Question : Problem: Retrieving lost or deleted data in MS Windows

I have heard of stories where people have recovered erased data (data that have been emptied from the recycle bin). Is this possible? Can deleted data be recovered? What other instances can we recover deleted data? I have had an important document that was sitting in the recycle bin and my room mate accidently clicked empty recycle bin.

Answer : Problem: Retrieving lost or deleted data in MS Windows

The bitmap is a "index" to the actual file data.  Windows only removes the entry in the "index" during a delete, thus the data still remains, untill something overwrites it.

Here is some more info on one type of a file system called FAT:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_Allocation_Table

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_system