is removed, and I know no way to get it back.

And it is very important to stop using the file system at once to avoid overwriting the file data; the location is now marked as 'unused' and available for other files. So shut down the computer. Boot from another drive and do not mount the partition when you run PhotoRec.

-o-

I remember from the old msdos days, that there was an 'undelete' program, but I think that the modern file systems are working in a different way and the work-space for names and addresses are probably re-used (overwritten) soon after a file was deleted. (I would also be happy to learn about an 'undelete' program, that works like the old 'undelete', and it will be interesting to find out if extundelete can recover the file.)

sudodus
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