How to Recover Recycle Bin on Windows Vista ?

Windows Vista is one of the popular operating system of Windows family which provides more reliability, security and performance than the other operating systems. It has several versions like, Home Premium, Home Basic, Basic, Ultimate and Enterprise. The features vary with the version. Windows Vista has some special features which had made it even more popular like security features against the latest virus attack, detection of the hardware problem before they occur, faster start-up time etc.

Despite all the above features sometimes important files get deleted from the Recycle bin of Windows Vista due to certain reasons. Recycle bin is a directory in Windows Vista which temporarily stores the deleted files so that later they can be restored back if needed. There are several reasons behind the file deletion from Windows Vista Recycle bin. Some of those situations are discussed below:

Common Data loss scenario from Windows Vista Recycle bin:

• Accidental deletion: If a particular file is deleted from Windows Vista operating system using Shift + Delete key combination then the deleted file will not be stored in the Vista Recycle bin. So accidentally deleting files in such a way will cause file deletion from Vista Recycle bin. Important files may get deleted from Vista Recycle bin while trying to free some space in Recycle bin of Windows Vista.
• Due to Larger Size: Partitions in Win Vista have their own Recycle bin. So file deleted from a particular partition will get stored in its respective Recycle bin. If a file has size larger than that of the size allocated by the Recycle bin then it will bypass the Recycle bin i.e., will not be stored in the Recycle bin after deletion.
• Recycle Bin Bypass: If a file gets deleted from the Vista Recycle bin automatically, then it is called Recycle bin bypass. If the size of the deleted file has size larger than the free space available in the Recycle bin then either Windows Vista will make space for that recently deleted file by deleting some previously deleted files or the file will bypass the Recycle bin and get deleted beyond the access of the user. In either of these cases some files will be lost from Vista Recycle bin. However you can retrieve files erased from Windows Recycle Bin using a good recovery software.
• By using Command prompt: Some files may also get erased from Vista Recycle bin by using commands like “del” or by using cut and paste commands.

In order to prevent file loss from Recycle bin in Windows Vista we need to follow some precautionary steps:

• Always keep freeing some space from Vista Recycle bin in regular intervals which will reduce the chances of Recycle bin bypass.
• If you want to delete any file having size larger than that of the recycle bin size, then to avoid Recycle bin bypass you can simply divide that file  into different parts and delete those parts from different partitions.
• You can keep checking the Vista Recycle bin regularly. If you feel necessity of any deleted file then you can retrieve it back which will free some space in Recycle bin.

If you have already deleted/lost important files from Vista Recycle bin then you can still recover Recycle bin on Vista using Recycle Bin Recovery Software. Some important features of the software which will help you to recover those files are discussed below:

Files deleted due to Recycle bin bypass can be restored by this software. It also supports Recycle bin recovery from both FAT and NTFS system. Files deleted from Vista Recycle bin due to human error can also recovered by this software. The powerful recovery algorithms of the software has potential to restore deleted pictures from Recycle Bin with utmost ease. It can retrieve more than 280 file types on the basis of their signatures. This software supports Recycle bin restoring from FAT, NTFS and EXFAT formatted drives. Apart from Windows Vista, this software can also perform Win 7 recycle bin recovery, Win XP, Windows server 2003 and Windows server 2008. You can just download this software to restore all your important data deleted from Windows Vista Recycle bin. you can undelete USB drive files using this software. The software lets you recover Word files deleted from Recycle Bin and restore other Office files like Excel spreadsheets, Powerpoint presentations emptied from Recycle bin.

Steps for Recycle Bin recovery on Windows Vista:

Step 1: Download and install the Windows Recycle Bin Recovery Software on your computer. After completion of the installation of the software, double click the icon on the desktop to launch the software. From the main window choose “Recover Files” option from among the three options as shown in Figure 1

Figure 1: Main Window

Step 2:Click “Recover Deleted Files” option to retrieve files from Windows Vista Recycle bin as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Select Recover Deleted Files Option

Step 3: Select the logical partition from which you have lost your data and then select “Next” as shown in Figure 3

Figure 3: Select Drive / Partition

Step 4: Once the scanning is finished, you can view the recovered data both in data type view and file type view as shown in Figure 4

Figure 4: Recovered Files

Note: Save the recovered data to another healthy drive / partition. Never download or store new data to the drive from where you want to recover your deleted data.