A book on goal setting

Why are there so much stress and unhappiness in the work force? One reason is that 95% of workers never find their niche. Most of them drift through life taking whatever job they can get. Although one can make a living in this manner, it would be much more enjoyable and profitable to find what fits your talents.

The trouble is that many don’t have a clue what they want to do. It is impractical to try every position. The first thing you need to do is evaluate your talents and what is attractive to you. Investigate the abilities needed for the jobs that appeal to you. Talk to people in those jobs to get a feel for them.

Technical schools do a good job training students to do the work, but if that job ever becomes obsolete you would have to start over. A good college education gives a broad enough education that you can change occupations without too much sweat. If you have to continue working, perhaps you could go to night school, get on the job training, or opt for a correspondence course. If you are in a position to afford college, take courses that relate to the jobs you are interested in. Narrow the field so that you can focus on what best fits your talents. Some fields are related and a knowledge of the basics permits you to move from one to the other.

If you can’t go to college, a technical school is the next best thing. The best schools provide hands on experience with what you will be working with, on the job. Correspondence courses give you the facts and may provide kits for some experience. Unfortunately, you sometimes have questions that are difficult to get explained by mail. What you have pondered for months could be explained in a moment in a resident school. Some first go to college and then to a technical school.

You need to do what you have a passion for. Focus on the one thing you want to do and use your energy to learn all you can about it and become an expert. You feel much less stress if you love your work. If you hate your job, it is as if you have lead shoes. If you love it, it’s like you are floating on air. The key to becoming an expert in any field is to find a mentor. You need someone to take you under their wing and show you the ropes. Sometimes a fellow worker who has experience can show you what you are doing wrong and explain what you don’t understand.

You may want to try your hand at an internet business. This has many advantages, but it’s not for everyone. Being the owner of a business means that you are in charge of everything. Some can function in this manner, but many don’t know how to handle a broad scope of authority. In this case you may be better off specializing in one area of work.

Use your imagination. Discover what you have a passion for and reach for the stars. Taking whatever position you can find, is more stressful and much less thrilling, than following your dream. Develop a single chief aim to train for the job you want, and be the best you can be.

One of the best contributions we can make to ourselves and our family is to become better people. To attain this, we need development goals. These development goals will determine who you will become next year, in ten years, and for life.

Development goals are a way of developing new skills, raising our awareness, broadening our understanding and maturing of our body, mind and soul. Our personal commitment to growth is the driving force behind the setting of development goals.

Through development goals you will be able to identify your weaknesses, your short-comings, and character defects and how you are going to improve them.

There is no denying that the world we life in is becoming increasingly sophisticated. There is a global market place with fierce competition. We need to be able to add new skills on an ongoing basis. We need to become flexible, able to adapt to new ideas and challenges. In order to succeed we need to embrace change and accept the challenges that it brings.

Desirable skills are moving from traditional technical abilities to personal abilities, which is where the principles of personal development and success come in. The ability to set and achieve goals, coupled with discipline and perseverance will be required to succeed in the future.

Even the relationships we have are becoming more demanding. This is because our relationships have become more complex. We all struggle with a variety of problems from day one. Whether it is in our relationships, businesses, finances, or health, we all have problems. One solution is to raise our level of awareness, to grow beyond our present situation, and have a definite goal of what we want to achieve in all these factors.

Set your own goals. This will pave the way to a successful personal growth plan.

Do you have a detailed set of goals for your life? There are a lot of people in certain businesses that are continually challenging themselves with motivation, success and personal development or else they just will not last.

If your friends and family tell you to take the easy road, do not listen to them. If you have already set your goal, continue on. Know that you are in a select group for very few people have ever made that first step forward.

People have a tendency to continue doing the same things over and over again. There is always that thought that everything is good enough. In the end, things will become redundant. We have to keep growing with the changing world and continue developing to become better than we already are. This is the role that our goals will play.

It is very important to remember that goals are not static. As our circumstances change, without doubt our goals will also need to change. It is important to remember that when your circumstances change, review and, when necessary, adapt your goals. The first rule of development goals is to complete the goals you set for yourself.

