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We’ve all done it before, deleted a file that we shouldn’t have and when you check the recycle bin its not there. So we’ve all done it, but only some of us back up our files on a regular basis and for those people reverting to a version of the file a few days old might just cut it. For the rest of us its usually either fork out few hundred dollars for a data recovery expert to get the file back, or just accept the fact that its gone.

Little of us know that there are literally hundreds of download-able programs out there that can recover recently deleted files. Most of these programs are trials which allow you to list the files that are recoverable and then require to you pay a little money and buy a license to use the full featured programs which of course allows you to recover those files!

I have personally tried out close to a dozen of these programs and have a couple of which I recommend, due to success I’ve have had using them. Before I go on further I would like to give you a few tips for when you are in one of these dilemmas where you have deleted important files.

• Don’t panic, when files are deleted all the computer does, is marks that section of the hard drive as available for writing to. The file is still there, just not visible.
• As soon as you are aware of the file being deleted, avoid doing too much on the computer, which might overwrite the remnants of the file. This means, don’t carry on editing and saving other files, avoid downloading off the Internet and running programs which clean up your file system.
• Run a few searches for the file, a lot of the time you may have accidentally dragged the file into an adjacent folder without knowing.
• Avoid using multiple file recovery programs if the first couple don’t work. The job is now probably best for the experts so the less you play with the files, the greater chance they have of a successful recovery.

The first program that I recommend is simply called Restoration. This program has a basic interface which is easy and straight forward to use compared to other programs out there with a multitude of settings which can be changed. I have had success with this program in restoring thousands of files off my hard drive, almost 50GB worth! This program would definitely be my first port of call. Best of all this program is FREE.

The second program is one that I tried out when the first program had no luck in recovering files that I wished I never deleted. This program is called GetDataBack funnily enough, and there are versions for both FAT (USB sticks, and older versions of Windows) and NTFS (Windows XP and Vista). This program has an easy to follow step by step process, which is a lot less user friendly than the first program, but the upside is that it managed to recover files which the first program failed to! The downside to this program is that you do have to purchase a licence if you wish to recover the files which it detects.

These programs may be the first port of call for most of us which aren’t prepared to empty our wallets of hundreds to recover files. Having said that, if the files you need to recover are very very very important, I do recommend paying a professional to do it right the first time.

My mouth is watering just writing a post about it, Butter Chicken or sometimes called Murgh Makhani is my favourite Indian meal, if not my favourite foreign meal all together. Actually to tell the truth Butter Chicken is not a traditional Indian dish and I have read somewhere that it was actually developed in the UK. Nevertheless, it is still my favourite and when ever i bring it up in conversation all mouths rave about it.

I must say though that no two Butter Chicken meals are ever the same between restaurants and the difference is huge, which is probably down to the fact of each cooks own special recipe and personal tastes. In my time I have sampled a large amount of Butter Chicken and I personally like the Butter Chicken which you can get from an Indian outlet in my local malls food court . I have not had better elsewhere, ever! Last but not least, I must not forget the Naan. Dipping Naan into the Butter Chicken sauce makes for the ultimate meal.

I am one to save money where possible and one area inparticular where I hate to spend money is on alcohol. Lets face it, 90% of alcohol has a nasty taste and id rather be drinking coke anyday. We drink to get drunk and enjoy ourselves, I think thats what old folk call binge drinking. We are binge drinkers because we aren’t drinking a perfectly selected wine which just goes perfectly with a meal at dinnertime whilst having a polite conversation about what happend at work today. When I drink, I drink to get drunk. Lately I have been trying a few of the cheaper alcohol alternatives out there and as you guessed this post is all about Scrumpy Strong Cider. If you are wondering what a cider is, it is an alcoholic drink made from fermented apples. At 8.2% this isnt a weak drink, almost 2x more alcohol volume over average beers and similar to most bourbon rtd’s out there. At my local I can score a 1.25L (8 standard drinks) bottle of this magic juice for one small payment of $9.49, that works out to be $1.18 per standard drink. Mint.

After a night out on the town paying large out of your pockets for overpriced drinks, the last thing that you want to do is flick one of those cheeky taxi drivers a couple of green ones. Recently i’ve been taking advantage of Auckland’s NiteRider bus service put on by Auckland Regional Transport Authority. One flat rate fare of $6.50 ( $4.50 on some routes) will get you anywhere along one of the 10 routes these buses take which go in all directions, north, south east and west. Buses are scheduled on saturday and sunday mornings at multiple times between the hours of 1am and 3am varying on which route you are taking. An added bonus is you get to chat to other drunk people on the bus which makes the time fly and before you know it you are home. So next time you’re in town plan to take one of the 3am NiteRider bus services home. You can check out more information on the routes here

This is the first official post on corrupt.co.nz, a blog that I will be using to share things I stumble across on the internet, interesting things I learn and all the cool shit that I get up to irl (in real life).  Feel free to leave comments, and before you regret not doing so sooner, subscribe to the email feed to stay updated with updates on the blog!