lost all my files!!!

[piggynose]

due to a persistent virus!!
after 2 weeks of constant problems with viruses, i had to go to a computer shop and have my pc cleaned. they done a good job, it looks like a new pc. i stupidly thought i could save everything on a memory stick. Just tried to open the files, they wont open!!

lesson learnt

[MarkRae]

More specifics, please. What does "won't open" actually mean? What happens when you try? Can you see the files on the memory stick? Do they look more or less the right size, or have they all acquired a length of zero bytes?

[VHG]

You say they wont open, what type of files are they?

If, for example, they are Microsoft Office files and you have not got Office installed then they wont open.

Are you sure you actually copied the FILES to the memory stick. If so then they should open (if you have the software installed) no problem from a memory stick.

HOW did you copy them to the memory stick. There is a possibility (if you did not do it right) you only copied a SHORTCUT to the file and not the file itself.

Spend a bit of time looking at the files on the memory stick and see if you can find out if they are actually there, if they have a SIZE of file given for example.

Normally copying files to a memory stick (if you did it right) should not be a problem so not sure what you did wrong.

btw It is probably worth getting an external hard drive and copy your files to there on a regular basis, That way if you do get a virus or other problem you know you always have a backup.

[VHG]

It is also worth having a DIFFERENT password for your email system as you do for logging on to web sites.

If you logon to web sites with your "normal" email password then each time you logon to a web site you are "giving away" your email address and password combination.

Someone could steal these and then logon to your email system.

[VHG]

Sorry that reply above should have gone to a different question.

I was looking at the right question but Answerbank must have "jumped" to the question above, i.e. this one.

[piggynose]

hi mark rae, hopefully one of my saviours, im just going to put the memory stick into the pc again and i´ll tell you what the pop up window says.
b4 i got my pc cleaned of its files. i copied all the files i wanted saving onto the memory stick, then checked that the files were saved, by opening a couple.

pn

[AlBags]

... Dont tell me .. You put in the memory stick and it asks if you wish to format?

[AlBags]

Try putting stick in.
My Computer .. .R Click on drive/properties and tools .. Error check tick fix.

[piggynose]

i get this pop up window which says in google translation... rua specified doesn´t exist, check the path and try again, or in spanish...la rua especificado no existe, comprueba la ruta e intentelo de nuevo

[MarkRae]

Is the machine running a Spanish-locale operating system...?

[piggynose]

afraid so mark

[MarkRae]

Not a problem, just checking. Do you have any access to another machine? That would at least confirm whether the memory stick is faulty...

[ABerrant]

It reads to me as if the files are visible on the memory-stick but that the executable(s) associated with the file-type(s) no longer exist (or are otherwise inaccessible) on the PC, so (double-)clicking a file initiates the pop-up.

[piggynose]

i tried another computer and experienced the same problem

[MarkRae]

OK, it's looking like the memory stick is where the problem lies. Can you answer my original questions, please...?

[The-HouseHusband]

If the specified path is not available it would appear that you only copied shortcuts to your files onto the memory stick, when you first checked they would have still been there so it would have appeared that you had copied the files.

However now the computer has been wiped clean the files that the shortcuts were associated to are no longer on the hard drive, hence the message "specified path does not exist"

[piggynose]

hi mark, yes i can see the files on the memory stick, but thats not a lot of good now.? i think i realise now what i should´ve done, bit late now as the horse has bolted. but i shouldve opened up open office, and saved all the files one by one onto the stick

[MarkRae]

If you can actually see the files, then you should be fine. However, as has been already suggested, it looks like you've copied the files' links, not the files themselves. Maybe the computer shop took a backup of your hard drive before they scrubbed it..?

[ABerrant]

Isn't the usual prompt when clicking on a shortcut with no original file that of "Missing Shortcut" which then initiates an automatic search for the file with the option to manually browse for it?