Major Style Loss on USB

[Bob88]

   I just inadvertently seemed to have deleted all of my acquired  styles on my USB drive.  I had them in various folders and categories.   Years and years of  effort and the
collections  are  gone.     My registrations are still in tact on the USB but would not include 100s of styles maybe more.   Unfortunately they are not backed up elswhere.   Is there any possibility of recovery even though they do not appear on the USB drive?  Thank you. Bob

[Aquilauno]

First of all (very important)...
do not write anything to the USB and then you use this  program, "Recuva", maybe there are better ones, but with this I recovered a lot of files last month. Download and install the one for your P.C.
link https://www.ccleaner.com/recuva?cc-noredirect=
Pietro

PS its use is quite intuitive and easy ... do not despair you can recover everything if you do not use the Pen drive USB, before you must recovering the files with "Recuva".
If you use (in writing) the pen drive before recovery, some clusters (sectors of the pen drive) will be overwritten and some files cannot be recovered ... the files in fact, even if you don't see them anymore, they are still on the memory stichk ...

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[johan]

Did you already check if you cannot find the styles if you place the usb stick in a pc? Anyway, in general, files that are deleted are not physically removed from the usb stick so as mentioned above, be sure not to add any additional files to the stick until you have tried all means to recover your style files. You can google to find some things that can be done. The first thing to do according to me would be to try to repair the stick with the command "chkdsk x: /f" (where x is the drive that corresponds to the usb stick on your pc). If you are not certain on how to do this, I recommend to ask help from someone who is familiar with computers.

[Bob88]

Thank you for your replies.  I neglected to mention that the USB stick was in my computer at the time I lost the styles.   Thank you. Bob

[Aquilauno]

HI Bob
it is indifferent ... the important thing is that you have not used it to store anything else or formatted by mistake, if you have only deleted the files you can recover. Let us know. If you need help I will guide you step by step ...

So the Pen Drive is  visible from the PC... if you have only deleted files and folders (I think I understand this) you can do the recovery.

[Fred Smith]

Thank you for your replies.  I neglected to mention that the USB stick was in my computer at the time I lost the styles.   Thank you. Bob

If the files were deleted by the computer, they should be in your Recycle Bin. Take a look there.

Once you've recovered them, keep a copy somewhere.

Cheers,
Fred

[Aquilauno]

If the files were deleted by the computer, they should be in your Recycle Bin. Take a look there.

Once you've recovered them, keep a copy somewhere.

Cheers,
Fred

Hi Fred, unfortunately, files deleted from USB do not end up in the PC recycle bin ...
Pietro

[Bob88]

Yes, the files were  deleted on the USB and are not in the Recycle Bin.  Bob

[Bob88]

Problem solved.   Fortunately  our son is more of a techie than I am. He discovered that the folder had somehow been dragged to another folder on the USB and then copied it to the hard drive  for  a backup.   I appreciate all the kind responses. Bob

[Aquilauno]

Problem solved.   Fortunately  our son is more of a techie than I am. He discovered that the folder had somehow been dragged to another folder on the USB and then copied it to the hard drive  for  a backup.   I appreciate all the kind responses. Bob

Better this way Bob;) ... and remember a (double) backup always ...
Pietro

[Toril S]

I am so glad!!!

[Bob88]

 I am  grateful for all of the helpful replies.   Regards, Bob

[MikeS]

Lost count on how many times I've accidently moved a folder to another folder using Windows File Explorer, the default left mouse button drag and drop is dangerous. To minimize this issue I always use a right mouse button drag and drop - this will always ask you what action you want to use (Move, Copy or Shortcut).

You can change the default left mouse drag and drop action but this involves modifying the Windows Registry which can be dangerous if you do not know what you are doing. File Copy is the least destructive option. The following link has info on how to do this and other options.

The best option is always backup critical data.

https://winaero.com/set-the-default-drag-and-drop-action-in-windows-10-windows-8-and-windows-7/

[Toril S]

I just copied a folder to another folder, then deleted the whole thing by accident!! But luckily they could be recovered from the recycle bin! Not good for the heart this!!