Salvaging deleted files from network drives

Typically under windows when you delete a file it is sent to the Recycle Bin. This is not the case when a file is deleted from a Novell fileserver. A similar feature does exist however, and in most cases the need to restore files from backup tapes is not necessary.

How do I recover a file that has been deleted?

When a file is deleted from a network drive such as (U: or V:), it is placed into a salvage area. A listing of deleted files can be accessed by navigating to the network drive via My Computer or Windows Explorer, right-clicking on the parent directory from where a file was deleted, and selecting the "Salvage Files" option.

A dialog box will appear listing all files that have recently been deleted from that particular folder. A file can be salvaged by selecting it from the list and clicking "Salvage File". Multiple files can be salvaged by holding the shift key and selecting multiple files from the list. Alternatively you may salvage all files by clicking the "Salvage All" button.

You may notice that there are multiple files with the same name in the salvage list. These correspond to earlier versions of files that have been edited with programs such as Word and Excel, which delete and recreate a file each time you save it. If you attempt to salvage multiple files with the same filename or a file that already exists, you will be prompted to rename it before it can be salvaged.

Once the salvage operation is complete, the file(s) will appear back in the directory from which it was deleted.

How long will deleted files remain on the server?

Files that have been deleted will normally remain on the server until it requires the space for new files. When this occurs, the older deleted files will be overwritten first.