Top 5 Data Recovery Software
With so many data recovery solutions available today, it can be difficult to know which one will provide you with the most relevant and thorough user experience. Here are five titles we think are worth your attention, all of which have similarities and differences as well as a diversity of price points for budget-conscious users.
1. Recuva
Recuva can be installed on desktop or as a portable app, loaded onto a USB drive for use on multiple computers. Its basic wizard allows you to specify the types of files you want to locate and restore. You can speed the scanning process by specifically searching one file type at a time (images, text documents, etc.). It can search all kinds of storage media from hard drives and SSDs as well as DVDs, CDs and more.
Recuva’s advanced mode provides you with more details about your files, particularly whether or not they are recoverable. Recuva can also be accessed through its main interface or via context menus in Windows. It is a fast, free, and thorough data recovery tool that performs all basic recovery functions. Recuva is budget priced at $19.25 and offers an online knowledge base and user forum support options.
2. EaseUS
EaseUS is available for both Windows and Mac. It will help you recover files that have been accidentally deleted or erased. It also accesses raw, corrupted, and non-mounting, partitions. For advanced users, the ability to recover data from RAID arrays, servers, and corrupted optical media is a huge plus.
This service cannot scan an entire hard drive, focusing only on partitions. Some users would consider this an unacceptable limitation, but the average user who only wants to search specific file types or disk partitions will find EaseUS covers most of the bases nicely. It is free to try, $89.99 to buy.
3. Disk Drill
Disk Drill is an extremely intuitive suite that helps recover deleted files from any source. Independent tests show it recovering over 90% of lost files and its ability to recover documents is way above average. If you have lost documents you need to recover, Disk Drill is your solution. For recovering media files, however, it seems to have a bit more difficulty. The basic version is free with premium options starting at $89.
4. Stellar Data Recovery
Stellar offers features and perks that make it stand out in the world of file recovery solutions. It can also recover data from all kinds of storage media including flash drives, external hard drives, and damaged optical media. It also supports cloning, allowing you to copy entire file systems or volumes onto new storage media. Try it for free or buy for $99 including free live service and support.
5. Puran
Puran performs a thorough analysis of any volume. It works well in recovering all kinds of media and data files from songs to videos to images as well as all popular formats of text documents. It can even recover system files that have been accidentally deleted. It informs you of the conservation status of your files and gives you the option to restore them to a specific directory. The basic utility is available as a free download on a variety of sites.