AVG 8 by any chance?

[quote]All three say it sounds like an internal database error within the programme.[/quote]

That would be highly unlikely, even if the programme had an 'internal database'.  [:$]

Someone or something deleted your file.

The AV app dishing out vigilante justice on your data is a prime suspect. [:)]

Hi,

I've lost a .PMM file. All my other files and the usual folder hierarchy appear to be intact. The folder in which the file was located is still there. It was the only file within that folder. It is the one file that I've been using the most during the last few months. The programme has been going slow and crashing a few times lately. It did crash yesterday so it's possible that the file went missing then but I just didn't notice until today. The .PMI file is still there (the index) file.

Has the file just gone forever or is there a chance it can be recovered? Any advice would be much appreciated as I desperately need those emails!

Thanks, Shelagh

> Hi,
>
> I've lost a .PMM file. All my other files and the usual folder
> hierarchy appear to be intact. The folder in which the file was located
> is still there. It was the only file within that folder. It is the one
> file that I've been using the most during the last few months. The
> programme has been going slow and crashing a few times lately. It did
> crash yesterday so it's possible that the file went missing then but I
> just didn't notice until today. The .PMI file is still there (the
> index) file.

If the PMM file is actually missing from the HOME mail directory then it's gone.  Are you using some sort of anti-virus program do a auto-protect of the files in the home mail directory?  If so I suspect the a-v software thought it found a virus in the folder and so deleted it since it could not cleans it.  If so you might find this PMM file in the quarantine folder of the a-v software.  Otherwise the only hope is to restore it from backup.

Hello Thomas,

Thanks very much for your speedy reply. I've spoken to a local computer expert today and he thinks it's unlikely that it's an anti-virus related issue. In any case, my AV software doesn't seem to have a quarantine folder (probably because it's not a very good programme). Do you think the file has gone altogether or that it might be retreivable using some specialist software for retreiving lost and deleted files?

Many thanks.

You could try an undelete util (like Restoration.exe) but the more you use the disk, the less chance of getting anything useful back.

I've spoken to a local computer expert today and he thinks it's unlikely that it's an anti-virus related issue.

Does the "local expert" know what the a-v software would do when it finds a virus in a file?:  If there is a message in a PMM file that contains a virus (or what the a-v software thinks is a virus) then the normal thing that will happen when PMail opens the file is the a-v software will detect the virus and the only way it will be able to clean it is to delete (or move) the file.   Since yours does not move then it must delete.  If you are not excluding all of the PMail directories from the auto-protection then at least you should exclude the PMM files.

Do you think the file has gone altogether or that it might be retrievable using some specialist software for retrieving lost and

deleted files?

You can try one of the many "Undelete" type programs to see what happens.  I use Recuva (http://www.recuva.com)  for this.

Thank you for your advice. I've tried finding the file with Recuva but no joy. However, I found some .PM$ files and .$$$ files. Would either of these file types contain the lost data or am I only looking for a .PMM file?

My feeling is that it is completely gone. I've now spoken to three different computer support specialists, one of whom installed the AV software himself. He said that the AV software would have alerted me to the fact it had detected a virus or some potential problem if that was the case. I didn't get any kind of alert. Also, there is a quarantine folder - I just didn't know where to find it. All three say it sounds like an internal database error within the programme.

Note I've since spoken to a computer support person in my institute with Pegasus experience. He's never come across this happening before (ie a whole .PMM file completing disappearing). However, he agreed with you that is sounds more like the AV software detected a problem and deleted it.