Data recovery or Datenrettung is the process by which the data is recovered from damaged or inaccessible storage media. Data recovery is done from storage media like CDґs, DVDґs, Floppies, Hard disks, Magnetic tapes etc. There are two reasons due to which the data becomes inaccessible. They are logical damage and physical damage to the storage media.

Physical damage to storage media can occur in many ways. Magnetic tapes can break, get crumpled or dirt may settle on the tapes. CDґs and DVDґs can have scratches or the metallic layer may get damaged. Magnetic heads in hard disks can crash or motors may fail. The floppy is notorious for failing frequently due to bending, overheating, cold, dust etc.

There are other reasons like fires, electrical surges etc that can cause data to become inaccessible or lost. There are many methods by which data can be recovered from magnetic media or optical media. The methods most commonly used are Magnetic Force Microscopy (MFM), Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM), Magnetic Force Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM) etc.

In these methods a sharp magnetic tip is placed closed to the surface to be analyzed. It interacts with the stray magnetic field. An image of the data is generated and then repairs are carried out on logical damage and thus the data is recovered. Many companies carry out data recovery.

Logical damage is the damage to the file system. It is not physical but a software problem and also tells us that we need to be cautious and have a quality system for data recovery, datenrettung. It generally occurs due to power cuts, system crashes etc preventing file system structures from being written resulting in file system being left in an inconsistent state.

Logical damage is more common than physical damage. This may cause strange behavior like infinitely recurring file directories, loss of data, system crashes, hard disks reporting negative space etc. The end result is that the operating system cannot mount the file system.

Most operating systems come with repair facilities like, Linux has fcsk utility, Mac has disk utility and Windows has chkdisk facility. There are other specialized programs available which have better repair facilities than the operating systems.

There are also other systems called journaling file systems like NTFS, EFS (used in Windows XP), ext3 and xfs which can be reverted back to their earlier consistent state. These file systems reduce the amount of data loss.

Data back up is the best way to prevent loss of data and itґs the most common system for data recovery, datenrettung. The simplest method is to keep data on drives on which the operating system is not loaded. The other method is to write data on magnetic tapes, CD’s or DVDґs or have online backup.

Backups are very important for databases. Data backup is of 3 types. Full backup means backing up all data. Incremental backup means backing up of only the files that have changed. Differential backup is a mixture of these two. There is another method called continuous data protection in which when data is written to a disk, it is also written to another computer in a network.

Most private persons with a computer do nothing in advance, they just use their computers. Too late, when an incident has happened they learn about data recovery or datenrettung.

By asking for the impossible, we obtain the best possible. ~ Italian saying

If you are serious about achieving a more meaningful life then you’ll need a new perspective for viewing your life and your career. The following exercise is a new method for going through your day and your week. It’s a new sense of being alive being responsible, being at choice, and being the architect in your life.

Tomorrow, you’ll be totally conscious about everything you do, see, say, feel, smell, taste, and who you are being. Use your notebook, journal or computer file to capture notes, thoughts, and insights.

Exercise: A Totally Conscious Day

Notice everything! Write down your observations using 1-2 words or several sentences. There is no wrong or right way to do it.

As soon as you wake up, notice the first thoughts that enter your mind. Write them down. Go into the bathroom. Look into the mirror. Look into your eyes. Really look! Smile. Spend a minute looking into your eyes. Smile goodbye. Write down feelings or thoughts you experienced.

As you get ready for work, notice everything the rhythm of brushing your teeth, brushing your hair, the motion your arm makes as you stroke on your makeup, etc. Write down any thoughts or describe any pictures that come to mind.

On your way to work, notice your surroundings. What are the buildings like? What does your route to work smell like? Can you smell the restaurants, factories, etc? Do you smell trees in bloom? As you get closer to work, what sensations do you notice in your body? Write down every observation.

When the day is over, spend a few quiet minutes in bed reading your notes. Do you remember things you didn’t capture before? Write them down in a different color pen than your notes from earlier in the day. Finally, spend five minutes writing your impressions of what you captured and what you experienced being totally conscious.

This exercise provides a lot of perspective and insight, but you have to actually DO it not just read the directions and say, That sounds like a great idea. I’ll try it later. It’s really important to get clear.

