Data loss can occur due to many reasons and fortunately there are many ways to recover the lost data. The DOS Undelete command was the only file recovery option available in the days of DOS and Windows 3.1.

You could use this command-line tool to recover a file as long as no changes were made or files were written to the storage medium immediately after the deletion. This method worked only if users realized what had happened and began data recovery efforts at once.

The Recycle Bin, which was introduced by Microsoft with Windows 95, provided users with an easy way to recover deleted files. When the Recycle Bin is working, files are not deleted permanently and are stored in a temporary location, from which they can be easily recovered.

The Recycle Bin is a folder called Recycled, which is located in the root directory of every partition in your computer. To configure the Recycle Bin, you can click on the Recycle Bin icon on your Desktop and then click on Properties. You can choose to have one Recycle Bin setting for all your drives, or configure each drive separately.

You can also opt to turn off the Recycle Bin, though this will result in files being deleted immediately and you will not be able to recover them. But it is best to avoid this option, unless there is a shortage of space on your hard drive.

You can decide on the space you want to reserve for storing deleted files on your recycle bin. Once it is full, the older files will be deleted to make room for the newer ones. Windows selects a maximum Recycle Bin size that is 10% of the hard drive’s capacity, by default.

You can review the files that are stored in the Recycle Bin by double-clicking on the icon on your Desktop. If you want to recover a file, right click on the file name and then click Restore. To delete all the files in the Recycle Bin permanently, right click on the Recycle Bin icon and then click Empty Recycle Bin.

You can use AutoRecovery options available on programs like Word and Excel, to automatically save a backup copy of a file, every time you save the file. To activate this option in Word, click on Tools, Options, Save and then Always Create Backup Copy.

The AutoRecover option periodically saves information about the file you are working on, so it can be recovered in the event of a power outage, software crash, or other problems. If the system goes off for some reason, you will be presented with a list of recovered files on the left side of the screen, the next time you switch it on. You can double click a file to recover it or right-click on it and click save, to save it.

Temporary files are used by Windows applications, while processing data. These fiels are cleaned up when the system is shut down. If there is a crash or any other abnormal shut down, these files cannot be deleted. In such a situation you can look at these temporary files to try and recover lost files.

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