Computer literacy, help and repair

Download apps to recover deleted files. File Recovery in PhotoRec

A lot of technologies have already been invented to save data. Already no program deletes a file without confirmation. Baskets are bursting with junk files. But still, every now and then I hear cries of “I accidentally deleted this file, and it is very, very necessary !!!”.
First of all, I recommend using a backup. But there are situations when this is not possible. For example, someone accidentally erased all the photos on the memory card of a camera or flash drive. In this case, DiscDigger or Recuva will help you recover deleted files.

DiscDigger

DiscDigger is a program for recovering data from various types of media, such as memory cards, flash drives, hard drives or floppy disks.
The interface of the program is so simple that it is difficult to get confused. First, you are prompted to select a drive to scan. The Physical Media section reflects the physical devices available for scanning. The Logical Drives section shows the logical drives, with a drive letter. If you are just recovering accidentally deleted files from hard drive or flash drives - you just need to select the appropriate logical drive. If the files were lost as a result of repartitioning the disk, then scanning the entire physical media is indispensable.
After selecting a disk, we determine the type of scan. Scan file system for deleted files will help you recover only recently deleted files, but it will recover quickly and with the same file names. Scan disc surface for traces of files - a deeper scan that allows you to recover files even if only memories remain of the file system.
For the surface scan mode, you need to select the types of files that you want to recover. The program supports the most common formats of images, documents, audio and video files.
Found files are divided by type into several tabs (Pictures, Documents, Music/Video).
Already in the process of scanning, the found files can be viewed. The preview window is very simple, but this is usually enough to decide whether the file is needed or not. And also determine how damaged it is.

To restore the file, click on the button with the floppy disk labeled Save.

Thus, it was possible to recover quite a long time deleted files from a flash drive and hard drive.
I hope DiscDigger will help you get out of some sticky situations with minimal loss.

Download DiscDigger

Recuva

Recuva is a program for recovering lost data that was accidentally or deliberately deleted without leaving any traces. Recuva stands out for its very friendly interface, support for the Russian language and the presence of a free version that does not have any restrictions.

When you first launch the program, you will be greeted by a Recuva wizard who will help you find your data. First you need to select the file type: Pictures, Music, Documents, Videos, Compressed Files, emails, or show all files if you're not sure about the format. After that, you need to select the location where the files were located ( HDD, flash drive or any other available media). As in the case of the format, you can specify the position "everywhere" if you are having trouble choosing a placement. After setting the necessary parameters, the analysis will begin, it is possible to select an in-depth analysis, which will take longer, but will show more accurate results. As a result, a table of found files will be released indicating the location and the probability of recovery (excellent, average, poor or completely lost). Then select files and restore files in one click.

Advice: before scanning, enable in-depth analysis (Deep Scan). Thus, the chances of recovery are much greater.

In the settings, you can change the language, select the mode for displaying recovered files, enable or disable the wizard at startup. Additionally, you can configure automatic check for updates, “secure” removal options, as well as some settings when searching and restoring.

Programs for recovering deleted or lost files are quite popular. With their help, you can recover lost important files or folders.

For recovery, you do not have to turn to the services of professionals in this field. With the help of these programs, you can independently carry out recovery operations.

Our selection of programs in Russian will allow you to recover this data without any problems.

Acronis True Image is a domestic program designed for Reserve copy information on the computer. Thanks to this, you can quickly and easily restore the system at the right time. Developers release this program in a trial version. To use everything functionality Acronis True Image activation is required. After that, all functions will be available to the user. Free download Acronis True Image 2019 Build 17750 + key + activation Password for all archives: 1progs Program features: Backup…

When an important file is lost, a document you spent a week working on is erased, and photos have disappeared from a suddenly formatted memory card, there is no need to worry ahead of time. Deleting a file from a disk erases its description in the system. The set of bytes that made up the file stays in place until something else is written over it. So you can try to recover data using any of these applications.