This first step is critical to your success. If you make the decision to become conscious to become completely aware of what is really going on you become aware of what it is that you really want. We often become excited after participating in a workshop, attending a seminar or reading a book. We think, Oh, this is it. This is the thing that’s going to change my life. However, we don’t make the decision to start, to take action. Or we may think that by simply reading a book, it will somehow magically change our lives: The information is going to float over me and my life is going to be different.

When the pebble in our shoe bugs us enough, we pick up a book or attend a seminar. We briefly take off our shoe. We enjoy the comfort of the idea of not traveling with the pebble in our shoe anymore.

When the seminar or book is finished, we put our shoe back on over the pebble. Then we start our journey again. We feel a little lighter and more enthusiastic, because of encountering new material. So the pebble is barely noticeable. However, we never made a decision a conscious choice to remove the pebble or get shoes that keep the pebble from falling back in again.

We never really get started.

Whether you know what you want to do or no longer want that quiet, nag pebble in your shoe the realization that you need to make a change and take action is a great place to be. When you make the decision to move forward, it’s truly a momentous occasion. Today, you are finally awake.

Interestingly, the word vision can be interchangeable with the word passion.

But small business owners often forget to promote the true reason for being in business. They’ve lost touch with their passionate vision.

Passion is defined as an intense, driving, or overmastering feeling or conviction. Vision means unusual discernment or foresight – a person of vision.

Our vision (passion) is that intense driving conviction of unusual foresight that involves people in our story.

It is an authentic story because it comes from our heart. It’s the reason we do what we do. And authentic stories are how we persuade people to use our service or product (ideas) over many other choices.

But for a majority of people in small business, vision is lost somewhere between starting the business and dealing with the day-to-day challenges and opportunities that arise.

Ask Yourself This Question

Why did you go into business in the first place?

Like many people, you probably got started with a vision you felt passionate about. Somewhere along the line you fell victim to day-to-day, reactive thinking and never returned to your original business vision. It became diluted and never rose from the ashes again.

What Can I Do to Rediscover My Vision?

Remembering the reason you started your business is the first step. Follow the action steps below to rediscover it.

Next, tell people the story of how you got started and why you love what you do. That story should be on your marketing collateral, web site, sales presentations and phone messages.

Passion is that single, illusive thing that attracts clients. Passion helps you stand out from other businesses who are selling rather than telling a “passionate, authentic story about a unique business vision”.

Action Steps to Develop Your Vision

1. Create an Authentic Vision Story. Start by considering the reason you started your business in the first place. Think back, when you first started out, what were you excited about?

2. Write down one sentence that tells the value you provide to others. This is the true reason anyone is in business.

3. Next, write down your competitive advantage. How are you different than the competition?

4. List single sentence statements that tell people your identity. Remember, image is dead. Clients and prospects need a strong authentic identity to understand exactly who you are and what you stand for.

5. Add your niche to this list. What single group of people do you best serve?

6. List the type of client you most enjoy working with. Include both professional and personal qualities. Understand who your ideal client is.

7. Weave the 6 points above into a compelling story.

8. Memorize that story. Focus on your ideal client only. Tell every ideal prospect you talk to this week your Authentic Vision Story.

9. The results will surprise you. Your prospects will seem more receptive. Your clients will be more willing to help you spread the word.

Follow these steps and you are guaranteed to find more enjoyment in your business.

The road of life is not paved with gold. There are many set backs that can catch us off guard at times. These set backs can send us on a downward spiral of despair or they can lift us up and over the obstacles, depending upon how we choose to view them.

How do you view your set backs? Are they obstacles or are they stepping stones?

Someone once wisely said, “Obstacles are those ugly things that appear before us when we take our minds off of our goals.”

If you don’t know which road you’re taking, you will never know if you have arrived. In life we must set goals in order for us to be successful. If we do not set these goals we will end up running into all kinds of obstacles and detours on our road to success.

Do you have a plan for your life? Do you know where you want to be this time next year? How about in 5 or 10 years, have you set goals for the future?

