Best Data Recovery Software

[Xancholy]

Can anyone recommend the best data recovery software you have used ?

I am running WinXP Pro and had an NTFS disk crash. It is not booting up but disks are spinning.

Appreciate any help.

[Negative0]

Could it be that the boot sector just got corrupted and all your data is still there?

Have you tried popping that drive into another machine to see if your data is there?

[Xancholy]

The drive does not mount. But running demo version of FileScavenger I can see the files.

I am looking for the retrieval software that will reliably retrieve most of my files.

Any suggestions ?

[visualAd]

You do not have to pay for such functionality you know. Many live Linux distributions including Knoppix and Suse include a utility called ntfsundelete. The best one for data recovery is Helix which is designed for forensic data recovery (which is centred around data preservation); i.e. it mounts all disks readonly on boot.

ntfsundelete also comes as a Windows executable and ISO image, but I have not tested these. All are open source.

http://ntfsundelete.com/

Linux is a little more forgiving than Windows and you may actually find that Linux can successfully mount your Windows NTFS partition and allow you to copy the files to another disk or recover the boot record.

The most important thing to keep in mind is that if you suspect that files can be recovered, do not under any circumstance mount the partition as read / write or attempt to boot it from Windows without first backing it up. When windows boots for example, hundreds of temporary files are created, written to and deleted; this activity can overwrite an y file fragments left on your partition that may have otherwise been recoverable.

As with any form of data recovery or repair, ensure that if you intend to write to the partition or disk that you have backed up the data first. If you cannot mount the partition you can back it up in Linux using dd:

#dd if=/dev/sda2 of=/mnt/destination/sda2.backup bs=1024

[dw85745]

I've been dealing with a similiar problem. (see recent threads under my logon this forum).

First thing I'd do is run WD DataLifeguard tools and do an extended test on drive to see if OK. If Maxtor or some other drive, most have comparable tools to test drive. Like myself, you may find drive OK and other related problem that points to drive.

If drive, then I'd try Ultimate Boot Disk (boots from DOS) and then get TestDisk (opensource) which can examine and repair an NTFS partition.

Regarding opensource. I've been trying to go this direction but so far not a fan. Recently loaded in VLC Media player for Windows and appeared to conflict with Windows Media Player and $#%@* my folder references. So with opensource -- caveat emptor!

[visualAd]

Regarding opensource. I've been trying to go this direction but so far not a fan. Recently loaded in VLC Media player for Windows and appeared to conflict with Windows Media Player and $#%@* my folder references. So with opensource -- caveat emptor!

The tools cited above have been tested and used in industry and are stable. The tools contained on the Helix live distribution have been used by forensic technologists the world over to assist in the secure collection and recovery of digital evidence for possible presentation in a court of law.

Care should be taken when using any type of software; weather it be open source or closed source. I am quite sure that ntfsundelete would be unable to do any damage to a partition mounted read-only; not least your music folder. There are many examples of both open and closed source software that suffer from being poorly written and inadequately tested; and those who entrust their precious data to such tools and come off worst often blame anything or anyone but their own failings (i.e: keeping backups and testing first).

With just a little knowledge of the file system structure it is possible to recover files direct from a disk using the windows command prompt and a hex viewer / extraction tool. The software tools that allow one to recover these files make the process somewhat easier. Indeed it would be easy to download, install and pay for a popular data recovery tool to get the job done, but there are other ways which don't require parting with your hard earned cash.

[Xancholy]

The most important thing to keep in mind is that if you suspect that files can be recovered, do not under any circumstance mount the partition as read / write or attempt to boot it from Windows without first backing it up. When windows boots for example, hundreds of temporary files are created, written to and deleted; this activity can overwrite an y file fragments left on your partition that may have otherwise been recoverable.

As with any form of data recovery or repair, ensure that if you intend to write to the partition or disk that you have backed up the data first. If you cannot mount the partition you can back it up in Linux using dd:

#dd if=/dev/sda2 of=/mnt/destination/sda2.backup bs=1024

This post has been a revelation of sorts. Thanks.

I am downloading helix for Win. Does it allow booting an unmountable drive as read-only ?

Also which version of Linux can I use as a dual boot option for my WinXP PC ?

[visualAd]

If a partition cannot be mounted due to corruption then it is likely that Linux won't mount it either. Often fatal errors which stop your machine booting are due to corrupt or missing files or a configuration / driver error. If this is the case then the filesystem is usually fine and can be mounted and accessed on a separate system. If the file system is corrupt, in Linux you can just grab the data off the disk by using dd.

Any operating system can potentially be dual boot with Windows. The easiest way of doing it is installing one of the well known distribution such as Fredora, Suse or Ubuntu. It will automatically rewrite your MBR and give you the boot menu when you next start the machine.

[furlkim]

you can try stellar phoenix windows data recovery software. I had lost all of my files due to power fluctuation few days ago then one of my friend suggest me this software it recover all of my deleted files.Thanks to stellar..

Regards,

[vbcode1980]

Can anyone recommend the best data recovery software you have used ?

I am running WinXP Pro and had an NTFS disk crash. It is not booting up but disks are spinning.

Appreciate any help.

Have you tried restoring the Master Boot Record, using the Windows XP installation cd? There's a recovery mode that can fix the boot record.