Files scanned to 4.7GB DVD disappeared from disc

At a guess- and it can only be a guess- you didn't actually burn them to the DVD.

'files waiting to be burnt' or similar message came up, but ignored it;

You've not said what software you are using to do this.

Have a look at the properties of the DVD- does it still appear to be blank, or not?


Another guess would be that your program creates a temporary file or files which are then to be written to the DVD - a buffer. Depending on how that program works, you might be able to locate that, unless those were deleted on program exit.

You would need to find the various locations that program might store data- there could be a number of those- almost certainly not in the installation folder for that program.

To do such a search, a free 3rd party tool such as
Locate32 (which I prefer)
Everything by void tools (last I looked you needed the beta for more GUI options) (popular)
indexes all files and folders quite quickly- thus you could find all locations related to your program, and files created on the relevant date.

Given the limited info, I'm making a whole lot of assumptions here. Further, given you've since upgraded, I'd guess that reduces the possibility of recovery.

Unless it was re-writable DVD disk, there's no way they can just be deleted or disappear from it. Even with RW CD/DVD disks only complete reformat is possible. You could check that disk with: Download DVD Identifier - MajorGeeks if it's empty or corrupted.

dalchina said:

At a guess- and it can only be a guess- you didn't actually burn them to the DVD. You've not said what software you are using to do this.

Have a look at the properties of the DVD- does it still appear to be blank, or not?


Another guess would be that your program creates a temporary file or files which are then to be written to the DVD - a buffer. Depending on how that program works, you might be able to locate that, unless those were deleted on program exit.

You would need to find the various locations that program might store data- there could be a number of those- almost certainly not in the installation folder for that program.

To do such a search, a free 3rd party tool such as
Locate32 (which I prefer)
Everything by void tools (last I looked you needed the beta for more GUI options) (popular)
indexes all files and folders quite quickly- thus you could find all locations related to your program, and files created on the relevant date.

Given the limited info, I'm making a whole lot of assumptions here. Further, given you've since upgraded, I'd guess that reduces the possibility of recovery.

It was a program called Freekapture, the destination for the scanned copy after giving it a file name was the DVD. (At the moment I can't recall what type of DVD it was.) There is a windows.old folder with 23rd May on it.

I've delayed updating the April update; but it's done it anyway; there's a known problem with Avast and the April update.

rebel1 said:

The 'files waiting to be burnt' or similar message came up, but ignored it; thinking I would look at it later. I didn't burn them.

When you write files to a DVD, either with File Explorer or with a third-party app like your Freekapture, the files aren't immediately written to the DVD. Instead they are written to a temporary cache on your C: drive awaiting the final burn to the DVD. This was the essential step you didn't take.

If the temporary cache still exists, the files will be in...

%userprofile%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Burn\Temporary Burn Folder

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