Best Free Data Recovery / File Un-delete Utility
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Does any one recall the olden days, when there were no PCs around and you did all your saving in actual touchable files and folders? And remember that you had to archive them for years and years to come? So after 10 years you'd send your secretary (or you were the secretary sent) to the archive and tell her to discard year 1961 to 1970? And what did she do? Throw'em away? Sure not, you could use the folders again, if emptied. Now, did she empty them right away? No, she didn't. She just ran along the shelf and tore off the label so everybody knew, those were the folders to be used next and again.
When you opened one of those folders all it's content was yet in perfect shape, readable and all, and if you'd made a mistake and you'd need one of those folders i.e it's content, you just had to be quick enough... |
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That's the way MS Windows handles your data. They're written to your hard disk, kept there according to your wishes and once you decide to get rid of them, all the space your data occupy on the hard disk is marked for reuse, just like tearing off the labels of those nostalgic folders. File recovery relies on the fact that when a user deletes a file (or empties the wastebasket or recycle bin) the contents of the file aren’t physically obliterated on the disk, but rather the file is simply flagged as deleted. More precisely, the space it occupies is marked as available for writing. This means that the older the file, the less chance there is of successful recovery because it’s more likely to have been overwritten by another newer file. |
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File recovery software works best when the deleted files are recovered to another drive. That's because the very act of recovery involves writing to your drive, and you don't want to write over other files yet to be recovered. The "other" drive can be another hard disk, another hard disk partition, a networked machine, or an external USB device. |
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Recovery programs operate more successfully if they are installed before any file recovery is attempted. If the file you want to recover is on your “C” drive, the simple act of installing one of these programs onto that drive may obliterate the target file you want to recover. Remember that recovery software cannot undelete files that have been written over. Recovering data from physically damaged drives is also beyond the capabilities of most free recovery tools. There are tools that will attempt partial recovery, but generally these are expensive commercial products or services. |
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However, if you have just accidentally emptied your wastebasket (recycle bin), or explicitly deleted a file, and realized you’ve made a mistake, file recovery is a very real possibility. The golden rule is “don’t write ANYTHING to the disk, or reboot”. Just immediately run your recovery software |
Until recently, file recovery was one of the few categories where the main commercial products really outshone the freeware alternatives. Good examples of commercial products include the impressive "R-Studio”, “Recover My Files”, and “Active File Recovery.”
But the picture has changed dramatically. You now have now some excellent freeware choices:
Free Undelete does what you expect it to do and indulges with a rare highlight: in it's 'toolbox' you find a wide variety of standard formats to be easily rescued. Another tool of acceptable basic features is Undelete Plus. But I deny them my full recomendation because the first froze repeatedly on an USB-stick, and the second for it's minimalist functions.
Recuva, from the makers of the highly regarded CCleaner, is now probably the best choice for many users who want a quick simple solution. It also copes well with the flash memory used in digital cameras, MP3 players, or USB drives.
But my top selection is PC INSPECTOR File Recovery. It's aimed at slightly more technically-advanced users but produces very impressive results. Indeed, everything about this program is impressive and it poses a direct challenge to its commercial rivals. It neatly distinguishes between physical and logical drives, has excellent file search capabilities, and even allows you to search ranges of specific clusters. Works happily on Vista although it’s only specified as “up to XP”.
PC INSPECTOR File Recovery is a truly outstanding professional product. I suggest you install it just in case you may need it (and while it remains free).
Website: http://www.recuva.com/
Download link: http://www.recuva.com/download
Author: Piriform
Current version: 1.19.350
Version date: 29/09/2008
Download File size: 2,264kb
License: Freeware
Operating systems supported: Windows 98, ME, NT, 2k, XP,Vista
Additional Software Required: None
64 Bit version available: No
Portable version available: No installation required. Can be run from a flash drive.
