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Mad Poster
Original Poster
#1 Old 21st Aug 2018 at 3:46 AM

This user has the following games installed:

Sims 2, University, Nightlife, Open for Business, Pets, Seasons, Bon Voyage, Free Time, Apartment Life
Default Deleted my Downloads folder
I managed to delete my Downloads folder. DX I was copying it to the desktop so I could test hack free and accidentally deleted it from Downloads before it had finished copying, so not all of it was copied.

To add to that it told me that the folder was too big for the recycle bin and asked me if I wanted to permanently delete it, to which I said yes, because I thought that it had copied. Basically, I am an idiot. Of course, I also hadn't backed it up recently.

I was hoping that someone would know of a way to restore deleted files, so I don't lose it all and have to restart from an old backup. I've already tried the system restore points and in computer backups and it told me that there were none available. I also downloaded a file recovery program called Recuva and it found nothing. I think I'm screwed, but I was hoping that someone might know something else that I could try.
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Mad Poster
#2 Old 21st Aug 2018 at 3:54 AM Last edited by simmer22 : 21st Aug 2018 at 4:09 AM.
No idea how to restore it, but in the future you might want to make a folder on the desktop and move (either mark files and move, or cut/paste) the files over. Less chance of problems happening, and less chance of accidentally deleting something. And take frequent backups, of course - basically every time you've added a bunch of new files, edited a bunch of files, or otherwise done big changes, or when you haven't done it in a while. (Computers are moody beasts at best. The past few months I've had two computers starting to fail, and an external harddrive doing weird things, so take it from me - you never know when you'll need a recent backup).

Were the files on a regular HDD or a SSD? If they were on a HDD there's a possibility the files may be recoverable, but if they're on a SSD they really do get permanently deleted.

There's some info here: https://www.howtogeek.com/169344/ho...ultimate-guide/
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retired moderator
#3 Old 21st Aug 2018 at 8:20 AM
Noooooo! *Hugs @Charity *

You've tried everything I would have suggested; if you don't have file versioning and if Recuva can't find the files then they are pretty much gone, I'm afraid.
Mad Poster
Original Poster
#4 Old 21st Aug 2018 at 9:21 AM
I checked and the drive they were on is an HDD. I'm trying Recuva again. What is file versioning?
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#5 Old 21st Aug 2018 at 9:33 AM
No help, but lots of good luck sending. ~*~*~ Hope you get it all back.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
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retired moderator
Inventor
#7 Old 21st Aug 2018 at 10:41 AM
I'm not sure if it'll be the case for you, but my experience with Recuva retrieving my game files was that some of the files were shredded or corrupted. I hope that you won't experience the same though I thought you might want to know anyway. If I remember correctly, or maybe it was the program version I used (it's been a while since I used it), there's a window that tells you whether or not the file can be recovered intact, which was somewhat useful.

Also, it might not be useful to you at all and it depends how much storage you have, but I find it less stressful (in the way that I won't freak out if something is accidentally deleted, because once was enough!) to have separate Testing TS2 folders from all of my regular hoods. I have one that's just the game without any mods and CC at all so I can play around with hacks in a mod-free environment before dumping them into the second testing folder to see if they play well with my other usual mods. I'm not sure how it works for everyone else, but I find it easier to rename the TS2 folders depending on which one I want to use than moving folders around.

Wishing you good luck too!
The Great AntiJen
retired moderator
#8 Old 21st Aug 2018 at 12:16 PM
Even if they're corrupted when you retrieve them, at least you'll be able to see the filenames and maybe be able to find stuff that's missing.

I no longer come over to MTS very often but if you would like to ask me a question then you can find me on tumblr or my own site tflc. TFLC has an archive of all my CC downloads.
I'm here on tumblr and my site, tflc
Mad Poster
Original Poster
#9 Old 21st Aug 2018 at 5:11 PM
I have managed to retrieve some files and it did say that some of them were corrupted, so I'll have to go through and find out which ones still work. But as maxon said, at least I'll have the names for redownloading.

I should do that folders thing; I've been intending to do it. As I've been intending to backup, but not until I've got my Downloads folder exactly how I want it (which never happens, as I just keep downloading more stuff). This will at least teach me a valuable lesson about backing up more often and being more careful with my files.

Thanks for all the help!
Scholar
#10 Old 21st Aug 2018 at 5:42 PM
@Charity Oh no what a tragedy! I know exactly how you feel about this. Less than a year ago while I was backing my Sims 2 save data up to my external hard drive I didn't realize that all my files weren't backed up because it didn't give me a warning that the space was full so I had automatically assumed that all my files were saved and deleted the original files off my computer and emptied the recycling bin. Turns out while I was trying to copy the files over my computer a lot of the files weren't saved and I was so sad for a while and I had to eventually move on. I hope and pray that everything goes well for you as it hadn't for me because unlike you where the files that you downloaded which i'm sure most if not all are still lingering on the internet or on somebody else's hard drive,flash drive or cloud somewhere I had lost some of my most precious save data files and sims that I had worked so hard on making and developing to the state I had them in before I had to delete them to make more room on my hard drive but I had just wound up losing them forever. So be glad that you didn't end up like me. Ahh now i'm sad again.
Mad Poster
#11 Old 21st Aug 2018 at 7:14 PM
I have several TS2 games on my computer (one with all Maxis hoods, one with custom hoods, etc.), so I keep a master copy of my Downloads folder elsewhere on my hard drive away from the game files. Every time I add or remove something from the Downloads folder in my current game, I make the same changes to the master copy. If I make major changes, I make a new master copy and keep the old version in case the changes break something. Keeping the Downloads folders in synch can be a pain sometimes, but it's worth it to always have a copy of my Downloads somewhere if I need it.

I really do need to get off my butt though and back up my stuff somewhere external like a thumbdrive or external hard drive.
Scholar
#12 Old 21st Aug 2018 at 8:20 PM
Quote: Originally posted by RoxEllen1965
I have several TS2 games on my computer (one with all Maxis hoods, one with custom hoods, etc.), so I keep a master copy of my Downloads folder elsewhere on my hard drive away from the game files. Every time I add or remove something from the Downloads folder in my current game, I make the same changes to the master copy. If I make major changes, I make a new master copy and keep the old version in case the changes break something. Keeping the Downloads folders in synch can be a pain sometimes, but it's worth it to always have a copy of my Downloads somewhere if I need it.

I really do need to get off my butt though and back up my stuff somewhere external like a thumbdrive or external hard drive.

Man if I had the kind of mind like you then I would've still had my old Sims 2 profiles.
Mad Poster
#13 Old 21st Aug 2018 at 10:20 PM
Won't help with this--but I keep every file I ever downloaded ever in a separate folder on my desktop. Most of them are zipped, because that's how they come.

So I may have to go through and search for something, for hours if I can't remember what the file's called, but by golly, I have it! In four different versions, probably.

When you start needing stuff that's not out there on the web anymore, be sure to post here!

Pics from my game: Sunbee's Simblr Sunbee's Livejournal
"English is a marvelous edged weapon if you know how to wield it." C.J. Cherryh
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