i used the recuva with no success

[Lesley-ann]

i used Recuva to get my data back but it came back as shortcuts that won't open. Help, i've got very important documentation on that HD. Is there anything else I could do or use?

 

[Boogieman_WD]

Hey there Lesley-ann. Does it seem like those shortcuts are the correct size that the original file should be? They might really be shortcuts from the recently accessed file location and not the real file. On the other hand, if the files are the correct size and still shown up like shortcuts you could try if making the file extensions appear, helps you open the files. Here's how to do that: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/865219?wa=wsignin1.0
How did you lose your files? If there was a problem with the partition or the drive and you haven't deleted them yourself, then you could try accessing the files with Linux Live CD/USB (this is basically a freeware, bootable, portable version of Linux) to see if you can get to your data this way. You could also try some of the other options besides Recuva from this thread here: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-1644496/lost-data-recovery.html

Hope that helps.
Boogieman_WD

 

[Jahf]

I recently had to do a recovery for a friend's laptop that was very problematic. Recuva got me some of the files but to get them I first needed to image the drive and use some utilities like Safecopy via PartedMagic Linux. For data recovery you may not want to just rely on free Windows utilities. I've found most of the Windows recovery solutions like Recuva, EaseUS, etc are using the same basic technology and most don't offer full recovery of more than 1GB worth of files without paying for them. You can find older versions of PartedMagic images from around 2013 that are free and will include Safecopy and DDRescue. I ended up deciding $9 for the newer version was worth it to be sure I had the newer versions of these utilities.

In the end I did recoveries using Safecopy, Guymager and DDRescue via PartedMagic (if you want you can build your own linux with these utilities for free, but I was in a rush) and -then- using Recuva in Windows on the image I created using Safecopy. I got different files back from each method. He was desperate for as much back as possible so this might be overkill for some, but useful for others.