Hello everybody!
In this video, I’d like to show you my best rated free data recovery apps.
Personal computers and laptops, smartphones and tablets, as well as other computing devices
are used worldwide to store important and personal data.
With hardware reliability issues being of less concern nowadays, the question of ensuring
safety and security of user data is always relevant.
Gadgets and storage devices may break down or be damaged for a number of reasons beyond
the user’s or manufacturer’s control, but you may end up losing important information
in any case.
Even theoretically, there are no devices to guarantee 100% integrity of your data, but
if you lose information due to a system failure or accidental removal, there are good chances
to restore the missing files.
When a file is removed - and no matter why and how it happened - this information is
never deleted from the storage device irreversibly.
The operating system labels it as deleted, and believes it is gone (this way things are
less resource-intensive than actually removing the file) until such file gets physically
overwritten with data from other files.
It means that any removed file can be restored until a certain amount of data is saved to
this storage device and the file is question is finally overwritten when new data is recorded.
So in this video we’ll be talking about the specialized utilities to help you restore
data deleted or lost from the hard disk.
Following an extensive testing program, we listed these tools by the number of files
they were able to recover, from the worst to the best result.
So, let’s begin...
PC INSPECTOR File
...With the tool that ranked eighth on the list - PC INSPECTOR File Recovery, because
it managed to recover the least number of files.
Still, PC INSPECTOR File Recovery can be helpful if you need to bring back the data lost for
any reason.
It comes absolutely free of charge and supports FAT and NTFS file systems.
Among other upsides - high speed of work, thorough hard disk analysis and several recovery
modes.
This product features multilingual interface and a unique function to recover boot sectors
for logical disks.
Unfortunately, it finished last in terms of recovering lost data.
Also, it may be quite resource-intensive while scanning, and some files lost after quick
format were never recovered.
Disk Drill (Pandora Recovery)
A peg up, you can find Disk Drill previously known as Pandora Recovery.
Not much of a big name, but very convenient to use, this free app is a good choice for
novice users.
It can recover any deleted data after emptying the Recycle Bin or removing files with the
Shift + Delete key shortcut, and even after removing files with Command Prompt.
Pandora Recovery lets you restore any files deleted from a hard disk, memory card, USB
flash drive and other media, But with a limitation: only a certain file type at a time - photos,
documents or videos.
There are certain disadvantages, though: It wasn’t able to recover files deleted
a long time ago, the menus only support a few languages, and the list of compatible
file formats is relatively short.
R.Saver
R.Saver ranked sixth, Because it managed to outrun the two products
I have already mentioned by recovering more files.
R.Saver is one more simple and free utility with a multilingual interface, Designed to
recover data from flash drives, hard disks and other storage devices.
It needs no installation and is easy enough even for newbies (as a bonus, you get an extended
help file).
The tool features support for NTFS, FAT and ExFAT file systems, Deep or fast scan for
the hard disk, and you can adjust the settings to skip bad blocks and find more files.
Talking of performance - all right, it can do fairly well, but don’t expect any wonders:
some files can be recovered, and some can’t.
SoftPerfect File Recovery
Position five goes to SoftPerfect File Recovery, which is another free utility.
It can recover deleted files from all popular media types and a variety of file systems
including FAT32 and NTFS.
However, it is only true for deleted files, and doesn’t apply to files lost after formatting
or changing to a different file system.
The app is teensy - just 500 Kb, but it does the job well and ranks fifth in our top list.
It needs no installation, consists of a single file and can be run from a flash drive.
The simple interface supports many languages, including those from the Slavic family.
A special feature is filtering the files to be recovered by their extension.
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard has nearly made it to the top three.
Compared to other recovery products, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard is distinguished by a
few downsides but also unique features.
Scan result can be saved, so can open it and recover the files you need at any time, so
you don’t have to re-scan the disk again.
After a quick scan, you can see paths and names of the files to be recovered;
Use the search window to find the required file among the many that can be recovered;
You can recover files from storage devices with HFS+ file system (used by Mac OS).
This tool is easy to use, with the preview option and the opportunity to recover many
files at the same time; The biggest downside is that the amount of
data you can recover for free is limited to 500 Mb, but if you only need it once, and
there are not too many files to restore, it’s certainly worth your attention.
Recuva
Finally, we have reached the top three tools, and
It opens with Recuva.
This free tool is one of the best-known solutions to recover data from hard disks, flash drives
and memory cards - and even a novice user can handle the task easily.
There is a convenient wizard for simple recovery operations, and if you are looking for advanced
options, they’re just one click away.
Recuva can restore files in Windows 10, 8, Windows 7, XP and even in more outdated versions
of the Windows operating system.
We can’t say that this tool is super effective (for example, with the disk formatted into
a different file system the recovery result wasn’t too impressive) but it’s a good
choice for cases when you need to know if anything can be recovered at all.
