How to Use a Recovery Tool to Get Deleted Files Back
If you accidentally deleted a file, a recovery tool will help you get it back. These tools will also help you if you have lost files due to malware attacks or software issues.
Several free data recovery programs are available to restore your lost files. They can recover documents, pictures, music files, and other rewriteable media.
DMDE
DMDE is a powerful data search, editing, and recovery tool for FAT and NTFS disks. It may recover directory structure and files in some complicated cases when other software gives heap of files with obscure names, or when it can’t be used for recovery of a file system (such as format or partition manager failure).
Among its freeware features it has a disk editor, simple partition management, RAID constructing, disk imaging, and single file recovery. Paid editions support also file group and directory recovery, and DMDE Professional Edition includes additional features for recovering data for clients (compare editions).
The tool supports all major disk formats: NTFS, FAT12/16/32, exFAT, Ext2/3/4, HFS+/HFSX, ReFS, APFS. It works under Windows 98/ME/2K/XP/Vista/7/8/higher (GUI and Console), DOS (Console), Linux (Terminal).
With its free version, DMDE is capable of retrieving up to 4000 files in one session, which is more than enough for most scenarios. Its disk editor lets you navigate and browse various disk structures, and it’s fast and efficient.
Its disk imaging feature can create a backup of your files and recoverable data, and it can pause or resume a scan to make the most of your time. It can also preview files and display their size and modification date before attempting to restore them, so you can choose which ones you want to try and how many at a time.
When a crash occurs, it’s crucial to get your data back as quickly as possible, and DMDE does this very well. We tested the software on a 16GB SanDisk Cruzer Blade USB thumb drive that had lost and deleted files, and it recovered most of them in under 15 minutes.
DMDE is not a very simple tool to use, but the depth of recovery is impressive. The interface is busy, so users without a great deal of technical experience will find it difficult to recovery tool understand how to use the application. The tools it includes are incredibly useful, though, and the price is surprisingly good. We recommend DMDE for those who want to recover lost files and folders, but don’t have the budget to shell out on a higher-end alternative.
TestDisk
TestDisk is a powerful data recovery tool that can be used to repair corrupt file systems and lost partitions. It is an open-source tool that is free to download and use. It can also be modified and enhanced to meet user needs.
It can be used to recover data from various types of devices, including smartphones, tablets, hard drives, and other storage media. It can be downloaded for Windows, Linux, and Mac operating systems.
One of the best things about TestDisk is its ability to recover deleted files from multiple file systems and partitions. This includes NTFS, exFAT, and EXT2 filesystems.
In order to start using TestDisk, you need to first select the device or hard drive that you want to scan. Once you do this, the program will display a list of available partitions on your device.
Depending on how large the device is, it can take a few minutes for the software to complete a thorough scan of your device. After this, you will be asked to select the files that you want to recover.
Once you have chosen the files that you want to recover, you can press C to copy them to your computer. After that, you can preview them to see if they are intact.
Another useful feature that you can find in TestDisk is its ability to scan and recover RAW partitions. This makes it a very versatile and effective tool to restore corrupted partitions on your hard drive.
You can choose to either perform a Quick search or a Deeper search, and this will allow you to see all the available partitions on your device. Once you have found the partitions that you want to recover, you can select them and begin the recovery process.
There are a few issues that you should be aware of before you decide to use TestDisk to recover your data. Firstly, it is important to remember that TestDisk will write data directly to the disk that you are recovering from. This can lead to damage if you are not careful. In addition, the software is very slow and can take several hours to finish a recovery.
PhotoRec
PhotoRec is a recovery tool that can help you retrieve lost photos from a variety of devices. This includes computers, mobile phones, memory cards, and more. It can also recover files that have been corrupted due to viruses or computer malfunctions.
Photo Rec is freeware and can be downloaded from its website. It requires a bit of setup, but once you’re done it can be very useful. You can run the program from a terminal window (like you would a command line utility) and use it to scan for deleted files on your computer.
After the initial startup screen, you’ll be asked to select which drive to work on. You can select individual partitions or the whole disk if you’d like to perform a full disk scan. You can also set a destination directory for the recovered files.
When the scan process begins, you’ll be prompted to enter a password. You can use the default password or create a new one.
Once you’ve gotten past this, you’ll be able to choose the drive from which to recover your photos. Then you’ll be able to configure the file types that you want Photo Rec to search for.
By default, it will scan all non-corrupted files. But you can change that to only scan certain file types or to ignore certain file types altogether if you don’t want them to be scanned.
You can even change the number of passes that Photo Rec will do during the recovery process, which can make it a lot faster. However, you’ll need to restart the scan process after every pass.
During each pass, it will store the recovered files in subfolders. You can open these folders to view what has been recovered.
When the scan is finished, it will display a summary of what has been recovered and where. You can then move on to the next step of the process if you’d like.
Photo Rec can scan a variety of file systems including FAT, NTFS, ext2/ext3 and HFS+. It can also recover deleted files from internal hard drives if you’ve started it with elevated permissions (right-click the program and selected run as administrator).
Glary Undelete
Glary Undelete is a free file recovery tool that can be used to restore deleted files. It works on both internal and external drives, including hard disks, USB keys, memory cards, and digital cameras.
It offers a simple interface that lets you scan your drives quickly and easily. You can filter by file type, browse by folder name, or search for specific items using the search bar. It also supports file encryption, allowing you to protect your data while still recovering it.
While it’s not as feature-rich as many of its paid recovery tool rivals, it has a strong track record for getting the job done. It also offers a variety of support options for users who encounter trouble retrieving their data.
The software is available in a variety of versions, ranging from a free version to a pro version that has a one-time cost. The pro version has a number of extra features, including no limit on how much data can be recovered and an easy-to-use interface.
In our tests, it recovered files from both SSDs and HDDs. However, the speed of these drives plays a large part in how quickly it can retrieve them, so it is not always efficient on slower storage.
Another option is to use Microsoft’s own data recovery tool, which runs over the command line and requires a bit more effort to use than most other tools. You can find instructions for using it on its website, as well as a list of frequently asked questions.
If you don’t mind a more complicated interface, you can try Do Your Data Recovery Free, a tool that helps to recover deleted files from different types of devices on Windows OS. It is a free utility that can be downloaded from its official site and installed on the computer.
After downloading it, launch the program and select your drives in the drop-down menu. Afterward, you can use the search option to locate files that have been deleted.
The program also allows you to select the files to be restored and the location where you want them to be saved. After that, click “Recover” and they’ll be transferred to your destination. It’s a simple process that is worth taking advantage of, as it can be very helpful for recovering data that may have been deleted due to mistake or accident.