Your Kids Deleted Important Computer Files. Now What?

Your children mean well, but that doesn’t mean they’re immune to mistakes. Most children today actively use computers as learning or entertainment tools, and as computers become more of an everyday part of our lives, computer fluency, even among children too young for school, is continuing to increase.

For parents, giving children access to a computer assumes the risk that children may unknowingly perform actions that compromise the health of the computer, introduce viruses and other malware or, in some cases, accidentally delete some of your most important files. Unfortunately, most children are less skilled at recovering files than they are at deleting them, meaning the onus is on the parents to clean up the mess.

If the recovery process seems overwhelming, or even impossible, relax. There are several things you can do to protect yourself and your computer. And if you can take these steps before disaster strikes, you’ll be better prepared to respond to such an emergency.

Load your computer’s recovery tool or seek out the right one

As soon as you realize important files have gone missing, open your computer’s recovery tool and follow the software’s instructions to locate and recover the missing files. If your computer doesn’t have a recovery tool already installed, you can find free tools online, or you can pay for advanced recovery programs. These are sometimes called “undelete” programs and may be able to recover deleted files, assuming the space allocated to them hasn’t already been replaced by new files or data.

Save multiple versions of important files

Prevention is always the best medicine, even for accidentally deleted files. A quick-and-easy solution: saving multiple versions of your most important files in multiple places on your computer. Use two or three different folders located in different parts of your computer to ensure that, short of a complete hard drive meltdown, your children won’t be able to eliminate every single version of your essential files.

Use an external hard drive or storage device

Okay, so a floppy disc probably won’t help you here, but there are plenty of other external storage devices that can be a lifesaver when files go missing. Flash drives are now capable of storing incredible amounts of data in very small spaces and at a low cost. Similarly, external hard drives can be hooked up to your computer to back up your entire hard drive. Many types of external hard drives make it possible to schedule periodic backups of your computer’s contents so that you never need to manually perform an update.

Use cloud-based file/folder sync systems

Even if you have a physical computer storing all your files, backing up your digital belongings using cloud storage is a great insurance policy. File and folder sync programs are inexpensive and can periodically update the contents of your cloud-based storage to keep your files and folders safe and recoverable.

The system works similar to an external hard drive, with one major exception: you can access all your files from anywhere as long as you have an Internet connection. You can even use this service to retrieve files when you’re on a different computer and need to access its contents.

Kids have curious fingers, and accidents are inevitable. But parents can take solace in knowing ways to undo some of the damage inflicted. And thanks to the cloud and other advancements in technology, it’s possible to avoid such disaster scenarios entirely while guaranteeing you’ll never watch your important files vanish into thin air.

Featured Image Source: Wikimedia