Hello everyone,

I don't know what happened with my computer, all files in the recycling bin are completely gone, from over six months ago. All the history, files, everything. It's like it was all wiped clean.

Does anyone know how to get them back?

Rachel, welcome to the Forum!

When files are deleted using Windows 8 CP/RP, there is no warning prompt, it just does it. As far as retrieving your files goes, try Recuva. It can be obtained here, for free. Make sure to do a "deep scan" for best results.

Download Recuva 1.42.544 - FileHippo.com

Best of Luck,
Cat

Rachel, welcome to our Lounge.

What OS are you talking about? If you are talking about Win 8 RP it has only been out since May 31st. Win 8 CP was released Feb. 29th. Both of these beta OS's have not been out for 6 months. If you installed these OS's correctly then yes all the files in your recycle bin would have been lost and are most likely unrecoverable by any means as the installation process formats the original OS.

When Installing a new piece of S/W, including beta OS's, it is important to first make an Image of your existing OS before starting the installation. Then restoring the original OS is easy. We have discussed this in several different threads.

I am a Windows 8 RP user. I will try Recuva, hope this works for me.

Why are you saving files in the recycle bin? It's a trash can not for storage.
Joe

Joe brings up a very valid point here. The recycle bin is for what the users wants to get rid of.

My advice to Rachel, is to create a Data partition, that will isolate these files from the OS. One can organize items there, just like your Libraries. The great thing about this is, installing a new OS won't wipe that partition, unless the user chooses to do so manually. Also, backup the computer at least once a month, this allows for easy restore.

Also, items like pictures, videos, Favorites (where your IE bookmarks are) items of importance, should be copied to a Flash drive, CD/DVD's, or SkyDrive (though I do like to keep things on the ground). Firefox & Google Chrome users has an option to preserve bookmarks & restore them for a re-install, or even another computer.

From my observation, it looks like the OP (Rachel) has no backup plan in place. Now's a good time as any to learn. We can help with this, provided the user is interested in learning.

Cat