new to Linux Lite & could use some help if poss

[willitever]

Age 77, not a clue, in a bit of a state.

Using a donated Lenovo repurposed laptop which came preloaded (during Covid) with Linux Lite.

I'm in the process of producing a very, very long document, and it has been a big struggle, but am fairly near the end,  it's been beset with problem after problem, the latest of which is that I deleted a really important folder which contains loads of photos.  I really feel like I'm swimming against the tide, but I try to keep going.

I don't know what version the Linux Lite is, I know there are loads of updates to download but I'm reluctant to change anything on the laptop until the document is finished, at which time I think it would probably be best to install the latest version, I haven't a clue how and haven't looked into it until my document is done.

The folder of photos was on a Toshiba 2 TB external harddrive, I'd got a back-up of everything except these ******* photos, ain't it always the way.

Is there any way I can get the folder of photos back, I haven't opened the drive since the idiotic event so hoping that nothing has changed on there.

After I'd finished screaming, I put a garbled message on the 'contact us' page.  So a couple of days later, I'm hoping this message makes a bit more sense.

willitever

[stevef]

Sorry to hear of your trouble.  I assume you can't access the originals in any form.

Do you recall exactly how you deleted the folder ?
If you used the Wastebasket method then it should be straight forward.

If the Wastebasket wasn't used, I understand attempted recovery is a delicate business and not always possible.

If your disk was formatted with a Linux file system, this article gives a fairly good summary of the tools you'd consider.
https://www.itprotoday.com/software-deve...a-recovery

You may want to consider approaching a data recovery specialist - this is likely to be expensive.

There may be someone on here who has experience of doing complex recovery who can provide a better answer.