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The Golden Rules
Of Successful File Recovery
How successful you'll be at recovering files you've accidentally deleted
will be determined by a number of factors.
The primary factor is the lapse of time that occurs between
the point where you realise you've erased a file (or files) that you really
wanted to keep and the time it takes to begin a file recovery operation.
Because of the way Windows handles file deletion (see introduction at
right), the longer the time lapse between these two points the
greater the risk that the deleted file has been over-written by your
operating system and made unrecoverable.
That's why it's a good idea to have a trusted file recovery program already
installed on your PC.
That way you can begin file recovery the instant you realise you need
to do it (nothing could be worse - or more ironic - than installing a file
recovery program and having it overwrite the disk space occupied by the file(s)
you want to save!)
A second factor that can also come into play is the amount of
fragmentation on your hard drive.
If you have a badly fragmented hard drive then an erased file may
be spread over many parts of it. This can make file recovery slow (in
a best case) and may mean that not all parts of a file can be recovered
(in a worst case).
Solution? Defragment your disk regularly - perhaps by using
some of the excellent defraggers
we've also reviewed.
A third and final Golden Rule is to put the recovered file onto some other
drive if at all possible to avoid causing cascading undeletion errors
(ie you recover one deleted file but it then erases another file that you
wanted to recover on the same disk).
This probably wouldn't be a problem if you were recovering a single
file. But it could very likely be a real problem if you need to recover
multiple files and/or directories.
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Other File Recovery Resources
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 File Recovery
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Background: Almost everyone who uses a computer has accidentally
erased a much-needed file at some time or another. But file recovery
software will usually allow you to recover deleted files if you act
quickly. How? By taking advantage of the way that DOS, Windows
and many other storage devices handle file deletion.
Contrary to what some people think, most computer files that are deleted
aren't instantly erased from the hard disk or other media they're
stored on (well, not unless you use an industrial-strength file wiper
they aren't).
Instead, Windows "loses" the file's name by flipping some bits on
the file's entry in a master File Allocation Table. This bit-flipping marks
the space occupied by the "deleted" file as being free.
And this - in turn - gives the operating system permission to
overwrite the space formerly occupied by the deleted file with new
data the next time it needs to save a file (at which point the "deleted"
file generally becomes unrecoverable).
This system of deleting files and reusing disk space has existed since the
days of DOS and it's worth noting that it's not shared by most modern
versions of Unix (which really do erase a file that's been deleted).
And while it might not be the most efficient way to handle file deletion
(because some "deleted" files can wind up staying around for a long time
if there's plenty of free disk space available), this system can be a
blessing in disguise for most of us when we realise we've inadvertently
junked something we really wanted to keep.
This week we've found 6 excellent undeletion programs that can recover
files from a wide range of storage media (including damaged storage
media) and whose capabilities range from quick, simple and fast
undeletion through to heavy-duty industrial strength data recovery.
Which one you choose to use will probably depend on just how badly you need
to recover a deleted file (or files). But the good news is that you can use
them all if you need to. Why? Because they're all completely free.
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Popular File Recovery Programs
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Recuva
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Piriform's Recuva (which is pronounced "recover") is a simple Windows
utility that will restore files that have been deleted from your computer's
hard drive. This includes files that have been removed from Windows' Recycle
Bin; files deleted from digital camera memory cards or MP3
players; and files deleted by bugs, crashes or viruses. If you've used
any of Piriform's other great freeware products (eg: their very popular
CCCleaner
computer cleaner or
Defraggler
disk defragmenter) then you'll
already be familiar with Piriform's simple, easy-to-use paradigm
and close attention to detail. We think Recuva is another very
worthwhile addition to the company's software suite. In our tests we
found that Recuva retrieved recently-deleted files very quickly and
efficiently and it was generally a delight to use. This makes it a
good choice for an everyday file recovery utility. The program's secure deletion
facility, though, isn't as thorough as some others we've tried. So
if absolutely secure file erasure is a high priority for you, then you might
prefer to try something else (eg: Eraser, which is also reviewed in
computer cleaners). We've
also heard reports that while the software is rated to run on Vista,
some early users had difficulties with it on that platform (we should add
that we ran our tests on Windows XP, where it performed flawlessly). However,
the software is regularly updated so these problems may now be fixed. Recuva
runs on all versions of Windows from Win98 to Vista and it's
freeware.
Get Recuva.
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Undelete Plus
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Phoenix Technologies' Undelete Plus is another highly-acclaimed file
recovery tool that offers slightly more power and features than Recuva
( above). Like Recuva, Undelete Plus will retrieve files that have
been flushed out of your Recycle Bin. But it will also recover
files that have been erased without using the Recycle Bin (eg:
in a DOS window or in Windows Explorer). The software supports all Windows
file systems for hard and floppy drives including FAT12/16/32 and NTFS/NTFS5
(which is very handy if you're trying to recover a file that you've stored
on old media) and it will recover images from CompactFlash, SmartMedia,
MultiMedia and Secure Digital cards too. In practice, Undelete Plus is
blindingly fast at locating files (you can get it to scan your entire
drive or filter the scan using a variety of criteria to get it
to search for just an individual file or group of files). And the software's
recovery abilities on recently-deleted files are quite impressive
too - it can recover not only deleted files, but also entire directories
along with their contents. Undelete Plus also includes a wipe utility
if you want to permanently erase a file and we found that this feature was
fairly robust as well. The software itself is very simple to use
and most people will have no difficulty getting productive with it within
minutes of firing it up. So it's not surprising that this software has won
many awards - we think they're well deserved. Undelete Plus runs on all versions
of Windows from Win98 to Vista; supports multiple languages; and is
distributed as freeware.
