- 2023
- 2022
- 2021
- 2020
- 2019
- 2018
- 2017
Overall Product Rating: 3.9
The program with a good wizard interface and relatively mediocre data recovery performance. Still, many automated recovery actions make up for these disadvantages.
Strengths: A very good set of supported file systems, automatic RAID parameter recognition, and good support for Windows and Linux software RAIDs.
Weaknesses: Quite mediocre data recovery performance, only one interface language (English), poor file preview capabilities, no S.M.A.R.T attribute monitoring, and no startup version.
Interface and Features
Localized file name recognition: 6.0Compare
Recognized all tested localized characters in file and folder names.
File preview: 4.0Compare
A file previewer with limited file types supported: graphic, pdf (with only the first page is shown), txt, and doc files. Some audio and video files can also been previewed (avi, mp4, mp3).
Disk imaging and copying: 5.0Compare
Image types: byte-by-byte and compressed. The VHD (2 TB max) and VHDX disk image types are also supported. Some image creation parameters are supported: block size and block timeout. Several other disk formats can be opened: dsk, img, -flat.vmdk, vhd, avhd, vhdx, and avhdx.
Logging: 4.0Compare
The Professional version: A kind of forensic log (trace) can be created. One trace for all files or one trace per file.
File search, mark for recovery, sorting: 4.5Compare
Search and mark parameters: for normal and deleted files (separately), file masks, individual file search, file search for time stamps (Modified after, Modified before), search in the Recycle Bin (Deleted today, Deleted within a week, Deleted within a month), file search for size (max/min), test status, by file hash. Date/Time search options can be specified simultaneously. Files can be looked for in a specific folder and subfolders. Search results can be removed. Files can be sorted within a folder by clicking column names (name, size, data, etc.), similar to sorting in Windows Explorer. A list of files can be saved.
File recovery parameters: 4.5Compare
Recovers filenames and folder structure. Duplicate files can be renamed, skipped, or overwritten. Recovery of deleted files can be skipped. A list of files to recover can be saved using the Save state/ Load state option together with scan info.
File systems supported for file recovery: 5.5Compare
FAT, exFAT, NTFS, ReFS, ext2/3/4, XFS, BTRFS, HFS, HFS+, UFS, APFS (in Ultimate).
File recovery using file signatures (raw file recovery): 5.5Compare
Supports raw file recovery. The users can turn this feature on/off and specify signature parameters, and their own file signatures.
Deep analysis of disks (disk scan): 5.0Compare
Supports scans for entire hard drives or logical disks. Several scan parameters can be specified: file system to scan for, code page (for some file systems), delete duplicate files for NTFS, and scan types for ExtFS. Several objects can be scanned simultaneously. Scan can be simple, initial, and deep scan. Scan stops after initial scan, files can be recovered, and then deep scan can be started. Scan results may be stored to a file and automatically loaded later.
RAID recovery features: 4.5Compare
Direct access to a virtual RAID. Only disks and images can be added to a virtual RAID.
User-defined RAID layouts: 5.0Compare
The user can specify very complex RAID layouts using a special language for RAID description files.
Automatic RAID parameter finding: 6.0Compare
RAID parameters and layout can be automatically found for RAID 0, RAID 5, and RAID 10 using the ReclaiMe Free RAID Recovery utility.
S.M.A.R.T. : 0.0Compare
We could not find this feature in the program. There’s a link to another program.
Standard RAID level presets: 5.5Compare
JBOD (Volume Set), RAID0 (Stripe Set), RAID 1(Mirror), RAID10 (1+0), RAID1E, RAID5, RAID6 (Reed-Solomon), RAID6E (Reed-Solomon), RAID6 (Double Xor), RAIDZ, RAIDZ2, HP EVA vRAID, with all their variants. Parity delay support for all applicable levels
Support for disk and volume managers: 5.5Compare
Support for Windows Dynamic Disks (Windows software RAIDs) and Storage Spaces, Apple Fusion Drive, Linux MD RAIDs and Logical Volume Manager (LVM/LVM2). The program can assemble these objects automatically, even when their service data is slightly damaged. The program also supports some less common managers like the Drobo file system and HP EVA vRAID LUNs.
Hexadecimal editor: 4.0Compare
The Pro version: The editor has all standard features. Data may be represented in any coding or as hex values. Built-in templates for data interpretation.
File recovery performance
Files Deleted without Recycle Bin (exFAT file system): 5.5Compare
After Initial scan: All but one file and folder were successfully recovered with correct original names.
After Full scan: The avi file wasn’t found.
Files that were not recovered: 1 avi file.
Overall, all but one files and the original folder structure were successfully recovered.
Files Deleted without Recycle Bin (FAT32 file system): 4.0Compare
After initial scan: The program found files and folders from the device root folder in their initial place. The jpg files had the _ character instead of their first characters. They appeared damaged after recovery.
After Deep Scan: Some files were found in their respective folders. Some folders had their correct names, some had the _ character as their first one, some folders had names like #0027, and many file names had the _ character instead of the first characters. Most of these files were successfully recovered, but 10 png, 12 avi, and 1 mov files appeared damaged. All of them were found in the RAW section and successfully recovered.
Overall, all files were successfully recovered, 23 as raw files. Only some remnants of the original folder structure were recovered.
Files Deleted without Recycle Bin (NTFS file system): 5.0Compare
After Initial scan: Most of the original folder structure was found with their correct content. All found files and folders were successfully recovered. Only 1 mkv file and files from the root folder were not found.
After Deep Scan: The lost files were found as raw files. Files from the root folder were successfully recovered. The mkv file was recovered partially (only its very beginning could be played back)
Partially recovered files: 1 mkv file.
Overall, most of files were successfully recovered. 4 files were recovered as raw files. 1 file was partially recovered.
Emptied Recycle Bin (NTFS file system): 4.0Compare
After initial scan: The program found some remnants of the original folder structure in two sections: [Unclassified]/ #1157 and [Unclassified]/ #1159. They contain subfolders and files with correct file names. They were successfully recovered.
After deep scan: The rest of the file structure was found and successfully recovered (except the mkvfile). Its part was found among raw files.
Partially recovered files: 1 mkv file.
Files that were not recovered: 1 avi file.
Overall, all but 2 files was successfully recovered. 1 file was recovered only partially. Only some remnants of the original folder structure were recovered.
Emptied Recycle Bin (exFAT file system): 6.0Compare
After Initial scan: All files and folders were found in their original places with correct names. All found files were recovered successfully.
Overall, all files and the original folder structure were successfully recovered.
Reformatted disk (FAT32 to FAT32): 6.0Compare
After Initial scan: Nothing was found.
After Deep scan: A FAT partition was found. All files and folders were found in the #1125 folder. All of them were successfully recovered.
Overall, all files and folders were successfully recovered. The entire original folder structure was recovered, too.
Reformatted disk (exFAT to exFAT): 2.5Compare
After Initial scan: Nothing was found.
After Deep scan: Only raw files were found. Some of them were successfully recovered.
Files that were not recovered: 4 jpg, 18 avi, 1 m4v, 2 mov, 1 mpeg, 86 mp3, 10 pdf, 6 doc, 12 docx, 2 xls, 4 xlsx, 2 ods, 6 odt, zip, and mkv files (156 files).
Overall, only raw files were successfully recovered. The original folder structure was not recovered at all.
Reformatted disk (NTFS to NTFS): 3.0Compare
After Initial scan: Nothing was found.
After Deep Scan: 3 deleted folders of the #0124 were found in the [Unclassified] section. They contained some remnants of the original folder structure and its files. Raw files (the RAW section) contained some of the other lost files with incorrect names. Some of them were successfully recovered.
Files that were not recovered: 86 mp3, 6 doc, 12 docx, 4 xlsx, 6 odt, and 2 ods files (119 files).
Overall, only some files were successfully recovered, many as raw files. Only some remnants of the original folder structure were recovered.
Reformatted disk (NTFS to exFAT): 5.5Compare
After Initial scan: Nothing was found.
After Deep scan: An NTFS partition was found. It contained all files and folders in correct place with correct names. They were successfully recovered.
Overall, all files and folders were successfully recovered. The entire original folder structure was recovered, too.
Reformatted disk (exFAT to NTFS): 2.5Compare
After Initial scan: Nothing was found.
After Deep Scan: Only raw files were found with incorrect filenames. Some of them were successfully recovered.
Files that were not recovered: 1 avi, mpeg, 4 mts, 86 mp3, 6 doc, 12 docx, 2 xls, 4 xlsx, 2 ods, 6 odt, and mkv files (125 files).
Overall, only raw files were successfully recovered. The entire original folder structure wasn’t recovered at all.
Damaged partition (APFS): 6.0Compare
After disk scan: All files and folders were found with correct names and successfully recovered. Long scan was required.
Damaged partition (xfs): 4.0Compare
An unformatted partition was immediately found.
After Recover lost files: Only raw files were found. All of them were successfully recovered.
Damaged partition (HFS+): 6.0Compare
After Initial Scan: An HFS partition was immediately found. All files and folders were found with correct names and successfully recovered. Long scan wasn’t required.
Damaged partition (NTFS): 6.0Compare
Initially, a RAW partition was found.
After initial scan: Nothing was found.
After full scan: An NTFS partition was found containing all files and folders with correct names. All of them were successfully recovered.
Overall, all files and folders were successfully recovered. The entire original folder structure was recovered, too.
Damaged partition (exFAT): 3.5Compare
Immediately a RAW partition of the correct size was found.
After Initial scan: Nothing was found.
After full scan: Folders of the #1124 type were found. They contain some remnants of the original folder structure. Some of the found files were successfully recovered. Some other files were found in the RAW section. A number of them were successfully recovered.
Files that were not recovered:* m4v, 6 doc, 12 docx, 2 xls, 4 xlsx, 2 ods, 6 odt, and 1 mkv files (34 files).
Overall, only some files were successfully recovered, many as raw files. The entire original folder structure wasn’t recovered, at all.
Damaged partition (FAT32): 6.0Compare
Immediately a RAW partition of the correct size was found.
After Initial scan: All files and folders were found in their original places with correct names and successfully recovered. Long disk scan wasn’t required.
Damaged partition (exFAT): 3.0Compare
Immediately a RAW partition was found.
After Initial scan: Nothing was found.
After Full scan: Several folders of the #1124 type were found containing some remnants of the previous file and folder structure. Several files were successfully recovered. Some files were found in the RAW section. Some were successfully recovered.
Files that were not recovered: 1 m4v, 6 doc, 12 docx, 4 xlsx, 17 mp3, 2 ods, 6 odt, and 1 mkv files (49 files).
Overall, most of files were recovered as raw files. The entire original folder structure wasn’t recovered at all.
Damaged partition (ext4fs): 4.0Compare
An Linux native partition was immediately found.
After Initial Scan: An ext4fs partition was found, but only some parts of the original ext4fs file system were found. Files from the device root weren’t found at all.
