Flash drives and sd memory cards are spacious, cheap and convenient devices for storing information. The flash drive may contain data of particular importance: confidential information, logins and passwords for accessing wallets, bank accounts. Also USB Flash drive is used as a key for access and authorization to operating systems, services, programs.
As a result of a simple mistake (or banal inattention), it is easy to lose valuable information on a USB flash drive. Most often, information loss occurs due to a damaged file structure. In some situations, the deletion is really irreversible, but in other cases, recovery of the flash drive is possible. What we will try to do on our own - programmatically.
This overview presents programs that will help with. Each application has strengths and weaknesses, we will definitely list them.
How programs were tested
To test the programs, we took a 7.29 GB usb flash drive with the FAT32 file system. The files were copied to it:
We cleared the USB flash drive from files as it would look in reality. For this we:
- deleted files on the flash drive, bypassing the trash (Shift + Del)
- performed quick formatting (with the Clear Table of Contents option).
- over the deleted information, a video file of 1.1 GB was recorded.
Choosing the best program to recover deleted files
Reconstructor applications are good because they skip overhead information on the flash drive and access memory directly. As a rule, it is possible to extract, if not all, then at least some data from the device's memory, which will be suitable for further work. As a result of manipulations, using special programs, we will restore the data contained on the flash drive. It is important that the flash drive will work absolutely correctly after the data resuscitation procedure.
There are countless programs for recovering files on a USB flash drive. Many of them are universal: they work with hard drives, system partitions, and are suitable for recovering specific file formats.
I suggest you familiarize yourself with the programs that work with mobile storage devices - usb flash and sd memory cards.
Unformat is a program for recovering data from a USB flash drive with many settings
Unformat file recovery
Scanning the deleted partitions on the USB flash drive took about 20 minutes. Further scanning of the section after opening the section takes about the same amount of time. Saving files also takes a few minutes.
Unformat detects remote partitions, file system type, quality of results, first and last sector of a partition. All information about the process can be tracked through the log.
Files sorted by file type are available in the files detected by signatures section. At the same time, file types may not coincide with extensions and must be changed manually.
As a result, Unformat found all the photos in jpg format. After formatting and rewriting, all data was saved, including exif information. But the file names have been deleted. Video or audio files could not be found in Unformat.
In this video, I show you how to recover information from a USB flash drive using basic Unformat settings:
CardRecovery is a specialized program for recovering files from a USB flash drive
The CardRecovery program fits seamlessly into the review, since the list of supported devices includes USB flash drives and portable drives. It will help recover files in case of such deletion scenarios as accidental formatting, damage to the file system of a flash drive and memory card damage.
In fact, this product has not been updated for a long time, the latest version - 6.10 - was released several years ago. However, CardRecovery works without issue on Windows 10.
Unfortunately, recovery of other information from a USB flash drive (archives, documents) is not available. For this reason, the CardRecovery utility will be more useful to owners of photo and video cameras who have lost information on a memory card or flash drive.
The cost of the program is low, the license for 1 user costs $ 39.95 USD.
File recovery in CardRecovery
To recover data on a USB flash drive, we performed the following steps:
- We chose the Removable Devices list, as the storage device, usb flash.
- Specified file types for scanning on a USB flash drive. CardRecovery has limits on file extensions, mainly these are multimedia file types - photo, audio and video.
Scan results are displayed as “filename - properties”. You can easily extract exif information from photos. At one of the steps (Step 3) you can see the preview. In this regard, CardRecovery is perhaps the most convenient program.
The preview is not available for the video: you can see it only after purchasing the full version.
CardRecovery recovered all images on the USB stick, just like Unformat. Many media files were recovered in a damaged form with no chance of recovery (apparently, this is information that was contained on the flash drive a long time ago and was overwritten many times).
PhotoRec - recover photos from a flash drive
File recovery in PhotoRec
PhotoRec saves the result to the specified folder as it is restored.
The scan took about 10 minutes: which is quite fast despite the fact that the results are identical to Unformat. The program recovered not only photos, but also videos, and not what was deleted from the flash drive after formatting, but also files recorded and deleted before the test. Apparently, this place on the flash drive was not overwritten, so 1 GB clips each recovered almost without damage.
On the downside, there is no save option in PhotoRec. All files are saved in a heap to the specified folder, the preview is not available. Also, information is not available where the files were deleted from.
Recuva software - free data recovery from a USB flash drive
Recuva is a versatile program that can be used to recover from usb flash drives, sd cards, hdd and ssd. Its tools are free, and you don't have to buy a license to bypass the limits like in other recovery programs. When restoring a flash drive, at the last stage, it does not show a window with a request to pay for the full version.
Recovering from a usb stick in Recuva
If the flash drive is in a very bad state, you can create an image, enable signature search. Color-coded files are displayed depending on the degree of damage. A preview is available for media files.
