Recover deleted files after formatting. Review of free data recovery programs
The best programs for data recovery from any storage media. Recover files from your hard drive, flash drive, SD card and recycle bin.
Recovering files using Recuva
Recuva- a multifunctional tool designed to recover files deleted from hard drives or removable media. The program interface is simple and easy to use. A big plus is the built-in help that suggests actions to return the necessary information.
The program runs a deep scan on devices. The user can select a specific disk for analysis. Found files display their format, status and size. To “reanimate” you only need one click.
The multilingual utility also offers complete removal of marked items.
7-Data Recovery Suite Application
7-Data Recovery Suite It is small in size and multi-functional. With its help, you can return accidentally or intentionally deleted data from flash cards, hard drives, etc.
This is a full-fledged tool that saves you in the most hopeless situations. It works even when the media is damaged or formatted. Suitable for devices running the Android operating system.
The free version offers data recovery up to 1 GB. The main advantage is the ability to view the item before restoring it. Using the utility is easy - it has an intuitive interface.
Wise Data Recovery
Wise Data Recovery- software for recovering lost or deleted files on your computer. Takes up little space on the hard drive, works quickly and efficiently.
The menu offers a choice of media for deep scanning. A detailed search includes key phrases and other important characteristics. Works with videos, music, photos, text files and even email data. mail.
The optimized algorithm ensures fast results. The application determines the status of the files and provides the user with a full report on the work done.
Transcend RecoveRx Program
Transcend Recoverx- excellent software for file recovery. This is an indispensable program for users who are afraid of losing or accidentally deleting an important file from their device.
It supports various types of media, including flash cards, USB, hard drives and many others. Unique technology provides effective search for all important photos, documents, videos and music files.
A distinctive feature is the formatting and creation of data protection for SD cards and CompactFlash. This allows you to maximize the security of confidential information.
R.Saver application
R.Saver- a free utility that helps you quickly find and recover deleted files. Supports FAT and NTFS file systems. Works even with formatted media.
The intuitive interface is inviting. To start scanning you only need to press one button. The user can customize the program. After that, it starts the reconstruction of the damaged file system and restores the data it needs.
An important advantage is portability. No installation required. All work is based on sequential algorithms. The software itself is able to select settings for scanning.
Undelete 360
Undelete 360- reliable photo recovery program. The free utility works stably and quickly. The multilingual interface is simple and user-friendly.
After installation, you can run a system scan and, if the search is successful, begin recovery. Works with almost all media.
The search produces results as a list in which the user can find the required element. For complete comfort, each of them is accompanied by complete information. For a more effective result, it is possible to use the “Filter” option.
After you have recovered all the necessary information, we recommend burning it to disk using free ones.
Flash drives and SD memory cards are capacious, cheap and convenient devices for storing information. The flash drive may contain data of particular importance: confidential information, logins and passwords for accessing wallets and bank accounts. Also, a USB Flash drive is used as a key for access and authorization to operating systems, services, and programs.
As a result of a simple mistake (or simple carelessness), it is easy to lose valuable information on a flash drive. Most often, information loss occurs due to a damaged file structure. In some situations, deletion is truly irreversible, but in other cases, recovery of a flash drive is possible. This is what we will try to do ourselves – programmatically.
This review presents programs that will help with. Each application has strengths and weaknesses, we will definitely list them.
How the programs were tested
To test the programs, we used a 7.29 GB USB flash drive with the FAT32 file system. The following files were copied to it:
We cleared the flash drive of files as it would look in reality. For this we:
- deleted files on a flash drive bypassing the trash (Shift + Del)
- performed a quick format (with the Clear table of contents option).
- a video file of 1.1 GB in size was recorded over the deleted information.
Choosing the best program to recover deleted files
Reconstruction applications are good because they skip service information on the flash drive and access memory directly. As a rule, it is possible to extract, if not all, then at least some data from the device’s memory that will be suitable for further work. As a result of manipulations, using special programs, we will recover the data contained on the flash drive. The important thing is that the flash drive will work absolutely correctly after the data resuscitation procedure.
There are countless programs for recovering files on a flash drive. Many of them are universal: they work with hard drives, system partitions, and are suitable for restoring specific file formats
I suggest you familiarize yourself with programs that work with mobile storage devices - usb flash and sd memory cards.
Unformat - a program for recovering data from a flash drive with many settings
File recovery in Unformat
Scanning deleted partitions on the flash drive took about 20 minutes. Further scanning of the partition after opening the partition takes about the same amount of time. Saving files also takes several minutes.
The Unformat program determines the deleted partitions, the file system type, the quality of the results, the first and last sector of the partition. All information about the process can be tracked through the log.
Files sorted by file type are available in the files detected by signatures section. At the same time, file types may not match extensions and must be changed manually.
As a result, the Unformat program detected all photos in jpg format. After formatting and rewriting, all data was preserved, including exif information. But the file names were deleted. Video and audio files could not be found in Unformat.
In this video I show how to recover information from a flash drive using basic Unformat settings:
CardRecovery is a specialized program for recovering files from a flash drive
The CardRecovery program fits naturally into the review, since the list of supported devices includes USB flash drives and portable drives. It will help you recover files in such deletion scenarios as accidental formatting, damage to the file system of a flash drive, and memory card damage.
In fact, this product has not been updated for a long time; the latest version - 6.10 - was released several years ago. However, CardRecovery works without problems on Windows 10.
Restoring other information from a USB flash drive (archives, documents), unfortunately, is not available. For this reason, the CardRecovery utility will be more useful to owners of photo and video cameras who have lost information on a memory card or flash drive.
The cost of the program is low; a license for 1 user costs $39.95 USD.
Recovering files in CardRecovery
To recover data on a flash drive, we followed these steps:
- Selected the Removable Devices list, as a storage device, usb flash.
- Specified file types for scanning on a flash drive. CardRecovery has limits on file extensions, mainly multimedia file types - photos, audio and video.