Deleted partition (NTFS): 6.0Compare
After Initial scan: The previous NTFS partition was found. It contained all files and folders with correct names. All of them were successfully recovered.
Overall, all files and folders were successfully recovered. The entire original folder structure was recovered, too. Long disk scan wasn’t required.
Deleted partition (exFAT): 6.0Compare
After Initial scan: The deleted exFAT partition was found without Deep Scan. All files and folders were found with correct names and correctly recovered.
Overall, all files and folders were successfully recovered. The entire original folder structure was recovered, too. Long disk scan was not required.
Deleted partition (FAT32): 6.0Compare
The flash card and a RAW partition of zero size were found.
After Initial scan: All files and folders were found on the partition in their original places with correct names and successfully recovered.
Overall, all files and folders were successfully recovered. The entire original folder structure was recovered, too.
Deleted partition (exFAT): 6.0Compare
After initial scan: An exFAT partition was found. All files and folders were found in their original place with correct names on this partition. All of them were successfully recovered.
Overall, all files and folders were successfully recovered. The entire original folder structure was recovered, too. Long disk scan wasn’t required.
Mac RAID 0 Recovery: 0.0Compare
The program could recognize the Mac RAID 0 after a scan but reconstructed it incorrectly. Files were found but they appeared damaged after recovery.
Mac APFS Fusion Drive Recovery: 1.0Compare
The program hanged while searching for Linux MD volumes. When the search was interrupted the program could not recognize the Mac APFS Fusion Drive. Separate scans of the disks revealed some raw files, which were successfully recovered.
Linux MD RAID 5 Recovery: 5.5Compare
The Linux MD RAID 5 was found after device scan and correctly reconstructed. An existing ext4FS partition was found. All file and folders were found and successfully recovered.
Linux LVM2 RAID 0 Recovery: 5.5Compare
Two Linux LVM2 RAID 0 objects were immediately found. One was empty, the other contained all files and folders.
Automatic RAID 5 Parameter Detection: 5.0Compare
The program was able to find the correct RAID parameters automatically after a long scan. All file and folders were found and successfully recovered.
LDM RAID 5 Recovery: 6.0Compare
The LDM RAID5 was immediately found and correctly reconstructed. All file and folders were found and successfully recovered
Windows Storage Space (WSS) Recovery: 6.0Compare
The WSS was immediately found and correctly reconstructed. All file and folders were found and successfully recovered.
Windows LDM RAID 5 Recovery with One Unsynced Disk: 6.0Compare
The LDM RAID5 was immediately found and correctly reconstructed. All file and folders were found and correctly successfully.
Windows Storage Space (WSS) Recovery with One Missing Disk: 1.0Compare
The program found the WSS automatically along with the NTFS partitions on it and all files, but those files appeared damaged.
Speed of SSD disk scan: 4.0Compare
36 min 45 sec (98 GB/h) – disk scan and search for all file systems and raw files search.
Overall Product Rating: 3.9
The program crashed during several tests, which is why it showed the worst score in data recovery. But when it worked, it showed a quite good performance.
Strengths: A relatively good file previewer, a very good set of supported file systems, automatic RAID parameter recognition, and good support for Windows and Linux software RAIDs.
Weaknesses: Only one interface language (English), poor file preview capabilities, no S.M.A.R.T attribute monitoring, and no startup version.
Added since our last review: Several new disk image formats can be opened: dsk, img, -flat.vmdk, vhd, avhd, vhdx, and avhdx. New nonstandard RAID levels: RAIDZ, RAIDZ2, HP EVA vRAID. A new logical disk manager: Apple Fusion Drive.
Interface and Features
Localized file name recognition: 6.0Compare
Recognized all tested localized characters in file and folder names.
File preview: 4.0Compare
A file previewer with limited file types supported: graphic, pdf, txt, and doc files. Some audio and video files can also been previewed (avi, mp4, mp3).
File systems supported for file recovery: 5.5Compare
FAT, exFAT, NTFS, ReFS, ext2/3/4, XFS, BTRFS, HFS, HFS+, UFS, APFS (in Ultimate).
Deep analysis of disks (disk scan): 5.0Compare
Supports scans for entire hard drives or logical disks. Several scan parameters can be specified: file system to scan for, code page (for some file systems), delete duplicate files for NTFS, and scan types for ExtFS. Several objects can be scanned simultaneously. Scan can be simple, initial, and deep scan. Scan stops after initial scan, files can be recovered, and then deep scan can be started. Scan results may be stored to a file and automatically loaded later.
Logging: 4.0Compare
The Professional version: A kind of forensic log (trace) can be created. One trace for all files or one trace per file.
Disk imaging and copying: 5.0Compare
Image types: byte-by-byte and compressed. The VHD (2 TB max) and VHDX disk image types are also supported. Some image creation parameters are supported: block size and block timeout. Several other disk formats can be opened: dsk, img, -flat.vmdk, vhd, avhd, vhdx, and avhdx.
File search, mark for recovery, sorting: 4.5Compare
Search and mark parameters: for normal and deleted files (separately), file masks, individual file search, file search for time stamps (Modified after, Modified before,), search in the Recycle Bin (Deleted today, Deleted within a week, Deleted within a month), file search for size (max/min), test status, by file hash. Date/Time search options can be specified simultaneously. Files can be looked for in a specific folder and subfolders. Search results can be removed. Files can be sorted within a folder by clicking column names (name, size, data, etc.), similar to sorting in Windows Explorer. A list of files can be saved.
File recovery using file signatures (raw file recovery): 5.5Compare
Supports raw file recovery. The users can turn this feature on/off and specify signature parameters, and their own file signatures.
File recovery parameters: 4.5Compare
Recovers filenames and folder structure. Duplicate files can be renamed, skipped, or overwritten. Recovery of deleted files can be skipped. A list of files to recover can be saved using the Save state/ Load state option together with scan info.
Standard RAID level presets: 5.5Compare
JBOD (Volume Set), RAID0 (Stripe Set), RAID 1(Mirror), RAID10 (1+0), RAID1E, RAID5, RAID6 (Reed-Solomon), RAID6E (Reed-Solomon), RAID6 (Double Xor), RAIDZ, RAIDZ2, HP EVA vRAID, with all their variants. Parity delay support for all applicable levels
Hexadecimal editor: 4.0Compare
The Pro version: The editor has all standard features. Data may be represented in any coding or as hex values. Built-in templates for data interpretation.
User-defined RAID layouts: 5.0Compare
The user can specify very complex RAID layouts using a special language for RAID description files.
Automatic RAID parameter finding: 6.0Compare
RAID parameters and layout can be automatically found for RAID 0, RAID 5, and RAID 10 using the ReclaiMe Free RAID Recovery utility.
Support for disk and volume managers: 5.5Compare
Support for Windows Dynamic Disks (Windows software RAIDs) and Storage Spaces, Apple Fusion Drive, Linux MD RAIDs and Logical Volume Manager (LVM/LVM2). The program can assemble these objects automatically, even when their service data is slightly damaged. The program also supports some less common managers like the Drobo file system and HP EVA vRAID LUNs.
RAID recovery features: 4.5Compare
Direct access to a virtual RAID. Only disks and images can be added to a virtual RAID.
S.M.A.R.T. : 0.0Compare
We could not find this feature in the program. There’s a link to another program.
File recovery performance
Files Deleted without Recycle Bin (NTFS file system): 4.5Compare
After Initial scan: All files and folders with correct names were found, except two jpg and avi files from the device root folder, and one mkv file. The found files were successfully recovered.
After Deep Scan: Those four lost files were found in the RAW section. Two jpg and avi files were successfully recovered. The recovered mkv file was truncated.
Partially recovered files: one mkv file.
Overall, all files and the original folder structure were successfully recovered. Three files were recovered as raw files. One file was partially recovered.
Files Deleted without Recycle Bin (exFAT file system): 6.0Compare
After Initial scan: All files and folders were successfully recovered with correct original names.
Overall, all files and the original folder structure were successfully recovered.
Files Deleted without Recycle Bin (FAT32 file system): 4.5Compare
After initial scan: The program found files and folders from the device root folder in their initial place. The jpg files had the _ character instead of their first characters. They appeared damaged after recovery.
After Deep scan: All files and folders were found in their respective original place. Some folders had their correct names, some had the _ character as their first one, some folders had names like #0027, and many file names had the _ character instead of the first characters. Most of these files were successfully recovered, but some files appeared damaged. Most of them were found in the RAW section and successfully recovered.
Files that could not be recovered: 1 mov files.
Overall, all but one files were successfully recovered, many as raw files. Only some remnants of the original folder structure were recovered.
Emptied Recycle Bin (NTFS file system): 4.0Compare
After initial scan: The program found some remnants of the original folder structure in two sections: [Unclassified]/ #1156 and [Unclassified]/ #1154. They contain subfolders and files with correct file names. They were successfully recovered.
After deep scan: The rest of the file structure was found and successfully recovered (кроме mkv).
Partially recovered files: 1 mkv file.
Overall, all but one file was successfully recovered. One file was recovered only partially. Only some remnants of the original folder structure were recovered.
Emptied Recycle Bin (exFAT file system): 6.0Compare
After Initial scan: All files and folders were found in their original places with correct names. All found files were recovered successfully.
Overall, all files and the original folder structure were successfully recovered.
Reformatted disk (NTFS to NTFS): 3.0Compare
After Initial scan: Nothing was found.
After Deep scan: One folder from the device root folder and two folders #0125 and #0126 were found in the [Unclassified] section. They contained some folders and files with correct names from the original folder structure. All of them were successfully recovered. Raw files (the RAW section) contained some of the other lost files with incorrect names. Some of them were successfully recovered.
Files that could not be recovered: 86 mp3, 6 doc, 12 docx, 4 xlsx, 6 odt, and 2 ods files.
Overall, only some files were successfully recovered, many as raw files. Only some remnants of the original folder structure were recovered.
Reformatted disk (exFAT to exFAT): 3.0Compare
After Initial scan: Nothing was found.
After Deep scan: The original folder structure was found scattered among 6 folders of the #1123 type in the [Unclassified] section. Those folders contained some files with correct names. Some other files were found and recovered from raw files.
Files that could not be recovered: 1 avi, 2 mov, 1 mpeg, 59 mp3, 5 doc, 3 docx, 2 xls, 4 xlsx, 2 ods, and 5 odt files.
Overall, some files and folders were successfully recovered, many from raw files. Only some small remnants of the original folder structure were recovered.
Reformatted disk (NTFS to exFAT): 5.5Compare
After Initial scan: Nothing was found.
After Deep scan: An NTFS partition was found. It contained all files and folders in correct place with correct names. They were successfully recovered.
Overall, all files and folders were successfully recovered. The entire original folder structure was recovered, too.
Reformatted disk (exFAT to NTFS): 3.5Compare
After Initial scan: Nothing was found.