How to recover information on a USB flash drive in Recuva
- Having connected the USB stick, we opened the Recuva Wizard, selected the file types and media (usb flash drive).
- We also activated the Deep Scan option so as not to skip corrupted and overwritten files.
Overall, the recovery took about 20 minutes. If the usb flash drive is more than 64 GB, be prepared that the scan will take even longer. However, Recuva is faster than other Unformat programs.
Conveniently, the Recuva Wizard has a preview, which is especially convenient when working with photos, if you only need specific files
In general, everything is done with a few clicks, but you will have to pay for this in that there is no way to select a partition for recovery and there is no sorting by signature.
File Scavenger - a program for recovering files on a USB flash drive
The list of problems that File Scavenger can solve is impressive:
- Recover files deleted from a usb flash drive
- Recovering data after accidentally formatting a flash drive
- Fixing a damaged flash drive
- Flash drive is not detected in Disk Management
- The flash drive is "zeroed" to the factory settings
Files can be recovered on hard drives, memory cards, RAID arrays, etc. Recovers data on most file systems (including NTFS, FAT 32/16/12, exFAT, ReFS) and virtual disks (VMFS, VMDK, VHD and VHDX).
The program works without installation (the corresponding option can be selected when starting File Scavenger).
File Scavenger is regularly updated, the latest version of the program for Windows 10 and Server 2012, in 64- and 32-bit editions, is available on the developer's website.
Please note that in the demo mode File Scavenger allows you to test the functionality; saving recovered files without purchasing a license is impossible. File Scavenger Standard Edition costs $ 57.00, Professional Edition - $ 195.
File recovery in File Scavenger
To recover files from a flash drive you need:
- Select a USB flash drive in the list of devices,
- Specify scan mode quick or long
- Click the Scan button.
- At the end of the scan, a table with the data found on the flash drive will be displayed.
- For each file, the status (probability of information recovery), date of modification, size and other information useful when recovering from a flash drive is indicated.
Also File Scavenger displays the section, the folder where the files were deleted. The Status column does not always display real information. For some files that Recuva identified as recoverable, information is not available here.
There are very few scanning settings in the program, the interface is rather inconvenient, although simple. Files can be displayed as a file tree, plus a preview is available. You can select all files or only the specified types (files are sorted by signature) and through the Save to tab.
Verdict. Programs for recovering a usb flash drive - which one is better?
The results showed that the programs participating in the review showed approximately the same results. In fact, the likelihood of recovering data on a flash drive largely depends on what actions were taken with the USB drive after the data was deleted.
So the main difference between the programs is the cost of the license and the convenience of the interface.
Answers to readers' questions
I have the "auto call recording" function enabled. When yesterday I deleted the records selectively, then at some point I clicked "delete all". And all I do not need, there are records that I need. What to do? How can I restore them?
Answer... Any of the above file recovery programs (Recuva, Recover My Files, CardRecovery and other utilities) allow you to recover audio recordings, say, on a USB flash drive. The data can be written and not on a USB flash drive, it does not matter. Just specify the source for scanning deleted files, then review the results found and specify the files that most resemble audio recordings (you can find out by the file extension) to return.
All of the files (photos, music, etc.) suddenly appeared on the flash card, but the folders that I created remained. There was no rewriting, no formatting action. A very strange situation, what could it be? I would like to believe that data recovery from a flash drive is still possible ...
Answer... All of the programs listed here (CardRecovery, PhotoRec, Recover My Files and Recuva) are equally effective in recovering data from a flash drive. Read the review and choose the utility that suits your criteria.
Directly about how to recover information from a flash drive, you can find out by selecting the desired section on our website in the main menu. Video tutorials are available for some applications.
I deleted the information from the flash drive (the rar archive in the archive word, pdf and dwg files) and completely overwritten the rar archive with pdf files. Is it possible to restore previous information on a USB flash drive?
Answer... If there was free space on the flash drive before overwriting, there is a chance to recover the information. In fact, they are always there, but if there was no space and you deleted files for this very reason, the probability decreases. Any program for recovering deleted files from a flash drive will help you, for example, Undelete 360, Recuva or Unformat.
greetings to all Khabrovchan!
Imagine a situation that at one point your hard disk / flash drive / memory card stops working normally, and you can't get access to data in the usual way. For those who do not make backups, this is a difficult and nervous time. In panic, people start looking for data recovery programs and find them. Most of them are free, which cannot but please a person in our difficult time. But are all freeware programs so effective in recovering data? We ran a couple of tests on several popular programs and this is what we got.
Attention! Lots of screenshots.
Briefly about the tests
To carry out the tests, we took five absolutely identical Transcend JetFlash 370 flash drives with a capacity of 8 GB. They were all bought on the same day in one place, the file system is the same, the main components (controller, memory chip) are also the same. Five absolutely identical flash drives. We recorded data on each of the flash drives. The choice fell on photos / pictures in .jpg format. The choice on the photo was not accidental: the description of some of the tested programs indicated that “special” algorithms will work when restoring photos. Also, in most cases, photographs are stored on memory cards, and our tests will be useful for novice and professional photographers.
