How To Get Deleted Files Back From Computer

Sometimes back I deleted a file from my system and after two days i felt a need to get it back. I searched for an appropriate freeware for recovering my files and saw that the internet market is flooded with all sorts of data recovery software, everyone more promising than the other.

I Downloaded a dozen of them as I was desperate to get my file back. My main criteria was to find freeware utilities for this task. There is always an advantage of using freeware because they have no functionality restrictions on them and for those who cannot afford to buy sharewares, they are just a boon.

Hunting for effective data recovery software, I  learnt a most important thing. It can be a very useful tip for the beginners who want to get their deleted data back.

• DO NOT WRITE ANYTHING ONTO THE DRIVE CONTAINING YOUR IMPORTANT DATA THAT YOU HAVE JUST DELETED ACCIDENTALLY!
• DO NOT SAVE ONTO THE SAME DRIVE DATA THAT YOU FOUND AND TRYING TO RECOVER!

• CREATE DISK IMAGE IF YOU HAVE EXTRA HARD DRIVE, OR OTHER LOGICAL DRIVES ARE BIG ENOUGH!

When a file is deleted, the operating system only changes the attribute of the space used by the file from an "occupied" status to an "available" status. The file´s information is hidden until it can be unlocked by a recovery utility. It is a good idea to avoid writing files to the affected drive partition to steer clear of writing over data that you wish to recover.

So here I am sharing the list with you people.

1. EASEUS Deleted File Recovery:

EASEUS Deleted File Recovery is a fully functional freeware designed to recover deleted files from all types of media such as Hard Disk Drives, Floppy Drives, Smart Media, Compact Flash, Memory Sticks, and other types of removable media.

http://www.easeus-down.com/download/EDR.zip

2. PC INSPECTORâ„¢ File Recovery 4.x: PC INSPECTORâ„¢ File Recovery 4.x is a data recovery program that supports the FAT 12/16/32 and NTFS file systems. The current version 4.x replaces the previous version 3.x, which is now over 6 years old.

Here are some of the new features in PC INSPECTORâ„¢ File Recovery 4.x

» Finds partitions automatically, even if the boot sector or FAT has been erased or damaged

» Recovers files with the original time and date stamp

» Supports the saving of recovered files on network drives

» Recovers files, even when a header entry is no longer available. Competition products cannot recover such files. The "Special Recovery Function" supports the following disk formats:

ARJ AVI BMP CDR DOC DXF DBF XLS

EXE GIF HLP HTML HTM JPG LZH MID

http://www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/welcome.htm

3. Restoration: Restoration is an easy to use and straight forward tool to undelete files that were removed from the recycle bin or directly deleted from within Windows. Upon start, you can scan for all files that may be recovered and also limit the results by entering a search term or extension.

In addition, Restoration also provides an option to wipe the found files beyond simple recovery. And as such it is not only a data-recovery tool but also a security cleanup application. You can use it to totally delete your files so that no recovery is possible.

The program is very small and completely stand-alone, it does not require installation and can also run from a Floppy disk. Restoration works with FAT and NTFS as well as digital cameras cards.
http://www.majorgeeks.com/Restoration_d4474.html

4. Recuva:

Recuva is my personal best! , a freeware and it restores the files so efficiently!

This includes files emptied from the Recycle bin as well as images and other files that have been deleted by user error from digital camera memory cards or MP3 players. It will even bring back files that have been deleted by bugs, crashes and viruses! You can limit your search to files of a certain type (e.g images, audio etc.) and choose between a fast and a deep scan approach. The program also includes a secure deletion option that allows you to permanently delete files that were found during the scan, in order to prevent any future recoveries.

http://download.piriform.com/rcsetup129.exe

5. Disk Digger:

DiskDigger is a utility for recovering deleted or formatted files from any storage media connected to your computer, including all types of memory cards, USB drives and internal or external hard drives.

The program thoroughly searches the file system for traces of files as well as deleted files and allows you to preview many of them as they are found. You can limit the search to certain file types and also specify the sector range of the disk to scan.

http://dmitrybrant.com/files/diskdigger.zip

6. TOKIWA DataRecovery is a simple data recovery tool that enables you to undelete files after they have been removed from the recycle bin.

It supports FAT12, FAT16, FAT32 and NTFS file systems. The interface is plain and simple, choose the drive to be scanned and then select the file(s) to be recovered, you can recover multiple files by using the Shift or Ctrl key. TOKIWA DataRecovery does not require an installation, and can be run from a USB drive or floppy disk.

http://tokiwa.qee.jp/EN/DataRecovery_EN.zip

7. Pandora Recovery enables you to recover accidentally deleted files from NTFS formatted drives, even if they have been emptied from the recycle bin.

The program offers a quick scan for recently deleted files and a more time consuming surface scan that attempts to find all deleted files. The scan results provide a detailed list of files that were found along with a preview of the file content and an estimated chance of recovery. You can also search for files based on their name, type, size and other criteria.

http://www.pandorarecovery.com/bin/PandoraRecovery.exe

8. Undelete Plus is a quick and effective way to retrieve accidentally deleted files, files removed from the Recycle Bin, in a DOS window, from a network drive, from Windows Explorer with the SHIFT key held down.

It works under Win 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista operating systems. The program supports all Windows file systems for hard and floppy drives. It enables you to undelete files that have been emptied from the recycle bin. The program quickly scans a selected drive and presents you with a list of files that can be recovered, along with the status for each file (very good, good, bad etc.) indicating the likeliness of complete recovery. Undelete Plus automatically sorts the files based on file type and folder, making it easy to find specific files, and you can also apply a filter to search for a specific file. Undelete Plus is unable to recover files that have been formatted.

http://undeleteplus.com/files/undelete_plus_setup.exe

9. SoftPerfect File Recovery is a tool to recover accidentally deleted files from hard disks, USB flash drives, CF and SD cards and other storage media.

The data gets recovered without any hindrances but the main problem is that Softperfect File recovery program will not be able to recover any files if the media has been formatted (or files have been overwritten). SoftPerfect File Recovery supports popular file systems such as FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, NTFS and NTFS5 with compression and encryption.

http://www.softperfect.com/download/freeware/file_recovery.exe

10. TestDisk is a powerful free data recovery software. It was primarily designed to help recover lost partitions and/or make non-booting disks bootable again when these symptoms are caused by faulty software, certain types of viruses or human error (such as accidentally deleting your Partition Table).

Partition table recovery using TestDisk is really easy.

http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Download

This is my super list of freeware data recovery tools. If you find any other tool which is good indeed and have been left out. Just let me know by the comments.

Wish You a happy data recovery

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