So, it finally happened. After years of happily importing images into Picasa and clearing the disk in the camera, we finally pushed the wrong button and cleared out a whole set of debauched bachelorette photos, many of which could have possibly held some quite senior San Francisco socialites to ransom.

We fretted and Googled and finally came across PC Inspector Smart Recovery. Phew. This simple app scoured the disk and pulled off all the data it could find:

I don’t normally endorse software, but this was a major life-saver. So, if you’ve found that you’ve deleted photos inadvertantly, avoid the cold sweats and give this a go. You might be surprised at what you find. As for me, I’m off to bribe some friends…