The directory structure was as follows:
The total number of files is 1671
All data takes up a little less than a quarter of free disk space
All programs were installed on one computer. OC Windows 7 Professional x64. The programs were tested one by one in turn. For each program, there was a separate drive with a simulated problem.
Test one. File system crash.
The first, rather common situation, is a file system failure. With such a failure, as a rule, the drive asks for formatting. We simulated this situation as follows: on each drive, we wiped everything up to the beginning of the FAT tables
We deliberately left the FAT tables untouched, because some of the programs indicated the ability to analyze the found FAT tables. It is clear that when connected to a computer, a window immediately appeared asking you to format the disk.
1. Recuva
Recuva has a built-in wizard to guide the user to properly start the data recovery process 
Choosing our drive
We turn on the "In-depth analysis". It is not entirely clear what it is, but we are doing our best to get our data back.
And then we get the following message:
Advanced mode didn't help. The program didn't even start looking for our files.
Test failed. Recovery result - 0.
This program also has a wizard, but a slightly different kind
Selecting the second item, we get the following window:
It is obvious. After all, we ground the real data with zeros.
The next window shows which damaged partitions are available for scanning
We select it, and the following window appears
The default parameters are those that provide search throughout the drive: from the minimum to the maximum value.
By applying these parameters in the window with logical disks, we get several new lines in the program
Selecting each of the last three and pressing the "Preview" button, we find the section we need:
We open it and see the complete directory structure
All data opens correctly, all files and directories are in place.
Test passed. Result 99%... (I don't like absolute values)
3. Pandora Recovery
The only program that requires an internet connection during installation.
There is also a master
But everything ends quickly when we try to choose the device we need.
Test failed. The recovery result is 0.
4. RS FAT Recovery
This program, like others, has a wizard who will definitely help with the work.
Choosing the maximum allowed search
After starting the search, a window appears with a progress bar, which helps guide the user along the recovery process
As a result, we get the complete directory structure, if not for one BUT
To save the data in its original form, registration of the program is required. Otherwise, each photo will have a background with a message about an unregistered version of the program.
However, the test passed successfully. The recovery result is 99%.
Perhaps the only program in which there is no master. Minus is small, because a simple search in a few clicks the user will find the desired button
By pressing the "Open" key, we automatically get a full-fledged result, if not for one BUT
The free version of the program has a limit on saving recovered data. It is 1024 MB. There is no preview, which is not very convenient. But the test passed. The recovery result is 99%.
Subtotals
Only three out of five programs completed the task. It:
2. PC INSPECTOR File Recovery
4. RS FAT Recovery
5. MiniTool Power Data Recovery
At the same time, the program won an absolute victory 2. PC INSPECTOR File Recovery, because in the free version it allows you to get a good result without restrictions and unnecessary actions.
Second test. Quick format
Now let's try to put ourselves in the place of a person who does not know what formatting is or simply presses the Enter key in any incomprehensible situation until the incomprehensible windows disappear. The windows disappeared, as did the data itself. Windows uses Quick Format by default.
We also formatted the drives and ran each program again. Let me remind you that before that 1671 jpeg photos and pictures were recorded on the drives.
1. Recuva
This time, using the wizard, we launched the program without any problems, and the scanning process began
After a while, the result was obtained - 1390 whole files.
2. PC INSPECTOR File Recovery
Search was launched with default parameters
The result was obtained, but a detailed analysis showed that most of the files were damaged, only a few files with a minimum size were intact.
3. Pandora Recovery
Like Recuva, Pandora Recovery started without problems. Search for lost data started
But at some point, an error occurs. Tried various startup options (both from admin, compatibility mode, etc.) but the error persists. From the preview you can see that real files were found, but there is no way to save them.
The test is considered to have failed. The recovery result is 0%.
4. RS FAT Recovery
In this program, using the wizard, we launched a search for our files.
We got the result: 1575 whole.jpg photos and 92 .bmp. A total of 1667 files.
5. MiniTool Power Data Recovery
In this program, as in others, the scanning process was launched.
The program reported that it found 1668 files.
We could not verify this. Let me remind you that in the free version, only 1024 MB of recovered data can be saved. Having saved ten photographs, they found that they were all intact. We will conditionally consider the test passed, and recovery result - 99%.
Outcome
In the second test, the leadership, in my opinion, belongs to 1. Recuva... The general picture looks like this:
Based on the results of two tests, the best free data recovery software cannot be determined unambiguously. For each type of problem, you need to use one or another program. Nevertheless, data with "logical" problems can be recovered using such free programs. By the way, after formatting, we wrote another 2 GB of new data on these flash drives, and
When an important file is lost, the document you spent a week on is erased, and the photos have disappeared from a suddenly formatted memory card, do not worry ahead of time. Deleting a file from the disk erases its description in the system. The set of bytes that made up the file remains in place until something else is written over them. So you can try to recover data using any of these applications.