Be careful if you install applications on the drive where the deleted files were located. There is a risk that the application files will be overwritten during installation. It is better to choose another partition or physical disk for installation.

Platform: Windows.
Price: free, $19.95 for the extended version.

Recuva is able to recover data lost by mistake, for example from an accidentally emptied Recycle Bin. The program can recover photos from an accidentally formatted memory card in a camera or music from an empty MP3 player. Any media is supported, even iPod memory.

Platform: Windows, Mac.
Price: free, $89 for the extended version.

Disk Drill is a data recovery application for Mac, but there is also a version for Windows. This program supports most types of disks, files and file systems. With its help, you can recover deleted files due to the Recovery Protection function, as well as find and clean the disk. However free version does not allow you to recover files lost before installing Disk Drill.

Platform: Windows, Mac, Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, SunOS, DOS.
Price: for free.

A very functional and versatile open source application. It has a text interface, but it's easy to understand.

TestDisk supports a huge number of file formats. In addition, the program can be written to a LiveCD to recover data from a disk that does not boot the system. The utility can recover a damaged boot sector or lost data.

Comes with TestDisk PhotoRec software, which recovers deleted files, photos, music and videos.

4.R-Undelete

Platform: Windows, Mac, Linux.
Price: the free version recovers files up to 256 KB in size; $79.99 for full version.

R-Undelete is part of R-Studio. This is a whole family of powerful data recovery software. Supported file systems are FAT12/16/32/exFAT, NTFS, NTFS5, HFS/HFS+, UFS1/UFS2 and Ext2/Ext3/Ext4.

R-Studio applications can recover deleted data both on local drives and over the network. In addition to data recovery, the utilities provide tools for advanced partition copying and searching for bad blocks on disks.

Platform: Windows.
Price: free in trial mode with recovery up to 1 GB of data; $69.95 for the full version.

Eassos Recovery recovers deleted files, photos, text documents and more than 550 file formats. The application has a very simple and intuitive interface.

Platform: Windows.
Price: the free version does not save found files; $37.95 for the full version.

Developer Hetman provides a set of utilities for recovering various types of data: entire partitions or individual photos and documents. The program supports all hard drives, flash cards, SD and microSD.

Platform: Windows.
Price: free, $19.97 as part of Glary Utilities.

Glary Undelete can recover any deleted files, including compressed, fragmented or encrypted ones. Filtering of recovered data is supported.

Do you know more convenient and functional data recovery applications? Tell us about them in the comments.

Hello.

Not so long ago, I had to recover some photos from a flash drive that was accidentally formatted. This is not an easy task, and while it was possible to recover most of the files, I had to get acquainted with almost all popular programs for data recovery.

In this article, I would like to list these programs (by the way, they can all be classified as universal, because they can recover files from both hard drives and other media, for example, from a memory card - SD, or flash drive USB).

It turned out not a small list of 22 programs ( further in the article, all programs are sorted alphabetically).

Website: http://7datarecovery.com/

OS: Windows: XP, 2003, 7, Vista, 8

Description:

Firstly, this utility immediately pleases you with the presence of the Russian language. Secondly, it is quite multifunctional, after launch, it offers you 5 recovery options:

Recovery of files from damaged and formatted hard disk partitions;

Recovery of accidentally deleted files;

Recover files deleted from flash drives and memory cards;

Disk partition recovery (when the MBR is damaged, the disk is formatted, etc.);

File recovery from Android phones and tablets.

Screenshot:

Website: http://www.file-recovery.net/

OS: Windows: Vista, 7, 8

Description:

A program for recovering accidentally deleted data or data from damaged disks. Supports multiple file systems: FAT (12, 16, 32), NTFS (5, + EFS).

In addition, it can work directly with the hard drive when its logical structure is broken. In addition, the program supports:

All types of hard drives: IDE, ATA, SCSI;

Memory cards: SunDisk, MemoryStick, CompactFlash;

USB devices a (flash drives, external hard drives).