After Deep scan: Only raw files were found with incorrect filenames. Some of them were successfully recovered.
Partially recovered files: all mkv and mts files.
Files that could not be recovered: 1 pdf, 1 mpeg, 86 mp3, all doc, docx, xls, xlsx, odt, and ods files.
Overall, only some files were successfully recovered, all as raw files. The entire original folder structure wasn’t recovered at all.
Reformatted disk (FAT32 to FAT32): 6.0Compare
After Initial scan: Nothing was found.
After Deep scan: A FAT partition was found. All files and folders were found in the #0122 folder. All of them were successfully recovered.
Overall, all files and folders were successfully recovered. The entire original folder structure was recovered, too.
Damaged partition (NTFS): 0.0Compare
The program immediately crashed after disk scan. A Critical error message appeared. File recovery couldn’t be performed.
Damaged partition (exFAT): 0.0Compare
After Initial scan: Nothing was found.
The program crashed when the scan continued. File recovery was not possible.
Damaged partition (exFAT): 4.5Compare
After Initial scan of the card partition: All files and folders with correct names were found. All of them were successfully recovered.
Overall, all files and folders were successfully recovered. The entire original folder structure was recovered, too.
The program crashed during the test but was able to successfully finish recovery.
Damaged partition (ext4fs): 6.0Compare
After Initial Scan: An ext4fs partition was found. All files and folders were found with correct names on this partition and successfully recovered. Long scan wasn’t required.
Damaged partition (APFS): 6.0Compare
After disk scan: All files and folders were found with correct names and successfully recovered. Long disk scan wasn’t required.
Damaged partition (HFS+): 6.0Compare
After Initial Scan: All files and folders were found with correct names and successfully recovered. Long scan wasn’t required.
Damaged partition (FAT32): 5.0Compare
Immediately found a FAT32 partition of the correct size.
After Initial scan: All files and folders were found in their original places with correct names and successfully recovered.
The program crashed during the test but was able to successfully finish recovery.
Deleted partition (FAT32): 0.0Compare
The stick and a RAW partition of zero size were found.
After Initial scan: Nothing was found.
After Deep scan: The program crashed and data recovery was impossible.
Deleted partition (NTFS): 6.0Compare
After Initial scan: The previous NTFS partition was found. It contained all files and folders with correct names. All of them were successfully recovered.
Overall, all files and folders were successfully recovered. The entire original folder structure was recovered, too. Long disk scan was not required.
Deleted partition (exFAT): 6.0Compare
After Initial scan: The previous exFAT partition was found without Deep Scan. All files and folders were found with correct names and correctly recovered.
Overall, all files and folders were successfully recovered. The entire original folder structure was recovered, too. Long disk scan was not required.
Deleted partition (exFAT): 5.0Compare
Immediately a partition marked as exFAT, NTFS, ReFS with a correct size was found in the unmounted basic (MBR) partitions section.
After initial scan of this partition: All files and folders were found in their original place with correct names. All of them were successfully recovered.
Overall, all files and folders were successfully recovered. The entire original folder structure was recovered, too.
A critical error occurred during file recovery.
Linux MD RAID 5 Recovery: 5.5Compare
Two Linux MD RAID 5s were immediately found. One contained all file and folders. They were successfully recovered.
LDM RAID 5 Recovery: 6.0Compare
The LDM RAID5 was immediately found and correctly reconstructed. All file and folders were found and successfully recovered
Windows LDM RAID 5 Recovery with One Unsynced Disk: 6.0Compare
The LDM RAID5 was immediately found and correctly reconstructed. All file and folders were found and correctly successfully.
Windows Storage Space (WSS) Recovery with One Missing Disk: 1.0Compare
The program found the WSS automatically along with the NTFS partitions on it and all files, but those files appeared damaged.
Windows Storage Space (WSS) Recovery: 1.0Compare
The program found the WSS automatically, along with the NTFS partitions on it and all files, but those files appeared damaged.
Linux LVM2 RAID 0 Recovery: 5.5Compare
Two Linux LVM2 RAID 0 objects were immediately found. One was empty, the other contained all files and folders.
Mac RAID 0 Recovery: 1.5Compare
The program could recognize the Mac RAID 0 after a scan but reconstructed it incorrectly. Files were found but they appeared damaged after recovery.
Automatic RAID 5 Parameter Detection: 5.0Compare
The program was able to find the correct RAID parameters automatically after a long scan. All file and folders were found and successfully recovered.
Mac APFS Fusion Drive Recovery: 2.5Compare
The program could not recognize the Mac APFS Fusion Drive. Separate scans of the disks revealed some raw files, which were successfully recovered.
Overall Product Rating: 4.3
A very good data recovery program with a good combination of file recovery features and performance. It ranks fourth in data recovery performance and fifth in feature evaluation. One of the best sets of supported file systems. A good file recovery performance.
Strengths: A relatively good file previewer, a very good set of supported file systems, automatic RAID parameter recognition, and good support for Windows and Linux software RAIDs.
Weaknesses: Only one interface language (English), poor file preview capabilities, no support for WSS and Apple logical managers, no S.M.A.R.T attribute monitoring, and no startup version.
Interface and Features
Localized file name recognition: 6.0Compare
Recognized all tested localized characters in file and folder names.
File preview: 4.0Compare
A file previewer with limited file types supported: graphic, txt, pdf, and doc, files. Some audio and video files can also been previewed (avi, mp4, mp3).
Disk imaging and copying: 5.5Compare
Image types: byte-by-byte. The VHD (2 TB max) and VHDX disk image types are also supported. Some image creation parameters are supported: block size and block timeout.
File systems supported for file recovery: 5.5Compare
FAT, exFAT, NTFS, ReFS, Ultimate version: ext2/3/4, XFS, BTRFS, HFS, HFS+, UFS, VMFS, APFS.
Deep analysis of disks (disk scan): 5.0Compare
Supports scans for entire hard drives or logical disks. Several scan parameters can be specified: file system to scan for, code page (for some file systems), delete duplicate files for NTFS, and scan types for ExtFS. Several objects can be scanned simultaneously. Scan can be simple, initial, and deep scan. Scan stops after initial scan, files can be recovered, and then deep scan can be started. Scan results may be stored to a file and automatically loaded later.
File recovery using file signatures (raw file recovery): 5.5Compare
Supports raw file recovery. Professional: The users can turn this feature on/off and specify signature parameters, and their own file signatures.
File search, mark for recovery, sorting: 4.5Compare
Search and mark parameters: for normal and deleted files (separately), file masks, individual file search, file search for time stamps (Modified after, Modified before), Deleted date on an NTFS volumes, search in the Recycle Bin (Deleted today, Deleted within a week, Deleted within a month), and file search for size (max/min). The Pro version: test status, by file hash. Date/Time search options can be specified simultaneously. Files can be looked for in a specific folder and subfolders. Search results can be removed. Files can be sorted within a folder by clicking column names (name, size, data, etc.), similar to sorting in Windows Explorer.
Logging: 4.0Compare
The Professional version: A kind of forensic log (trace) can be created: One trace for all files or one trace per file.
File recovery parameters: 4.5Compare
Recovers filenames and folder structure. The Pro version: Duplicate files can be renamed, skipped, or overwritten. Recovery of deleted files can be skipped. A list of files to recover can be saved using the Save state/Load state option together with scan info.
Automatic RAID parameter finding: 6.0Compare
RAID parameters and layout can be automatically found for RAID 0, RAID 5, and RAID 10 using the ReclaiMe Free RAID Recovery utility.
Support for disk and volume managers: 5.5Compare
Support for Windows Dynamic Disks (Windows software RAIDs), Linux MD RAIDs, Windows Storage Spaces, and Linux Logical Volume Manager (LVM/LVM2). The program can assemble these objects automatically, even when their service data is slightly damaged. The program (Pro) also supports some less common managers like the Drobo file system and HP EVA vRAID LUNs.
Hexadecimal editor: 4.0Compare
The Pro version: The editor has all standard features. Data may be represented in any coding or as hex values. Built-in templates for data interpretation.
User-defined RAID layouts: 5.0Compare
The user can specify very complex RAID layouts using a special language for RAID description files. There are presets for various RAID controllers.
S.M.A.R.T. : 1.0Compare
We could not find this feature in the program. There’s a link to another program.
Standard RAID level presets: 5.5Compare
JBOD (Volume Set), RAID0 (Stripe Set), RAID 1(Mirror), RAID 10 (1+0), RAID 1E, RAID5, RAID6 (Reed-Solomon), RAID6E (Reed-Solomon), RAID6 (Double Xor), with all their variants. Parity delay support for all applicable levels
RAID recovery features: 4.5Compare
Direct access to a virtual RAID. Only disks and images can be added to a virtual RAID.
File recovery performance
Files Deleted without Recycle Bin (NTFS file system): 5.0Compare
After Initial scan: All files and folders were found as deleted in their original places with correct names, except for one mkv file. All found files were successfully recovered.
After Deep Scan: The truncated (by 2 times) mkv file were found in the RAW section and successfully recovered.
Partially recovered files: 1 mkv file.
Overall, all but one files and the original folder structure were successfully recovered. One file was partially recovered as a raw file.
Files Deleted without Recycle Bin (exFAT file system): 6.0Compare
After Initial scan: All files and folders were successfully recovered with correct original names as deleted. Deep Scan was not needed.
Overall, all files and the original folder structure were successfully recovered.
Files Deleted without Recycle Bin (FAT32 file system): 4.5Compare
After Initial scan: The program found files from the root folder in their initial place. The jpg files had the _ character instead of the first characters. They appeared damaged after recovery.
After Deep Scan: All files and folders were found in their respective original place. Some folders had their correct names, some had the _ character as their first one, some folders had names like #0027, and many file names had the _ character instead of the first characters. Most of these files were successfully recovered, but some files appeared damaged. Most of them were found in the RAW section and successfully recovered.
Files that could not be recovered: 7 jpg and 1 mov files.
Overall, all but eight files were successfully recovered, many as raw files. Only some remnants of the original folder structure were recovered.
Emptied Recycle Bin (NTFS file system): 3.5Compare
After Initial scan: The program found 3 deleted folders (Documents, Music, Photos) and files from the disk root folder (with incorrect names) in the Recycle Bin. Files in these folders were successfully recovered with correct names. Some other files and folders were found in the [Unclassified]/ #0204 and [Unclassified]/ #0206 sections. They were successfully recovered with correct filenames, except one 1 avi and 1 mkv. Two files were not found: one avi and one mkv file.
Then the scan continued (deep scan): The avi and mkv files were found among raw files. The avi file was recovered successfully and the mkv file was recovered partially.
Partially recovered files: 1 mkv file.
Overall, all but one file were successfully recovered. One file was recovered as a raw file and another one only partially. Only some remnants of the original folder structure were recovered.