Be careful when installing applications to the disk where the deleted files were located. There is a risk that application files will be overwritten during installation. It is better to choose a different partition or physical disk for installation.
Platform: Windows.
Price: free, $ 19.95 for the advanced version.
Recuva can recover data lost by mistake, for example, from an accidentally emptied Recycle Bin. The program can recover photos from an inadvertently formatted memory card in the camera or music from a cleaned MP3 player. Any media is supported, even iPod memory.
Platform: Windows, Mac.
Price: free, $ 89 for the advanced 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 using the Recovery Protection function, as well as find and clean the disk. However, the free version does not allow you to recover files lost prior to installing Disk Drill.
Platform: Windows, Mac, Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, SunOS, DOS.
Price: is free.
A very functional and versatile open source application. It has a text interface, but it's not hard to figure it out.
TestDisk supports a wide variety of file formats. In addition, the program can be burned to a LiveCD to recover data from a disc that will not boot the system. The utility can recover a damaged boot sector or lost data.
TestDisk comes with PhotoRec, which can recover deleted files, photos, music and videos.
4. R-Undelete
Platform: Windows, Mac, Linux.
Price: free version recovers files up to 256 KB; $ 79.99 for the full version.
R-Undelete is part of R-Studio. It 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, utilities provide tools for advanced copying of partitions and searching for bad blocks on disks.
Platform: Windows.
Price: free in trial mode with data recovery up to 1 GB; $ 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: free version does not save found files; $ 37.95 for the full version.
The developer Hetman provides a set of utilities for recovering various types of data: whole 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. Filtering of recoverable data is supported.
Do you know more convenient and functional data recovery applications? Let us know in the comments.
Important information on a hard drive, flash drive or memory card of a mobile device can be unintentionally erased, although the price of information stored on a medium can be very high. Data recovery from a formatted disk is a rather expensive service. In any case, anyone can try to recover deleted data using a variety of programs. If such software does not bring you results, then only then you need to contact specialized services. You risk nothing by using such programs.
Recuva is the most popular free software
One of the most well-known applications that has gained wide popularity among users is the Recuva program. It is freely distributed on the Internet, and everyone can download it for free. Recuva is small in size and allows you to easily recover information from a memory card, flash drive or computer hard drive. Even a novice computer user can cope with this software: almost all recovery processes are automatic. A huge advantage of the Recuva product lies in the fact that the user himself specifies which files need to be restored. That is, if you only need graphic images, Recuva will search and restore them.
Although the program quickly recovers deleted data, it has some drawbacks. For example, Recuva will only be able to help when the information has been deleted and the media itself is no longer used. If you notice the disappearance of data after writing several files, Recuva will not be able to recover them. In addition, the program cannot recover media after full formatting; Recuva will also fail if the computer reports that "the disk is not formatted."
UndeletePlus - a simple solution when you need to recover lost data
The simple UndeletePlus software is designed specifically for recovering lost data, as the name suggests. You can recover deleted files from a hard drive, flash drive or memory card. The program wizard will allow even an inexperienced user to complete all the steps to recover important information. First, you need to choose exactly how the files were deleted: deletion, formatting, damage to disk partitions. Next, it is indicated which files were lost (photos, texts, music, etc.)
This program is recommended only if the deletion just happened outside the trash (by pressing Ctrl + Del).
R-studio is one of the best programs for complete recovery of important data
Many users claim that R-studio is one of the most effective programs for working with remote information.
But it's important to note that it is paid. This software provides the ability to:
- recover information from flash drives, hard drives, floppy disks, DVDs;
- restore RAID arrays (including RAID 6);
- repair damage to computer hard drives;
- restoring partitions after reformatting;
- support for Linux, Mac OS and Windows partitions (NTFS FAT).
R-studio - a professional program that can recover information lost for various reasons (formatting, deleting, damaged disks). Messages from operating systems such as
"The disc is not formatted", etc. R-studio is not an obstacle, in contrast to the above programs. The program can be run from a flash drive or CD if the operating system itself does not start.
Data recovery on tablets, phones and smartphones running on Android OS
Sometimes you need to recover data not only on a laptop or computer, but also on modern gadgets: smartphones, phones and tablets running on Android.There are programs that allow you to recover files, photos, videos, etc. In my opinion, only two products deserve real attention:
- recover Lost Data with Android in Wondershare Dr. Fone;
- data recovery in 7-Data Android Recovery.
The first application allows you to work on all Android devices, and not only photos, videos or music, but also contacts and notes are subject to recovery. The interface and capabilities of the second application (7-Data Android Recovery) is very similar to the Recuva program for computers.