Screenshot:

3. Active Partition Recovery

OS: Windows 7, 8

Description:

One of the important features of this program is that it can be run under both DOS and Windows. This is possible due to the fact that it can be written to a bootable CD (well, a flash drive).

This utility is usually used to restore entire hard disk partitions, not individual files. By the way, the program allows you to make an archive (copy) of MBR tables and hard disk sectors ( boot data).

Screenshot:

4. Active UNDELETE

Website: http://www.active-undelete.com/

OS: Windows 7/2000/2003/2008/XP

Description:

I will tell you that this is one of the most universal programs for data recovery. The main thing is that it supports:

1. all the most popular file systems: NTFS, FAT32, FAT16, NTFS5, NTFS+EFS;

2. works in all Windows operating systems;

3. Supports a wide range of storage media: SD, CF, SmartMedia, Memory Stick, ZIP, USB flash drives, USB external hard drives, etc.

Interesting features of the full version:

Support for hard drives larger than 500 GB;

Support for hardware and software RAID arrays;

Creation of emergency boot disks (about emergency disks);

The ability to search for deleted files by a variety of attributes (especially important when there are a lot of files, the hard drive is capacious, and you definitely don’t remember the name of the file or its extension).

Screenshot:


Website: http://www.aidfile.com/

OS: Windows 2000/2003/2008/2012, XP, 7, 8 (32-bit and 64-bit)

Description:

At first glance, it is not a very big utility, moreover, without the Russian language (but this is only at first glance). This program is able to recover data in a variety of situations: software error, accidental formatting, deletion, virus attacks, etc.

By the way, as the developers themselves say, the percentage of file recovery by this utility is higher than many of its competitors. Therefore, if other programs cannot recover your lost data, it makes sense to take the risk of checking the disk with this utility.

Some interesting features:

1. Recovers Word, Excel, Power Pont, etc. files.

2. Can recover files when reinstalling Windows OS;

3. Enough "strong" option to restore various photos and pictures (moreover, on different types of media).

Screenshot:

Website: http://www.byclouder.com/

OS: Windows XP/Vista/7/8 (x86, x64)

Description:

What pleases this program is its simplicity. After starting, immediately (and on the great and mighty) prompts you to scan disks ...

The utility is able to search for a wide variety of file types: archives, audio and video, documents. You can scan different types of media (though with varying degrees of success): CDs, flash drives, hard drives, etc. It is quite easy to learn.

Screenshot:

7. Disk Digger

Website: http://diskdigger.org/

OS: Windows 7, Vista, XP

Description:

A fairly simple and convenient program (does not require installation, by the way), which will help you quickly and easily recover deleted files: music, movies, pictures, photos, documents. Media can be different: from a hard drive to flash drives and memory cards.

Supported file systems: FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, exFAT and NTFS.

Summarizing: a utility with rather average capabilities, it will help mainly in the most “simple” cases.

Screenshot:

Website: http://www.easeus.com/datarecoverywizard/free-data-recovery-software.htm

OS: Windows XP/Vista/7/8/Windows Server 2012/2008/2003 (x86, x64)

Description:

Great file recovery software! It will help in a variety of troubles: accidental deletion of files, unsuccessful formatting, partition damage, power failure, etc.

It is possible to recover even encrypted and compressed data! The utility supports all the most popular file systems: VFAT, FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, NTFS/NTFS5 EXT2, EXT3.

It sees and allows you to scan a wide variety of media: IDE / ATA, SATA, SCSI, USB, external hard drives, Fire wire (IEEE1394), flash drives, digital cameras, floppy disks, audio players and many other devices.

Screenshot:

Website: http://www.krollontrack.com/data-recovery/recovery-software/

OS: Windows 95/98Me/NT/2000/XP/Vista/7

Description:

One of the best data recovery programs that will help in the event of a simple error during deletion, and in cases where you no longer have to worry about other utilities.

Separately, it should be said that the program allows you to successfully find 255 different types of files (audio, video, documents, archives, etc.), supports FAT and NTFS systems, hard drives (IDE / ATA / EIDE, SCSI), floppy disks (Zip and Jazz).

