Recovering files with a zero file size

[superclive]

Hi all,
A couple of days ago my windows XP machine went belly up (unsure of cause, possibly a virus). It still boots into windows but files on the hard drive now show as 0 bytes - and have no application associated with them. I don't really care about this, I can reformat and rebuild. But it did the same thing to files on an external drive that was plugged in at the time, and that has important files I need back (videos of my children ).

I've tried running a couple of recovery programs but no joy. The files appear, but they are all still zero bytes. The recovery programs correctly identify the disk usage (250GB on a 1TB drive) so I believe the data is still there. But the analysis tools show these files as many fragmented video files.

Has anyone seen this problem and/or can give me any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

 

[r_manic]

What recovery programs have you tried using? I'd suggest some now but you might have already tried them.

 

[superclive]

I've tried R-studio and getdataback. I'd be hugely grateful for any further suggestions on other programs to try. Thanks!

 

[le13enforce]

Hi superclive, got your PM. Sorry for not getting back to you. I really suggest you contact a professional service if your files are that important. Trying to fix the problem yourself may complicate things. Try this out: http://www.datarecovery.net/for-individuals.html

 

[warez-is-not-nice]

Those 0kb files are nonrecoverable.