Get Undelete Plus.
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Pandora Recovery
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Pandora Corporation's Pandora Recovery is similar to Undelete Plus
( above): that is, it will recover files that have passed through your
Recycle Bin as well as files you've deleted without using the
Recycle Bin at all. However, the software will also let you browse, search,
preview and recover files deleted from NTFS and FAT volumes
and it not only supports hard drives, but flash drives and memory
cards as well. Pandora Recovery can successfully handle archived,
hidden, encrypted and compressed files and what makes
it particularly impressive is that it can scan Alternate Data
Streams and drive clusters to pick up files whose MFT record has
been reused, damaged or recreated by the operating system. This gives it
the ability to retrieve files from formatted drives (not always, but often
enough to be amazing) and to restore many types of files that some other
undelete programs simply can't (so if you've tried to restore a file
using an everyday file undeleter and failed, then this software is a great
fall-back resource). Pandora has a Windows Explorer type interface with
its own toolbar and because it scans deeply, it's a bit slower than
some other file recovery programs. But to compensate, it has interface
wizards, hints and context-sensitive help which can speed
up the recovery process by allowing you to focus in on what you want to retrieve
rather than the entire disk. It also has a preview function for many
common image formats which will allow you to see what you're likely to be
able to restore. Pandora Recovery runs on Windows (2000, XP, 2003
Server and Vista) and it's freeware for personal use. However, if
you want to use it in a for-profit organisation or recover data from a computer
that doesn't have Internet access, the company also has a portable commercial
version available for US$20.
Get Pandora Recovery.
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CD Recovery Toolbox
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While most file recovery programs will recover deleted files from hard
drives and memory cards, OEMailRecovery.com specialise in providing
dedicated commercial file recovery tools for particular file types
that are prone to corruption (eg: Outlook mail boxes, spreadsheets, Zip and
RAR files etc). And one of these tools - which is freeware - is CD
Recovery Toolbox which specialises in recovering files from CDs,
DVDs, HD DVDs and Blue-Ray disks. You can use the software
to restore information lost as a result of some mechanical damage
to a disk (eg: scratches, chips, spots on the surface etc) or damage caused
by incorrect recording. And while not all files may be recoverable,
CD Recovery Toolbox will find any that are and allow you to retrieve them
to another drive. If you use this software, you should be aware that because
of the amount of data a CD or DVD can hold and the errors that incorrect
recording can produce, this isn't a quick program to use (a
deep scan can often take several hours to run). And at the end of such a
process some badly-damaged CDs or DVDs may simply be unrecoverable anyway
(which can be immensely frustrating). But if you really, really need to recover
data on a CD or DVD and are prepared to wait then this program will often
do it for you. CD recovery Toolbox runs on all versions of Windows
(from Win98 to Vista) and the company's commercial products are worth inspecting
if you need to restore other types of files too.
Get CD Recovery Toolbox.
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Unstoppable Copier
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If you have to recover data from a damaged floppy or a hard disk with
bad sectors, scratches or other problems that cause errors
when you attempt to read data, then Roadkil.Net's Unstoppable Copier
may be the right tool to use to recover your files. Unstoppable Copier will
attempt to recover every readable piece of a file and put the pieces
together. Using this method, most types of files can be made usable even
if some parts prove to be unrecoverable in the end - and in some instances,
recovering at least part of a file is better than losing it completely.
Unstoppable Copier also lets you set the level of data recovery from
very intense (which can take a long time) through to skipping damaged
files completely. The data recovery process can also be paused and resumed
(handy if you have to take a break on a long recovery operation) and logging
can be enabled to record details on transferred files, their integrity and
the offsets of any errors. Multiple directory structures or single files
can also be dragged and dropped into the software for transfer. Unstoppable
Copier is available in English, Dutch, French, German, Hungarian, Italian,
Polish, Russian, Spanish and Turkish and it's frequently upgraded.
Unstoppable Copier runs on all versions of Windows (Win98 to Vista)
and it's freeware.
Get Unstoppable Copier.
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EASEUS Deleted File Recovery
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Finally, if you think you might need to recover files from a wide range
of storage devices and feel more comfortable using recovery software
that has a commercial counterpart, EASEUS Deleted File Recovery is
worth your inspection. EASEUS is the freeware version of the US$69
EASEUS Data Recovery Wizard and it will perform most of the everyday
undeletion tasks most people need without any fuss. What sets it apart from
the other programs listed on this page are the wide range of storage
media that EASEUS supports (FAT and NTFS hard disk drives, compact flash,
Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick Pro, Memory Stick Pro Duo, miniSD, MultiMediaCard
(MMC), SD Card, SmartMedia, xD Picture Card, Digital Cell Phones, PDA, Zip
Disk, PCMCIA PC, floppy disk, micro drive, any compact flash, any memory
stick) and its easy-to-use, non-technical approach to file recovery
(which can quickly put you at ease if you're not naturally a technical person).
The software also has a previewing feature for recovered files too.
EASEUS runs on Windows 2000, XP, 2003 and Vista and the freeware version
can be upgraded to the more highly-powered commercial version at any time
if you ever need to expand your capabilities.
Get EASUS Deleted File Recovery.
This page last updated: 10-Dec-2008
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