Tutorial - Recover Lost Piratedrive Files

Skip to a section: Overview | Windows | macOS 

Available to

Faculty, Staff, Students

Overview

Users recover lost files by mapping a drive to the backup folder (called Checkpoint) by following the steps below.

If you require assistance recovering files, submit the Piratedrive support service request.

PLEASE NOTE

• Checkpoint folders are read only; files cannot be accidentally saved in a checkpoint folder.
• You can map a drive to subordinate Piratedrive folders; it’s not necessary to map to the root folder.
• Permissions on Checkpoint folders are the same as the original folders. Therefore, anyone with appropriate permissions can recover files from Checkpoint.

Step 1. Determine the file path

First determine the file path to the lost Piratedrive documents.
Examples: \\piratedrive\your-pirateid-username (personal) or \\piratedrive\biology\labs\doej (department)

Note the slashes are leaning left!

Step 2. Map a drive to the Checkpoint backup files

Windows

1. Open File Explorer. This example uses Windows 11.
   
2. Right-click This PC.
3. Choose Map Network Drive from the fly-out menu. The Map Network Drive dialog box opens. 
4. Enter the file path to your folder (see Step 1).
   
5. add .ckpt at the end of the file path. Example: \\piratedrive\username\.ckpt (personal) or \\piratedrive\biology\labs\doej\.ckpt (department) 
6. Click Finish. 

macOS

1. Establish an SMB connection to the backup files: Finder, Connect to Server. Path is smb://Piratedrive.intra.ecu.edu/home/.ckpt or path for departmental folder.
2. Add /.ckpt at the end of the path for a departmental folder also.

Step 3. Copy/paste the backup files (both Windows and macOS)

1. Right-click a Checkpoint folder. Choose a folder date before files were deleted.
2. Choose Copy.
3. Open your Piratedrive folder and right-click in the space. Chose Paste. 
4. The backup files are added to your Piratedrive folder.