The scan results are displayed as “file name - properties”. Exif information can be easily extracted from photos. At one of the steps (Step 3) you can see a preview. In this regard, CardRecovery is perhaps the most convenient program.
The preview is not available for video: you can see it only after purchasing the full version.
CardRecovery recovered all the images on the flash drive, just like Unformat. Many media files were restored in a damaged form with no chance of recovery (apparently, this is information that was contained on the flash drive for a very long time and was overwritten many times).
PhotoRec - recovering photos from a flash drive
Recovering files in PhotoRec
PhotoRec saves the result to the specified folder as it is restored.
The scanning took about 10 minutes: which is quite fast considering that the results are identical to Unformat. The program recovered not only photos, but also videos, and not only those that were deleted from the flash drive after formatting, but also files that were recorded and deleted before the test. Apparently, this place on the flash drive was not overwritten, so the videos, each 1 GB in size, were restored with virtually no damage.
One of the disadvantages is that PhotoRec does not have a save option. All files are saved in a heap in the specified folder, preview is not available. Information about where the files were deleted from is also not available.
Recuva program - free data recovery from a flash drive
Recuva is a universal program; you can use it to recover from USB flash drives, SD cards, hdd and ssd. Its tools are free, and you don't have to buy a license to bypass limits, as with other recovery programs. When restoring the flash drive, at the last stage, the window with the requirement to pay for the full version does not appear.
Recovery from a USB flash drive in Recuva
If the flash drive is in very poor condition, you can create an image and enable signature search. Depending on the degree of damage, files are color coded. Previews are available for media files.
How to recover information on a flash drive in Recuva
- Having connected the flash drive, we opened Recuva Wizard, selected file types and storage media (usb flash drive).
- We also enabled the Deep Scan option to avoid missing damaged or overwritten files.
Overall, the recovery took about 20 minutes. If the USB flash drive is more than 64 GB, be prepared that scanning will take even longer. However, Recuva works faster than other programs, such as Unformat.
Conveniently, Recuva Wizard has a preview, which is especially convenient when working with photos, if you only need specific files
In general, everything is done in a few clicks, but you have to pay for it in that there is no way to select a partition for recovery and there is no sorting by signatures.
File Scavenger – a program for recovering files on a flash drive
The list of problems solved with File Scavenger is impressive:
- Recovering files deleted from a USB flash drive
- Recovering data after accidentally formatting a flash drive
- Fixing a damaged flash drive
- The flash drive is not detected in Disk Management
- The flash drive is "reset" to factory settings
Files can be recovered from hard drives, memory cards, RAID arrays, etc. Recovers data from most file systems (including NTFS, FAT 32/16/12, exFAT, ReFS) and virtual disks (VMFS, VMDK, VHD and VHDX).
The program works without installation (the corresponding option can be selected when starting File Scavenger).
File Scavenger is regularly updated; the latest version of the program for Windows 10 and Server 2012, in 64- and 32-bit editions, is available on the developer’s website.
Please note that in demo mode, File Scavenger allows you to test the functionality; Saving recovered files without purchasing a license is not possible. The cost of File Scavenger Standard Edition is $57.00, Professional Edition is $195.
Recovering files in File Scavenger
To recover files from a flash drive you need:
- Select a USB flash drive from the list of devices,
- Specify scanning mode quick or long
- Press the Scan button.
- At the end of the scan, a table with the data found on the flash drive will be displayed.
- For each file, the status (probability of information recovery), modification date, size and other information useful when recovering from a flash drive are indicated.
File Scavenger also displays the partition, folder where the files were deleted. The Status column does not always display real information. For some files that Recuva identified as recoverable, the information is not available here.
The program has very few scanning settings; the interface is quite inconvenient, although simple. Files can be displayed as a file tree, plus a preview is available. You can select all files or only specified types (files are sorted by signature) and through the Save to tab.
Verdict. USB flash drive recovery programs - which one is better?
The results showed that the programs participating in the review showed approximately the same results. In fact, the likelihood of recovering data on a flash drive largely depends on what actions were performed on the USB drive after deleting the data.
So the main difference between the programs is the cost of the license and the convenience of the interface.
Answers to readers' questions
I have the "auto call recording" feature enabled. When I deleted records selectively yesterday, at some point I clicked “delete all.” But I don’t need everything, there are records that I need. What to do? How to restore them?
Answer. Any of the above file recovery programs (Recuva, Recover My Files, CardRecovery and other utilities) allow you to recover audio recordings, say, on a flash drive. The data may not be recorded on a USB flash drive, it does not matter. Simply specify the source for scanning deleted files, then view the results found and select the files that are most similar to audio recordings (you can tell by the file extension) to return.
Suddenly all the files (photos, music, etc.) appeared on the flash card, but the folders that I created remained. There was no rewriting, no formatting was done. Very strange situation, what could it be? I would like to believe that data recovery from a flash drive is still possible...
Answer. All the programs listed here (CardRecovery, PhotoRec, Recover My Files and Recuva) are equally effective at recovering data from a flash drive. Read the review and choose the utility that will meet your criteria.
You can find out directly how to recover information from a flash drive by selecting the desired section on our website in the main menu. Video instructions are available for some applications.
I deleted the information from the flash drive (the rar archive in the archive contains word, pdf and dwg files) and completely recorded the rar archive with pdf files on top. Is it possible to restore previous information on a flash drive?
Answer. If there was still free space on the flash drive before overwriting, there is a chance to recover the information. In fact, they are always there, but if there was no space and you deleted files precisely for this reason, the likelihood decreases. Any program for recovering deleted files from a flash drive, for example, Undelete 360, Recuva or Unformat, will help you.
Instructions
Video on the topic
note
Picture Doctor is a program for recovering JPEG files. It supports JPEG and Adobe Photoshop ® PSD formats. The program recovers damaged photos and saves them in BMP format. Are your photos damaged? Picture Doctor will help you restore them!
