Recover lost or deleted files in Windows 7

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If you can’t find a file on your computer or you accidentally modified or deleted a file, you can restore it from a backup (if you’re using Windows backup) or you can try to restore it from a previous version. Previous versions are copies of files and folders that Windows automatically saves as part of a restore point. Previous versions are sometimes referred to as shadow copies.
Restoring files from a backup

To restore a file from a backup, make sure the media or drive that your backup is saved on is available, and then follow these steps:

To restore files from a backup use the following procedure

1. Open Backup and Restore by clicking the Start button Picture of the Start button, clicking Control Panel, clicking System and Maintenance, and then clicking Backup and Restore.

2. Click Restore my files, and then follow the steps in the wizard.

Restoring files from previous versions

You can restore deleted files and folders or restore a file or folder to a previous state.

To restore a deleted file or folder

1. Open Computer by clicking the Start button Picture of the Start button, and then clicking Computer.

2. Navigate to the folder that used to contain the file or folder, right-click it, and then click Restore previous versions. If the folder was at the top level of a drive, for example C:\, right-click the drive, and then click Restore previous versions.

You’ll see a list of available previous versions of the file or folder. The list will include files saved on a backup (if you are using Windows Backup to back up your files) as well as restore points, if both types