If you have not set goals for yourself you are like a man driving without a roadmap. You have no idea where you are going. Perhaps you like being in the passenger seat and just taking in the view along the way, but sooner or later you may find yourself in a place you didn’t want to go.

Take a look at your life right now. You are where you are in life because of choices you have made in the past. You and you alone have bought you to the place you are right at this moment in life. Are you happy where you are? Do you have any hopes or dreams for the future? Or do you prefer to stay exactly where you are? Remember, that a rolling stone gathers no moss. If we are not moving forward we are drifting backward and we start to gather moss and deteriorate.

Hopefully, at this moment, you want to go forward in life and find all the wonderful things that life has to offer you. In order to do this you must set a goal. Pick any goal you wish. Start by thinking about where you would like to be 6 months from now. Take it a step at a time.

Once you have decided on what you would like to see in your life 6 months from now it is time to break it down into bite size pieces. Say to yourself, “I want to be _________ in 6 months. In order to get there I must do _________________.”

As you look down the road ahead, you can picture in your mind your goal as an achievement. In order to achieve this goal you must think about what obstacles may show up along the journey from point A to point B.

It is important that you plan what you are going to do with the obstacles that show up on the pathway. If you are prepared for them before hand they will not loom so large and you will be able to cope with them before they rear their ugly heads.

Have a plan of action. There are many roads that may lead to your desired goal. Be sure to have plan A, B and C just in case something comes along to detour you.

It is certain that obstacles will come, the question is, will you look at them as something to bring you discouragement or will you look at it as a stepping stone to help you fine tune your goal.

For every problem there is a solution. Don’t let yourself become dismayed when plan A doesn’t work the way you wanted it to. Try to be clear headed and look at other possibilities. Use your obstacles to bring you to a higher plane where you can see clearly where you want to go.

Sometimes we feel we’re ‘stuck’ in life, and maybe even feel a little confused about what we really want to do in life. It isn’t impossible to figure it out, and one way of accomplishing this is by interpreting your dreams. We dream about one to four hours every night, and if we take the time to do the work, these dreams can be deciphered, allowing us to connect the dreams to our inner needs.

When dreaming, the subconscious part is telling our conscious part what it is that we need to work on. Even though dreams tell us what we need to do, dreams use imagery, not logical thoughts, to convey messages to us.
It is suggested that we write ourselves notes on cards, telling ourselves that we are going to remember a dream tonight, and keep looking at that note, throughout the day. It may also be a good idea to hang it by the clock, or somewhere that we are bound to see it several times a day. We should also have a notebook, or a recorder, by our bedside. When we wake up, and the dream is fresh in our mind, we write it down quickly. Try to remember the details, as these are usually crucial.

First, write down the first image that we see. This could be a person, object, situation, color, sound, or speech. Then determine how we feel about it. Does anything come to mind when we see the image? Usually the image will inspire several associations. We then need to decide which of these associations we feel strongest about, or has the most energy. Focus on one that really “clicks,” or has the most energy. We must try to connect the dream to our inner selves what part of us feels like that. If we then write down the parts of our lives that correlate with the dream, this will help to interpret the meaning behind the dream.

The next step is to try to “honor” the dream by talking about it, re-analyzing and basically just trying to figure out what our subconscious part is telling us..
Usually it is best to try to interpret the dream in parts, and then putting the parts together, to get the whole picture. This is called dream integration, and is a crucial to figuring out what our dreams truly mean. This usually cannot be done very quickly.

Keep in mind that dream images are associations, and those associations are parts of our inner selves. These parts need to be put together, and understood, before they can be used to help further our personal growth and understanding of ourselves.

As a final note, there are many books (and ebooks,) covering the interpretation of dream images, but try not to follow them too closely. They are perfect for use as a guide. But not every image means the same thing, every time. With that in mind, go grab your notebooks, and start dreaming!

And if Bull frogs had wings they wouldn’t bump their little rear-end when they landed. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that rushing all over the place you are being your most productive self. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that when you take time out for thought you are wasting your time. All play and no work makes Jack a poor boy, but, quality time in thought can turn your wishes into diamonds.

As Plain As Black And White!

