***PLEASE*** Help me find a lost/hidden file.

[MomNEEDShelp]

Hi,

I need to find pornographic material that is deep in my Sony desktop PC.
(Purchased in late 2003) It has Windows XP. (Sorry, I am NOT computer savy) These files were originally found back in mid 2005, but
can no longer be found. (I thought they were spam, but after further knowledge,
I have found out they are NOT spam) They were strategically placed so they could
not be easily found. They were in yellow folders that were numbered, not named.
No one buy myself has had access to this PC so I know they have not been erased
or removed. I brought my PC to Best Buy to have the 'Geek Squad' have a peek but
they only open files that were in plain sight. (No help at all) I need these
pictures, files and websites for a court case. Because this matter contained
"Teen Porn", I will not allow my ex-husband see our 3 year old daughter. He says
he will not pay child support until he sees her. Anyway, what can you suggest I
do on a single, at home-mom budget with no child support? I do not have hundreds
of dollars to spend. Any and all suggestions will be very much appreciated.

*A concerned mom*

God bless & stay safe.

[Zylstra]

You might have problems finding the files, if the computer has been used for a while before they were deleted, but nevertheless:
http://www.recuva.com/
Free file recovery software.

If you really cant figure it out, dont use your computer, you are overwriting the files as we speak. You might want to find a file recovery business in your local area, call them first and find out how much it would cost to recover files that are not on a damaged disk, but have only been deleted from the recycle bin

(While you are at it, check the Recycle bin on your desktop)

[MomNEEDShelp]

They were not deleted. They are just very, very hard to locate. I have had friends who are more computer savey try to find them but they have no luck. The friend who found them, found them by accident after hours of searching. She has also moved very far away, so she can't help me. Best Buy found files that seemed very full but had a zipper on them. They tried to open them but the PC said they needed a password. My friend found them without a password so I know they are visible without one. Any other easy advice I might be able to try???

THANKS SO MUCH!!!!

[patio]

Backup what data you need. format, and do a clean install.

[MomNEEDShelp]

"Back up what data you need"..... ??

I do not know what data I need cause I can not locate any of it. As far as the format & clean install... I am not sure I want to clean install anything. Sounds like I may make stuff disappear forever.


I am not that technical, guys. Please bear with me.

Anyone else have any thoughts on how to find these files?

[Fed]

Double click 'My Computer' and then go to Tools>Folder Options>View ans select "Show hidden files and folders'. ok ok etc.
Then go to Start>Search>For files and folders and see if the files can be found.
Do you know their names?

[Deerpark]

Yes MomNEEDShelp  try what Fed suggested. If you don't know the name of the files you can try and do searches for specific file types. You can try searches such as
"*.jpg", "*. bmp", "*.png" for different types of pictures.
Or "*.avi", "*.mpg", "*.mpeg", "*.wmv" for video. (note do the searches without the "".)

This way you'll probably get a lot of files so you'll need to look out for ones with suspicious names.

You could also try a pornography scanner like this one.
http://www.contentpurity.com/scaninfo.htm

I have no idea how effective it is but it seemed like something worth trying.

Oh and ignore Zylstra and patio's advices. The guys usually give great advice but I think they've been infected with a virus (or maybe they just need sleep).

[MomNEEDShelp]

Thanks Fed & Deerpark.

Before I try any of this, are you all sure I won't delete anything? Again, I am looking for yellow folders that are numbered, NOT named. (About 14 files with thousands of XXX pics)

Can anyone be sure the Contentpurity.com website will NOT erase anything??

Sorry, I do not know how/where to start to do searches by jpg, bmp, pmg. These deeply hidden files are not going to show up by just opening files. (I don't think) Best Buy geeks and friends have already tried.



 I think I am going to be successful with you guys on my side.

Keep up the good work & please try to answer the above questions I have.

Can't thank you all enough.

[Deerpark]

No Contentpurity.com will not erase anything, you can be sure of that because it's the erasing part they want you to pay for. But I just had a chance right now to try it out and actually I don't think it will do you much good. It stops after only scanning a small number of files and then want you to pay. So just skip this scanner.

Searching for files are not going to erase anything and I think you should try this method. You never know what others might have missed.
If you try a search make sure you select "all files and folders". And under "More advanced options" make sure "Search system folders" and "Search hidden files and folders" are checked.

[MomNEEDShelp]

Ok, Deerpark ....since you are so savey... )

Do I follow FEDS lead with:

 Double click 'My Computer' and then go to Tools>Folder Options>View ans select "Show hidden files and folders'.
Then go to Start>Search>For files and folders and see if the files can be found.

Will I still be able to pull them up if the are not named?

[SuperDave]

If you don't know the name of the files/folders the best way to find them would be to search using file extensions. Just use *. and type in the file extensions. If these were files that were downloaded from a porn site, it would be a good bet that they are pictures or movies. Deerpark listed some file extensions in a previous post. If you set up your search to show all hidden files you should find something quite quickly. After all, it's a hard drive, not the proverbial needle-in-a- haystack.

[MomNEEDShelp]

Thanks Dave.

Can someone give me steps to get to the point where I can search for those files by extenisons?

(When I sviewed them, they looked like stamp size xxx pics probably from websites)

When I search thru these file extensions, how can I see the pics.....not just the address to it.

Tip: There are NO OTHER pics in this pc, if that helps anyone.

[Peccavi]

Right click on My Computer and choose Search. Choose "Picture Music and Video" under the "What do you want to search for?" on the left pane. Check Pictures and Photos" and/or "Videos". Click Search.

When I search thru these file extensions, how can I see the pics.....not just the address to it.

Choose Thumbnail from the View menu.

For hidden files choose "Use advanced search options" on the same pane under the "What do you want to search for?" option. Then "More advanced options" and check "Hidden folders and files".

[MomNEEDShelp]

12,570 files appeared, but none were what I am looking for. (It was all sample pics, bullets, lines, logos and other crap that must have came with my computer)  PC's hard drive is almost full. Can I delete them?

Boy, when I saw that large of a number for found files, I thought I was gonna owe you a BIG KISS!

Please guys, don't give up on me. I know what I am looking for is in there SOMEWHERE cause I saw it all with my own eyes. Hundreds of small sized xxx pics.  If I can find this, I can show a judge and keep this freak away from my baby. Without it, its just my word vs. his!!!!

PS: Not only was there xxx straight porn, but tranny porn & 100% gay porn!!!  This man is SICK!

Help!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[DeltaSlaya]

Download CCleaner and run the cleaning section of it to clean out your internet cache, this is probably where most of those files are.

Then try running the search again.