Among other things, EasyRecovery has a built-in function that will help you check and evaluate the condition of the disk (by the way, in one of the articles we have already discussed the issue earlier).

The EasyRecovery utility helps to recover data in the following cases:

Accidental deletion (for example, when using the Shift button);
- Viral infection;
- Damage due to a power outage;
- Problems when creating partitions when Windows installation;
- Damage to the structure of the file system;
- Format the media or use the FDISK program.

Screenshot:

10.Get Data Recovery My Files Professional

Website: http://www.recovermyfiles.com/

OS: Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7

Description:

Recover My Files is a pretty good program for recovering various types of data: graphics, documents, music and video archives.

In addition, it supports all the most popular file systems: FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, NTFS and NTFS5.

Some features:

Support for over 300 data types;

Can recover files from HDD, flash cards, USB devices, floppy disks;

Special function to restore Zip - archives, PDF files, autoCad drawings (if your file fits this type, I definitely recommend trying this program).

Screenshot:

Website: http://www.handyrecovery.ru/

OS: Windows 9x/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista/7

Description:

A fairly simple program, with a Russian interface, designed to recover deleted files. It can be used in a variety of cases: a virus attack, software failures, accidental deletion of files from the recycle bin, formatting a hard drive, etc.

After scanning and analyzing, Handy Recovery will give you the ability to browse the disk (or other media, such as a memory card) in the same way as in a regular explorer, only along with "normal files" you will see files that have been deleted.

Screenshot:

Website: http://www.icare-recovery.com/

OS: Windows 7, Vista, XP, 2000 pro, Server 2008, 2003, 2000

Description:

A very powerful program for recovering deleted and formatted files from various types of media: USB flash drives, SD memory cards, hard drives. The utility can help recover a file from an unreadable disk partition (Raw) if the MBR boot record is damaged.

Unfortunately, there is no support for the Russian language. After launch, you will be able to choose from 4 wizards:

1. Partition Recovery - a wizard that will help you recover deleted hard disk partitions;

2. Deleted File Recovery - this wizard is used to recover deleted file(s);

3. Deep Scan Recovery - scan the disk for existing files and files that can be recovered;

4. Format Recovery - a wizard that will help you recover files after formatting.

Screenshot:

13. Mini Tool Power Data

Website: http://www.powerdatarecovery.com/

OS: Windows XP / Vista / Windows 7 / Windows 8

Description:

Pretty good file recovery software. Supports several media types: SD, Smartmedia, Compact Flash, Memory Stick, HDD. It is used in a variety of cases of information loss: be it a virus attack, or erroneous formatting.

I am also glad that the program has a Russian interface and you can easily understand everything. After starting the utility, you are offered a choice of several wizards:

1. Restoring files after accidental deletion;

2. Recovery of damaged hard disk partitions, for example, an unreadable Raw partition;

3. Recovery of lost partitions (when you do not see at all that there are partitions on the hard disk);

4. Recovery of CD/DVD discs. By the way, a very useful thing, because. Not every program has this option.

Screenshot:

14. O&O Disk Recovery

Website: http://www.oo-software.com/

OS: Windows 8, 7, Vista, XP

Description:

O&O DiskRecovery is a very powerful utility for recovering information from many types of media. Most of the deleted files (if you didn't write any other information to the disk) can be recovered using the utility. Data can be reconstructed even if the hard disk has been formatted!

Using the program is very simple (besides, there is a Russian language). Once launched, the utility will prompt you to select the media to scan. The interface is made in such a style that even an unprepared user will feel quite confident, the wizard will guide him step by step and help restore lost information.

Screenshot:

Website: http://rlab.ru/tools/rsaver.html

OS: Windows 2000/2003/XP/Vista/Windows 7

Description:

First, this free program(considering that there are only a couple of free programs for data recovery, this is a weighty argument).