Helpful advice
Art Plus Digital Photo Recovery tool helps you recover lost images, videos and music files from damaged or accidentally formatted digital camera or mobile phone memory cards. It can read all types of memory cards currently available on the market and recover all popular photo, video and audio formats.
Sources:
- restore damaged photo
Probably a lot of people have encountered the fact that for some unknown reason, photographs or pictures stop opening. You cannot view them. The reasons for this disgrace are quite different, but this problem can be solved. To protect yourself from loss of information, you must first follow certain rules.
You will need
- PC, JPGscan program
Instructions
It is not so important for what reason it turned out. The most important thing for us is that in most such cases it is still possible. If they were saved in the JPEG format (and most often they are in this format), then a wonderful one called “JPGscan” will come to your aid.
In the main menu, select “Main”.
Naturally, this method is not the only one, but in many problematic situations it allows you to restore what you thought was lost. If this method does not help you, you can contact the appropriate service center.
Kaspersky PURE offers ample opportunities for the user. In addition to standard (and very high-quality) anti-virus protection, the program has a built-in parental control module, data encryption, a password manager, a data removal wizard and a data recovery module - the so-called backup. But despite all the convenience of using backup, files, restored on one computer will not open on another. This occurs due to inherited file permissions.
You will need
- - computer;
- - administrator rights.
Instructions
To solve this situation, you first need to configure the system settings for files. Find the recovered file that you can't open. Right-click on it and select “Properties” from the drop-down menu. In the properties window, go to the “Security” tab, find the “Continue” button and click on it. The Owner window will open.
At the bottom of the window, find the “Change Owner” section and select a user from the list, click “OK”, and then agree to the system message after reading it. The properties window must be closed by clicking the “Ok” button and launched again. Now we need to add a user.
Go to the "Security" tab and click the "Edit" button. In the window that appears, right-click on the “Add” button. The system will prompt you to select a user or user group. Next, click the “Advanced” button, and in the new user selection window, click the “Search” button. In this intricate way, we finally got to the list of all users of this computer.
Find your user among the search results, select it and click “OK”. Agree again and return to the Security window. Now your name will be among the users. Check the list of permissions below and click OK.
Such difficulties with user access rights arise due to fine-tuning user policies in the Windows 7 operating system. Such a policy allows you to protect personal files user from being deleted or changed by an outsider. In general, we can say that this operation, when performed sequentially, will not take much time and effort.
In most cases, data accidentally deleted from a flash card can be restored. In order to effectively recover lost files, you must follow a number of rules and use specialized software.
Instructions
Video on the topic
Tip 12: How to recover files from a formatted flash drive
There are times when we accidentally delete necessary information or format the wrong disk or flash drive. There are ways to recover the necessary data that you can use.
You will need
- - computer with Internet access;
- - data recovery program.
Instructions
Download the installation file for Recover My Files 4.9.2.1240. The program has the function of recovering data from local drives after formatting. Run the installation file. Follow all instructions of the program, then run the program to restore files, deleted from storage media. Two options will be available in the program window: “Restore files" and "Repair disk".
Select the disk recovery option and click Next. The next window will display a list of your computer's disks, both local and removable. Select the desired drive, for example a memory card, click the “Next” button. In the next window, you can select either automatic data recovery from flash drives, or recovery of files of a certain format. If, for example, there were only documents in .doc format, and these are the ones you want to recover, select the second option. If there are many files and they are all in different formats, select the first option. After that, click "Start". Or “Next” and select the desired file type.
Wait for the scanning process to complete. A status bar is displayed at the top of the program window, with a “Cancel” button to the right of it. Select the disk recovery option and click Next. The next window will display a list of your computer's disks, both local and removable. Select the desired drive, for example, click the “Next” button. In the next window, you can choose either automatic data recovery from a memory card or recovery of files of a specific format. If, for example, there were only documents in .doc format, and these are the ones you want to recover, select the second option. If there are many files and they are all in different formats, select the first option. After that, click "Start". Or “Next” and select the desired file type. After the scan is completed, a list of files available for recovery will appear on the screen. Select the ones you need and click the “Restore” button on the toolbar.
Tip 13: How to recover data on a flash drive after formatting
It often happens that data is deleted from flash drives accidentally due to carelessness. But there are programs that can retrieve deleted files even after formatting the media.
You will need
- - Computer;
- - Hetman Uneraser program.
Instructions
Download the Hetman Uneraser program to your computer, to do this, follow the link http://hetmanrecovery.com/ru/download.htm. Wait until the download is complete, install the program to recover information from media after formatting. The program is capable of recovering data in the following formats: digital photos (JPEG, CR2, RAW), documents created in Microsoft Office programs, archives, and audio files.
Launch the program, run the File Recovery Wizard. A window will appear in which you must select the disk from which you want to restore information after deletion. The program will perform a “deep analysis” function and scan the disk to determine the types of files deleted during the formatting process from FAT or NTFS partitions. The program supports data recovery from disks with FAT, NTFS partitions, as well as from compressed NTFS partitions. Select the drive, click Next.
View the list of files and folders available for recovery. To recover files after formatting, highlight and click Recover. Use filtering to see only deleted files, you can also search by recovered files by size, type, name, file date.
In the recovery wizard, select file search criteria and click Next. In the next window, specify the required file types to recover. You can select the “All files” option, or the “Filter by mask” option (if you know the file name), or select the file types to recover (for example, databases and images).
note
Don't know how to recover a flash drive, hard drive or memory card? Looking for how to recover deleted data from a FAT or NTFS logical partition? Do you want to recover files while completely preserving the logical structure of the disk? Do you need to completely restore a disk partition after formatting?
Helpful advice
The R-Studio program is perfect for recovering data from a flash drive - DOWNLOAD. After launching the program, we immediately see a list of your storage devices. Recovering data from a flash drive. And finally, here are the deleted files that the program was able to find on the flash drive. The found data will be presented in folders by file type, you will only have to select the desired file, deleted during formatting, or restore everything at once.