Emptied Recycle Bin (exFAT file system): 4.5Compare
After Initial scan: The files and 3 of 4 folders from the root folder were found in the Recycle Bin with incorrect names. The 4th folder was found in its original place, without the MTS folder and its content. All found files were successfully recovered.
After Deep Scan: The lost 4 mts files were found in the RAW section and successfully recovered.
Overall, all files were successfully recovered with 4 files as raw files. Only small parts of the original folder structure were recovered.
Reformatted disk (NTFS to NTFS): 3.0Compare
After Initial scan: Nothing was found.
After Deep Scan: Three folders #0xxx were found in the [Unclassified] section. They contained some folders and files with correct names from the original folder structure. All of them were successfully recovered. Raw files (RAW) contained some of the other lost files with incorrect names. Most of them were successfully recovered.
Files that could not be recovered: 86 mp3, 6 doc, 12 docx, 2 xls, 4 xlsx, 6 odt, and 2 ods files.
Overall, only some files were successfully recovered, many as raw files. Only some remnants of the original folder structure were recovered.
Reformatted disk (exFAT to exFAT): 6.0Compare
After Initial scan: Nothing was found.
After Deep Scan: All folders and files with correct names from the original folder structure were found in the #0173 folder in the [Unclassified] section of the exFAT partition. All of them were successfully recovered.
Overall, all files and folders were successfully recovered. The entire original folder structure was recovered, too.
Reformatted disk (FAT32 to FAT32): 6.0Compare
After Initial scan: Nothing was found.
After Deep Scan: A FAT partition was found. All files and folders were found in the #0172 folder. All of them were successfully recovered.
Overall, all files and folders were successfully recovered. The entire original folder structure was recovered, too.
Reformatted disk (NTFS to exFAT): 5.5Compare
After Initial scan: Nothing was found.
After Deep Scan: An NTFS partition was found. It contained all files and folders in correct place with correct names. They were successfully recovered.
Overall, all files and folders were successfully recovered. The entire original folder structure was recovered, too.
Reformatted disk (exFAT to NTFS): 3.5Compare
After Initial scan: Nothing was found.
After Deep Scan: Only raw files were found with incorrect file names. Some of them were successfully recovered.
Partially recovered files: all mkv and mts files.
Files that could not be recovered: 1 pdf, 1 flv, 1 mpeg, 86 mp3, all doc, docx, xls, xlsx, odt, ods files.
Overall, only some files were successfully recovered, all as raw files. The entire original folder structure wasn’t recovered at all.
Damaged partition (APFS): 6.0Compare
After Disk Scan: All files and folders were found with correct names and successfully recovered.
Damaged partition (NTFS): 5.5Compare
A RAW partition was immediately found.
After Initial Scan: Only 4 avi files were found in the RAW section. They were successfully recovered.
After Full Scan: The previous NTFS partition was found with all files and folders with correct names. All of them were successfully recovered.
Overall, all files and folders were successfully recovered. The entire original folder structure was recovered, too.
Damaged partition (exFAT): 6.0Compare
Immediately found a raw partition of the correct size. After Initial scan: An exFAT partition was found with all folders and files with correct names. All of them were successfully recovered.
Overall, all files and folders were successfully recovered. The entire original folder structure was recovered, too. A long disk scan was not required.
Damaged partition (FAT32): 5.0Compare
Immediately found a RAW partition of the correct size. After Initial scan: Almost all files and folders were found, mostly with correct names. The exception is one subfolder with video files.
After Deep Scan: All files and folders, including those what had not been found during the Initial scan, were found, mostly with correct names.
Overall, all files were successfully recovered, but the initial folder structure was recovered only partially.
Damaged partition (exFAT): 6.0Compare
Immediately found a raw partition of the correct size.
After Initial scan of the partition: An exFAT partition containing all files and folders with correct names was found. All of them were successfully recovered.
Overall, all files and folders were successfully recovered. The entire original folder structure was recovered, too. Deep scan was not required.
Damaged partition (ext4fs): 4.0Compare
After Disk Scan: Only raw files were found. They were successfully recovered.
Damaged partition (HFS+): 6.0Compare
An HFS partition was immediately found.
After Partition scan: All files and folders were found with correct names and successfully recovered. Long scan wasn’t required.
Deleted partition (exFAT): 6.0Compare
mmediately a partition marked as exFAT, NTFS, ReFS with a correct size was found in the Unmounted basic (MBR) partitions section.
After initial scan of this partition: All of folders and files were found and successfully recovered.
Overall, all files and folders were successfully recovered. The entire original folder structure was recovered, too. Disk scan was not required.
Deleted partition (exFAT): 6.0Compare
After Initial scan: The previous exFAT partition was found without a disk scan. All files and folders were found with correct names and correctly recovered.
Overall, all files and folders were successfully recovered. The entire original folder structure was recovered, too. Deep scan was not required.
Deleted partition (NTFS): 6.0Compare
After Initial scan: The previous NTFS partition was found it contained all files and folders with correct names. All of them were successfully recovered.
Overall, all files and folders were successfully recovered. The entire original folder structure was recovered, too. Disk scan was not required.
Deleted partition (FAT32): 5.5Compare
After Initial scan: Nothing was found.
After Deep Scan: A FAT partition was found with all folders and files. All of them were successfully recovered.
Overall, all files and folders were successfully recovered. The entire original folder structure was recovered, too.
Linux MD RAID 5 Recovery: 6.0Compare
The Linux MD RAID 5 was immediately found and correctly reconstructed. All file and folders were found and successfully recovered.
Windows Storage Space (WSS) Recovery: 6.0Compare
The WSS was immediately found and correctly reconstructed. All file and folders were found and successfully recovered.
Windows Storage Space (WSS) Recovery with One Missing Disk: 1.0Compare
The program found the WSS automatically and the NTFS partition on it, but was unable to open it and find any file.
Windows LDM RAID 5 Recovery with One Unsynced Disk: 6.0Compare
The LDM RAID5 was immediately found and correctly reconstructed. All file and folders were found and correctly successfully.
Linux LVM2 RAID 0 Recovery: 6.0Compare
Two Linux LVM2 RAID 0 objects were immediately found. One was empty, the other contained all files and folders.
Windows LDM RAID 5 Recovery: 6.0Compare
The LDM RAID5 was immediately found and correctly reconstructed. All file and folders were found and successfully recovered
Speed of SSD disk scan: 3.5Compare
10 min 58 sec (328 GB/h) – disk scan and search for all file systems and raw files.
Mac RAID 0 Recovery: 1.5Compare
The program could recognize the Mac RAID 0 after a scan but reconstructed it incorrectly. Files were found but they appeared damaged after recovery.
Mac APFS Fusion Drive Recovery: 2.5Compare
The program could not recognize the Mac APFS Fusion Drive. Separate scans of the disks revealed some raw files, which were successfully recovered.
Automatic RAID 5 Parameter Detection: 5.0Compare
The program was able to find the correct RAID parameters automatically after a long scan. All file and folders were found and successfully recovered.
Overall Product Rating: 4.5
A very good data recovery program with good combination of file recovery features and performance, both ranked third. One of the best sets of supported file systems. A quite good file recovery performance.
Strengths: A very good set of supported file systems, automatic RAID parameter recognition, and good support for Windows and Linux software RAIDs.
Weaknesses: Only one interface language (English), poor file preview capabilities, no support for WSS and Apple logical managers, and no S.M.A.R.T attribute monitoring.
Added since our last review: An improved file previewer and a more flexible scan procedure.
Interface and Features
Localized file name recognition: 6.0Compare
Recognized all tested localized characters in file and folder names.
Demo version restrictions: 5.0Compare
The Demo version cannot recover files, but they can be previewed. Upon request, users may receive a 14-day demo key for a fully functional copy.
File preview: 4.0Compare
A file previewer with limited file types supported: graphic, pdf, txt, and doc files. Some audio and video files can also been previewed (avi, mp4, mp3).
Deep analysis of disks (disk scan): 5.0Compare
Supports scans for entire hard drives or logical disks. Several scan parameters can be specified: file system to scan for, code page (for some file systems), delete duplicate files for NTFS, scan types for ExtFS. Several objects can be scanned simultaneously. Scan can be simple, initial, and deep scan. Scan stops after initial scan, files can be recovered, and then deep scan can be started. Scan results may be stored to a file and loaded later.
Disk imaging and copying: 5.5Compare
Image types: byte-by-byte. The VHD (2 TB max) and VHDX disk image types are also supported. Some image creation parameters are supported: block size and block timeout.
File search, mark for recovery, sorting: 4.5Compare
Search and mark parameters: for normal and deleted files (separately); file masks; individual file search; file search for time stamps (Modified after, Modified before,); Deleted date on an NTFS volumes; search in the Recycle Bin (Deleted today, Deleted within a week, Deleted within a month);, file search for size (max/min). Date/Time search options can be specified simultaneously. Users can search for files in a specific folder and subfolders. Files can be sorted within a folder by clicking column names (name, size, data, etc.), similar to sorting in Windows Explorer.
File recovery using file signatures (raw file recovery): 5.5Compare
Supports raw file recovery. The users can turn this feature on/off and specify signature parameters, and their own file signatures.
Logging: 4.0Compare
A forensic log (trace) can be created: One trace for all files or one trace per file.
File systems supported for file recovery: 5.5Compare
FAT, exFAT, NTFS, ReFS, Ultimate: ext2/3/4, XFS, BTRFS, HFS, HFS+, UFS, VMFS, APFS.
File recovery parameters: 4.5Compare
Recovers filenames and folder structure. Duplicate files can be renamed, skipped, or overwritten. Recovery of deleted files can be skipped. A list of files to recover can be saved using the Save state/ Load state option together with scan info.
RAID recovery features: 4.5Compare
Direct access to a virtual RAID. Only disks and images can be added to a virtual RAID.
Standard RAID level presets: 5.5Compare
JBOD (Volume Set), RAID0 (Stripe Set), RAID 1(Mirror), RAID 10 (1+0), RAID 1E, RAID5, RAID6 (Reed-Solomon), RAID6E (Reed-Solomon), RAID6 (Double Xor), with all their variants. Parity delay support for all applicable levels
Support for disk and volume managers: 5.5Compare
Support for Windows Dynamic Disks (Windows software RAIDs), Linux MD RAIDs, Windows Storage Spaces, and Linux Logical Volume Manager (LVM/LVM2). The program can assemble these objects automatically, even when their service data is slightly damaged. The program also supports some less common managers like the Drobo file system and HP EVA vRAID LUNs.
User-defined RAID layouts: 5.0Compare
The user can specify very complex RAID layouts using a special language for RAID description files.
Hexadecimal editor: 4.0Compare
The editor has all standard features. Data may be represented in any coding or as hex values. Built-in templates for data interpretation.
S.M.A.R.T.: 1.0Compare
We could not find this feature in the program. There’s a link to another program.
Automatic RAID parameter finding: 6.0Compare
RAID parameters and layout can be automatically found for RAID 0, RAID 5, and RAID 10 using the ReclaiMe Free RAID Recovery utility.