Secondly, full support for the Russian language.

Thirdly, it shows very good results. The program supports FAT and NTFS file systems. Can recover documents after formatting or accidental deletion. The interface is made in the style of "minimalism". Scanning is launched with just one button (the program will choose the algorithms and settings on its own).

Screenshot:

Website: http://www.piriform.com/recuva

OS: Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7/8

Description:

A very simple program (also free), designed for an unprepared user. With it, step by step, you can recover many types of files from various media.

Recuva scans a disk (or flash drive) pretty quickly, and then gives out a list of files that can be recovered. By the way, files are marked with markers (well-readable, which means it's easy to recover; medium-readable - the chances are small, but there are; poorly-readable - there are few chances, but you can try).

Screenshot:

Website: http://www.reneelab.com/

OS: Windows XP/Vista/7/8

Description:

A very simple program for data recovery. It is mainly intended for restoring photos, pictures, and some types of documents. At least, it shows itself in this better than many other programs of this kind.

Also in this utility there is one interesting feature - creating a disk image. It can be very useful, no one has canceled backup yet!

Screenshot:

18. Restorer Ultimate Pro Network

Website: http://www.restorer-ultimate.com/

OS: Windows: 2000/XP/ 2003/Vista/2008/ 7/8

Description:

This program dates back to the 2000s. At that time, the Restorer 2000 utility was popular, by the way, not bad at all. It was replaced by the Restorer Ultimate program. In my humble opinion, the program is one of the best for recovering lost information (plus support for the Russian language).

The professional version of the program supports RAID data recovery and reconstruction (regardless of the complexity level); it is possible to restore partitions that the system marks as Raw (unreadable).

By the way, with this program you can connect to the desktop of another computer and try to recover files on it!

Screenshot:

Website: http://www.r-tt.com/

OS: Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista/7/8

Description:

R-Studio is probably the most famous program for recovering deleted information from disk/flash drives/memory cards and other media. The program works simply amazing, it is possible to recover even those files that you didn’t “dream” about before starting the program.

Opportunities:

1. Support for all Windows OS (except Macintosh, Linux and UNIX);

2. It is possible to recover data via the Internet;

3. Support for a huge number of file systems: FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, exFAT, NTFS, NTFS5 (created or modified in Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista/Win7), HFS/HFS (Macintosh), Little and Big Endian variants of UFS1/UFS2 (FreeBSD/OpenBSD/NetBSD/Solaris) and Ext2/Ext3/Ext4 FS (Linux);

4. Ability to restore RAID disk arrays;

5. Create disk images. By the way, such an image can be compressed and written to a USB flash drive or other hard drive.

Screenshot:

Website: http://www.ufsexplorer.com/download_pro.php

OS: Windows XP, 2003, Vista, 2008, Windows 7, Windows 8 (full support for OS 32 and 64-bit).

Description:

Professional program designed for data recovery. Includes a huge set of wizards that will help in most cases:

Undelete - search and restore deleted files;

Raw recovery - search for lost hard disk partitions;

Recovery of RAID - arrays;

Functions for recovering files during a virus attack, formatting, repartitioning a hard drive, etc.

Screenshot:

Website: http://www.wondershare.com/

OS: Windows 8, 7

Description:

Wondershare Data Recovery is a very powerful program that will help you recover deleted, formatted files from your computer, external hard drive, mobile phone, camera and other devices.

Pleased with the presence of the Russian language and convenient masters who will guide you step by step. After starting the program, you are given 4 masters to choose from:

1. File recovery;

2. Raw recovery;

3. Recovery of hard disk partitions;

4. Renewal.

See screenshot below.

Screenshot:

22. Zero Assumption Recovery

Website: http://www.z-a-recovery.com/

OS: Windows NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista/7

Description:

This program differs from many others in that it supports long Russian filenames. This is very convenient when restoring (in other programs, you will see "kryakozabry" instead of Russian characters, as in this one).