During the process of copying or transferring files from one medium to another, images may be damaged. It is much easier to lose files than to recover them later. This is especially true for the .jpg format. However, there are utilities that will help you recover damaged or lost pictures and photos in just a few clicks.
You will need
- - Hex Workshop;
- - Handy Recovery;
- - JPGScan;
- - JPEG Shop;
Instructions
To restore pictures, the best way to start is to write the card image to your hard drive and work directly with it. To do this, you can use the HexWorkshop utility (menu “Disk” - “Open Drive” - “Physical Disks” and then “Disk” - “Save Sector Range” - “Entire Disk”).
To recover deleted files, install any specialized utility that has a function for working with images. Handy Recovery or PhotoRescue are good options. In the settings of the installed application, simply specify the path to the image or removable disk and click the “Start” button. After some time, the program will display all the files that were recovered.
If the jpeg is partially displayed, then you first need to assess the level of damage of the file and its suitability for recovery. To do this, you can use the JPGScan program. Install the application, launch it, go to the “Main” - “Scan file for JPEG” tab and specify the path to the affected file. At the end of the test, a graphical and textual assessment of suitability will appear, from which it will be possible to draw a conclusion about the possibility of restoration. For a normal JPEG image, the graph looks like a pattern of green dots with a small number of pixels of a different color.
JpegSnoop is a good tool for viewing damaged files. To recover minor damage, use the JPEG Recovery utility. If the image is badly damaged, you can try the JPEG Ripper utility.
note
All of the above programs have an intuitive interface. In most applications, you just need to specify the path to the damaged image; the utility does the rest of the work itself.
Helpful advice
Sources:
- recovery of damaged jpg
Surely everyone has at least once encountered the inaccessibility of files on a flash drive. There can be many reasons for this (incorrect extraction, physical damage, accidentally removed files), but there is still hope to restore the treasured data.
You will need
- One or more programs: Recovery Toolbox for Flash, SuperCopy, Recuva, PC Inspector File Recovery, Undelete Plus, Unstoppable Copier.
Instructions
First of all, don't make unnecessary movements. The fewer manipulations with files you have done after damage or damage, the easier it will be and the more likely it is. Do not format it, and if you have formatted it, do not write new data to it. Recovering deleted data is easier than recovering deleted data after formatting.
If you did not delete the data, but access to it is prohibited, and a system error warning appears, then try restarting the computer (sometimes it even helps). When that doesn't work, remove it the correct way and reinsert it.
If this does not help, then you need to perform a “removable disk check”. To do this, in the “My Computer” window, right-click on the icon and select “Properties”. In the window that appears, select the “Service” tab and click on “Run check”. Check the boxes “Automatically correct system errors”, “Scan and repair bad sectors” and run the scan.
If access to files is still denied, then you need to resort to the help of specialized programs. Also, such programs can (not always) restore deleted data manually and after formatting files. Most of these programs are easy to use and intuitive. The likelihood of recovering lost files depends on many factors, but the chance is decent. One minus is that the vast majority of such software products are paid or shareware, but almost all give the opportunity to try them on several files.
Download and use one of the following programs:
- Recovery Toolbox for Flash;
- SuperCopy (free);
- Recuva;
- PC Inspector File Recovery (free);
- Undelete Plus;
- Unstoppable Copier.
There is a possibility that where one utility failed, another will help. If lost or damaged data was dear to you, then don’t be lazy and try several recovery programs.
note
How to recover damaged files? Do you need a program to recover damaged files? Looking for how to recover damaged files? Are your files not opening or opening with an error after a virus attack, program or computer failure, or unsuccessful data recovery? Don't know how to fix an internal file structure error?
Helpful advice
DiskInternals Uneraser - recovers any deleted files, including documents, photos, mp3 and zip files. DiskInternals Flash Recovery - Recovers all damaged and deleted photos from memory cards and hard drives. The probability of its performance in case of minor damage remains quite high. In addition, in the latest versions of Skopin FileCopier it has become possible to replace the faulty parts of the file with data from a special image file created by the FileCOMPILER program from...
Sources:
- flash drive damaged
Tip 16: How to recover data from a formatted flash drive
Instructions
For formatted data, you will need one of the specialized applications. Examples include R.saver, Recuva, UFS Explorer, etc. Connect to your computer and launch one of the selected applications to recover information.
After starting, wait until the automatic scanning process completes. After it, the program interface will present a list of found partitions and devices connected to the computer. Select the flash drive from which you want to recover information.
Optionally, configure data recovery settings. You can specify the file system type, encoding, scanning area of the flash drive memory to recover data, and algorithm. You can also leave all settings as default.
After this, start scanning the selected device. The duration of the scan is affected by such characteristics as the data transfer speed of the interface through which the device is connected and the size of the flash drive itself. The larger it is, the more time it takes. The result of the scan will be the display in the program interface of the found folders and files that were deleted from the device.
Carefully study the information provided and determine which data requires recovery. Select the ones you want to restore. After that, on the program toolbar, click the button responsible for starting the recovery process. In the window that appears, specify the location on your computer’s hard drive where the restored files will be written. It will not be possible to select to save. Confirm the start of the recovery procedure and wait until all the necessary files are restored.
If using the application does not bring the expected results, use another data recovery program.
Video on the topic
Sources:
- how to return formatted data to a flash drive
Due to failures, which can be caused by various reasons, information on flash cards may be lost. You shouldn’t give up on it right away. There are several ways to recover lost data.
Instructions
Find the File Explorer app. Select your flash drive from the list of devices. Right-click on it. In the context menu that appears, select “Format”. Select a quick formatting method, then click OK.
Install a program on your personal computer that will help you recover flash card data. Download the Easy Recovery Professional program from the Internet. She is available. You can download it on the official developer’s website or on any other portal.