Data and file recovery from Recovery Software
Most paid or free programs offer all functions at once: recovery after deletion, disk formatting, damaged boot sectors, etc. In contrast to such universal solutions, Recovery Software offers 7 programs at once, each of which is designed for a specific action.
- RS Partition Recovery - allows you to recover information after accidental formatting, changes in the disk structure. Supports all popular file systems.
- RS NTFS Recovery is an application similar to the previous program used for NTFS partitions. Allows you to recover data and partitions on computer hard drives, flash drives, memory cards with the NTFS file system.
- RS FAT Recovery is a program similar to the previous product, except that it is designed to recover erased information on media using the FAT system.
- RS Data Recovery is one of the most interesting packages for users. Combines RS Photo Recovery and RS File Recovery. The developer claims that it is this package that will save in any case in case of data loss: any disks, flash drives, file recovery from compressed and encrypted partitions are supported.
- RS File Recovery is one of the components of the above-mentioned package, specially designed for recovering important information from damaged disks, recovering deleted information.
- RS Photo Recovery - when you need to recover just photos from a hard drive, flash drive or memory card, then this product is just for you. This program requires a minimum of user intervention. You don't need to deal with photo formats and other details - the program will do everything by itself.
- RS File Repair - many have come across files or photos that won't open. For example, half of the photo looks gray, looks like incomprehensible multi-colored blocks, or does not open at all. This application will be able to solve such problems and recover graphic or other files of different formats.
After a free download, you will be able to see the results of file recovery (without the option to save), and then decide to purchase one of the applications. Having received the registered version, all the functionality of the program will become available to you.
Power Data Recovery - professional recovery of any data
Like the previous software package, the program Power Data Recovery allows you to completely restore lost information from any media (CD, DVD, Flash-cards, hard drives), including after their damage. The program will help to restore damaged partitions on hard drives: various formats USB, SATA, SCSI, IDE are supported.
The program allows you to recover lost information absolutely safely on the created disk image, where any changes will not harm the system. In addition, Power Data Recovery allows you to search for lost files by type, find lost disk sectors, etc.
For the convenience of users, the program offers a preview of the files, which displays the original names of the files themselves.
Stellar Phoenix - software for recovering 185 file types
Wonderful program Stellar phoenix provides the ability to search and recover nearly two hundred different types of files (no RAID recovery option). For Stellar Phoenix, it doesn't matter where the data recovery will be from: computer hard disk, flash drive, memory card, CD or DVD. With the help of Stellar Phoenix, you can always create an image of the recovered disk, which will make the process of finding deleted or damaged files convenient and safe. All found files are classified by type, which makes the search very convenient. Preview speeds up the search for damaged files with the desired information.
Although the program is in English, the entire interface is intuitive. Recovering lost information is carried out using the wizard, which offers only three options to choose from: recovering a hard drive (hard disk), recovering CDs, recovering lost photos. After choosing one of the items, you just need to wait until the program will find and restore the files. Even a novice computer user can easily master the program.
Recovering important data on a non-working computer with Data Rescue PC
File recovery is possible even on a non-working computer that does not start the operating system.
This procedure is possible thanks to the Data Rescue PC application. The program runs from the LiveCD and allows you to do the following:
- find and recover various types of files;
- to work with damaged disks that are not installed in the system;
- completely restore information after deletion;
- rAID recovery (after completing the installation of individual components).
Recover any data with Seagate File Recovery for Windows
While many different applications have emerged to recover lost information, many continue to use Seagate File Recovery.
It was developed by the hard drive manufacturer Seagate, and at first was used only for the owners of these drives. But practice has shown that the program does an excellent job of recovering important lost data with other storage media (not necessarily Seagate). Even after formatting a disk or flash drive, deleting information from media, the program continues to see files with the possibility of their recovery. In addition, this program conducts file recovery so that the system can read them. Very often, other applications recover photos or other information, but the computer is unable to read them. If other programs do not cause the system to read the recovered photos, it is best to perform image recovery with Seagate File Recovery for Windows - the photo will be guaranteed to open. The only thing that can happen is a partial opening of the photo: part of the image will be visible.
Another program 7 Data Recovery Suite
Many users cannot find a suitable data recovery software for a long time. One of these obstacles is the lack of the Russian language. 7 Data Recovery Suite application is fully Russified and has a user-friendly interface.
Any computer user who is more or less versed in applications can recover important information using the 7 Data Recovery Suite. Although you will have to pay a premium to use 7 Data Recovery Suite, you can always download it for free for informational purposes. Each user who has downloaded the product is entitled to a free trial recovery of information within 1 gigabyte! Very good for getting to know the product's capabilities. This volume allows you to recover more than three thousand photos! 7 Data Recovery Suite makes it possible to recover deleted files that were not placed in the trash, return information lost due to improper formatting or damage to the disk. Experienced users who often use 7 Data Recovery Suite for various tasks claim that in the majority of cases, the program does an excellent job of recovering any data. In addition to downloading this version of the program, on the official website you can find and download the beta version of the program, which is designed for mobile devices running on Android OS.