File recovery performance
Files Deleted without Recycle Bin (FAT32 file system): 4.0Compare
After initial scan: The program found files from the root folder in their initial place. The jpg files had the _ character instead of the first characters. They appeared damaged after recovery.
After Deep scan: All files and folders were found in their respective initial place. The folders had names like #0027, and many file names had the _ character instead of the first characters. Most of these files were successfully recovered, but some files appeared damaged. Most of them were found in the RAW section and successfully recovered.
Files that could not be recovered: 1 mov file.
Files Deleted without Recycle Bin (exFAT file system): 5.5Compare
After Initial scan: All files and folders were successfully recovered with correct original names on the exFAT partition, with one exception: one avi file from the disk root folder could not be recovered. This file could not be recovered even after Deep scan.
Files that could not be recovered: the avi file from the root folder.
Files Deleted without Recycle Bin (NTFS file system): 5.0Compare
After Initial Scan: All files were found in their original locations with correct names, except for one avi and 2 jpg files from the root folder, and one mkv file. All found files were successfully recovered.
After Deep scan: The avi and jpg files from the root folder were found in raw files with incorrect names and successfully recovered. The found mkv file had the size lesser that original.
Files that were partially recovered: 1 mkv file.
Emptied Recycle Bin (NTFS file system): 5.0Compare
After Initial scan: The program found 3 deleted folders (Documents, Music, Photos) and files from the disk root folder (with incorrect names) in the Recycle Bin. Files in these 3 folders were successfully recovered with correct names, except one jpg file. Some other files and folders were found in the [Unclassified]/ #0200 and[Unclassified]/ #0202 sections. They were successfully recovered with correct filesnames. Two files were not found: one avi and one mkv.
Then the scan continued (deep scan): The avi and mkv files were found among raw files. The avi file was recovered successfully; the mkv file was recovered partially.
Files that could not be recovered: one jpg file. The mkv file appeared damaged (only half of the file was recovered). The initial folder structure was recovered only partially.
Emptied Recycle Bin (exFAT file system): 5.0Compare
After Initial scan: A deleted folder Video was found on the exFAT partition in the correct place. It contained all subfolders and files with correct names. Also, there were found the files from the root folder and three deleted folders corresponding to Documents, Music, and Photos. They contained all subfolders and files with correct names. All of them were successfully recovered.
Overall, all files were recovered, some of them with incorrect names. The initial folder structure was recovered only partially.
After Deep scan: The same results were obtained.
Reformatted disk (NTFS to NTFS): 3.0Compare
After Initial scan: Nothing was found.
After Deep scan: Two folders #0xxx were found in the [Unclassified] section. They contained some folders and files from the Photos folder. The Recycling Bin contained the Video folder with all its files and subfolders with correct names. All of them were successfully recovered. Raw files (RAW) contained some of the other lost files with incorrect names. Almost all of these files were successfully recovered.
Files that could not be recovered: 86 mp3, 6 doc, 12 docx, 2 xls, 4 xlsx, 6 odt, and 2 ods files.
Reformatted disk (exFAT to exFAT): 5.5Compare
After Initial scan: Nothing was found.
After Deep scan: All folders from the root folder were found with incorrect names like #0170 in the [Unclassified] section of the exFAT partition. They contained all their respective folders and files with correct filenames. All of them were successfully recovered. The files from the root folder (one pdf and two jpg files) were found with incorrect names among raw files and successfully recovered.
Files that could not be recovered: one avi file from the root folder.
Reformatted disk (NTFS to exFAT): 5.5Compare
After Initial scan: Nothing was found.
After Deep scan: An NTFS partition was found. It contained all files and folders in correct place with correct names. They were successfully recovered.
Reformatted disk (exFAT to NTFS): 3.5Compare
After Initial scan: Nothing was found.
After disk scan: Only raw files were found with incorrect filenames. Some of them were successfully recovered.
Files that could not be recovered: 1 flv, 1 mpeg, 86 mp3, all doc, docx, xls, xlsx, odt, and ods files.
Partially recovered files: all mkv and mts files.
Reformatted disk (FAT32 to FAT32): 5.0Compare
After Initial scan: Nothing was found.
After Deep scan: A FAT partition was found. All files and folders were found in the #0186 folder. All of them were successfully recovered, but it appeared that several recovered mp3 files and one folder had truncated names with ~1 at their end. All of them, however, could be opened in their applications after renaming.
Damaged partition (exFAT): 6.0Compare
Immediately found a raw partition of the correct size.
After Initial scan: An exFAT partition was found with all folders and files with correct names. All of them were successfully recovered.
Damaged partition (NTFS): 6.0Compare
A RAW partition was immediately found.
After Full Scan (scanning the partition): The previous NTFS partition was found with all files and folders with correct names. All of them were successfully recovered.
Damaged partition (FAT32): 5.0Compare
Immediately found a raw partition of the correct size.
After Initial scan of the partition: Almost all files and folders were found, mostly with correct names. The exception is one subfolder with video files. 1 avi, 6 mp3 files, and one folder had truncated names with ~1 at their end.
After Deep scan of the partition: All files and folders, including those what had not been found during the Initial scan, were found, mostly with correct names. The folder and files that had incorrect names after the Initial scan still had the same incorrect names. The lost folder was found but its name was changed to #0206, and the name of one of the mp3 files was incorrect. All files and folders were successfully recovered. All recovered files with damaged names could be opened in their applications after renaming. Overall, all files were successfully recovered, but the initial folder structure was recovered only partially.
Damaged partition (exFAT): 6.0Compare
Immediately found a raw partition of the correct size.
After Initial scan of the partition: An exFAT partition containing all files and folders with correct names was found. All of them were successfully recovered.
Damaged partition (ext4fs): 6.0Compare
Immediately found a raw partition of the correct size.
After Initial scan: An exFAT partition was found with all folders and files with correct names. All of them were successfully recovered.
Damaged partition (HFS+): 6.0Compare
An HFS partition was immediately found, but it cannot be explored.
After Partition scan: All files and folders were found with correct names and successfully recovered.
Damaged partition (APFS): 5.5Compare
After disk scan: All files and folders were found with correct names and successfully recovered.
Deleted partition (NTFS): 5.5Compare
After Initial scan: Noting was found.
After disk scan: The previous NTFS partition was found containing all files and folders with correct names. All of them were successfully recovered.
Deleted partition (exFAT): 5.0Compare
After Deep scan: The previous exFAT partition was found. All four folders from the root folder with incorrect names were found in the [Unclassified] folder. These four folders contained their respective sub-folders and files with correct names. All of them were successfully recovered. Files from the disk root folder were not found in these folders. They were found among raw files with incorrect names. They were successfully recovered.
Deleted partition (FAT32): 5.0Compare
Initially, a FAT32 (CHS) partition of the correct size was found among Unmounted basic (MBR) partitions.
After Initial scan: Nothing was found.
After Deep scan of the found partition: The root folder was found in Folder #0167 containing all folders and files, except files from the root folder. Those files were found directly in Folder #0167. All files were successfully recovered, with one thing: 6 mp3, 1 avi and 1 mp4 files, and two folders had truncated names with ~1 at their end.
Overall, all files were successfully recovered, but the initial folder structure was recovered slightly incorrectly.
Deleted partition (exFAT): 4.5Compare
Immediately a partition marked as exFAT, NTFS, ReFS with a correct size was found in the Unmounted basic (MBR) partitions section.
After initial scan of this partion: Nothing was found.
After Deep scan of this partion: The previous exFAT partition was found. Some files with correct names were found in the Unclassified section in the /#0XXX folders. Some of them were successfully recovered. Many files were found in raw files with an incorrect name and successfully recovered.
Files that could not be recovered: 1 flv, 6 doc, 12 docx, 2 xls, 4 xlsx, 6 odt, 2 ods.
Partially recovered files: 1 mkv file.
Windows LDM RAID 5 Recovery: 6.0Compare
The LDM RAID5 was immediately found and correctly reconstructed. All file and folders were found and successfully recovered
Windows LDM RAID 5 Recovery with One Unsynced Disk: 6.0Compare
The LDM RAID5 was immediately found and correctly reconstructed. All files and folders were found and successfully recovered. The program showed the un-synced disk.
Automatic RAID 5 Parameter Detection: 5.0Compare
The program was able to find the correct RAID parameters automatically after a long scan. All files and folders were found and successfully recovered.
Windows Storage Space (WSS) Recovery: 0.0Compare
Although the developers of the program claim that it supports Windows Storage Spaces, it didn’t found them automatically, and there’s no way to create it directly or indirectly.
Windows Storage Space (WSS) Recovery with One Missing Disk: 0.0Compare
Although the developers of the program claim that it supports Windows Storage Spaces, it didn’t found them automatically, and there’s no way to create it directly or indirectly.
Mac RAID 0 Recovery: 1.5Compare
The program could recognize the Mac RAID 0 after a scan but reconstructed it incorrectly. Files were found but they appeared damaged after recovery.
Mac APFS Fusion Drive Recovery: 2.5Compare
The program could not recognize the Mac APFS Fusion Drive. Separate scans of the disks revealed some raw files, which were successfully recovered.
Linux MD RAID 5 Recovery: 6.0Compare
The Linux MD RAID 5 was immediately found and correctly reconstructed. All files and folders were found and successfully recovered.
Linux LVM2 RAID 0 Recovery: 5.0Compare
Two Linux LVM2 RAID 0 objects were immediately found. One was empty, the other contained all files and folders. The program crashed several times during this procedure.
Speed of SSD disk scan: 3.5Compare
10 min 36 sec (340 GB/h) – disk scan and search for all file systems and raw files.
Overall Product Rating: 4.6
A good data recovery program with an excellent combination of file recovery features and performance. One of the best sets of supported file systems. Great file recovery performance. Strengths: Automatic RAID parameter recognition and support for many logical disk managers. Weaknesses: Poor file preview capabilities and lack of built-in S.M.A.R.T. reporting.
Added since our last review: Support for the new file system: APFS (in Ultimate version).
Interface and Features
Localized file name recognition: 6.0Compare
Recognized all tested localized characters in file and folder names.
Demo version restrictions: 5.0Compare
The Demo version cannot recover files. (for Ultimate) Upon request, users may receive a 14-day demo key for a fully functional Pro copy with no functional limitations except the disable copy option.
File preview: 3.5Compare
A file previewer with limited file types supported: graphic, pdf (the first page) , txt, and doc files.
File recovery parameters: 4.0Compare
Recovers file names and folder structure. Pro: Duplicate files can be renamed, skipped, or overwritten. Recovery of deleted files can be skipped.
File systems supported for file recovery: 5.5Compare
FAT, exFAT, NTFS, ReFS, ext2/3/4, XFS, BTRFS, HFS, HFS+, UFS, VMFS (Professional), APFS (in Ultimate).
