hi to all,
anyone got any ideas on any method or available software that can be used to recover files deleted by the root user?
i guess this's probably impossible but i'm really desperate as i deleted some VERY important documents when logged in as root.
i'd be really grateful if anyone can help me outta this!
(btw i'm using mandrake linux 10.1 on ext3fs)

not to sound cruel and heartless, but this is a valid reason not to be logged in as root.

Sudo can be used to give sensible control to a normal user account.

Search these forums, links have been put up in the past to open source and proprietry solutions alike.

It is said NOT to write anything more to the partition that could overwrite it

Double/Triple posting in every section of this site isn't going to help you any.

just hoping someone who's got an idea sees at least one post and replies.

IT'S DESPERATION!!!

It doesn't matter, plenty of posts are seemingly 'urgent' but people volunteer their time, and don't pander to someones idea of urgency.

People will see your post, but if they see 3 posts, with replies and conversation spread out they are not likely to engage, and one of those people could hold the key to your problem.

There are more ways to try and recover files than mentioned below, but the learning curve for using those is kinda steep, there's a disksize times two space requirement on a physically separate drive and then still there's no guarantee as to what can be recovered due to all sorts of factors. Best try these ones first. If you need to mount the drive the deleted files are on you will have to mount them as read-only. Never write to it and never try to repair problems either.

Your other (closed) thread differs from this one saying: i deleted some VERY important documents from my windows partition. So, if it's NTFS the files where on then check www.linux-ntfs.org for the "NTFS Tools and Library" package which contains "ntfsundelete". Make sure your read and understand the documentation. If it's FATn the files where on search LQ for "foremost". If it's journalling ext3 the files where on then chances are very slim.

Good luck.

Your desperation--however hard for you--does not constitute an emergency here....

first principles:
Dont write anything to the drive from which you want to recover files. If possible, don't even use it for anything.

there are tools out there, but I doubt if any are newbie-friendly. Even some of the grayer beards here have never attempted file recovery. If the data is really crucial, then you may be better off with a professional recovery service.

Can everyone please stop reiterating what's been said already? TIA.


you may be better off with a professional recovery service
Who will charge you for initial assesment, then for the recovery or (starting at) aprox 1K USD for "clean room" ops if "regular" recovery won't work. Just thought you would like to know that.


OT: Even some of the grayer beards here have never attempted file recovery.
I think this reflects more on the ways of the oldies than on his situation, but OK...