Recovering Data Via Shadow Files?

Somehow I managed to delete a folder that had a lot of Excel files in it. (I am blaming the cat) I thought the files were being automatically backed up to DropBox but apparently I didn't have that configured correctly. So here I am at 215 am weeping a little at the thought of doing all that data entry again.

I see the Shadow Files in Recuva. Used a program called Shadow Explorer to try to recover the files but they're not usable. When I recover them they're corrupt.

Is it a done deal, or if I let Recuva run for the 3 days it's estimating will I possibly get a different result?

 

IDK. Think I might just try to get my hands on a second computer maybe a laptop and then use it for the 3 days while I give Recuva a chance. Something to keep my mind off the problem. Set the priority for Recuva to Real Time and let it have the original system to itself until it's done.

Guess it depends partly on how long ago you dumped the files whether Recuva can restore them intact. If it's just been a few days, seems like they should be recoverable. That said, unless someone could tell me that Recuva's long scan will not be better than what the short scan has done, I guess I would have to try it for something important...