Guest account home folder recovery possible?

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Hello,

Sorry to bother you but I am looking for answer for the question in the title. I did some online research but I saw only thread and answers for bug when you switch between accounts and your data is lost from your main account.

I have different problem. My coworker reinstalled Mac and said to me I can use guest account. Now when I read few things online I see thats stupid and we should have created new one for me. Anyway I was happilly working for three days on my guest account and was saving all my work to desktop. This morning I came in and didnt see anything on folder. I thought I accidetnally worked on my coworker account and tried to switch accounts but saw a warning that all files will be deleted so I didnt do it.
It seems to me someone just logged off the guest account and all my work had been deleted. I didnt have a clue it works like this and I wouldnt be dumb enough to log out when warning like this appears.
I will make my own account on Mac to prevent this BUT I would like to ask IF there is some way how to get the data which were saved on the guest desktop back. I didnt save anything on harddrive yet so the data should be there.

Is there any free recovery software around who can restore my folder from desktop? Are there any fine solutions to my problem. If I cant get my data back I would have to work another three days for 12 hours a day.

Thanks a lot for your answers.
 
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I forgot to post my computer preferences.

It is Mac pro 5,1
Mac OS x 10.6.8
Quad processor

The FILES in the desktop folder were mainly TIFF screencaptures /stiil images/ which I did in Final cut pro.

Hope thats enough
 
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There are no free data recovery options available that I know of. You can try Disk Drill, which you can try for free to see if your files are recoverable, however actual recovery will require that you buy it.
Free Mac data recovery software > Recover lost data with Disk Drill!

You should also avoid setting up any new accounts or otherwise writing to the drive as much as possible. Doing so risks overwriting the space any recoverable files are on and make it far less likely you'll recover them.
 
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chas_m

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The short answer is no, that work is gone for good.

Guest accounts are temporary accounts. They delete EVERYTHING that was stored on them the moment you log out. Period, end of story.

lifeisabeach's answer is incorrect, because a guest account is DESIGNED not to retain anything -- at all -- that is placed in that account, so unlike a normal account there is NOTHING that can recover any info -- because there was never any info saved on the hard drive in the first place.

As you've yourself learned, what you really want is your own separate account. Or better yet, your own machine. :)
 
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Chas Chas Chas…. I don't know if you didn't understand my post, or don't understand how recovery software works, or don't understand that files made in Guest are in fact temporarily stored on the hard drive, but my advice was spot on, as I shall now demonstrate:

I logged into my Guest Account, created a new text document, saved it to Guest's Desktop. I then logged out of Guest (and in the process got the prompt that all would be deleted, which I confirmed); logged back into my usual admin account; then ran Disk Drill. The screen shot attached speaks for itself.

Chas_wrong.jpg
 
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I can confirm that Disk Drill can definitely recover some data in case like this. I am done deep scanning and I am gonna purchase the pro version to recover the files. I am not sure how much of them will be actually recovered but some of the work I did I was able to see as preview after deepscan. Thanks for tip and I will inform you with the succes ratio after I do the recovery.
 
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Confirmed

After reading this post I tried the Disk Drill recovery system and it worked for a video slideshow I had saved on a guest account that got deleted. The free version allowed me to see that it could be recovered as well as preview the file, and the upgrade to recover it cost $89. Worked perfectly!
 
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chas_m

Guest
lifeisabeach:

the correct answer is c: I didn't know that files made in Guest are in fact temporarily stored on the hard drive. Well, I did know they were temporarily stored, but I thought they were wiped when you logged out. I should have assumed that like a regular account, the entry is just deleted in the directory and those files can ... for a short time ... be recovered.

You were correct, I was wrong. Sorry about that, apologies to the OP, and thanks for teaching me something new.
 

Slydude

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I didn't think of that possibility. I assumed the files were gone rather than it behaving like other accounts. Bet this is a rude awakening for anyone trying to use that to keep things secret.
 

chscag

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And responding to a two year old post yet.... However, I suppose it's never too late to admit to something. Good show chas. ;)
 

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