Two questions:
1: I need to recover a couple of emails for a possible court case. It is said that hard drives of computers still carry information you think you have deleted but it's still there so destroy the disc if dumping the computer.



2.nd A friend has had her email 'highjacked' and somehow whoever has locked her out it seems by changing her password. How could this happen and what, if any, can she do to regain control of her email address, its a hotmail account. She has tried contacting Microsoft but it seems like it's like trying to put out a raging fire with a water can.

Many thanks.

Bob, April 2010

Have had sbcglobal.net email for over 10 years and it has been hacked and am locked out. ATT says it can't help because it is now a free email account as I switched to DSL line and no home phone. Yahoo says it can't help either. I really need to recover this address - can it be salvaged ?

Carole Martin, May 2012

Many thanks Allan If I had a half a brain I would be considered dangerous sorry it's late been out of action. Hotmail was the one hacked.

Bob, April 2010

You don't say what email program you are using, whether it is an Outlook type application on your PC, or an online service like Gmail or Hotmail.

There's usually a "Deleted Items" folder, or similar where you can find stuff. If you find the emails you need in deleted items, just copy them to your inbox.

If you are running Outlook, this may be of help: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/246153



With regard to your chum, it's unlikely that she will be able to get any satisfaction out of Microsoft.

Start again with a Gmail account and USE A PROPERLY SECURE PASSWORD.

Do NOT use a dictionary word. There are online resources that can crack an encrypted password if it's a "normal" word.
http://tools.benramsey.com/md5/

DO use a mixture of uppercase, and lower case letters plus numbers.

Do NOT use the same password for everything.

DO change your password regularly.

DON'T allow windows to remember form data and passwords. They're easy to recover.

http://www.gtopala.com/ download and run SIW. Check out the "Passwords" item. Scary.

Allan, April 2010