After the program is installed, run it. Go to the "Data Recovery" section. Find Format Recovery. Once you activate it, a system scan will automatically start. You will then be warned that the recovered files should be saved to another drive. Agree with this statement by clicking OK.
Select the flash drive in the list of media in the program interface. Then click the "Next" button. The flash card will begin scanning, as a result of which all data that has been recently deleted or erased for some reason will be detected. To recover files from a flash card, select them from the list provided. You can restore them all, although it is better to restore them selectively.
Click "Next". Then select a folder on your personal computer where you would like to save the recovered files. Then click the "Next" button. The file recovery process will begin. When it ends, all recovered information will be saved in the folder you specified.
Video on the topic
Sources:
- data recovery from flash
Tip 18: How to recover files after formatting a flash drive
If you accidentally formatted an external USB drive, then try to return important to you files. For such cases, special programs have been developed that carry out the process of searching for deleted data.
You will need
- - Easy Recovery.
Instructions
Please note that under no circumstances should you write any information to this USB drive. The more intensively you use after formatting, the less chance you have of restoring the necessary files. Download and install the Easy Recovery application. For this purpose, use the system partition of the hard drive.
Connect the formatted USB drive to the appropriate port on your computer or . Launch the Easy Recovery program. In the quick launch menu, select Data Recovery. In the window that opens, select the Format Recovery menu. In the left window of the program, select the desired USB drive. Be sure to specify the previous file system type of this . Click Next.
Wait a while while the utility collects information about files previously stored on this USB drive. This process can take quite a long time. Much depends on the performance of your computer and the speed of the flash drive you are using. Wait for the new menu to appear.
Now check the boxes files that need to be restored. If you want to return all available information, then simply select the topmost folder in the left menu. Click Next. Specify the hard drive partition and folder into which deleted files will be restored files. Click Next again and wait for the information recovery process to complete.
If you need to restore documents of a certain type, then in the Quick Launch panel, select the File Repair menu. Select the document type from the menu that opens. These can be text documents, tables, and documents created using programs included with Microsoft Office. Follow a similar algorithm to find and recover lost data.
note
Recovering data after formatting a hard drive. If data is lost, many people want to perform hdd recovery or flash drive recovery. To learn how to convert the file system of a flash drive from FAT to NTFS, read the article - how to format a flash drive to NTFS. Later I will write an article about how to recover deleted files using a powerful free program. so as not to miss.
Helpful advice
The R-Studio program is perfect for recovering data from a flash drive - DOWNLOAD. After launching the program, we immediately see a list of your storage devices. Select your flash drive and click on the “scan” button to start searching for lost files. Recovering data from a flash drive. And finally, here are the deleted files that the program was able to find on the flash drive. The found data will be presented in folders by file type, you will only have to select the desired file, deleted during formatting or...
Sources:
- recover flash drive after formatting
Tip 19: How to recover deleted information from a flash drive
A flash drive is a storage medium that uses flash memory to store data and is connected via a USB connector on a computer. Modern models are very reliable, but there is something from which no owner is immune flash drives: from accidentally deleting information from it. Even if it was formatted.
You will need
- - Computer;
- - flash drive;
- - TuneUp Utilities utility.
Instructions
After the information has been deleted from flash drives, it is important not to write anything on it. This will significantly increase the chances of successful data recovery. But even if you managed to write something down, the chances of a successful outcome are quite high.
Insert the flash drive from which information will be restored into the computer. Launch the program. After the first launch, it will begin testing your computer. Wait a few minutes for the testing process to finish. After this, you will find yourself in the main menu of the program. Go to the "Troubleshooting" tab. In the window that opens, select “Recover deleted files.”
Now in the next window, check the box next to your flash drive and if the hard drive partitions are checked, uncheck them. This localizes the program's work exclusively to your flash drive. After that, proceed further. If you are looking for a specific file, then in the “File Criteria” line, enter its name, or an approximate one. You can also enter the file extension. If you need to restore information in general, then leave the “Search Criteria” line empty. Click Next.
After this, the file recovery process will begin. At the end of it, a window will appear with a list of files that can be restored. Select the ones you need, then click “Recovery” at the bottom of the window. Next, select “Restore to a specified folder.” Specify a recovery location. This can be a flash drive itself or any other folder on the computer’s hard drive. Then click OK and the files will be restored.
Video on the topic
Sources:
- recover deleted information on a flash drive
Hard drives are quite reliable storage of information. Files deleted from these media can be recovered quite well. Naturally, for the successful implementation of this process it is necessary to use special software.
Perform color correction of the image. To do this, open the menu “Images”, “Adjustments”, “Curves”. In the window that opens, click on the white eyedropper, which is located on the left, and in the photo itself, find the lightest area and point to it. In the same way, click on the black eyedropper and select the darkest area. If necessary, select an area with medium brightness for the gray pipette. Thanks to this function, the yellow photo will become bright and contrasting.
Next, start restoring damaged areas, scratches, dark and light spots, etc. There are many ways to do this, but you can use the following: enter the “Quick Mask” mode (the lowest button at the bottom), select the “brush” tool (preferably with a low hardness level, fluffy) and select a part of the face of a suitable color in the photo, which is not damaged. It will turn red.
Exit Quick Mask mode, right-click on the image and select Invert Selection from the menu. Copy the resulting image and paste it onto a new layer located above the photo (you can just press Ctrl+V, the layer will appear automatically). Then move the spot onto the damaged area. You will see how it closed. If necessary, erase the excess with a low-hardness eraser.
If, for example, one corner of the mouth is damaged in the photo, but the other is fine, select the entire part using the described method or with a regular cursor. After copying it to a new layer, select “Edit”, “Transform”, “Flip Horizontal” from the menu. Also try changing the angle by selecting Rotate.
Specify the formatted partition in the following EasyRecovery Professional dialog box and specify the file system used in the drop-down directory. Save your changes by clicking the “Next” button and wait until the search for the required files is completed again.
