May 13, 2026 • Filed to: Recover Files • Proven solutions
TL;DR:
Recovered files often fail to open because the original data was either corrupted by system activities or permanently fragmented across the hard drive prior to the recovery attempt.
● Microsoft Office documents like PowerPoint, Word, and Excel are highly vulnerable to irreversible damage caused by overwritten data, disk defragmentation, or malicious software.
● Large video files such as MPEG and MKV are nearly impossible to fully restore because their data is stored in separate drive locations, and the directory linking these fragments is permanently erased upon deletion.
Ask AI for a summary
Damaged FilesOnce you delete a file, it’s very possible and probable the selected file could be damaged by another file. But more likely, the damage could stem from the file being overwritten by another file. The deleted file could also get damaged by disk defragmentation, an attack by malicious software like virus or malware or even the adverse activities of hackers (Microsoft Office files, in particular, are very vulnerable here).
Fragmented FilesThere are large files which are often saved in distinct, separate locations on your drive because they cannot share the same, immediate hard disk space with each other. Recovery of such files is pretty much impossible-or difficult, at best-because even though the file’s initial location can be pinpointed, the information on where the other fragments are located is often erased for good.
05 / 24 / 19 11:17 AM
ChatGPT
Perplexity
Gemini
Claude
Grok
David Darlington
staff Editor