It has been said; if you invest one percent of your time in study, thinking and planning, you will make an amazing difference in the speed with which you reach your goals.

Everyday has 1440 minutes in it. Invest one percent of that time everyday in study, thinking and planning and you will be amazed at what those fourteen minutes can do for you.

Developing this daily habit will bring you ideas and solutions not just when you are in your study time, but, almost anywhere. You could be walking down the street, or giving a speech. You could be singing in the shower or cleaning a dirty diaper. Yuk.

Now, pay attention: Goals, are not wishes. Wings don’t belong on Bull frogs and beggars can’t be choosers. And, you are not going to achieve your goals by wishes, or begging, or, lying around and licking your wounds. Goals are accomplished by taking the bull by the horn and wrestling that rascal to the ground.

Easy As ABC!

How do you do that? There are three things you need to do. (1), you need to write the goal down. (2), Aim your sights high. And, (3), Create a deadline.

Writing the goal down gives it purpose and clarity. You got to know what you’re going after or else how will you know if you ever get it? Writing the goal down also will make an impression on your memory. As an idea comes to our minds, that we have an interest in, we tend to analyze the thought with our thinker cap, and determine if we can achieve it.

If the idea has merit, we continue to analyze till we either find ourselves blowing and going like a locomotive, or fizzling out like a wet fuse. You will always find yourself pursuing energetically, something that has made an indelible impression on your mind.

Just Between You And Me And The Fence Post!

If it hasn’t made that kind of impression, then you will not find the kind of fire in your desire that you need to go for broke. Your goals will still be like that stupid bull frog that wishes he had wings. Now, obviously, going broke is not what you want to happen. But, the attitude is what is important.

Aim your sights high. It takes no more effort to aim high and accept prosperity, abundance, peace, health, life; than it does to settle for misery and poverty and small potatoes. Now, no one has ever achieved one hundred percent of all their goals. But, why settle for a pig in a poke.

The problem comes where we aim so low that we accomplish that goal with relative ease, and then, when the goal is accomplished, we realize all we got was this great looking slick bull frog, but the sucker’s got no wings.

Now, at that moment, we’re not thinking, now wait a minute! This sucker doesn’t fly because I set my sights so low, that I became over confident, and reeled that bad boy in like a pro. Our great accomplishment just doesn’t seem to satisfy and something seems lacking.

You’re Not Just Whistling Dixie!

It is a lot better to shoot for the stars and miss them half way, than to shoot for the ceiling and miss it half way. There seems to be a direct relationship between how easy we can accomplish our goals, and the mental power propelling the motivation.

If you’re not expending considerable energy to reach the stars, then it ain’t the stars you’re reaching for. You might as well be reaching for a clouded crystal ball, and reciting, twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are.

The stars don’t give themselves easy to anyone. When you set your sights for the stars, you will subconsciously increase the amount of effort that you apply. You have too. The higher the goal, the more your reason will tell you to be objective and honest with yourself. It will become mandatory that you expend enough effort to move your mountain.

So, you will set a series of steps that have to be reached in order to go to the next level or higher position. Goals are never reached, no matter how high or low, in one step. And, each level that we find ourselves having reached, we gain a little more confidence and head for the next level.

Get A Move On!

Ask yourself this question. Where will you be and what will you be doing ten years from now if you keep doing what you are doing right now? This is the importance of setting a deadline for the goal. When you write your goal, you will specify the time limit for achieving it. This gives finality to it.

Keep this in mind. Always be aggressive in asking life for more than what you really want. Ask for more than what you think you’re worth. Why should I do that? Because, people have a tendency to meet the demands and expectations that are placed upon them within their time constraints.

Waiting With Baited Breath!

After you rise to the occasion and present the prize to yourself, then the next time you set out to accomplish a goal, you will be mentally prepared to grab the whole enchilada, take a licking and keep on ticking.

It will be very beneficial if you outline the goal from beginning to end. Just don’t try to answer every question at the very beginning. This is sometimes not possible. We don’t always know all the answers when first starting out. This is why fear sometimes will hold us back. But, fear is never a friend to your goals. And, besides, the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t.

Herein Lays Your Door Of Opportunity!

