Rescue Files from the Network Recycle Bin

As you may have already discovered, when you delete files from shares on your network they really vanish. Unlike with local files, they are permanently deleted instead of being sent to the Recycle Bin where you can recover them if needed. Obviously, this may become a huge problem if you accidentally delete that important work or school document. Instead of “My dog ate my homework!” you’d explain “My network ate my homework!”.

Though Microsoft and Windows won’t help you with this seemingly simple but potentially disastrous networking issue, you can use third-party programs. This is an example of just how much—or little—technology and computers are developed with the human in mind. It seems like Microsoft and other OS developers could have fixed the issue long ago—Vista release candidates actually included a network recycle bin feature, but were removed in the final releases. Nevertheless, we’ll figure out how to get around the problem, so you can save your homework excuses for times you really need it.