Mac User needs WindowsXPPro advice -- is it possible to recover a deleted file without priviliges?

[eppur_se_muova]

I don't want to change any settings or install anything, I just want to recover (to flash drive) several data files that were deleted due to inattention or bungling on the part of someone with admin priviliges. These "checkpoint" files contain only data (though not always .txt) and were in my personal folder; no weird extensions or links or shortcuts or scripts.

[EvolveOrConvolve]

1. Are the files in the Recycle Bin?

If so, you can recover them from there. But, you'll probably need to be logged in as the user that deleted the files before you can recover them from the Recycle Bin.

If the files are not in the Recycle Bin, you can look at data recovery solutions, provided the files were on a hard drive. Software to do that is anywhere from free to thousands of dollars, depending on what needs to be done to recover them.

If the files were on the flash drive when deleted, and they're not in the Recycle Bin, they're gone forever.