Non-English languages supported: None
PC INSPECTOR File Recovery
Website: http://www.pcinspector.de./Sites/file_recovery/ueber_uns.htm?language=1
Download link: http://www.pcinspector.de./Sites/file_recovery/download.htm?language=1#
Author: CONVAR Deutschland
Current version: 4.0
Version date: 11/01/2007
Download File size: 5.83MB
License: Free for private and commercial use
Operating systems supported: Windows (All)
Additional Software Required: None
64 Bit version available: No, but this 32 bit program runs in a 64 bit environment
Portable version available: Unknown
Non-English languages supported: Many
Other relevant information: None
This software category is maintained by Christopher (cy). Registered site visitors can contact Christopher (cy) by clicking here.
Best Free Data Recovery / File Un-delete Utility
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Ok, this doesn't happen that often with Gizmo's site, but...WRONG. PCInspector's utility isn't that great. Unpolished...no right-click menus, status bar sticks out over bottom scroll bar, etc...rather ridiculous little things to get wrong. Takes forever to scan. And its recovery...argh. Instead of just flipping the delete bit on fully-intact files on the drive (similar to how Recycle Bin would), it kindly goes ahead and just carried out full copies(!!!) of the data, which forces you to copy it elsewhere lest you overwrite deleted data on the drive (!?), and for example on several gigs of data takes a long time, instead of just a second by bit-flipping. Oh and it *installs* itself...how quaint. I have to say that comment #13 was far more helpful to me...that DataRecovery utility off the japanese site is a lot cleaner and better. No install, runs off USB, reminds one to run as admin by default off Vista, easier and faster, etc.(!!).
Haven't tried Recuva but then I don't trust this article enough to do so at this point. This category is just plain off-base, sorry.
Help! I'm not a techy. The computer crashed, and I tried to recover and reset to factoy settings...no luck. The fatal corruption still exists. I want to reformat the hard drive, but not until I have tried to recover my photos...which program should i try? remember, i have already used the recovery cd, so are the photos still there, somewhere???
What is this 'crash'?
What is your Operating System?
What is 'the recovery cd'?
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always look on the bright sight of life...
OMG, your declared "top selection" is PC INSPECTOR File Recovery, that's okay but what a blunder you've made in its description!
You write "Non-English languages supported: None". Ah...m, really?!!
Looking under http://download.chip.eu/de/PC-Inspector-File-Recovery-4.0_92033.html plus http://www.pc-inspector.de/Sites/file_recovery/bedienung.htm?Language=1, one can see that meanwhile there are around 15 Non-English languages supported - inluding the language of the developer!
If you would have kept in mind that your "top selection" is of German origin, you might have gotten a clue that your statement most probably cannot be true, I'm sorry to say.
Thanks for the hint! Most appreciated :=)
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always look on the bright sight of life...
I use PC inspector to recover deleted photos file from my harddisk. But i cannot open the recover photos file?
Cool, I liked the stickies! This site is finding it's way, nice!
I also like the stickies, but please put them on the right. Text shifted to the right is so uncomfortable to read.
Hi
Recuva 1.16.333 is out!
- Added ability to search for non-deleted files (for recovery from damaged or reformatted disks only).
- Added support for .rtf, .pdf, .mp3 and .tif files to deep scan.
- Fixed bug that would limit file size of .avi files to 1GB after deep scan.
- Various UI tweaks.
- Performance improvements.
I have copied your request to the appropriate forum. Answers will be given there... .cy
[does anyone knows how to share back the portable hard disk ? I have accidentally ... Can anyone help ? Really appreciate.]
The brethren 'anonymous' inform us:
Free Undelete: http://www.officerecovery.com/freeundelete
Undelete Plus: http://www.undelete-plus.com
@Peter: I'm not sure why Free Undelete doesn't list Vista on their page. It's not like the utility is abandoned or anything, since it's occasionally slipstreamed (without changing the version number). It works on Vista for me without complaint.
I can confirm that it works on Vista for me, too.
I stumbled on this one a while back - DataRecovery. A single executable that you can run from a USB drive. Clean interface. Here's the URL if anyone wants to check it out.
http://tokiwa.qee.jp/EN/dr.html
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