Select the files to be restored in the list of the next program dialog box and confirm your choice by clicking the “Next” button. Use the “Browse” button to specify the location to save the recovered files and confirm the selected action by clicking the “Next” button. Wait for the recovery process to complete and click the “Finish” button in the final application window. Save your changes by clicking “Yes” in the system prompt window and exit the program. Make sure that all relevant data is displayed correctly.
Recuva will help out in trouble
The Recuva utility will help you cope with the problem of recovering deleted data. Small, about 4 MB in size, it has high performance. Plus, it's quite easy to use. Therefore, installing it on your computer will not hurt anyone.
You can find the program on the Internet, on sites with software. Download the application and install it on your computer. To do this, run the installation file. In the window that opens, select the interface language – Russian. Click Next. After this, the interface will be updated to Russian, and you can continue with the installation. To do this, click the “Next” button and in the new window that opens, check the basic program settings box. You can create a shortcut on your desktop, create shortcuts in the Start menu, add search for deleted files to the Explorer menu, add search for deleted files to the Recycle Bin menu, and automatically check for program updates. By default, the program already has all these parameters set, but you can change them, although it is best to leave everything as is. In this case, searching for deleted files will be most effective. After all, you can use this program to recover files deleted from your computer.
In the additional settings menu, you can set a restriction on the use of the program: only for yourself or for everyone who has access to this computer.
After that, click “Next” and specify the location to save the program. The program will be automatically downloaded to your hard drive in the folder with program files, but if you wish, you can change its location using the “Browse” button. After this, follow the program prompts, click the “Install” button and wait for a new window to appear – “Complete the installation wizard”. In it, check (or uncheck) the items “Launch Recuva” and “Program information” and click the “finish” button. Now you can use the program and recover deleted files.
Recuva searches for files
To recover information deleted from a flash drive, run the Recuva program and click the “Next” button. After that, in a new window, select the type of files that you need to find on removable media: all files, pictures, music, documents, videos, compressed, email.
Then in the next window, specify the location of the deleted files; in this case, you will need to select the “In a specified location” option and specify a specific removable media (flash drive). After that, click the “Next” button and in the next window, check the box next to “Enable in-depth analysis” and click “Start” to start the process of searching for deleted information.
After this, the program will analyze and identify the files that it was able to find. Mark the files you need (you can select all documents at once) and click the “Recover” button in the lower right corner. Then specify the hard drive where you want to save the recovered information. Wait for the process to complete and view the result. Rest assured: most of the information will be recovered.
Please note that saving files to the same drive that was searched may reduce the success of file recovery. Therefore, you need to save the information found to another hard drive or removable storage device.
Photo will be saved by Recuva
Among the most popular programs for recovering deleted JPG files, a special place is occupied by the Recuva program, small in weight (about 4 MB), but very productive. She can return most of the files erased during cleaning of the computer folders or accidentally formatting the disk. It is easy to use, has a pleasant and understandable interface, including in the language, so it will not be difficult for even a beginner to master it.
Install the program on your computer, launch the application, click “Next” and in the next window, specify the type of files you want to recover. To search for photos, select “Pictures”, then mark the location of the deleted files: it is not known exactly, on a memory card, in the “My Documents” folder, in the trash or in a specified location (here you need to select the exact folder or flash drive). Then click “Next” again, then in the new window, check the box next to “Enable in-depth analysis” and click the “Start” button to start the process. The probability of recovering jpg files using Recuva is approximately 85-. Keep in mind that the easiest way is to find and recover recently deleted images.
It is best to save recovered files to a different drive than the one where the search was performed.
Choose the best
In addition to Recuva, users also use other programs designed to recover deleted files.
For example, the JPEG Ripper application can restore even images that, after processing with special programs, open only as a small picture or are not viewable at all. It should be noted that the program is very simple, small and at the same time functional and very productive. The advantage of the application is that it can “pull out” all the pictures stored in the computer’s memory.
It also wouldn’t hurt to get acquainted with the GetDataBack and Quadro Uneraser programs. Like their “brothers,” these applications successfully cope with the task of restoring damaged and lost images.
The Recover My Files program is a real salvation for those who want to recover graphics, music files, videos, emails, and documents. No matter where the deleted files were and how they got lost, Recover My Files can find them. Most importantly, the software detects and “repairs” even long-lost files.
If something unpleasant happened - and very important folders, files and documents were erased from the flash drive, then this is not a reason to panic. Nothing bad happened, because it is always possible to recover deleted information.
But if previously all the accumulated information could, for example, burn out, now information can be lost even faster - due to a virus attack, computer failure or careless formatting of hard drives. However, if after a fire it will be problematic to restore data, then solving the problem of deleting electronic files is much easier.
Wherever this information is stored - on a computer hard drive, on a flash drive or on a phone memory card - you can always restore lost data.
Data recovery methods
So, how to recover data from a flash drive? First of all, it’s not necessary - after that it will be more difficult to recover the data. If the flash drive has been formatted, do not write any new data. This will also complicate the process of information recovery.
Usually, when you try to connect a flash drive to a computer, system errors occur when reading the device. If you go to the properties of the removable disk through the “My Computer” shortcut, you will notice that the capacity of the flash drive and the file system are determined incorrectly (usually it shows that 0 bytes are occupied, and 0 bytes are also free).
To restore information on a flash drive, first of all, you need to restart your computer. This won't make it any worse, but sometimes this method can help. If the flash drive is still unreadable, then you need to disconnect the flash drive via “safely remove device” and then connect it again (to remove it correctly, you need to click on the flash drive shortcut in the tray, which is near the clock, and select “Eject device”) .
If this does not help, you need to check the removable media. To do this, open “My Computer”, call up the context menu on the flash drive icon, and select “Properties”. Then in the window that appears, you need to select the “Service” tab and click the “Run check” button. In the new window that opens, both checkboxes should be selected.
