There are a few ways to recover data on a Mac. If you have Leopard 10.5 or higher you'll have access to Time Machine - a great application for simplifying the data recovery process. In fact, this method is not only a data recovery system, it is also a backup system. But backup is another topic for another time.

When items are put into the trash can on a Mac and the trash is emptied, items are not actually deleted. Unless you are using Secure Empty Trash every time, then getting back data immidiatly after you've hit the empty trash button shouldn't be too much of an issue. If your trying to recover data from way in the past, you might have a hard time because the data could have been over written. This is where Time Machine comes into play - more on that in a moment.

Norton Utilities is one of the oldest and most trusted utility programs on the mac. If you want to ensure a safe recovery of your document, it is suggested that you start up off the bootable CD ROM included in your kit. You can as an alternative just open the UnErase application. Once open you'll be given some very simple and easy to use options. Quick Search is just that, a quick search of your hard drive for deleted items that have gone through the "Empty Trash" option.

Once the Quick Search has been preformed, you'll be able to search for "found" documents and files. When you click on a documnet you'll be able to see the last path that that file was located in. This will help you determine if this is the file you are looking for. If it is, click "Recover" and select your destination.

You may also search by file type. For example search for all Microsoft Word Documents at one time. This will filter out all other files and only show you these documents - very useful when you don't remember the file name you are searching for. It might be safe to unerase everything you think might be what you are looking for. If a file is being rebuilt on your computer it will need space to be written again and thus could over write other files in the process.

Time Machine offers a great solution to the accidental deleting of a file scenario. Time Machine requires a backup hard drive to function. The application will transfer all data to this drive and store it in a way that matches your current look and feel. If for example you have a document in your documents folder called "essay.doc" and you move it accidently or delete it all together, Time Machine will help you find it.

Open up the application and Time Machine will show you all the history of every single window on your computer. Open up your hard drive for example and you'll see a cascade of windows behind the first. Click on any of those windows and it will bring you to that date and show you what was in that window on that date. Time Machine will keep track of every file and every location made on your computer. Now of course this will require an equivalent or larger hard drive to store all your previous data - but if you ever loose documents this is for you!

So there you have it, UnErase and BackUp solutions that will help you find old lost documents in a snap. Just be ware, the older the file becomes, the more likely new data will over write it. Especially if you see the warning message "Your Startup Disk is Almost Full" often - you can kiss your recovery process good bye. But if you act fast you might still have a chance.