The program supports file systems: FAT16/32 and NTFS (including NTFS5). Also noteworthy is support for long file names, support for multiple languages, the ability to restore RAID arrays.

Very interesting digital photo search mode. If you are recovering graphic files, be sure to try this program, its algorithms are simply amazing!

The program can work in case of virus attacks, incorrect formatting, erroneous deletion of files, etc. Recommended for those who rarely (or don't) back up files.

Screenshot:

That's all. In one of the following articles, I will supplement the article with the results of practical tests, which programs managed to recover information. Have a great weekend and don't forget to back up so you don't have to restore anything...

If you have lost valuable files, do not rush to get depressed: data recovery from a hard drive is possible, and you can do it yourself.

A file deleted from a hard disk actually remains on the same disk sectors. In the file table, it has the mark “zero”. As long as this information is not overwritten, the files are recoverable.

The most important thing is to choose the right tool. We selected best programs to recover data on the hard drive. In the review, we list the necessary functions of the programs, briefly describe how they work.

2. TestDisk - Recover deleted HDD partitions (Windows / Mac OS / Linux)


Strict console interface of the TestDisk program

TestDisk is a data recovery program for . Supports FAT, NTFS, ext2, etc. file systems. Works only from command line, detailed documentation will help you understand the commands.

It makes sense to use the program in cases where data has been lost

  • as a result of errors in the file table,
  • in the presence of bad blocks
  • when accidentally deleting an HDD partition.

In such cases, other utilities like Recuva or PhotoRec may not be able to handle it.

With TestDisk, you can repair boot sectors, fix tables in FAT, Master File Table - in general, fix errors on your hard drive, which often cause files to be deleted.

If a operating system won't boot and/or you're on Linux, you can make a byte-by-byte copy of your HDD partitions and restore files safely without overwriting.

If TestDisk did not help or seemed difficult, test PhotoRec (see below), since the programs are distributed in a common archive.

3. PhotoRec - photo and video recovery on your hard drive (Windows, Linux, Mac OS)

PhotoRec Main Window: Search and Save Settings

PhotoRec is a cross-platform disk data recovery software. Searches by file signatures, it is best at finding deleted images and videos.

Altogether PhotoRec covers about 300 file types and 480 file extensions. Data recovery is performed both on the hard drive and removable media - flash drives, memory cards.

You can download the program for free for desktop. Major file systems are supported, including NTFS, FAT, exFAT, ext2/3/4, partially ReiserFS, etc.

Included with the program is the console utility TestDisk. Recall that it is designed to recover deleted partitions, fix the boot record on the disk and other errors on the HDD.

Note. Despite the fact that data recovery on the disk takes place in read mode. when saving files, you need to specify a directory on another drive - otherwise the deleted data will be overwritten.

4.Diskdigger for PC

Diskdigger exists in desktop and mobile editions. We will consider the version for Windows. It supports HDD, SSD, sd cards and usb flash drives and virtual disks (VHD/VDI, etc.) connected to the computer.

The program offers to choose one of two scanning options - Dig deep or Dig Deeper.

Accordingly, the Dig deep method is suitable for recovering files on a hard drive, deleting files to the Recycle Bin, deleting any data in the FAT, exFAT and NTFS file systems.

The Dig Deeper recovery method will be extremely useful in more complex cases related to the deletion of information. This method involves searching for files by signatures, bypassing the file system. Scanning in Dig Deeper mode will take much longer than Dig deep.

It should be noted that the desktop version of Diskdigger has a user-friendly interface and allows you to flexibly configure the search for files on the HDD. It is convenient to use the preview when restoring and saving the results as a list or thumbnails. In general, Diskdigger is designed for photo, audio and video recovery, similar to PhotoRec.

5. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard (Windows)

EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard is an excellent, although not free, program for recovering deleted files from HDD. However, 500 MB can be restored without purchasing the full version. To do this, just download a 30-day trial version of the product on the website.