Deep analysis of disks (disk scan): 4.5Compare
Supports scans for entire hard drives or logical disks. Several scan parameters can be specified: file system to scan for, code page (for some file systems), delete duplicate files for NTFS, scan types for ExtFS. Several objects can be scanned simultaneously. Scan results may be stored to a file and loaded later.
File recovery using file signatures (raw file recovery): 5.5Compare
Supports raw file recovery. The users can turn this feature on/off and specify signature parameters, and their own file signatures.
Disk imaging and copying: 5.5Compare
Image types: byte-by-byte. The VHD (2 TB max) and VHDX disk image types are also supported. Some image creation parameters are supported: block size and block timeout.
Note: The program opened and analyzed the VHD and VHDX image files successfully.
File search, mark for recovery, sorting: 4.5Compare
Search and mark parameters: for normal and deleted files (separately), file masks, individual file search, file search for time stamps (Modified after, Modified before), Deleted date on an NTFS volumes, search in the Recycle Bin (Deleted today, Deleted within a week, Deleted within a month), file search for size (max/min). Date/Time search options can be specified simultaneously. Files can be sorted within a folder by clicking column names (name, size, data, etc.), similar to sorting in Windows Explorer.
Logging: 4.0Compare
A kind of forensic log (trace) can be created: One trace for all files or one trace per file.
RAID recovery features: 4.5Compare
Direct access to a virtual RAID. Only disks and images can be added to a virtual RAID.
Standard RAID level presets: 5.5Compare
JBOD, RAID0 (Stripe Set), RAID 1(Mirror), RAID 10 (1+0), RAID 1E, RAID5, RAID6 (Reed-Solomon), RAID6E (Reed-Solomon), RAID6 (Double Xor), with all their variants. Parity delay support for all applicable levels
User-defined RAID layouts: 5.0Compare
The user can specify very complex RAID layouts using a special language for RAID description files.
Automatic RAID parameter finding: 6.0Compare
RAID parameters and layout can be automatically found for RAID 0, 5, and 6.
Support for disk and volume managers: 5.5Compare
Support for Windows Dynamic Disks (Windows software RAIDs), Linux MD RAIDs, Windows Storage Spaces, and Linux Logical Volume Manager (LVM/LVM2). The program can assemble these objects automatically, even when their service data is slightly damaged. Pro: The program also supports some less common managers, like the Drobo file system and HP EVA vRAID LUNs.
Hexadecimal editor: 4.0Compare
Pro: The editor has all standard features. Data may be represented in any coding or as hex values. Built-in templates for data interpretation.
File recovery performance
Files Deleted without Recycle Bin (NTFS file system): 5.0Compare
After Full Scan: All files were found in their original locations with correct names, except for one avi and 2 jpg files from the root folder, and one mkv file. All found files were successfully recovered. The avi and 2 jpg files from the root folder were found in raw files with incorrect names and successfully recovered. The found mkv file had the size lesser than that of the original.
Files that were partially recovered: 1 mkv file.
Files Deleted without Recycle Bin (exFAT file system): 5.0Compare
After disk scan: All of the files and folders were successfully recovered with correct original names on the exFAT partition, with one exception: one avi file from the disk root folder could not be recovered.
Files that could not be recovered: the avi file from the root folder.
Files Deleted without Recycle Bin (FAT32 file system): 5.0Compare
After disk scan: The program found the folders from the disk root with incorrect names (like #xxx) and most files with correct file names and sizes in correct folders. Some files had an underscore as their first character. Some files were not successfully recovered.
Files that could not be recovered: 1 mov file.
Emptied Recycle Bin (exFAT file system): 5.0Compare
After disk scan: A deleted Video folder was found on the exFAT partition in the correct place. It contained all subfolders and files with correct names. Also, the root folder on the found exFAT partition contained the files from the disk root folder with correct file names. The Recycle Bin contained three deleted folders corresponding to Documents, Music, and Photos. They contained all subfolders and files with correct names. All of them were successfully recovered.
Emptied Recycle Bin (NTFS file system): 5.0Compare
After disk scan: The program found 3 deleted folders (Documents, Music, Photos) from the disk root folder with incorrect names. These folders contained the subfolders and files with correct names. Also, the Recycle Bin contained the files from the disk root folder with incorrect names. All the files and folders were successfully recovered. The Unclassified section contained two folders #0200 and #0198. The first one contained the folders and files from the Video folder, except one Avi folder. The second one contained the rest of files and folders from the Video folder. All these files and folders were successfully recovered. One mkv and one avi files were not found. The avi and mkv files were found in raw files with incorrect names, the avi file was successfully recovered.
Files that could not be recovered: The mkv file appeared damaged (only half of the file was recovered).
Reformatted disk (FAT32 to FAT32): 4.5Compare
After disk scan: A FAT partition was found. All of the files and folders, except those from the root folder, were found in the Unclassified/#0166/#0188 folder. All of them were successfully recovered, but it appeared that some recovered files and folders had damaged names. All of them however could be opened in their applications after renaming. The files from the root folder were found in the RAW section, with incorrect names. They were successfully recovered. Overall, all of the files were successfully recovered, but some names were damaged. Files from the root folder were recovered with incorrect names.
Reformatted disk (NTFS to NTFS): 3.0Compare
After disk scan: Three folders #0xxx were found in the [Unclassified] section. They contained some folders and files from the Photos and Video folders. Raw files (RAW) contained some of the other lost files with incorrect names. Most of these files were successfully recovered.
Files that could not be recovered: 86 mp3, 2 pdf, 6 doc, 12 docx, 2 xls, 4 xlsx, 6 odt, 2 ods.
Reformatted disk (exFAT to exFAT): 5.5Compare
After disk scan: All of the folders with correct names from the disk root folder were found in the [Unclassified] section of the exFAT partition. They contained all their respective folders and files with correct file names. All of them were successfully recovered. The files from the disk root folder (one pdf and two jpg files) were found with incorrect names among raw files and successfully recovered.
Files that could not be recovered: one avi file from the disk root folder.
Reformatted disk (NTFS to exFAT): 6.0Compare
After disk scan: An NTFS partition was found. It contained all of the files and folders in correct place with correct names. They were successfully recovered.
Reformatted disk (exFAT to NTFS): 3.5Compare
After disk scan: Only raw files were found with incorrect file names. Some of them were successfully recovered.
Files that could not be recovered: 1 flv, 1 mpeg, 86 mp3, all doc, docx, xls, xlsx, odt, ods.
Incorrectly recovered files: mkv and mts files
Damaged partition (ext4fs): 5.5Compare
After disk scan: All of the files and folders were found with correct names and successfully recovered.
Damaged partition (exFAT): 5.5Compare
Immediately found a raw partition of the correct size.
After disk scan: The exFAT partition was found with all folders and files with correct names. All of them were successfully recovered.
Damaged partition (APFS): 6.0Compare
After disk scan: All of the files and folders were found with correct names and successfully recovered.
Damaged partition (NTFS): 6.0Compare
After Full Scan (scanning the partition): The NTFS partition was found with all of the files and folders with correct names. All of them were successfully recovered.
Damaged partition (HFS+): 5.0Compare
After disk scan: Several HFS partitions were found. One of them contained all of the files and folders with correct names. They were correctly recovered.
Damaged partition (exFAT): 5.5Compare
Immediately found a raw partition of the correct size.
After partition scan: An exFAT partition containing all of the files and folders with correct names was found. All of them were successfully recovered.
Damaged partition (FAT32): 5.0Compare
Immediately found a raw partition of the correct size.
After disk scan: A FAT32 partitions was found containing all of the files and folders, mostly with correct names. 1 avi, 7 mp3 files, and one folder had truncated names with ~1 at the end. The name of another folder was changed to #0204. All files and folder were successfully recovered. All of the recovered files with damaged names could be opened in their applications after renaming.
Deleted partition (FAT32): 5.0Compare
After disk scan: The FAT partition was found containing all of the files and folders, mostly with correct names. 2 avi, 6 mp3 files, and one folder had truncated names with ~1 at the end. The name of another folder was changed to #0204. All files and folder were successfully recovered. All recovered files with damaged names could be opened in their applications after renaming.
Deleted partition (exFAT): 5.0Compare
After disk scan: The exFAT partition was found. All four folders from the disk root folder with incorrect names were found in the [Unclassified] folder. These four folders contained their respective sub-folders and files with correct names. All of them were successfully recovered. Files from the disk root folder were not found in these folders. They were found among raw files with incorrect names. They were successfully recovered.
Deleted partition (exFAT): 4.5Compare
Immediately, a partition marked as exFAT, NTFS, ReFS with a correct size.
After scan of this partion: The previous exFAT partition was found. Some files with correct names were found in the Unclassified/#0XXX folders. Some of them were successfully recovered. Many files were found in raw files with an incorrect name and successfully recovered.
Files that could not be recovered: 1 flv, 6 doc, 12 docx, 2 xls, 4 xlsx, 6 odt, 2 ods.
Partially recovered files: 1 mkv file.
Deleted partition (NTFS): 5.5Compare
After disk scan: The NTFS partition was found with all of the files and folders. All of them were successfully recovered.
Windows LDM RAID 5 Recovery: 6.0Compare
The LDM RAID5 was immediately found and correctly reconstructed. All of the files and folders were found and correctly successfully.
Windows LDM RAID 5 Recovery with One Unsynced Disk: 6.0Compare
The LDM RAID5 was immediately found and correctly reconstructed. All of the files and folders were found and correctly successfully.
Speed of SSD disk scan: 4.0Compare
10 min 12 sec (353 GB/h) – disk scan and search for all file systems and raw files.
Windows Storage Space (WSS) Recovery: 0.0Compare
Although the developers of the program claim that it supports Windows Storage Spaces, it didn’t find them automatically, and there’s no way to create it directly or indirectly.
Windows Storage Space (WSS) Recovery with One Missing Disk: 0.0Compare
Although the developers of the program claim that it supports Windows Storage Spaces, it didn’t found them automatically, and there’s no way to create it directly or indirectly.
Mac RAID 0 Recovery: 1.5Compare
The program could recognize the Mac RAID 0 after a scan but reconstructed it incorrectly. Files were found but they appeared damaged after recovery.
Linux MD RAID 5 Recovery: 5.0Compare
The Linux MD RAID 5 was immediately found and correctly reconstructed. It took very long time to scan the found partition for its files. All of the files and folders were found and successfully recovered.
Linux LVM2 RAID 0 Recovery: 5.0Compare
Two Linux LVM2 RAID 0 objects were immediately found. One was empty, the other contained all of the files and folders. They were found after a relatively long scan (10 mins) and successfully recovered. The program also found an empty NTFS partition.
Automatic RAID 5 Parameter Detection: 5.0Compare
The program was able to find the correct RAID parameters automatically after a long scan. All of the files and folders were found and successfully recovered.
