A Sony VAIO lost an important set of documents to an accidental deletion that bypassed the recycle bin. The drive was perfectly healthy, so the data was still there. We imaged it and rebuilt the deleted files from what the file system had left behind.
A folder of documents and photos was deleted from a Sony VAIO and cleared from the recycle bin before the mistake was noticed. It was the only copy. The laptop and its drive were working normally, which is exactly why continuing to use it was the real risk — so it was shut down and brought in rather than kept in service.
Deleting a file doesn't erase its contents; the file system just removes the pointer to the data and marks the space free. On the NTFS file system Windows uses, the master file table — the record of every file — often still holds the deleted entry, including the file's name and where its data sat, until that record is reused. So until the freed space is overwritten, deleted files are highly recoverable, frequently with their original names. The enemy is continued use, which reuses those records and blocks.
The drive was removed from the laptop and cloned sector by sector through a write blocker; it read cleanly. All recovery continued on the image, keeping the original untouched.
Two techniques were used together. The master file table was mined for the deleted entries, many of which still held names and data locations, allowing those files to be rebuilt complete and correctly named. For anything whose record had already been reused, signature carving reassembled the files directly from their contents. Between the two, the deleted folder came back with the great majority of files keeping their names and structure.
Files were opened across the recovered set to confirm they were whole, then returned on fresh media. As always we made the point that a single laptop is not a backup — a second copy, even just an automatic cloud folder for documents, turns an accidental deletion from a crisis into a shrug.
Hardware imager with write blocker · NTFS master-file-table recovery · signature-based file carving. Read-only imaging, all work in-house in Belfast.
Send it to us for a free, no-obligation diagnostic. We’ll tell you what can be recovered and put a fixed price in writing before any work starts — and on most jobs, if we can’t get your data back, there’s nothing to pay. Post your device in, or drop it to us by appointment.
Very often, yes. Deletion only removes the pointer to a file, not the file itself, so until the space is reused the data is recoverable — frequently with its original name. Stop using the laptop and the odds are strongly in your favour.
It can — continued use may overwrite some deleted data, but usually not all of it, and the rest can still be carved back. A free diagnostic will show exactly what survived.
Not necessarily — the drive is what matters, though you're welcome to send the whole machine. We recover from the drive directly.