Member Avatar for Bhstickman

I had an iso image of a game on my computer, but I deleted it like a month or two ago. Ive been trying to recover it, because the backup I made was somehow corrupt. Ive tried several recovery programs, but I have not been able to find the file. Any help would be appreciated. EDIT: I think im having so much trouble because it was about 3.5 GB and when i deleted it, it said it was too big for the recycling bin so they were just deleted and never sent to the recycling bin. Will this be a problem?

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Short summary and realistic assessment for and : because the .iso was too big for the Recycle Bin (or deleted with Shift+Delete) Windows removed its file-table entry and marked the space free — it didn’t securely wipe the data immediately. That means recovery is still possible in principle, but the longer you use the drive after deletion the higher the chance those sectors were overwritten. Stop using the affected disk right now and don’t install or run recovery tools on it; that preserves any remaining chance. (easeus.com)

Immediate, safe next steps (short checklist):

  • Stop using the PC and remove the drive (or at least stop writing to that volume). (support.microsoft.com)
  • Check any backups, OneDrive/File History, or other machines you might have copied the .iso to.
  • Attach the drive to a different system (or boot the PC from a Linux live USB) and work from another drive — never recover to the same disk. See the TestDisk/PhotoRec notes about using live media. (cgsecurity.org)

A practical recovery workflow to try

  1. Make a full sector image of the drive and work from the image (this prevents further writes). Use GNU ddrescue to create the image: 
sudo ddrescue -n /dev/sdX /mnt/external/disk-image.img rescue.log
  1. Run recovery against the image (not the original). For NTFS try Microsoft’s Windows File Recovery (winfr) or WinfrGUI; for raw file-carving try PhotoRec/TestDisk. Example winfr command to search for ISOs: 
winfr C: E: /extensive /n *.iso

or run PhotoRec on the image (photorec disk-image.img) and save recovered files to a separate external drive. Always recover to a different disk than the source. (gnu.org)

Important caveats

  • If the disk is an SSD with TRIM enabled, deleted data is often erased by the controller soon after deletion, making recovery unlikely. (crucial.com)
  • Large files can be fragmented; file-carving tools may produce partial or fragmented results for fragmented ISOs. If the ISO is mission-critical and DIY attempts fail, stop and consult a professional data‑recovery service. For how carving works and its limits, see the digital‑forensics overview. (infosecinstitute.com)

Useful links: PhotoRec/TestDisk · GNU ddrescue manual · Windows File Recovery (Microsoft). (cgsecurity.org)

Recommended Answers

All 5 Replies

Member Avatar for goldeagle2005

Considering you deleted it a month ago, you can be pretty sure it's deleted permanently. Not even a file recovery app will help you recover the file now. Sorry dude.

Member Avatar for Bhstickman

oh alright, well im going to try an advanced scan right now to see if i can find anything now, i doubt it but its worth a try. thanks anyway.

Member Avatar for Sai_3

boss i have deleted a iso game about 4.55 GB it has been permanently deleted by 2-3days ago can i recover it plz reply boss

Edited by Sai_3
Member Avatar for Ancient Dragon

Probably not -- it has most likely been overwritten by something else. Did you look in the Recycle Bin if you are using ms-windows?

Member Avatar for Sai_3

i have using windows 7 i loked i recycle bin it is not there

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