1. Does your system show any restore points, or what?

2. You do understand, don't you, that System Restore does not restore your whole computer to the state it was in at the point you select? It only restores certain computer settings and registry items. It will not go in and make changes to program files...those are left totally alone. If you made changes to some Quickbooks files, System Restore is not going to return those files to their condition before you made changes. The only way you can undo changes in program files -- such as in Quickbooks -- is if the program itself allows you to undo things.

you really do need to determine why you are unable to use system restore, is it showing good restore points? does it seem to be creating them, can you go in and create a restore point? Make sure nothing has altered your system restore settings or turned it off or limited the amount of space that it can use to save restore points.

Some malware is known for blocking system restore I would update and run a full malwarebytes scan.

Thanks, yes it does show restore points almost each day. Monday, Sunday, Friday are shown bold. Sat is not.

My os is XP. There are many restore points on the calender. When I click on a date to restore, I get a message that the computer needs to shut down and restart. After it restarts, it states it could not restore that date and I should choose another date. I keep trying different dates and the same happens.

I backed up Quickbooks on Friday. Today, by mistake I seem to have lost the entire year. I tried to restore the back-up and got confused by the cryptic directions and renamed the backup and now I can't find it. I was hoping a system restore would take me back. If not, I lost an entire year which I need to send to our accountant.

I am ready to stick my head in the oven!

Jane

Jane:

When you save Quickbooks files, they have an extension of QBW. Even if you rename it, it should still have that extenstion.

Here's what I suggest you try to see if you can location the lost file:

-Go to start (bottom left corner where the Windows icon is)
-In the "start search" box, type exactly this: *.QBW
-The computer will search for every file with that extension and will list them all.
-Find the one dated last Friday and see if you are able to open the file.
-If you can open it, make sure you re-save it where it's suppose to go. Make a habit of saving 2 copies, one onto a removeable memory stick or elsewhere.

Let me know if it works. Good luck.

Deb

Jane, about a year ago I was unable to do a restore on my XP computer. I booted into Safe Mode and was able to do it that way. I never did find the cause of the problem, but it was not malware. Recently I did a restore on the same computer with no problem at all. Go figure!

Thanks Deb. What I did was completely messed up. I backed up the file. Then when I tried to find it, it showed up inside an old file dated 12-4-07(backup 3-5-12) in My Documents. I clicked on it and QB said I had to restore it. I went to Restore a Backup file and got the message to 'rename' the file. I didn't know why or what that meant. Went back to the file, deleted the 12-4-07, which just left the words (backup 3-5-12). Then I renamed that New, and tried to restore it.

Quickbooks kept opening an old file from 12-4-07. Can't find the backup file even though it is named backup 3-5-12 New. I don't know what to do. I might have deleted it.

I thought system restore might get it back.

Thanks grandms, I'm going to try that now.

Jane

I feel your panic. I suppose you already did a file search on 3-5-12 New as oppose to just looking through your files visually??

If you *think* may have deleted by accident, did you check your recycle bin?

Thanks Deb, I did and its not there. I think renaming it screwed things up, I'm not sure what happened. It apparently backed-up to an old file from 2007.

3-5-12 New, shows up, but when it restores, its the old 12-4-07 file. I didn't delete anything except when I changed the name I deleted the 12-4-07 part but did leave the 3-5-12 part.

When I do the search, it comes up but when it opens its the old file. I must have renamed the old file. So where is the new file?

I wonder how expensive it would be to hire a QB expert to see if they can find it? OMG, my husband doesn't know any of this and if we lost the whole year...I don't want to think about it...totally dead!

Jane

Just in case do not install anything that might over write it. Have you tried Recuva? I would try it could not hurt but do not install it on that pc instead put on a flash drive instead.

Recuva

also I know this is a good company and their other recovery programs are recommended so you might give their quickbooks one a try
Recovery for QuickBooks

I want to thank grandms for her hint about system restore. It worked! I used safe mode and got it to go back two days. The newly named files were gone but I still can't find the latest backup. I found one from Feb. 11, 2011 and tried to restore it but it keeps opening 2004 files.

I have to find someone who can look at this. Even if I lose a months worth of work, its better than the entire year.

Thanks again for the great help,
Jane

jane-
Your best bet is still going to be to try using software to recover deleted files or looking in your Recycle Bin. As I posted previously to you, it's not possible to get System Restore to help with this problem. Here is what Microsoft says about System Restore:

"System Restore does not affect personal files, such as e-mail, documents, or photos, so it cannot help you restore a deleted file."

I will also point out that the more you use your computer, the more likely it is that the deleted files will be overwritten by the normal operation of the hard drive. So, if you are going to try some alternate approach, do it immediately.

RC's important warning in regards to installation should be expanded to:

Determine if you are going to attempt to recover the files using RECUVA, which I too recommend, or not. If so, then do it. The more you use the system for any task the more you increase the chance of overwriting the target files. Time is working against you.

RECUVA is not the panacea for your concern, but it may work. I have had average results at best when using it. Good luck. Nothing more frustrating then losing work product.

The voice of experience shares:

After this is all over it may be time to sit down and think about what you need to do so the "data loss" doesn't happen again.

DA

Thank you all for the continued support. I have checked recycle, did so immediately...but I did not delete the file. What I did was rename a backup file. I deleted part of the name. The file appears but opens as another file.

Its so hard to explain. I found the backup file inside another backup file. I tried to restore it in QB and it said I had to rename it or it would overwrite. So I renamed it! Now when I open it I get old QB info from 2004. There is nothing from this year.

I don't know where it went! I never deleted it, maybe it was overwritten? I'm at a loss. I don't understand this program at all.

Jane

If you are willing to spend $75-$150+, you can check out local computer service places in your area. Many times, they know how to recoup this stuff if they are a full-service business - but there's no guarantee. Not sure how long it would take someone, but that $$ range above is hourly, and could very well be higher. Depends on your desperation. Just a thought.

I know when I mess up something in QB, I get unrattled. It is a complicated program in and out, IMO, and I only use the basics.

Did you try setting your own restore date for just before you had the problem. I have done that.