This is so important for you to take action on the goal and start moving towards it one step at a time. And, keep moving and keep moving. It won’t move closer to you unless you’re moving closer to it. And, if you let the pony die, the ride is over.

Are you feeling motivated to set some strong goals for this year? Write down those New Year’s resolutions and get going, right? Most people write down lofty resolutions that they think they should want and rarely stick to them, losing motivation and focus within three weeks of their good intentions.

This is a brand new year of limitless possibilities. Do you want to:

Increase your income?
Write a book?
Attract a relationship?
Start a new business?
Become a professional speaker?
Have more personal time?
Take a really great vacation?

I’ve got a gut feeling it’s going to be a GREAT year, a BIG SUCCESS year. So, forget writing down resolutions. They don’t work. In fact, the whole idea doesn’t really inspire action. So, let’s change that.

Start thinking about 3-5 things you want, really want for yourself this year. Not what you should want, or what you think would please others. Dream a little. Think big. What are you passionate about? Entertain several ideas that make you smile, excite you, make you giggle, make you feel really good inside, no holds barred. Remove all mental barriers to holding these ideas clearly in your mind.

Now, put your attention fully on one of the things you want for yourself this year. Visualize and see yourself already there, living it! Creative visialization is a powerful tool of attraction.Our minds cannot tell the difference between something real and something intensely imagined. Hold that picture in your mind. (Do this daily!)

Does this picture excite you – make you want to have it?

How would your life change if you got (achieved) this one thing you really want?

What would you have in your life that you don’t have now?

Now, the next step is very important. You must decide to go for it. Choose to have what you really want NOW, not someday or tomorrow. NOW. Say YES to yourself instead of saying no. Making the decision fuels your intent to take action.

3 Tips to Get on Track

1. On paper, clearly describe the 3-5 things you really want. I suggest using statements beginning with the phrase I intend to vs. I want, I hope for, I wish to, I’d like, I desire etc. (too wishy-washy). Taking a stand with strong definitive statements reflects your commitment to succeed. (This first step is important in creating your road map to achieving your goals. If you don’t define the results you want, how do you know where you’re going?). Feel like being creative? Make a collage or dream board for a visual aid in keeping your focus.

2. Moving forward, break down your action steps into smaller steps over a shorter time period like 30 days. For example: your goal is to increase your income, your first step may be to explore options to generate more money. Another step may be to look at your skills and talents for further ideas. A third step may be choosing something you have always wanted to do, something that you love that has the potential for additional income. Maybe it’s a total change of career. The first month may be devoted to doing research and personal exploration.

3. Identify potential obstacles and struggles that could prevent you from reaching your goals. Develop strategies to keep yourself motivated and focused such as reading and listening to positive materials, surrounding yourself with encouraging, uplifting people, joining a mastermind group. HIRE A COACH! Note: let go of using the money excuse that you can’t afford to get what you want. Invest in your success. It costs money to make money. How much do you think NO is costing you to stay where you are?

5 Tips to Stay on Track

1. Resolve unfinished business. Either clear the past ( make apolgies, speak your mind, forgive someone or yourself) and let it go.

2. Stay strong if you’re feeling FEAR. Bring your attention back to the present. Fear creates uncertainty, worrisome and anxiety producing thoughts. ( What if thinking, Am I going to be okay?) Fear looks at the future and worse case scenarios. Focus on past successes for confidence.

3. Eliminate negativity. Notice the chatter in your head. How do your emotions speak to you inside? What you think affects how you view a situation. Ever heard the phrase self-fulfilling prophecy? Your viewpoint affects your decisions and actions; therefore your attitude directly affects the outcome. Take a look at the people you associate with. Are they uplifting or do they bring you down? Be selective about who you’re with, being around consistently negative or fearful people is draining and disheartening.

4. Keep up your self-care. Taking good care of yourself physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually is a key factor in staying strong and focused under pressure.

5. Celebrate along the way. Taking the time to recognize measurable successes motivates continual commitment to your goals.

