Uh-Oh! I Goofed!

[dgridley]

I make it a habit to shred any unwanted files with Window Washer. Well, I accidentally shredded part of my Documents and Settings folder before I realized what I'd done.

Any idea what extent damage I may have caused and is it safe to turn the computer off or might I run into problems rebooting?

I have no idea what that folder actually does but I caught it pretty quick (I think)

The bad part is: my XP is restorable from a partition on the HD at bootup, if need be. I don't have an original XP disc and the computer didn't ship with one.

 

[Don]

*** Edited out so dave doesn't follow my ill advice.

 

[Peter]

documents and settings folder also houses application data, settings (obviously) desktop items etc.

Can you work out what has actually been deleted?

for example the folder contains the following folders for me:-

Administrator
All Users
Default User
LocalService
NetwrokService
Owner

And another folder for every user on the system (with me it is only my user).

If all else fails it might be worth trying a system restore (is in the windows feature)

 

[Don]

Doh! lol.

That's what i get for posting 2 minutes after I wake up.

It would've helped if I was looking at the right folder.

 

[Rudy]

I would also try to figure out what exactly was deleted and post back... when checking, make sure to view hidden files AND Protected Operating System files. (Go to Tools->Folder Options ->View)

 

[dgridley]

Well, my brother told me that XP won't allow you to delete critical system files (dunno if that's true).. I took a chance and rebooted and it seems to have rebooted ok.. the only thing was a Notepad window opened for desktop.ini

 

[shockie]

could system restore possibly do the trick?

you might have trouble with some programs because there're program stuff under "application data"..

and i thought .inis open in notepad by default, no?

 

[Peter]

and i thought .inis open in notepad by default, no?

Yes they do.

 

[Matthew.]

Well, my brother told me that XP won't allow you to delete critical system files (dunno if that's true)..

Essentially true, but i believe it is explorer that prevents you from deleting them the usual way. If the explorer process has been ended then it may be possible through command prompt or other methods.

You will find it hard to delete anything that will prevent Windows from booting at all and even if you do it will not be preferment or fatal to your data. Files can be replaced through the recovery console (although this can be tedious) or a simple repair operation will (re-)copy all critical system files. Data can also be recovered using a live CD or accessing the HD partition another way :P

Anyway, just re-read your pos:

I make it a habit to shred any unwanted files with Window Washer. Well, I accidentally shredded part of my Documents and Settings folder before I realized what I'd done.

My Documents and Settings are non essential folders/files. You won't do any major damage, the only thing you may do is corrupt an application but any program that's worth it's disk space will store anything essential in application data folders and or will replace any missing files at startup.

Matt.

 

[dgridley]

Thanks for the replies.. it seems to be working ok at the moment. I guess until I look for something and it's not there, I won't know until I miss it!