Overall Product Rating: 4.7
A very good data recovery program with excellent combination of file recovery features and performance. One of the best sets of supported file systems. Very good file recovery performance. Strengths: Automatic RAID parameter recognition and support for many logical disk managers, Weaknesses: Poor file preview capabilities and lack of built-in S.M.A.R.T. reporting.
Added since our last review: Support for custom file signatures.
Interface and Features
Localized file name recognition: 6.0Compare
Recognized all tested localized characters in file and folder names.
Demo version restrictions: 5.0Compare
The Demo version cannot recover files. Upon request, users may receive a 14-day demo key for a fully functional copy.
File systems supported for file recovery: 5.5Compare
FAT, exFAT, NTFS, ReFS, ext2/3/4, XFS, BTRFS, HFS, HFS+, UFS, VMFS
File recovery using file signatures (raw file recovery): 5.5Compare
Supports raw file recovery. The users can turn this feature on/off and specify signature parameters, and their own file signatures.
File recovery parameters: 4.0Compare
Recovers file names and folder structure. Duplicate files can be renamed, skipped, or overwritten. Recovery of deleted files can be skipped.
Deep analysis of disks (disk scan): 5.0Compare
Supports scans for entire hard drives or logical disks. Several scan parameters can be specified: file system to scan for, code page (for some file systems), delete duplicate files for NTFS, scan types for ExtFS. Several objects can be scanned simultaneously. Scan results may be stored to a file and loaded later.
Disk imaging and copying: 5.5Compare
Image types: byte-by-byte and compressed. The VHD (2 TB max) and VHDX disk image types are also supported. Some image creation parameters are supported: block size and block timeout. Note: The program crashed when it opened VHD or VHDX image files.
Logging: 4.0Compare
A kind of forensic log (trace) can be created: One trace for all files or one trace per file.
File search, mark for recovery, sorting: 4.5Compare
Search and mark parameters: for normal and deleted files (separately), file masks, individual file search, file search for date, file search for size (max/min), test status, by file hash. Date/Time search options can be specified simultaneously. Files can be sorted within a folder by clicking column names (name, size, data, etc.), similar to sorting in Windows Explorer. A list of files can be saved.
Automatic RAID parameter finding: 6.0Compare
RAID parameters and layout can be automatically found for RAID 0, 5, and 6.
Hexadecimal editor: 4.0Compare
The editor has all standard features. Data may be represented in any coding or as hex values. Built-in templates for data interpretation.
Support for disk and volume managers: 5.5Compare
Support for Windows Dynamic Disks (Windows software RAIDs), Linux MD RAIDs, Windows Storage Spaces, and Linux Logical Volume Manager (LVM/LVM2). The program can assemble these objects automatically, even when their service data is slightly damaged. The program also supports some less common managers like the Drobo file system and HP EVA vRAID LUNs.
RAID recovery features: 4.5Compare
Direct access to a virtual RAID. Only disks and images can be added to a virtual RAID.
Standard RAID level presets: 5.5Compare
JBOD, RAID0 (Stripe Set), RAID 1(Mirror), RAID 10 (1+0), RAID 1E, RAID5, RAID6 (Reed-Solomon), RAID6E (Reed-Solomon), RAID6 (Double Xor), with all their variants. Parity delay support for all applicable levels
User-defined RAID layouts: 5.0Compare
The user can specify very complex RAID layouts using a special language for RAID description files.
File recovery performance
Files Deleted without Recycle Bin (NTFS file system): 5.0Compare
After Full Scan:
All files were found in their original locations with correct names, except for one avi and 2 jpg files from the root folder, and one mkv file. All found files were correctly recovered. The avi and jpg files from the root folder were found in raw files with incorrect names and successfully recovered. The mkv file had the size lesser that original.
Files that were partially recovered: 1 mkv file.
Files Deleted without Recycle Bin (exFAT file system): 5.5Compare
After disk scan:
Almost all files and folders were correctly recovered with correct original names on the exFAT partition. Only one avi file from the disk root folder was recovered incorrectly.
Files that could not be recovered: the avi file from the root folder.
Files Deleted without Recycle Bin (FAT32 file system): 3.0Compare
After disk scan:
The program found the folders from the disk root with incorrect names (like #xxx) and most files with correct file names and sizes in correct folders. Some files had an underscore as their first character. When recovered, all these files appeared damaged. Some files could be correctly recovered even from raw files. Some movie types were recovered incorrectly (e.g. mov and m4v were recovered as mp4 but appeared playable).
Files that could not be recovered: 1 flv, 1 mpeg, 86 mp3, 6 doc, 12 docx, 2 xls, 4 xlsx, 6 odt, and 2 ods.
Emptied Recycle Bin (exFAT file system): 5.0Compare
After disk scan:
A deleted folder Video was found on the exFAT partition in the correct place. It contained all subfolders and files with correct names. Also, the root folder on the found exFAT partition contained the files from the disk root folder with correct file names. The Recycle Bin contained three deleted folders corresponding to Documents, Music, and Photos. They contained all subfolders and files with correct names. All of them were correctly recovered.
Emptied Recycle Bin (NTFS file system): 5.0Compare
After disk scan: The program found 3 deleted folders (Documents, Music, Photos) from the disk root folder. These folders contained the subfolders and files with correct names. Also, the Recycle Bin contained the files from the disk root folder with incorrect names. All the files and folders were correctly recovered, except 4 mp3 and 2 xlsx. The Unclassified section contained two folders #0198 and #0196. The first one contained the folders and files from the Video folder, except one avi file. The second one contained the rest of files and folders from the Video folder. All these files and folders were correctly recovered. One mkv file was not found. The avi file and mkv file was found in raw files with incorrect names, the avi file was correctly recovered.
Files that could not be recovered: 2 xlsx and 4 mp3. The mkv file appeared damaged (only half of the file was playable).
Reformatted disk (exFAT to exFAT): 5.5Compare
After disk scan:
All the folders from the disk root folder were found in the [Unclassified] section of the exFAT partition. They had incorrect names like #xxxx but contained all their respective folders and files with correct file names. They were correctly recovered. The files from the disk root folder (one pdf and two jpg files) were found with incorrect names among raw files and correctly recovered.
Files that could not be recovered: one avi file from the disk root folder.
Reformatted disk (NTFS to exFAT): 5.5Compare
After disk scan:
An NTFS partition was found. It contained all files and folders in correct place with correct names. They were correctly recovered.
Files that could not be recovered: 2 xlsx and 1 mp3
Reformatted disk (exFAT to NTFS): 3.5Compare
After disk scan:
Only raw files were found with incorrect file names. Some of them were correctly recovered. Files that could not be recovered: 1 pdf, 1 flv, 1 mpeg, 86 mp3, all doc, docx, xls, xlsx, odt, ods.
Incorrectly recovered files: mkv and mts files
Reformatted disk (FAT32 to FAT32): 4.5Compare
After disk scan:
A FAT partition was found. All files and folders, except those from the root folder, were found in the Unclassified/#0164/#0186 folder. All of them were correctly recovered, but it appeared that some recovered files and folders had damaged names. All of them however could be opened in their applications after renaming. The files from the root folder were found in the RAW section, with incorrect names. They were correctly recovered. Overall, all files were correctly recovered, but some names were damaged. Files from the root folder were recovered with incorrect names.
Reformatted disk (NTFS to NTFS): 2.0Compare
After disk scan:
Three folders #0xxx were found in the [Unclassified] section. They contained some folders and files from the Photos and Video folders. Raw files (RAW) contained some of the other lost files with incorrect names.
Files that could not be recovered: 1 jpg, 2 pdf, all mp3, doc, docx, xls, xlsx, odt, ods files.
Damaged partition (NTFS): 5.5Compare
After Full Scan (scanning the partition):
The previous NTFS partition was found with all files and folders with correct names. All of them were correctly recovered.
Damaged partition (exFAT): 5.5Compare
Immediately found a raw partition of the correct size.
After disk scan:
An exFAT partition was found with all folders and files with correct file names. All of them were correctly recovered.
Damaged partition (FAT32): 5.0Compare
Immediately found a raw partition of the correct size.
After disk scan:
A FAT32 partition containing all files and folders with correct names was found. All of them were correctly recovered, but it appeared that some recovered files and folders had damaged names. All of them could however be opened in their applications after renaming.
Damaged partition (exFAT): 5.5Compare
Immediately found a raw partition of the correct size.
After disk scan:
An exFAT partition containing all files and folders with correct names was found. All of them were correctly recovered.
Damaged partition (HFS+): 5.0Compare
After disk scan:
Several HFS partitions were found. One of them contained all files and folders with correct names. They were correctly recovered.
Damaged partition (ext4fs): 5.5Compare
After disk scan:
All files and folders were found with correct names and correctly recovered.
Deleted partition (NTFS): 5.5Compare
After disk scan:
The previous NTFS partition was found containing all files and folders with correct names. All of them were correctly recovered.
Deleted partition (exFAT): 5.0Compare
After disk scan:
The previous exFAT partition was found. All files and folders with correct names were found in the [Unclassified]/#0159 folder. All of them were correctly recovered, except one pdf file from the root folder. It was found in raw files with an incorrect name and successfully recovered.
Deleted partition (FAT32): 5.0Compare
After disk scan:
A FAT partitions was found containing all files and folders with correct names. All of them were correctly recovered, but it appeared that some recovered files and folders had damaged names. But all of them could be opened in their applications after renaming.
Deleted partition (exFAT): 5.0Compare
After disk scan:
A FAT partitions was found containing all files and folders with correct names. All of them were correctly recovered, but it appeared that some recovered files and folders had damaged names. But all of them could be opened in their applications after renaming.
Linux MD RAID 5 Recovery: 6.0Compare
The Linux MD RAID 5 was immediately found and correctly reconstructed. All file and folders were found and correctly recovered.
Windows Storage Space (WSS) Recovery: 0.0Compare
The program doesn’t support Windows Storage Spaces, and there’s no way to create it directly or indirectly.
Windows Storage Space (WSS) Recovery with One Missing Disk: 0.0Compare
The program doesn’t support Windows Storage Spaces, and there’s no way to create it directly or indirectly.
Linux LVM2 RAID 0 Recovery: 5.0Compare
The Linux LVM2 RAID 0 was found after a relatively long scan (10 min) and correctly reconstructed. All file and folders were found and correctly recovered.
Automatic RAID 5 Parameter Detection: 5.0Compare
The program was able to find the correct RAID parameters automatically after a long scan.
Speed of SSD disk scan: 4.5Compare
11 min 2 sec.
(326 GB/h) – disk scan and search for all file systems and raw files.
Windows LDM RAID 5 Recovery: 6.0Compare
The LDM RAID5 was immediately found and correctly reconstructed. All file and folders were found and correctly recovered.
Windows LDM RAID 5 Recovery with One Unsynced Disk: 6.0Compare
The LDM RAID5 was immediately found and correctly reconstructed. All file and folders were found and correctly recovered. The program showed the unsynced disk.