The big challenge is to become all that you have the possibility of becoming. You cannot believe what it does to the human spirit to maximize your human potential and stretch yourself to the limit. Jim Rohn

If you type a lot and are using Microsoft Word as your text processor, you’ve made the right choice. Microsoft Word is arguably the most powerful, feature-rich and handy to use by complete beginners and advanced professionals altogether. It has unparalleled strengths in creating, formatting and modifying all types of documents, from simple memos to complex reports. When you save a document in one version of Microsoft Word, it can usually be opened in a different version without problems.

But what if the document you’ve spent so much time on just disappears? What can happen to it? First and most possible, you can simply delete it yourself by an accident. You might think that this would never happen to you because there is the Windows Recycle Bin, and even if it’s accidentally emptied, you’ll just go to the Internet and get a free undelete utility. Well, it does not work this way…

Here’s what happened to my wife a couple of weeks ago. She was working on a chapter for her Ph.D. thesis, and sent it to a professor for review. Usually, she gets back a document with embedded comments by email. She saves an attachment from the email, overwriting the old one, and deletes it from her Hotmail account. But this time, things went the wrong way. She received her chapter by email and replaced the old document with the new one, only to find out that her supervisor got a copy of the old one! She opened the Recycle Bin and found out that the document was never deleted but instead, it was replaced, so it wasn’t even in the Recycle Bin. She tried to find an email that she had sent earlier, but Hotmail does not store sent messages. She asked me to do something to recover the document, and I downloaded a couple of free undelete programs, only to find that there were several dozens of deleted documents with that same name. So, I failed to recover the most recent revisions.

This story did have a happy ending, as my wife’s supervisor discovered the latest version of the document on her computer. But one thing that I learned from this story was never to rely on the Recycle Bin and free data recovery tools. To prevent this kind of things from happening, I decided to look for commercial alternatives.

I quickly discovered that there are many data recovery offers on the market. Most products mention recovering deleted or corrupted files and documents, and some tools promise recovery of files even from crashed or damaged hard drives. There are basically two types of data recovery products. They are different in how they find the lost files, and what they do to recover them. Simpler products, such as those free undelete utilities that I tried in my quest, deal with the file system. They simply scan the file system looking for records of files that are marked deleted, and clear the mark. This is a fast and easy way to recover lost files, and it works sometimes, especially if you deleted a file just a minute ago.

These products, as I discovered from my own experience, fail to do their job if you have a complex case or if you are recovering a failed hard drive, or if the file system is damaged. If your document has been deleted some time ago or overwritten with another file, chances of successful recovery using these tools are slim.

The other type of products deals with your hard drive directly instead of scanning the file system, but such products are slow and expensive. I also found them extremely complex to use because they don’t show the names of the deleted documents, let alone their content. These tools don’t have access to the file system, and are unaware of the files’ names, showing documents as document_001.doc at best, but more likely you’ll see something like ~ocume1 instead of a proper name.

Then I found DiskInternals Word Recovery. It does an amazing thing by combining the best of the other data recovery products, while offering unprecedented efficiency dealing specifically with Microsoft Word documents such as.DOC and.RTF. It scans the file system and learns about the files that were deleted the way the free undelete tools do. Then, it goes further and scans the hard drive directly to locate Microsoft Word documents that are not shown in the file system. It uses a list of file signatures to detect the beginning and end of Microsoft Word documents, and extracts their contents and metadata on the fly. This method is said to work even if your hard drive is half dead!

DiskInternals Word Recovery synchronizes the results obtained with the file system scan with the results obtained by accessing the hard disk directly, presenting the most complete list of recoverable Word documents along with their file names, metadata and contents, and yields the best ratio of recoverability.

If I wanted to get the latest version of any Word document, I would simply use On the Fly filters that allow to only display files with specific title, written by specific author, or the files that contain certain text, are of a certain size, or are last saved on a specific date. The free version of DiskInternals Word Recovery allows full file preview to ensure you recover exactly what you want, and that you can recover the document in full with no garbage or missing parts.

DiskInternals Word Recovery if not free, but I for one am done with the free recovery tools. You can download and try an evaluation version for free from, and only purchase if you see that DiskInternals Word Recovery does indeed deliver what others just offer: the complete recovery of your lost Microsoft Word documents.