how do I restore deleted files?

I deleted some files yesterday like a .txt file and I emptied it from the recycle bin. Is there any such way to restore that file?
My specs are on my signature.

Yes there is. Hopefully you have not written over the data or defraged your disk.

There are several commercial services that can retrieve "lost" data and several programs that will allow you to do similar recovery at home albeit not at the same level of efficiency as a commercial service.

I will dig into my archives and see if I can find the name of the program I used to do as you asked. Be back in a moment or two.

Below are two such programs and there may be more available, possibly even a free one somewhere.

I wonder if Norton's Utilities "UnErase Wizard" would recover data it has not 'protected'?

Good luck.

BTW, <rant>As soon as you get back to "normal", you ought to consider a backup program such as Norton's Ghost or PowerQuest's Drive Image. The programs make a compressed copy of all data in a partition and allow a 10 minute restoration of a completely trashed system. I won't compute without Ghost.

GoBack is another restoration many like. Demo versions of these programs are available.</rant>

With Ghost I can select a single file from the copied image for restoration to the original location.

Here is the first I found, I'm looking for more:

GetDataBack - Do-it-yourself Data Recovery Software -
No matter what the disaster scenario is-
GetDataBack will recover your data if the hard drive's partition table, boot record, FAT/MTF or root directory are lost or damaged, data was lost due to a virus attack, the drive was formatted, fdisk has been run, a power failure has caused a system crash, files were lost due to a software failure, files were accidentally deleted... Click here for larger image

Recover even when Windows doesn't recognize the drive-
GetDataBack can even recover your data when the drive is no longer recognized by Windows.
It can likewise be used even if all directory information - not just the root directory- is missing.

Get everything back-
Advanced algorithms will make sure that all directories and sub directories are put together as they were, and that long file names are reconstructed correctly.

GetDataBack is safe-
GetDataBack is read-only, meaning the program will never attempt to write to the drive you are about to recover. Please make sure to read the safety instructions...

GetDataBack is easy to use-
The software enables the regular user to conduct his own data recovery by guiding him through five easy to understand steps, thus gives the advanced user the possibility to interfere with the recovery and improve the results, by examining the scan log, the file system details, file and directory information, by selecting the sector range to be scanned, by choosing excessive search for file systems or search for lost files, by calling Runtime's DiskExplorer.
Recover files over your local network or over a serial cable
This feature enables you to run GetDataBack on one computer ("remote") while accessing the drives of another computer ("host").
Recovering data over a network is useful, especially when you are not able to remove the drive you want to recover from and attach it to another computer.

Just download HDHost and install it on the computer you want to recover data from.
Click here for further instructions...

Please note: Installing HDHost or any other programs on the drive you want to recover from, can cause data on that drive to be overwritten.
If at all possible we always recommend to attach the drive as a second drive to a working computer and run the data recovery software from there.

GetDataBack: http://www.runtime.org

You will need a software program to do that.

Most are shareware and trial but. here are some links:

Easy recovery

File Rescue 2.5]

GetDataBack]

Fast File Undelete

Here is a program that I used successfully to recover about 80-90% of a deleted partition!

EasyRecovery Professional Edition v5.1

Recover lost or inaccessible data quickly and easily. Not all types of data loss require the assistance of an engineer. EasyRecovery software provides you with a fast and easy, do-it-yourself software solution to recover your valuable data.

http://www.ontrack.com/easyrecovery/