Scenarios where the EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard toolkit will be useful:

  • Deleting files bypassing the Recycle Bin (via Shift+Delete)
  • Deleting an entire HDD partition
  • Quick Format Hard Drive
  • File corruption or bad blocks
  • Hard disk partition is defined as raw

The program interface is simple, beginners will benefit from a step-by-step setup wizard. It allows you to select file types, scan type (Quick Scan / Deep Scan). As the scan progresses, you can view the results in a convenient preview window.

That is why EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard is great for recovering images and videos.


EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard interface

Data Recovery Wizard supports hard disk, SSD, memory card, USB flash drive data recovery.

Supported operating systems include Windows 8, 7, Vista, XP, Server 2008 and 2003, 2000 and older.

Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery supports more than 300 file extensions, suitable for recovering deleted partitions on HDD/SSD, ignores read errors. The description states that the main file systems for searching files are FAT, NTFS and ExFAT. However, Phoenix Windows Data Recovery can bypass and detect files regardless of file system type. For this, a signature search is used, which is activated by the Deep Scan option.


Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery main window: disk selection

The Technician version of the program will be indispensable if the files were in a RAID archive and one of the disks in the array failed. Other versions of the program also have useful additions for backup. However, for home use, the Home or Professional versions ($60 to $100) will be optimal.

7. Minitool Power Data Recovery - a program for recovering files from a hard drive

Minitool Power Data Recovery is a program for recovering data on damaged, faulty hard drives, emergency hdd - those that are not detected on the computer.


MiniTool Power Data Recovery main window: select disk partition

Some features of the utility:

  • Power Data Recovery recovers entire disks, works with large dynamic disks (> 1TB), RAID arrays,
  • when scanning, it bypasses errors, reads data, bad blocks cyclically, puts the head into a “sparing” mode when reading information from a disk,
  • works with FAT 16/32 file systems,
  • The “deep scan” option allows you to find deleted files that are not detected during normal scanning,
  • Free recovery of 1024 MB of any data.

How to recover information from a hard drive

The program has a step-by-step data recovery wizard. After selecting the Logical drive and pressing the Scan button, the Scan Results list will be displayed. Files are sorted by File name, Size, Creation date.

Video how to work with Power Data Recovery program:

8. Undelete Plus (Windows)


Undelete Plus main window interface

Undelete Plus is a shareware program for recovering deleted files. Supports recovery:

  • office documents and mail,
  • photo, video, mp3 audio,
  • files after emptying the Windows Recycle Bin,
  • system drive after formatting/reinstalling Windows.

Undelete Plus works on all versions of Windows and supports FAT or NTFS storage devices.

Similar to Recuva, the program determines the recovery probability for found files. You can sort the results by type, set filters by time and size.

9. Glary Undelete: Hard Disk Data Recovery

Glary Undelete is a free HDD file recovery software that is easy to use with a user-friendly interface.


Recovery on HDD using Glary Undelete

Glary Undelete recovers files from hard drives, SSDs, any removable media devices - memory cards, USB flash drives, etc.

There are no settings, to get started, you need to click Start. There is a filter by name / date / size. Grouping results by file extension is available in the sidebar. The probability of recovery for each file can be found in the “Status” column.

10. R-Studio is a popular hard drive data recovery software

11. Puran File Recovery is a simple FAT/NTFS disk recovery software

It cannot be said that Puran File Recovery stands out from other data recovery programs in the review. Nevertheless, we list the main functional features of this free product.

Puran File Recovery works with Windows 8, 7, Vista, and XP. The application is available in portable form and for 32-bit and 64-bit Windows versions and therefore does not require installation. The program has a simple and fast interface.

Supported file systems are FAT12/16/32 and NTFS. If the disk is removed or has a raw format, the Full Scan option will detect the partition and then recover data from the hard disk in the normal mode.

There are two modes of data recovery from HDD - scanning of deleted information fast and deep (byte by byte). Deep scanning does not just search through the entries in the file table, Puran File Recovery scans for known patterns, trying to detect a particular format. By the way, the utility is able to recognize about 50 file types.