Losing important files these days is an unpleasant event, to put it mildly. But if you catch yourself in time, they may still be saved. There are many logical data recovery software out there, and there are quite a few noteworthy free products among them. They will be discussed in this article.
The main reasons for data loss are:
- physical malfunction of a disk or flash drive (most often defective unreadable areas, in common parlance "bad blocks"),
- accidental deletion of necessary files by the user himself,
- damage to the file system (due to power failures and hardware failures, the effects of a virus, or incorrect operation of conventional software).
In addition, flash drives and memory cards often “fly off” the internal translation table, as a result of which all data becomes inaccessible at once (a flash drive is defined with zero volume or simply freezes when accessed).
In the first and last cases, most likely, you will have to remove the problem drive from your computer and hand it over to data recovery specialists who have the necessary set of technology, knowledge and experience. The portal recently covered their activities,.
In other cases (and most of them), the files can be restored directly at the workplace using special programs. It's faster and cheaper, and you don't have to worry about privacy.
⇡ How programs recover files
In Windows, data on all files on the disk is stored in a special table (in the NTFS file system it is called MFT, Master File Table). It can be somewhat simplified as a library catalog, which indicates where a book with such and such a title is located. When a file is deleted, it is not physically erased from disk (for reasons of economy and performance). First, its "card" is modified: a mark is put on it that the file has been deleted and the disk area previously occupied by it is free. Later this space is used to write new files.
If the recording over the old file has not happened yet, then it is not difficult to restore it. The program looks through the records of all files marked as deleted and prompts the user to restore them. Worse, if new information has already been written over the file, then most likely it will not be possible to restore it. If only part of the file is overwritten, then you can restore the still surviving "piece" (for example, a part of an image or document).
Programs behave differently in case of damage to the file system (or its complete destruction when formatting the disk), and also if the required file was not found in the first way. Then they have to literally "probe" the disk for possible signs of files.
What are these signs? Different popular file formats (doc, jpg , avi and the like) there are signature headers characteristic of them. It is them that recovery programs are looking for, scanning the entire contents of the disk in a row. Each program supports its own set of signatures, which it "knows", can search and recover. The breadth and sophistication of this set is one of the indicators of software quality.
When restoring files in this way, information about their location (in which folders they were located), as well as about the file name is sometimes lost, so the file can only be recognized by its contents. In this regard, the function of previewing a file right in the program is very useful, even before it is saved. The more formats for which "preview" is supported, the better.
It should be noted that the algorithms for finding deleted files are different for each software product. Some heuristics work well in some cases, some in others. It is rather difficult to say in advance which case is in front of you. Often, especially with severe damage, the maximum amount of data is not recovered by the program that shows the best result in most "normal" cases.
this implies practical advice: if one ("favorite") utility could not save all the files you need, try a few others - perhaps they will be luckier. Combining the results obtained by different methods will give the best effect in the end.
Important caveat: if the files have already been deleted and they need to be restored, but the necessary program is not at hand, then you should download and install it to the wrong partition from which you want to recover data, so as not to inadvertently write new files over the deleted ones and thus worsen the situation. Of course, you need to save the recovered files to another drive. It makes sense to keep a set of proven "repair" utilities on alert on an external storage device (hard disk or flash drive), since their volume is ridiculous by today's standards.
⇡ Which programs should you use
Below we will look at the main programs that are used in "amateur" data recovery. They are all absolutely free (freeware class - do not require a license purchase and do not contain functional or time restrictions) and support the most common file systems of Windows: FAT16 / 32 and NTFS. A number of programs have additional functionality that is useful in certain cases.
Recuva 1.40.525
This program has gained considerable popularity as it was one of the first free file recovery utilities. Recuva is the brainchild of the British company Piriform, also known for its other "repair" utility - CCleaner. In addition to hard drives, the program can work with flash drives and iPods, as well as securely delete files.
By today's standards, Recuva is somewhat primitive and inferior in capabilities to later developments. But if you just need to "pull" the file you just deleted, you can try. At least it won't take a lot of time and you won't have to rack your brains.
Recuva supports two modes of file search: fast shallow and slow deep, in which sector-by-sector disk analysis is performed. The program interface is simple and straightforward. First, a wizard will start, which will offer you to select the type of files to be restored and the location in which they were located (you can also conduct a full search for all deleted files). The wizard can be disabled and operated from the main window of the program - for many users this is more convenient.
All found files will be shown as a list, but in the context menu you can select and view them in the form of a directory tree, which is convenient if there are many files.
Recuva shows found files, their parameters and chances of recovery (the latter is determined by the "traffic light" color of the circle next to the name)
After pressing the "Restore" button, the program will ask where to save the files marked with a checkmark. For insurance purposes, it is recommended to write them to another disk, but often the files are successfully restored to their original location.
