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| Guest | 17 file recovery apps tested in x86 Vista on a nuked SD card Dear Forum, I am reposting these test results under a much clearer thread title, so that people who come trawling the search results with a file recovery need will spot this info more readily. The original problem was here: http://www.microsoft.com/communities...8-ec15029e9f3d As promised, I am writing back with test results from a comprehensive survey of file / disk recovery software. I'm sure there are other programs about, so if anyone wants to send me a link to another program in the next day or two before I fully restore the SD card, I'm happy to test it out as well, and describe the results. The SD card that was overwritten was recovered almost completely intact by 3 programs of 17 that I gave this job to. I could only afford to buy one program of these three, so it may be that, on purchase, the other 2 programs turn out to have bells & whistles that will put you in better stead. The three programs that worked were Kroll OnTrack's EasyRecovery Professional [$200-500, depending on features], Easeus' Disk Recovery Wizard [$80], and BinaryBiz's Virtual Lab [$150 for up to 100GB]. EasyRecovery managed to do something that none of the other programs could: Rename the top-level folder structure on the SD card. Remarkably, even though the other two programs did not complete this part of the recovery task, they nevertheless managed to reproduce intact all of the subfolder names perfectly. The advantage of VirtualLab is the capacity to recover Mac partitions and files. One headache in EasyRecovery was its failure to uninstall in x86 Vista. For now, query their support forum before installing in Vista to figure out what the recommended procedure for uninstalling would be. Finally, Disk Recovery Wizard has two minor disadvantages: It has very poor document preview capabilities, and the developers have not bothered to give the interface a native English-speaking proofing. For all intents and purposes, though, under these recovery conditions, DRW does just as complete a job as EasyRecovery. In fact, if you want the top-level folders renamed, just keep a demo copy of EasyRecovery on your drive, run its scan, and rename the top-level folders based on its results. So, the winners are: Kroll OnTrack Data Recovery EasyRecovery Professional [$200-500 for differing feature sets] http://www.ontrackdatarecovery.com/d...very-software/ x Version 6.1 did not uninstall in x86 Vista; have not tested its x64 compatibility. * Recovered everything, including folder structure, and all folder names * Will conduct a physical device search Binary Biz Virtual Lab [$200] http://www.binarybiz.com/vlab/windows.html x There is a $150 version, but recovery of over 100GB requires purchase of more recovery 'quota.' * Recovered everything, including folder structure * Identified all folder names, with sole exception of top level folders * Recovers Mac partitions & files * Will conduct a physical device search EASEUS Data Recovery Wizard Professional [$80] http://www.easeus.com/datarecoverywizardpro/index.htm x Misnamed one folder, but all contents were there x Poor file previews x Still makes plenty of English mistakes in instructions & alerts * Recovered everything, including folder structure * Identified all folder names, with sole exception of top level folders * Will conduct a physical device search * Claims to be x64 compatible. Here is how other programs performed: Active@ - Undelete [$40] http://www.active-undelete.com/ x Recovered nothing Arax - Disk Doctor [$40] http://www.disk-doctor.com/ x Recovered nothing CONVAR - PC Inspector File Recovery & Smart Recovery [freeware] http://www.pcinspector.de/Sites/file...htm?language=1 x Found very little of the missing data File-Saver [$60] http://www.file-saver.com/undelete/ x No demo available, so no results to compare GetData - Recover My Files & Recover My Images [$70; try before you buy] http://www.getdata.com/ x Recovered no folder structure x Lots of garbage TXT files - Must use File Recovery, not Partition Recovery, to get most files * Will conduct a physical device search * Good doc preview variety [including PDFs] Iolo - Search & Recover [$40] http://www.iolo.com/sr/4/ x In Vista, fatal runtime errors even before scan started Brian Kato - Restoration [freeware] http://www3.telus.net/mikebike/RESTORATION.html x No physical device search; hence, in this case, recovered none of the missing data * Stand-alone EXE (i.e., no installer) O&O - DiskRecovery [$100; limited to 100 files] http://www.oo-software.com/home/en/p...odiskrecovery/ x Poor file previews x No naming of files; no folder structure Piriform - Recuva [freeware] http://www.recuva.com/ x Recovered nothing QueTek Consulting Corporation - File Scavenger [$50; free demo] http://www.quetek.com/prod02.htm x No naming of files; no folder structure x No file preview * Stand-alone EXE (i.e. no installer) * Will recover files up to 64KB for free R-Studio [$80; try before you buy] http://www.data-recovery-software.ne...Download.shtml http://www.r-studio.com/ Extended Viewer [plug-in; includes vast range of file formats, like PDF & images] [free] http://www.data-recovery-software.ne...Download.shtml x No naming of files; no folder structure x Missed quite a number of PDFs x Lots of garbage TXT files x No PDF preview StellarPhoenix Windows Data Recovery [$100; try before you buy] http://www.stellarinfo.com/file-recovery-software.htm x No naming of files; no folder structure * Even in demo, opened all MS Office files in Office itself Symantec Norton SystemWorks 2007 [including Norton Utilities Disk Doctor] http://www.symantec.com/home_homeoff...build=standard x Unable to do physical device search x In Vista x86, couldn't uninstall; Symantec updater sends you to the (as yet unreleased) install of 2008 BEFORE it identifies the uninstall issue and sends you the Symantec software Removal Tool, which only worsens the situation; even DD 2008 quit when printing initial diagnostic report Touchstone - Undelete Plus [freeware] http://undelete-plus.com/ x Recovered nothing Hope this is of use -- especially to you, Malke, who steered me to several of these programs. Happy New Year to all! a.k.a. "a.k.a." wrote:
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| Guest | Re: 17 file recovery apps tested in x86 Vista on a nuked SD card Wow! This is the kind of unbiased comparative analysis that is so hard to find! I thank you sincerely for the time you took and the work you did to create this very useful article. I will be purchasing a file recovery utility based on your recommendations; as I'm sure others will. PC Magazine used to do this kind of unbiased testing, but they've gone commercial lately. I'd encourage any others reading this to continue to report their findings as well. It is a great service because of all the hype these days. Best, Pete "a.k.a." <aka@xxxxxx> wrote in message news:612CC1B4-6151-498F-93B7-184D6EC8FCAC@xxxxxx
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| Guest | Re: 17 file recovery apps tested in x86 Vista on a nuked SD card Hi, a.k.a. Thank you! I've saved this post to a Storage Folder I've named "News Posts". This is one of the few items in that folder. RC -- R. C. White, CPA San Marcos, TX rc@xxxxxx Microsoft Windows MVP (Running Windows Live Mail 2008 in Vista Ultimate x64) "a.k.a." <aka@xxxxxx> wrote in message news:612CC1B4-6151-498F-93B7-184D6EC8FCAC@xxxxxx
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| Guest | Re: 17 file recovery apps tested in x86 Vista on a nuked SD card Hi aka, I'd just like to say a big thank you for your wonderful work! My data got lost last week, when I was searching help I saw this discussion. I bought EASEUS Data Recovery Wizard Professional [$80] and restored all the lost files. It's a real deal! Thanks! |
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