The main downside is that this tool only supports Windows, and there is nothing you can do if
your machine is running Mac OS.
Also, it doesn’t seem too quick, and some users reported Recuva crashing during the
scan.
Finally, there is little chance it can recover anything from damaged disks.
Puran File Recovery
Our second best choice is Puran File Recovery.
This is quite a simple and free data recovery app which is good for cases when you need
to recover photos, documents and other files after deleting them or formatting the disk
(or when some files are lost because the hard disk, flash drive or memory card is damaged).
Puran File Recovery appears a most effective solution if compared to all the previous tools.
The test results are really impressive.
It supports over 50 file formats, and this list can be extended even further, which means
that you can recover almost any file, even if it has a very special format.
The main disadvantage is that the installer tries to add additional software to your computer,
So if you choose Puran File Recovery, be attentive and read the terms carefully to make sure
you don’t get tons of stuff you don’t really need.
To my mind, using a portable version will obviously save you this trouble: no installation
- no hassle.
Photorec
Strangely enough, the top pick is PhotoRec, As it managed to recover the biggest number
of deleted files.
PhotoRec is a powerful data recovery tool but it can be difficult enough for novice
users, because it doesn’t have the conventional graphical interface, and All actions are performed
with the help of the command line.
Despite that, PhotoRec can find and save deleted documents, images, archives - in total, about
500 file extension types.
What is more, the actual finding range is unlimited as advanced users can create required
file signatures on their own if they need to find a specific type of data.
You can install this tool to DOS, Windows, Linux, Mac OS and other platforms which makes
it a really versatile solution.
For Windows, the latest version of Photorec packs in the long-expected graphical user
interface (as I said, previously you had to use command line for all actions), so now
it’s easier for anyone who’s not actually a PC expert.
With all those good things, we still couldn’t recover some files, but generally, we were
overwhelmed by the great results of this free app.
Still, don’t get upset if none of these tools could help you recover your files - there
are more alternatives to consider - but for a small pay.
If the information is very important, it could be worth it.
Hetman Partition Recovery
I’d like to offer you our best product, Hetman Partition Recovery.
It’s the most versatile tool of all presented in today’s video.
The range of available functions is not limited to restoring a specific file format or working
with a specific type of storage device.
The reason for data loss doesn’t matter either: the powerful algorithms will recover
files even in the most complicated cases.
If you are not sure it can recover your data, you are welcome to use the trial version.
It lets you analyze the storage device and view the contents of the files that can be
restored.
If a file is shown in the preview window, it is 100% available for complete recovery.
Hetman Partition Recovery packs in the preview function for deleted images, documents, electronic
spreadsheets, multimedia files, compressed archives, and a HEX editor as an advanced
feature.
With the HEX editor, you can see the sectors where the contents of the deleted file are
stored, and view service information on logical disks or the physical drive.
Advantages: Support for all versions for Windows;
A most user-friendly interface similar to the Windows Explorer;
Recovering any file type from any storage device;
A simple and convenient file recovery wizard to make the process much easier for novice
users; Built-in HEX editor for most complicated data
recovery scenarios and for the needs of power users;
Save scan results for a specific storage device and use it later to recover the files, without
having to run the scan again; One of the options is to create a disk image
and recover data from there (it comes in especially handy when you work with a damaged disk that
can break down completely anytime); A complete user guide is available for download
from the developer’s official website; And for any questions you may have, use that
website to contact the online tech support.
Disadvantages: The only disadvantage is that there is no
version for MacOS.
This tool can recover files both from local and physical disks;
File recovery is possible even from storage devices after formatting or from those with
a missing file system (recognized as RAW); In addition, you can recover deleted or missing
partitions; There is always a choice between two types
of analysis: Fast scan or Full analysis; After a quick scan, you can see paths and
names of the files to be recovered; With Full analysis, the detected files will
be sorted by file format; The integrated preview feature lets you see
the contents of the file to be recovered regardless of its format (that is, you can view an image
or office document, listen to an audio file or watch a video);
There is no limitation for the total size of the files you can recovered;
Files can be saved to a hard disk, USB flash drive, CD/DVD, uploaded by FTP, or to any
other physical or removable drive.
Hetman Partition Recovery is an advanced data recovery tool supporting various file systems
including FAT, FAT16, FAT32 and NTFS.
It can help you recover compressed or archived files, lost folders and even entire disk partitions.
Use it to bring back the data deleted by users or applications, lost after a virus attack,
a software error, power failure or a formatting operation.
To crown it all, we offer round-the clock online tech support for anyone using a Hetman
Software product.
The program’s menu is based on the step-by-step principle so there is nothing to confuse you:
just choose an option you prefer and click Next.
You can recover your data in just three steps: Choose the disk or data storage device you
need to recover information from Select the required analysis type and start
it Save the required files or folders
That’s all for now!
I hope these programs will help you fix the problem of data loss.
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Thank you for watching.
Good luck.