Recuva also has a “manual” operating mode.
Recuva "manual" operating mode
After clicking the "Analyze" button, the program will start searching either for all ever deleted files, or those that match the specified mask and path. In order to select the analysis method (deep or superficial), you need to go to the settings and select the "Actions" tab.
If the files were not deleted, but were damaged due to a disk failure or the action of malware, then to "fix" them in the settings, on the "Actions" tab, select "Search for undeleted files".
Besides recovering files, Recuva can also erase them reliably. This is useful, for example, if important information is stored on the disk and you would not want it to get into the hands of intruders (or, say, to the tax authorities). To do this, the program writes several times in the place of the disk where the file was located, so that it will no longer be possible to restore it by any means. To select files for such deletion, you need to perform analysis in manual mode, select the files and select "Safe deletion" in the context menu. The deletion algorithm can be specified in the settings, on the "General" tab (the default is the simplest and fastest of them).
Recuva also supports portable operation. To do this, copy the folder with the program to an external medium, and then create a file named "portable.dat" inside this folder.
PC Inspector File Recovery 4.0
This utility was created by the German offshoot of the British company CONVAR. Its authors know about data recovery not by hearsay, since this is one of the main directions of the firm's work. The quality of file recovery from PC Inspector is slightly higher than from Recuva. The program will also take on lost disk partitions that are not recognized by the operating system (which happens, for example, after hardware failures).
The disadvantages of PC Inspector include not too obvious interface. Certain difficulties also arise with the recovery of highly fragmented (scattered across the disk space) files, as well as disks with a damaged file system.
When the program starts, a window appears in which you can specify what exactly happened to your files. Possible options and further scenario of actions are listed on the right. You need to select one of the three labels on the left.
PC Inspector start window
After that, you should specify which drive you want to recover data from. If it is not listed, click the Find Logical Drives button. With the drive selected, click on the green checkmark.
Disk selection window
After the scanning process is complete, you will see a window with the found files. If they were accidentally deleted, then you need to look for them in the "Deleted Items" folder. If the reason for their loss was a problem with the disk or its formatting, then the found files will be located in the "Lost" folder. You can also use the file search option (shortcut with a magnifying glass on the left side of the window).
After the necessary files or folders are selected, they should be written to the hard disk (item “Save” in the context menu). Let us remind you that it is highly desirable to do this for another section.
Window with found files. You can see their characteristics and recovery forecast
CONVAR has developed a special (and also free) utility to recover files from memory cards of cameras and phones PC Inspector Smart Recovery 4.5.
It is tailored for various image formats (JPG, TIF, BMP, GIF, proprietary RAW files of major vendors), as well as audio and video recordings (WAV, AMR, AVI, MP4, MOV, 3GP). The utility interface is extremely simple and will not cause any difficulties.
R.saver 1.0
This is a very remarkable freeware product. R.saver often copes with the most severe cases of data loss, which are too tough for other free utilities (serious damage to the file system, the disk is not visible to the OS, etc.). In many cases, the program shows results on par with the best commercial products, so keep it handy.
R.saver appeared in 2011 as a simplified version of the professional software UFS Explorer, as a result of cooperation between the Moscow data recovery company R.LAB and the Ukrainian company from Donetsk SysDev Laboratories - the developer of UFS Explorer. Only non-commercial use on the territory of the former USSR is allowed.
The program interface is simple, informative and does not contain anything superfluous. In addition, all tips and a detailed manual are originally written in Russian. R.saver can find lost disk partitions that are not recognized by the operating system and automatically detect their native file system. So, if your disk has crashed and the OS has stopped seeing it, you shouldn't start formatting - the program will find the partition anyway, and there will be more chances of data recovery.
When running R.saver looks for both traces (headers and shanks) of various file formats and all available information in the remains of the file system. In fact, we have a hybrid of the methods described at the beginning of the article, which determines the higher efficiency of the program - its ability to find and restore files.
In addition to recovering data from the usual Windows FAT and NTFS file systems (including those saved as a disk image), R.saver allows you to read files from a variety of file systems from other OS families (Mac OS, Linux, Unix, BSD, Novell, CD / DVD). Here is a complete list of them, taken from the documentation: HFS, HFS + / HFSX, Ext2, Ext3, Ext4, ReiserFS, JFS, XFS, UFS, UFS2, NWFS, ISO9660, UDF. Impressive, isn't it?
When you start the program, you will see a window with all detected disk partitions. If the partition you need is lost and is not displayed (you can navigate by the label indicated in the properties window on the right, and the size), then select the physical disk on which it was, and click the "Find partition" button.
R.saver start window
After selecting the desired section, click the "Scan" button (will appear in the upper right corner). After the scanning process is complete, you will see the reconstructed file system (what it would look like if there were no data loss). Deleted and suspected damaged files are also listed separately in the appropriate sections.