If it still doesn’t help, then there are only two options left. The first is the use of special programs for data recovery. But each program works differently, and sometimes it will be able to recover data, and sometimes it will not. You need to try several programs to recover information.
And finally, the last way is to take the flash drive to a service center, where specialists will do their job and restore all lost information. And to prevent this from happening again, you need to make backup copies more often to your work computer, and use the flash drive only as temporary removable storage (which is what it was created for).
If you accidentally quickly formatted a partition of your hard drive or flash drive, then it’s okay: the information can be restored using special programs. Deleted data will be returned with a 99% probability if you choose the right utility and do everything according to the instructions.
Recovery rules
For data recovery to be successful, you must comply with the main requirement - do not write new information to the media from which files have been deleted. Deleted data is not destroyed without a trace - only information about it in the file table is overwritten.
Important: Do not save recovered data on a disk from which it was previously deleted. Use a removable disk or another hard drive partition.
Formatted data can be restored only if quick formatting (by headers) was used. After deep marking, it is almost impossible to return information at home.
Using Recuva
First, try recovering files after formatting your system using the free Recuva program. As tests show, this utility returns more than 80% of files after formatting the system or removable drive.
A list of files found after formatting the system will appear. Deleted data, which is marked with a green circle, can be restored without problems - they are fully functional. If the file is marked yellow or red, then it will not be possible to return it: when formatting the system, the data was damaged.
Other free programs
Recuva does not find all erased data, so sometimes it becomes necessary to use other programs. So that you do not get confused among the variety of software, the description of which states that it returns deleted information after formatting the system, we will highlight two proven utilities - MiniTool Power Data Recovery and /TestDisk.
The first program is shareware - you can save no more than 1024 MB at a time. If the deleted data takes up a smaller volume, then there will be no problems with returning it. The second utility is completely free and recovers any amount of information.
Working with MiniTool Power Data Recovery:
If the capabilities of MiniTool Power Data Recovery are not enough for you, use the PhotoRec/TestDisk utility, with which you can recover files in almost any situation: after partitioning, in case of a file system failure, etc. There is one procedure for all problems:
- Launch the program and select the disk you will work with.
- Specify a formatted partition or removable drive. Click "Search".
- Select the "Other" file system.
- Start scanning mode "Free".
- Use the arrows to select the folder where you want to restore the files and press "C".
The data will be saved to the directory you specified. The files may change name, but there should be no problems running them.
A USB flash drive is not the most suitable device for permanently storing files, but anything can happen in life. And situations when valuable data located only on it were accidentally erased happen regularly. However, in about half of the cases, grief can be helped by recovering deleted files from a flash drive. Under what circumstances is this possible and how to do it, read on.
I won’t get my hopes up in vain: the chances of successful data recovery from USB flash drives are lower than from stationary drives - hard drives of PCs and laptops and permanent memory of mobile devices. The reason is that flash drives are usually used to transfer files from one device to another. And accidentally deleted data most often ends up being simply overwritten, sometimes even more than once. And overwriting, unfortunately, destroys the information irrevocably.
Full or partial file recovery on your own is possible in the following cases:
- The user deleted them manually.
- The drive was formatted using the operating system.
- The files became inaccessible after a virus attack.
- The files disappeared after the flash drive was divided into partitions.
- A logical failure of the file system has occurred: it has become defined as RAW - unknown, or Windows and programs consider the entire space of the device to be unallocated.
The chances of recovery are extremely low or zero if:
- The flash drive is physically faulty - it is not detected by the computer at all or is recognized as an unknown device, access to its memory is either completely absent, or the size of the latter is several KB instead of tens of GB. The exception is relatively simple breakdowns that do not affect the controller and device memory.
- The files were deleted using a shredder program.
- The flash drive was low-level formatted (essentially repartitioned and rewritten) or reflashed (the controller microcode was rewritten).
- The files are encrypted, but there is no decryption key. It may be the result of an attack by a ransomware virus or user actions (encrypted, but lost the key). In the first case, it is sometimes possible to recover files if you have a suitable decryptor.
In case of physical and complex logical faults, data recovery from flash drives is sometimes possible, but often costs the owner very much - up to several tens of thousands of rubles (not even the result, but the attempt at recovery, can cost that much). Therefore, in such situations, many people prefer to say goodbye to files forever.
How to increase your likelihood of success
Even if your case falls into the simple category, in order to increase the chances of a successful recovery, adhere to the following rules:
- The fewer operations were performed on the drive's file system, the better the result. Therefore, start recovery immediately as soon as you notice missing files.
- Save the recovered data only to another physical medium (computer hard drive, second flash drive, etc.).
- Try to restore everything in one session. Don't interrupt unless absolutely necessary.
- If one recovery program does not help, use others. Sometimes simple free utilities are more effective than expensive paid ones. It is impossible to know in advance what will help in your case, so try everything that is available.
- If the recovery program is capable of creating and saving images of drive file systems, be sure to use this feature. In case of unexpected failure of the flash drive or accidental overwriting before the end of reading, you can restore the data from the image.
7 best programs for data recovery from flash drives
You may already be familiar with some of the storage device data recovery programs. Our site talked about them in an article about. Today our collection will be replenished with seven more applications of the same purpose. Maybe one of them will be life-saving for you.
R.saver
Wise Data Recovery
Wise Data Recovery is another worthy tool for recovering information from desktop and portable drives. Available only in Windows version. Like its predecessors, it works without installation on a hard drive. It has a high scanning speed and displays the possibility of restoring each found object.
If next to the file there is:
- Red circle—data has been completely overwritten and cannot be restored.
- Yellow circle—overwriting is partial, success is not guaranteed.
- Green circle—the file has not been overwritten and is recoverable.
When you click on “green” files, if it is a picture or document, the program shows their thumbnails (if saved). It also has a function to search for certain types of data using keywords: pictures (imagies), audio (audios), videos (videos), documents (documents), archives (compressed files) and mail (emails).
