wondering if file recovery after Windows Reinstallation was possible

Hi all,

About a month ago my computer was misbehaving and needed repair, so I went to Best Buy. Long story short, I did not backup my computer to the utmost. When they reinstalled windows, I was bummed but went along my merry way, not even wondering if file recovery after Win Reinstallation was possible. About a month into using the computer, and not finding what I was looking for, I thought 'hey, maybe file recovery is possible. Got EaseUS recovery, and found both Download Metadata and recovered Bookmark files for Google Chrome that are likely to have what I need (just the name of the app or the website I found it on.

Problem is that the recovered files look like they're in Chinese or Korean or similar. At least one is a mixture of what looks like a data, or at least structured info that then peters out into nonsense again. Are these files that just got partially or completely overwritten, or is there some way to turn them into something that Google Chrome can recognize?

I don't actually need the whole files, just having urls or downloaded file names and where they were downloaded from probably would have what I want. Anyone have a problem like this?

Here's an example of text from a Bookmarks file:
Wÿ To% gý Duration& Ný ExitActions # PanelBarItemSecondLevelTemplate' Îÿ CornerRadius( þý RadiusX) þý RadiusY* :ÿ RoutedEvent+ :ÿ
SourceName, ”ý Triggersôý D 9http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation :x, ` animationRclr-namespace:Telerik.Windows.Controls.Animation;assembly=Telerik.Windows.Controls qtelerikTransitionsZclr-namespace:Telerik.Windows.Controls.TransitionEffects;assembly=Telerik.Windows.Controls ctelerikChromesPclr-namespace:Telerik.Windows.Controls.Chromes;assembly=Telerik.Windows.Controls TtelerikHclr-namespace:Telerik.Windows.Controls;assembly=Telerik.Windows.Controls <telerikNavigation&clr-namespace:Telerik.Windows.Controls QtelerikNavigationPrimitives1clr-namespace:Telerik.Windows.Controls.Primitives itelerikPrimitivesSclr-namespace:Telerik.Windows.Controls.Primitives;assembly=Telerik.Windows.Controls AtelerikToolBar.clr-namespace:Telerik.Windows.Controls.ToolBar <treeView/clr-namespace:Telerik.Windows.Controls.TreeView TthemeJclr-namespace:Microsoft.Windows.Themes;assembly=PresentationFramework.Aero Bthemes1http://schemas.telerik.com/2008/xaml/presentation 3mscorlib&clr-namespace:System;assembly=mscorlib ^dragDropQclr-namespace:Telerik.Windows.Controls.DragDrop;assembly=Telerik.Windows.Controls GtelerikTabControl1clr-namespace:Telerik.Windows.Controls.TabControl HanimationNavigation0clr-namespace:Telerik.Windows.Controls.Animation 4book+clr-namespace:Telerik.Windows.Controls.Book JoutlookBarPrimitives1clr-namespace:Telerik.Windows.Controls.OutlookBar W
primitivesHclr-namespace:System.Windows.Controls.Primitives;assembly=System.Windows .sys&clr-namespace:System;assembly=mscorlib %K & & & & / & D & Õ & ' & y & ê & ÿ &
& ) & > &
S & ^ & s & ~ & “ & ž & © & & m & ¿ & 1 & F & × & ì ( $ telerik:TransparentThemeLý$# telerikNavigation:RadPanelBarLý)7 & ‰ 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7

• Bookmark file Sample.txt (6.1 KB, 1 views)
• DownloadMetadata sample.txt (794 Bytes, 1 views)

Hi.
I am not sure about recovering those files into something workable.
Usually when Windows is reinstalled, you'll have a Windows.old folder in your root drive with all your old data on it. Have you looked for that?

I found Windows.old, but it has very little of use. There was basically nothing in my user folder or desktop downloads etc. Maybe I waited too long to check it.

Hey, you don't happen to know of an app that kind of like Autoruns, except you can enable/disable system files, apps and drivers. It's the program/link I want to find, but can't get to show up on any sort of Google search. Probably because I don't know the name of it, where I downloaded it, or pretty much anything else.

I found Windows.old, but it has very little of use. There was basically nothing in my user folder or desktop downloads etc. Maybe I waited too long to check it.

Hey, you don't happen to know of an app that kind of like Autoruns, except you can enable/disable system files, apps and drivers. It's the program/link I want to find, but can't get to show up on any sort of Google search. Probably because I don't know the name of it, where I downloaded it, or pretty much anything else.

Windows.old should have everything that was in your user account before the new install. It stays there until you get rid of it. You should be able to get your Chrome bookmarks out of it (Unless, of course, the Geek Squad ran a disk cleanup for you after the install...).

Sorry, but I don't know of, nor have I used, any other similar apps aside from Autoruns. But here's something
Five Best Startup Management Tools
Of course, you probably found that too.
Sorry I can't be of more help.