Doesn't find deleted files from desktop.

What it says. I put an excel file on the desktop of a Win XP-SP2 system, used it and then deleted it from the desktop with the shift key.

Recuva didn't find it for recovery. I was using an older version of Recuva and switched to the latest version. No Change.

Is there something about the desktop which makes recovery impossible?

Swamiji

Hi swamiji,
Your best chance of "recovery" has nothing to do with where the file was displayed or stored unless it is stored on other than the C drive.The best chance of recovery on the C drive is an old file. The newer the file the more likely it will be reused very soon.
Installing a new copy of Recuva on the same partition can in itself possibly overwrite what you are trying to recover. If you do find the deleted file, then you want to "Recuva" it to another partition.
Good luck,
davey
Edited to expound on drive location. davey

I was pondering how this is so. The best I can come up with is that a new or very recent file will have used the first available entry in the MFT to store its filename info, with pointers to the sectors holding the data. Delete it, and the MFT entry becomes once again the first available entry to other filenames. Create another file, either explicitly or by using Windows or some application, and the entry in the MFT is overwritten with the new file details. So a normal scan with Recuva can't find the recently deleted file as it only looks in the MFT.

It might be possible to find the lost data by running Recuva in deep scan mode, but this will take some hours, depending on the size and speed of the disk. And there's an awful lot to look through afterwards. The results can be sorted in date, path, extension or name order, so that might help.