Wise Data Recovery is a completely free application and, by the way, supports the Russian language.
How to use Wise Data Recovery:
- Unpack the archive with the program to any folder and run the executable file WiseDataRecovery.exe.
- Select the desired media from the list and click “Scan”.
- Select the files you want to recover from the list. Click the "Recover" button.
- Specify the location to save the files on your hard drive.
Disk Drill
The Disk Drill utility, well known to many Mac OS X users, appeared in the Windows version some time ago. More precisely, in two: free - free, and paid - pro. The free one allows you to recover up to 1 GB of information, the paid one - without restrictions.
Unlike the three previous applications, Disk Drill requires mandatory installation on the computer (for which it receives a minus, since this simple operation can lead to overwriting the data that the user was just about to restore). But it has a number of benefits that others do not have.
With constant use, Disk Drill keeps track of deleted files and also creates backup copies of them, which increases the chances of their recovery even after a while. In addition, it supports any type of storage device and almost all file systems (it knows more than 300 unique file signatures).
Disk Drill does not have a Russian localization, but it is quite easy to use.
How to recover deleted files using Disk Drill:
- Install the application on your PC and run it with administrator rights.
- Select a USB flash drive with deleted data from the list of media.
- Open the drop-down list next to the Recover button, which is located opposite the flash drive, and click the desired scan type: “Run all recovery methods” (use all search and recovery methods), “Quick scan” (quick scan), “Deep scan” (deep scan) ) or “Load last scanning session” (load the result of the last scan). Click the "Recover" button (or "Continue" if you have already started working with the media).
- In the next window that opens after scanning, select the desired files from the list, specify the location to save them and click “Recover” again.
RS File Recovery
RS File Recovery is a paid Russian-language application. In addition to the main thing - restoring information from physical drives, it is able to save and subsequently work with their images. After creating the image, the physical device with the data can be disconnected, since the program has already “remembered” all its contents. In addition, the application has a built-in HEX editor for manual byte-by-byte correction of files, as well as an FTP client for uploading the recovered file to network resources.
After analyzing the storage device, RS File Recovery displays information about the data on it - when it was created, when it was changed, and whether it can be restored. This information appears in the bottom pane of the window.
Unfortunately, in the free demo version of the utility, the recovery function does not work, only viewing is available. The cost of a license starts from 999 rubles.
Like Disk Drill, RS File Recovery requires installation on your computer.
How to use RS File Recovery:
- Launch the application. Select a flash drive from the list of media by simply clicking on it. All its contents, including deleted files, will be displayed in the middle part of the window.
- Click on the item you want to restore. Information about it, including the forecast, will be shown in the panel below.
- Drag the required files to the recovery list on the right side of the window and click the “Recover” button.
- Select the saving method: to hard drive, to CD/DVD, to the Internet via FTP, or to convert to a virtual ISO image.
- Specify the destination folder on your hard drive. When choosing other saving methods, follow the assistant's instructions.
Ontrack EasyRecovery
Ontrack EasyRecovery is one of the most functional and effective data recovery programs, the main competitor of industry leader R-Studio. It successfully extracts data even from heavily damaged media, supports all types of file systems and more than 250 file formats, creates virtual images of physical storage devices, can boot from DVDs and USB flash drives, and also has a lot of other useful features.
EasyRecovery is available in several paid editions with different sets of functions. The most inexpensive is home-based, which will cost the user $79 per year. Professional, enterprise and specialized (for servers) cost from $299 to $3000 for an annual license.
Despite the enormous possibilities, even a novice user can use this program, since each stage of the work is accompanied by a built-in assistant. It is also impossible to make a mistake because it is completely translated into Russian.
How to use Ontrack EasyRecovery:
- Launch the application (it is available in installation, portable and, as already mentioned, boot versions). Specify the type of media on which the deleted data is located.
- Select the volume to scan (if it is a flash drive, then, as a rule, there is only one volume on it).
- Select a recovery scenario. Restoring objects after deletion and formatting are different scenarios. First, try using the first one - it works faster, and if that doesn’t help, try the second one.
- If the data was affected by a logical failure, identify one or more types of file systems that may be on the media.
- Check again that the conditions are correct and confirm your selection. After this, the program will begin scanning the flash drive.
- After scanning is complete, select the desired objects in the list (to select several, press and hold the Ctrl key). Click the “Save” button in the top panel of the main window and specify the destination folder on your hard drive.
To create an image of a storage device and work with it in the future, after starting the program, select the device in the list of media, open the “File” menu and click “Create image file”.
Active UNDELETE
Active UNDELETE is another paid utility that successfully copes with the recovery of individual deleted objects and entire disk partitions. Supports all types of media, all file systems and over 200 different file formats. In addition to the main tasks, it allows you to solve related problems - correct errors in partition tables and boot records, create, format and delete disk volumes, etc. Like the majority of paid analogues, Active UNDELETE supports the creation of virtual images of drives.
The demo version of the program, available for free download, has a full range of functions, but does not allow you to recover files larger than 1 Mb.
The Active UNDELETE interface is exclusively in English, but the utility is easy to use, since each action is accompanied by a wizard.
Unfortunately, it does not have a portable version. Installation only.
How to work with Active UNDELETE:
- Launch the program. Click “Recover deleted files” in the first window that opens. This will launch the recovery wizard.
- The first window of the wizard is a brief summary of how the program works in English. To proceed to the next step, click “Next”.
- Next, select one or more devices on which the desired files are located. Click "Next" and in the next window - "Scan".
- After scanning, mark the items you want to recover and proceed to the next step.
- Set the saving options - folder, file names, renaming in case of matches, etc. You can leave everything as default.
- The last step is the actual recovery. To launch it, click the “Recover files and folders” button.
If you want to create a virtual image of a flash drive, open the “Disk image management” section in the main window and run the “Create disk image” wizard.