R.saver window with detected files
Using the context menu, you can copy the required file or folder to another drive. By double-clicking on the file, you can view its contents (the file itself is copied to the temporary directory). There is also a file search function ("Quick search" window in the upper right corner).
R.saver does not require installation as such - just download and unpack a small archive, then run the executable file. It also sets the program apart from the competition.
Pandora Recovery 2.1.1
This is another well-proven data recovery software (especially when it comes to lost images). It finds accidentally deleted files and can also recover data after formatting. The situation with damaged file systems is more complicated - there will be little benefit from the program. When installing Pandora Recovery, do not forget to uncheck the additional (and unnecessary) utilities offered as a bonus.
When you start, first of all, a very detailed and easy-to-understand wizard will open, which will ask questions about what exactly happened to your files and suggest the appropriate mode of operation of the program.
If your files were accidentally deleted, you will see a window in which you can set the desired file attributes (name by mask, date, size, etc.) and start searching.
Search window for deleted files
In case of more serious problems, when a disk scan is required, you will see a window with information about the files found, their characteristics and chances of recovery.
Scan Mode in Pandora Recovery
File names are poorly restored in this mode, but for the most popular graphic and office formats, there is a preview of the content, which allows you to correctly name the files manually.
MjM Free Photo Recovery 1.0 RC
This small utility is designed exclusively for recovering JPG files from memory cards; it does not work with hard drives.
In recent years, such specialized software has begun to appear en masse to help photographers. As you know, pictures from cards often disappear as a result of incorrect removal of the card, power failures (the camera battery "dead" at the wrong time), accidental deletion or formatting. During shooting, files of the same type are usually recorded sequentially without fragmentation, so a simple search for signatures while scanning the drive allows you to determine the frame boundaries.
The program in question is quite old (the last update was released in 2008), but in some cases it copes with the task better than its more modern counterparts. The interface is extremely simple and contains only two settings: the Maximum File Size (you need to select it large enough) and the Deep Scan checkbox. To start the scanning process, click the "Search" button.
MjM Photo Recovery start window. Here it is, real asceticism
After completing the search process, you will see a set of photos in the form of icons. The original file names and their relative location (folder nesting) are not restored, but this does not really matter for cameras.
Preview of found files in MjM Photo Recovery
AnyFound Photo Recovery 5.0
This utility also specializes in the recovery of graphic files. It understands many popular image storage formats (including Photoshop source files) as well as flash animation. The program can work with both hard drives and external drives, and its capabilities include the restoration of damaged file systems that are not recognized by the operating system. The result is obtained fairly quickly and with good quality.
AnyFound Photo Recovery does not support the Russian language, there is no help (the developers stopped developing the project in 2009, so its website was closed), but the interface is quite simple and there should not be any special difficulties with it. First, you should select the appropriate mode: recovering accidentally deleted files (Deleted File Recovery), working with a damaged file system (PC Partition Recovery), or resuming previous sessions (PC Resume Recovery).
AnyFound Photo Recovery start window
The PC Partition Recovery mode should be started when the disk partition is not visible to the operating system, or after the Deleted File Recovery mode has not worked. After selecting any of the modes, you will see a list of physical or logical drives (they differ by their icon - logical drives are marked with the Windows flag). In the list, select the drive from which the data was lost. After that, in the lower left corner, click the "Recovery" button.
The scanning process will begin, after which you will see a window with all the deleted files (for the "Deleted File Recovery" mode) or a list of all detected partitions with their sizes indicated (for the "PC Partition Recovery" mode). In the latter case, select the required section and click the "Show Files" button. As a result, a window with all found files will appear.
Program window with found files
Having marked the files you are interested in in this or that window (images are automatically previewed), click the "Save File" button in the upper right corner to copy them to another disk.
⇡ Conclusion
We have reviewed several free and easy-to-use utilities for logical data recovery. All of them have gained well-deserved popularity, allowing thousands of non-professional users to recover their lost files with minimal time and effort. Of course, this is only the first step in the thorny area of \u200b\u200bData Recovery. You will have to pay for further promotion - both in money and in time to master.
If the disk is physically defective - it has multiple surface defects, periodically “falls off” or is not detected at all, knocks, creaks or is completely silent - heavy artillery comes into play in the form of a hardware-software complex specially designed to read data from such “half-corpses”. AIC works with problem drives in an undocumented technological mode, which provides access to data in the most difficult situations.
Needless to say, such equipment is found only in specialized organizations that professionally deal with data recovery. It is pointless and even dangerous to give a complex in hand to an amateur - a powerful tool will most likely simply ruin the disc. And its price does not correspond at all to a one-time use ...
Therefore, all that can be advised to the owner of a faulty drive is to contact one of these organizations, where his data is deducted as fully and quickly as possible. And we wish him not to get into such situations at all, using the great paradigm called BACKUP. A well-organized backup of working and archive files insures against almost all problems with them.
