I'm trying to recover folders and files that mysteriously disappeared from my PC. File Recove (~$30) quickly found them; it did not restore them back as I used an unregistered version. So, I paid ~$30, got a Registration Code, entered it, but nothing changed. I notified "TechSupport", waited for a day for their reply(!), when it finally arrived, I wanted to open the program and get a few Print Screen Snapshots they asked for. The program disappeared from the Start>Programs and no traces of it were present in my PC, not Even in the Registry (only a blank entry Recovered Files was there!
So, PC Tools, at my request, refunded the money.
I found many free recover/reconstruct programs; they accomplished the first step - found many "deleted " files... But so far I could not find the files I am looking for among them (there are thousands of files, some of them modified in 2001[my PC was made in 2003!]; no filters were offered and I cannot look for them manually - too many!). Two reasons: when they ask me to enter the name of missing files/folders, they present the current Win. Explorer to choose them from, and, naturally, the missing ones are not there. And, secondly, they offer no option to choose the files by date, e.g. "lost in Oct.'09" or "lost after Sep. 30, 2009".
I wonder, do such programs exist, free or otherwise?