HELP !! I just did something amazinlgy dumb . .

[expat]

Was tidying up my P3Dv4.5 folder and deleting unneeded folders and managed to delete my entire Simobjects folder. Several System Restore attempts failed to recover them. What is weird is that they were not in the Recycle Bin which I did not first empty. Also tried doing some searches across my several drives in case they moved somewhere else but nothing was found that were in that folder. I had about a dozen planes in the Airplanes folder. The payware ones are easy to recover but I had some custom paints, VC merges and other mods that will take time to replicate. I didn't have any rotocraft and my AI is intact on a different drive but the big loss is all my Boats that had lots of ships. Fairly distressing!

Unless anyone has a magical solution I guess the best thing to do is update P3Dv4.5 with their latest hotfix which I assume will rebuild all the Simobjects folder with default contents and then take it from there.

Thanks for any help in advance.

expat

[downwind]

Ouch!---I've done the same thing several times. Always back up that file because I don't think it is stored anywhere else. I use FSX on Steam and it can't restore the Airplanes file. I have a different problem: my older downloaded files seem to be falling out somewhere, never to return.

[cajj1]

Try using something like Recuva, https://www.ccleaner.com/recuva the deleted files/folders may still be recoverable

[expat]

I discovered that if you right click on the folder, then "properties" you get a dropdown that includes "previous versions." It allowed me to restore the folder to yesterday's status. 34,866 items and 34.6 GB were then copied back. Think I just lost one freeware aircraft somewhere that will be easy to rebuild.

[fsafranek]

Since it is the entire SimObjects folder is it possible you just accidently dragged it into a nearby folder? That could be why you can't find it in any restore utility.
Do a search of the entire drive for aircraft.cfg and see if any show up.

[expat]

Frank - I think that might have been the problem but did several drive searches and nothing turned up. Interestingly though the method I used - which was a 100% success - doesn't seem to let me look at previous states of other folders, only just with the SimObjects folder. Phew!! That was a close one . .

[T Square]

Some files or folders are to large for the "Recycle Bin" and are simply deleted directly from the drive. If this was the case I don't think you can retrieve them. Sorry Dude, not by normal means anyway.

[downwind]

Good info here, guys. I learned a lot from your posts.

[wombat666]

I managed to lose all (and I mean ALL!) of my photographs from an external backup drive.
Not just digital shots, but images from 1969 onward painfully scanned from ancient B&W film......
I finally decided on a 'Recovery Program', paid $75 and let it run for some 24 hours.
It worked!
I ended up with two copies of everything.

[Jafo]

Expat....you dodged a bullet....go buy a lottery ticket...you're on a roll.

It takes a bit of space....but I have an auto-backup in place specifically for the simobjects folder....backed to a separate HD, so mechanical failure [that you WON'T recover from - not without serious expenditure] isn't even an issue.

Do it now....so in the future you can laugh at moments like these....

[expat]

so mechanical failure [that you WON'T recover from - not without serious expenditure] isn't even an issue.

Wise words Jafo, thanks, is your separate backup drive a mechanical HD or solid state?

[Jafo]

Wise words Jafo, thanks, is your separate backup drive a mechanical HD or solid state?

Both ....trick is to have a redundancy backup....so if the original is lost .... and something else happens to the backup. ...there's still one more to save the day.

Add to that the monthly (when i remember.) ...external solid backup that stays in a safe....

[DickB]

Like many folks, I learnt the hard way too. I now back up the entire PC to a separate hard drive using Acronis backup/restore software. I also take a straight copy of key files and folders (simobjects, scenery, textures, sounds, effects etc plus some other stuff) to another folder on the main PC drive and also to a separate SSD. I keep back versions for about 12 months. It takes a while, but it's saved my bacon more than once. I also keep a detailed log (on another PC) of any changes I make to my FSX system so I can go back to a particular version if a problem develops. And I've had to do that too !