Is it possible to retrieve overwritten files?
 

I was trying to make an iso out of an openoffice file. I just use the same iso file over and over again. This is what i did: mkisofs -v -o file iso. So now my openoffice file is an iso. I really need that file back. I know there is a slim chance, but i am very desperate so any help would be great.

Not without really expensive hardware.

Why would you need expensive hardware? I would think the easiest way would be to just burn the iso image onto your cdrw and that will extract the file for you perhaps... Worth a shot as I didn't see any command with mkisofs to reverse an iso image once created..

The way I interpreted it was that he ran mkisofs on the OpenOffice file itself, overwriting it and instead replacing it with a nice new ISO9660 filesystem rather than creating an ISO file, mounting it, and copying the OO file there.

The expensive hardware bit...well, you know the stuff the government uses to prove people had child porn or confidential information or whatnot on their hard drives even after they've erased and reformatted it? That's what I'm talking about.

Why not just download a new copy? Or get a friend to do it.