Rescue deleted data (USB/Mac)

M

Mac nific

Registered
Hello, i have deleted some files from a USB pen drive in a Mac (OS 10.4), dragging them from the USB to the trash can in Mac and then used "empty trash" to get the space back in the pen drive, and as far as i know when you "trash" files they don't get truly deleted.

But i'm confused of where to look for them, shoud i look to recover them in the USB drive, or in my Mac?

Oh and one more thing! I did this months ago... Oh and i'm sorry if this is not the right forum, but i don't even know if this is a Mac issue or a USB drive issue in the first place.
 
To my knowledge, anything deleted from external memory or a shared volume/network drive gets deleted immediately. When you delete it, usually it'll ask "this file will be deleted immediately... Would you like to continue?" In my experience, the process cannot be undone unless you have back ups. Since you've done this months ago I'm sure the files are long gone.
 
Try using the shareware version of Data Rescue 3 (Google search is your friend). If you experience good results, you can consider purchasing the program to recover your data, if'n your data is worth it.

Just for informational purposes, the only time a file will ever be deleted without going to the trashcan first is on a network volume, or also potentially when the drive is not in a native Mac format (e.g., HFS+). Pen drives, USB drives, Firewire drives and the like all utilize the trashcan and do not delete files immediately.
 
And to answer your other specific question, if the files still exists, it will be on the USB drive. If you have used that drive in the intervening months, your chances of recovering any data approach zero.
 
Sorry to interrupt the post a little bit. I met similar problem ever. But I get rid of it with the help of this Mac USB recovery software, a program which is able to retrieve lost or corrupted files from usb flash. My flash drive cannot be detected at first, but re-start Mac machine helps clear the buffer.

Next time make backups of everything as backup has been proven to be the best way to prevent any data loss. Best regards.
 
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