Overall Product Rating: 4.3
A very promising data recovery program. It deservedly won the third position in our rating thanks to its excellent combination of file recovery features and performance. Strengths: One of the best sets of supported file systems. Good support for many RAID levels and logical disk managers. Very good performance, especially for data recovery from emptied Recycle Bin and damaged partitions. Weaknesses: There is no built-in S.M.A.R.T. reporting and no support for custom RAID layouts. It also could not automatically detect RAID5 parameters; however, ReclaiMe did find correct RAID parameters in other tests outside the scope of this review.
Interface and Features
Localized file name recognition: 6.0Compare
Recognized all tested localized characters in file and folder names.
Demo version restrictions: 2.5Compare
Ultimate: file recovery is disabled. Pro: Users receive a 14-day demo key for a fully functional copy. The only exception is that the copy option is disabled.
File preview: 4.5Compare
A file previewer with limited file types supported: graphic, txt, and doc files.
Disk imaging and copying: 5.5Compare
Image types: byte-by-byte and compressed. The VHD (2 TB max) and VHDX disk image types are also supported. In the Pro version: Some image creation parameters are supported: block size and block timeout. Note: The program (Pro version) crashed when it opened VHD or VHDX image files.
File systems supported for file recovery: 6.0Compare
FAT, exFAT, NTFS, ReFS, ext2/3/4, XFS, BTRFS, HFS, HFS+, UFS, VMFS(in Pro version)
Logging: 4.0Compare
In the Pro version: A kind of forensic log (trace) can be created: One trace for all files or one trace per file.
File search, mark for recovery, sorting: 5.0Compare
Search and mark parameters: for normal and deleted files (separately), file masks, individual file search, file search for size (max/min). Files can be sorted within a folder by clicking column names (name, size, data, etc.), similar to sorting in Windows Explorer. In the Pro version: test status, by file hash. Date/Time search options can be specified simultaneously.
File recovery parameters: 4.0Compare
Recovers file names and folder structure. In the Pro version: Duplicate files can be renamed, skipped, or overwritten. Recovery of deleted files can be skipped.
File recovery using file signatures (raw file recovery): 4.5Compare
Supports raw file recovery. In the Pro version: The user can turn this feature on and off.
Deep analysis of disks (disk scan): 5.0Compare
Supports scans for entire hard drives or logical disks. In the Pro version: several scan parameters can be specified: file system to scan for, code page (for some file systems), delete duplicate files, NTFS, scan types for ExtFS. Scan results may be stored to a file and loaded later.
Automatic RAID parameter finding: 6.0Compare
RAID parameters and layout can be found for RAID0, RAID 5 and 6 automatically.
RAID recovery features: 4.5Compare
Direct access to a virtual RAID. Only disks and images can be added to a virtual RAID.
Hexadecimal editor: 4.0Compare
In the Pro version: The editor has all standard features. Data may be represented in any coding or as hex values. Built-in templates for data interpretation.
Support for disk and volume managers: 5.5Compare
Support for Windows Dynamic Disks (Windows software RAIDs), Linux MD RAIDs, Windows Storage Spaces, and Linux Logical Volume Manager (LVM/LVM2). The program can assemble these objects automatically, even when their service data is slightly damaged. The program also supports some less common managers like the Drobo file system and HP EVA vRAID LUNs.
Standard RAID level presets: 5.5Compare
JBOD, RAID0 (Stripe Set), RAID 1(Mirror), RAID 10 (1+0), RAID 1E, RAID5, RAID6 (Reed-Solomon), RAID6E (Reed-Solomon), RAID6 (Double Xor), with all their variants. Parity delay support for all applicable levels
File recovery performance
Files Deleted without Recycle Bin (NTFS file system): 5.0Compare
After Full Scan:
All files with correct names were found on the NTFS partition, except files from the root folder and the mkv file. These files, except the mkv file, 2 xlsx and 4 mp3, were found with incorrect names in raw files and correctly recovered.
Partially recovered files: A part of the mkv file.
Files that could not be recovered: two xlsx and four mp3 files.
Files Deleted without Recycle Bin (FAT32 file system): 3.0Compare
After disk scan:
The program found the folders from the disk root with incorrect names (like #xxx) and all files with correct file names and sizes in correct folders. Some files had an underscore as their first character. When recovered, all these files appeared damaged. Some files could be correctly recovered from raw files: 22 avi, 87 jpg, 8 mp4, 8 mts, 10 pdf, 42 png. Some movie types were recovered incorrectly (e.g. mov and m4v were recovered as mp4, but appeared playable).
Files that could not be recovered: many.
Files Deleted without Recycle Bin (exFAT file system): 5.0Compare
After disk scan:
Almost all files and folders were correctly recovered with correct original names on the exFAT partition. Only one avi file from the disk root folder was recovered incorrectly.
Files that could not be recovered: the avi file from the root folder.
Emptied Recycle Bin (exFAT file system): 5.5Compare
After disk scan:
A deleted folder Video was found on the exFAT partition in the correct place. It contained all subfolders and files with correct names. The Recycle Bin contained three deleted folders corresponding to Documents, Music, and Photos. They contained all subfolders and files with correct names. The Recycle Bin also contained the files from the root folder with incorrect names. All of them were correctly recovered.
Emptied Recycle Bin (NTFS file system): 5.0Compare
After disk scan:
The program found 3 deleted folders (Documents, Music, Photos) from the disk root. These folders contained the subfolders and files with correct names. Also the Recycle Bin contained one jpg and one pdf from the root folder. All of the files and folders were correctly recovered, except 4 mp3 and 2 xlsx. The Unclassified section contained two deleted folders #0193 and #0195. The first one contained the rest of the folders and files from the Avi folder, except one avi file. The second one contained the rest of files and folders from the Video folder. All of these files and folders were correctly recovered. 2 avi files were found in raw files with incorrect names and were correctly recovered.
Files that could not be recovered: 2 xlsx and 4 mp3
Reformatted disk (exFAT to exFAT): 5.5Compare
After disk scan:
All the folders from the disk root folder were found in the [Unclassified] section of the exFAT partition. They had incorrect names like #xxxx, but contained all their respective folders and files with correct file names. The files from the disk root folder (one pdf and two jpg files) were found with incorrect names among raw files and correctly recovered.
Files that could not be recovered: one avi file from the disk root folder.
Reformatted disk (NTFS to NTFS): 2.5Compare
After disk scan:
Three folders #xxxx were found in the [Unclassified] section. They contained some folders and files from the Photos and Video folders. Raw files contained some of the other lost files with incorrect names.
Files that could not be recovered: all mp3, doc, docx, xls, xlsx, odt, ods files.
Reformatted disk (exFAT to NTFS): 3.5Compare
After disk scan:
Only raw files were found with incorrect file names. Some of them were correctly recovered.
Files that could not be recovered: 1 avi, 1 flv, 1 mpeg, 86 mp3, all doc, docx, xls, xlsx, odt, ods, zip files. Incorrectly recovered files: the mkv and mts files.
Reformatted disk (FAT32 to FAT32): 5.0Compare
After disk scan:
All files and folders (including their content) from the root folder were found with correct names in the #0160 folder. All of them were correctly recovered, but it appeared that some recovered files and folders had damaged names. But all of them could be opened in their applications after renaming.
Reformatted disk (NTFS to exFAT): 5.5Compare
After disk scan:
An NTFS partition was found. It contained all files and folders in correct place with correct names. They were correctly recovered, except 2 xlsx and 1 mp3 files.
Files that could not be recovered: 2 xlsx, and 1 mp3 files.
Damaged partition (HFS+): 5.5Compare
After disk scan:
All files and folders were found with correct names and correctly recovered.
Damaged partition (ext4fs): 5.5Compare
After disk scan:
All files and folders were found with correct names and correctly recovered.
Damaged partition (exFAT): 5.5Compare
Immediately found a raw partition.
After disk scan:
An exFAT partition was found with all folders and files with correct file names. All of them were correctly recovered.
Damaged partition (exFAT): 5.5Compare
Immediately found a raw partition.
After disk scan:
An exFAT partition containing all files and folders with correct names was found. All of them were correctly recovered.
Damaged partition (FAT32): 5.5Compare
Immediately found a raw partition.
After disk scan:
A FAT32 partition containing all files and folders with correct names was found. All of them were correctly recovered, but it appeared that some recovered files and folders had damaged names. But all of them could be opened in their applications after renaming.
Damaged partition (NTFS): 6.0Compare
After Full Scan (scanning the partition):
The previous NTFS partition was found with all files and folders with correct names. All of them were correctly recovered.
Deleted partition (exFAT): 5.0Compare
After disk scan:
The previous exFAT partition was found. All files and folders with correct names were found in the [Unclassified]/#0159 folder. All of them were correctly recovered, except one pdf file from the root folder. It was found in raw files with an incorrect name and successfully recovered.
Deleted partition (FAT32): 5.0Compare
After disk scan:
FAT and exFAT partitions were found. The FAT partition contained all files and folders with correct names. All of them were correctly recovered, but it appeared that some recovered files and folders had damaged names. But all of them could be opened in their applications after renaming.
Deleted partition (exFAT): 5.0Compare
After disk scan:
The previous exFAT partition was found. All files and folders with correct names were found in the [Unclassified]/#0159 folder. All of them were correctly recovered, except one pdf file from the root folder. It was found in raw files with an incorrect name and successfully recovered.
Deleted partition (NTFS): 5.5Compare
After disk scan:
The previous NTFS partition was found containing all files and folders with correct names. All of them were correctly recovered.
Linux MD RAID 5 Recovery: 6.0Compare
The Linux MD RAID 5 was immediately found and correctly reconstructed. All file and folders were found and correctly recovered.
Automatic RAID 5 Parameter Detection: 0.0Compare
The program was not able to find the correct RAID parameters automatically even after a 40-min scan.
Windows Storage Space (WSS) Recovery with One Missing Disk: 5.5Compare
The disks from the WSS had to be added manually. The WSS was found after a one minute scan and correctly reconstructed. All files were correctly recovered.
Windows LDM RAID 5 Recovery with One Unsynced Disk: 6.0Compare
The LDM RAID5 was immediately found and correctly reconstructed. All file and folders were found and correctly recovered.
Windows LDM RAID 5 Recovery: 6.0Compare
The LDM RAID5 was immediately found and correctly reconstructed. All file and folders were found and correctly recovered.
Windows Storage Space (WSS) Recovery: 5.5Compare
The disks from the WSS had to be added manually. The WSS was found after a one minute scan and correctly reconstructed. All files were correctly recovered.
Linux LVM2 RAID 0 Recovery: 5.0Compare
The Linux LVM2 RAID 0 was found after a relatively long scan (10 min) and correctly reconstructed. All file and folders were found and correctly recovered.
Speed of SSD disk scan: 4.5Compare
9 min 48 sec (367 GB/h) – disk scan and search for all file systems and raw files.
