Getting Back Files Deleted by AVG

Before we start out on how to recover a file AVG has deleted, let's make sure it was truly deleted. Most of the time, anitivirus programs will just quarantine an infected file. You can easily clean and restore it without much fuss. This is a major reason that I suggest that you first quarantine any infected file (I cover the difference between quarantine and deletion in another article). So let's check that quite quickly.

If you're afraid that AVG has deleted a file, then open up the interface and click on the Computer Scanner tab. In the bottom right corner, there is a button labeled Virus Vault. Click it to open up your virus vault. This is where all your infected files get quarantined. The deleted file might still be in there, since it shouldn't clear out the vault until you tell it to do so. Just click on the relevant files and restore them. Note that if they are infected, you might want to use another scanner or antimalware program to clean out the infection.

If they aren't in there, then they are truly deleted and you'll need to take a few extra steps to recover your deleted file.

Unfortunately, when AVG deletes a file, it's truly deleted. If it is no longer quarantined in the virus vault, then AVG removed it from your active programs. It might not be completely gone from your computer though. Only very serious deletion programs actually "remove" the file from your computer. Deleting a file just means that it is no longer listed. The actual information usually sticks around until it is overwritten with something else.

This means that you might still have it on your hard drive, and a file recovery program might be able to save it. There are a lot of programs out there to recover deleted files. Another writer seems to have had a lot of luck with FreeUndelete, another liked Recuva and another Undelete 2009. Feel free to read the reviews and guide to get a handle on how to recovery a deleted file. Then just run the program that you chose and see if it's still on there. Most of these have pretty simple interfaces, so just look through for the file title or deletion date and see if it's there. If it's not listed as a recovered program, then unfortunately, it's probably gone forever. There isn't another way to recover a file that AVG has deleted.

Since it's pretty difficult to consistently recover a file AVG has deleted, then you may want to look into an option for online backup. Note that AVG has paired up with Carbonite to offer online backup for your most important files. You can look at their listed plans and pick one that is the right size for you. The system will let you upload copies of vital files automatically. Then, if one of those files is deleted, you can restore a clean copy using AVG's Online Backup utility. Mozy or SOS online are also options, but you they would work independently from AVG.

We have an article covering which of these three top online backup options is the best and an article covering the different benefits of online backup vs. offline backup. If you are very worried about your file security, then you should think about these backup options.