Found files are restored with full paths and names (if possible). Before saving to disk, the user can sort the recovery results, view files in preview mode.


Tools included with Puran File Recovery

Other Disk Recovery Software

  • (now "EASEUS Data Recovery"): professional recovery of damaged data in FAT and NTFS file systems.
  • Data Rescue PC3: a program for finding deleted files from Prosoft Engineering, supports FAT and NTFS file systems
  • : file and SSD partition recovery software for Windows and .
  • FileSalvage: data recovery from disk, resuscitation of deleted / damaged information
  • : works under Microsoft Windows 2000 and above, supports FAT, NTFS and HFS file systems, RAID arrays.
  • : Reanimate damaged data on NTFS, HFS, FAT 16/32 partitions.

Answers to questions from readers

1. Accidentally slammed the lid of a Lenovo laptop. I don’t know because of this or not, the Windows OS itself was reinstalled and all information from the Desktop disappeared. Then a window with a red cross Windows appeared. There it was proposed to print out the instructions and save to a USB flash drive, something about the hard drive and not use the computer until we restore the hard drive. What should I do, I would like to recover files on my hard drive :-)

2. There were files on the desktop. They disappeared. Found only titles in MS Word. Please help me so that I can work with them as before.

Answer. The answer will be short. See programs for recovering data from a hard drive above in the list. Specify in the list the system drive on which WIndows was installed. In case you need to return some files from the Desktop, when scanning, specify "[system drive letter] > Users > [User name] > Desktop.

After reinstalling the system, photos and videos were not copied to the hard drive and, apparently, were deleted. Is free data recovery from hdd possible now?

Answer. The question is imprecise in its wording, but it is easy to answer. Use any recovery program mentioned in the article. Actually, before the process of data resuscitation, it is highly undesirable to use a hard drive to write and read information, so if possible, install the software on another medium and do not work in the OS until the data recovery on the disk begins.

Yesterday I deleted the entire folder on the hard drive. There was 1 GB of content, there were a lot of folders and other valuable data! I looked a few times and there was nothing there. Then she took and deleted the entire folder, but it turned out that my hidden photos and videos were there ... How to recover data from a hard drive?

Answer. For these purposes, almost any program for data recovery is suitable. For example, R-Studio, Minitool Power Data Recovery, Power Data Recovery, or Recuva. In general, there is no shortage of such programs, choose any, read the instructions on Softdroid and proceed to recovery.

I uploaded files to the mail.ru cloud, after a few days the files disappeared. Before that, I came from another device - the files were in place! Is it possible to recover files for free?

Answer. Yes, recovering files from your hard drive is quite possible if you have synchronized files uploaded to the Mail.ru cloud with your PC. To do this, you need to use R-Studio, Minitool Power Data Recovery or other tools. After installing the file recovery program, point it to the drive where the synchronized cloud files were located. The next steps, I believe, you know.

My son's favorite computer game crashed. I wanted to download it again, but he does not want to start it from the very beginning. Writes "application error". Will data recovery programs help? Thanks in advance.

Answer. Theoretically, you can recover files (deleted game saves) using hard drive data recovery programs. To do this, find out where the saves of a particular game are stored, run a file search, etc., everything is as usual when restoring. However, it is not entirely clear how your saves “blew off”, in what circumstances this happened. It is possible that you do not need the help of data recovery programs, since many games store saves in a Windows user folder separate from the actual game application. Install the game again and see if you can open saves inside the game.

Lost information. After recovering lost files, I have damaged files that I don't know how to recover. The information is very necessary. How to recover a damaged file? Tell me the way out.

Answer. This information is not enough to correctly answer your question. If you restored files yourself and as a result received some of the information in a damaged form, this means that the deleted files have already been overwritten with new information, and this process is irreversible.

It is less likely that you have used poor quality recovery software or selected the wrong scan mode. However, we suggest that you try to recover corrupted files again using .

Similar posts