 Diamond Edge Demo Version Extendible Help System
 File: UNDEL.HLP
 Topics covered:
  
    ù  Configuring Diamond Mirror
    ù  Choosing your Undelete method
    ù  Undeleting Files
    ù  What to do after you undelete a file
 
 
 ù  Configuring Diamond Mirror
 
       One of the keys to successful recovery of deleted files is 
 knowledge of the FAT structure prior to deletion.  Diamond Mirror 
 is an auto folder program provided to save FAT and directory 
 structure information at user specified intervals.  Diamond Mirror 
 can be configured either from within Diamond Edge by selecting 
 
       Configure DMIRROR from the Undelete menu or by running 
 DMIRROR.PRG from the GEM desktop.  The following items need to be 
 specified to configure Diamond Mirror:
 
 ù  What drive to Mirror:  Select the drives that you want Mirrored 
    by clicking on the appropriate drive buttons.  You may select as 
    many or as few of your active devices that you want to Mirror.
 
 ù  How often to Run Mirror:  You can select to have Diamond 
    Mirror execute every time your machine is booted up, once per 
    day, or once per week.  It is usually best to keep your Mirror 
    files reasonably current.  You can bypass any scheduled 
    Mirroring by pressing ALT-S just before Diamond Mirror is 
    scheduled to run.
 
 ù  Where to put your Mirror files: Specify the path that the 
    Diamond Mirror files will be stored.
 
       After you are satisfied with your configuration, select Save 
 Configuration.  If you want to exit without changing the existing 
 configuration, select Cancel.  
 
      If you are configuring Diamond Mirror from within 
 Diamond Edge, you can run Diamond Mirror by selecting Run 
 DMIRROR from the Undelete menu. If you are running Diamond 
 Mirror from the GEM desktop, you have the option of running 
 Diamond Mirror by selecting Run Mirror.  
 
 
 ù  Choosing your Undelete method
 
       Two methods of recovering deleted files are provided by 
 Diamond Edge: Simple Undelete and Mirror Undelete.   Select 
 Mirror Undelete if you have a recent Mirror file for the drive 
 that contains the deleted file.  Otherwise, you should select 
 Simple Undelete.  
 
       A Simple Undelete calculates the number of clusters the 
 file would have occupied on the disk.  Then it locates the 
 starting cluster of the deleted file and  calculates the number 
 of consecutive clusters from the beginning cluster that are not 
 currently allocated to other files.   These unused clusters are 
 then recovered.   
 
       A Mirror Undelete uses FAT and directory information stored 
 in the disk Mirror files to determine exactly what clusters the 
 file occupied prior to deletion   The clusters that the file 
 occupied, that are still not allocated to other files, are 
 recovered.  This is the only method that can fully recover a 
 fragmented file.  Both of these methods can assist you in 
 recovering deleted files even if you regularly run DMIRROR.PRG. 
 
 
 ù  Undeleting Files
 
      When you select Undelete Files from the Undelete menu, 
 the Undelete control screen is displayed. The Undelete File 
 Selector functions exactly like the normal GEM file selector, 
 except that only subdirectories and deleted files are shown.  
 
       To open a subdirectory shown in the control screen click on 
 the entry.  To move up to the parent directory again, click on 
 the close box in the Undelete File Selector window.  If you want 
 to change the active undelete drive, then select the desired drive
 button from the available drive buttons.  
 
       Each file that appears in the Undelete File Selector has an 
 additional entry that indicates whether or not the file will be 
 recoverable.  If all of the clusters belonging to a file can be 
 recovered then the recoverable entry is: Yes.  If none of the 
 clusters belonging to the deleted file can be recovered, then 
 the recoverable entry is: NO.  However, if only some of the 
 clusters belonging to the file are recoverable, then a ratio of 
 the recoverable clusters to the total number of clusters will be 
 shown.
 
       Diamond Edge provides a general purpose deleted file finder 
 within the Undelete control screen.  To search for deleted files 
 enter a deleted file search mask in the editable field in the 
 Undelete Control screen labeled Search Mask.  You can search for
 a specific file or enter a general purpose wildcard to find all 
 files that match the wildcard criteria.  
 
        The two standard wild cards on the Atari ST are * and ?.  
 The * appearing in a wild card search mask will backup all files 
 containing a character string in the *'s position.  The ? appearing 
 in a wild card search mask will backup all files containing a 
 single character in the  ?'s position.  
 
       For example, if you wanted to search for all deleted files with 
 a .PI1 extension., you would enter s*.PI1 for the Undelete Search 
 Mask.  If you had wanted to search for all deleted files with 
 extension of PI1, PI2, or PI3 you would enter s*.PI? as the Undelete 
 Search Mask.  
 
       To initiate the deleted file search, select Find from the 
 Undelete Control Screen. You can also press the return key to 
 initiate deleted file search.  The program will search the current 
 drive for the first file that matches the wildcard specification.  
 If a match is located, the Undelete File Selector will automatically 
 move to the directory containing the file and select the file.  
 If you want to find additional deleted files that match the current 
 wildcard mask, select Find Next from the Undelete Control screen.
 
       To select a file to undelete, click on the file name in the 
 Undelete File Selector.  When the entry appears selected it is 
 marked for undeletion.  You may select as many files as you want 
 to to undelete in the same directory by holding the shift key down 
 while selecting the file.  After you have selected all of the files 
 that you want to undelete in the current directory, then select 
 Undelete from the Undelete control screen.  
 
       For each file that you select you will be prompted to enter 
 the first character of the deleted filename.  The program then 
 checks to see if there is another file in the directory that 
 already has that name.  If a conflict is found, you will be prompted 
 to enter a different first character.  
 
    In order to undelete files from a subdirectory that has also been 
 deleted, you must first undelete the directory.  When you have 
 finished undeleting all of the files that you require, select Cancel 
 to return to the Diamond Edge basic window.
 
 ù  What to do after you undelete a file
 
       After you have undeleted all of the files that you require, 
 you should verify the validity of the recovered files.  If you have
 a current validation file for the drive, then perform a validation 
 pass to assess the state of the undeleted files.  This will tell you 
 if the undeleted file is the same as before or if the files data has 
 been corrupted. If you do not have a current validation file, then you 
 should manually examine the files you just undeleted to determine 
 if they are valid.
 
 
 
