File recovery performance
Deleted files
- 2023
- 2022
- 2021
- 2020
- 2019
- 2018
- 2017
- 2016
- 2015
- 2014
Files Deleted without Recycle Bin (NTFS file system)
Test description: OS: Windows 10 64 bit HDD: 80 GB Western Digital WD800AAJS, 20 GB NTFS partition.
Data on the disk: 293 files, approximately 17 GB total size, scattered over a certain file structure
Files: 87 jpg, 40 png, 1 mkv, 22 avi, 1 flv, 1 m4v, 2 mov, 5 mp4, 1 mpeg, 4 mts, 86 mp3, 10 pdf, 6 doc, 12 docx, 2 xls, 4 xlsx, 6 odt, 2 ods, 1 zip
The contents of the disk root folder were deleted without the Recycle Bin.
Note: Different programs have different options for performing a certain file recovery task. For each program, we initially used the option most suitable for this test. If it did not recover all the data, we then used the most powerful recovery option in the program.
Product | Rating | Test Results | |
---|---|---|---|
DiskGenius | 5.5 | After Recover Lost Files: Some remnants of the original folder structure and files from the root folder were found in their original places. The rest of the original folder structure and their files were found in the Orphaned Files/Orphaned Files 43 section. All files except for the avi file from the root folder were successfully recovered. This avi file was found in the Recovered Types (raw files) section. Overall, all files were successfully recovered. 1 file was recovered as a raw file. The original folder structure was recovered only partially. | |
Recovery Explorer Professional | 5.0 | After Explore file system: Nothing was found. After Quick scan (index) the file system: Only some remnants of the previous folder structure was found with their files were found in their original places. Some other remnants were found in the $LostFolders/$Group10 .... 01/$Folder00..02B section. The found files were successfully recovered. After Scan for lost data (Do indexing of the file system and continue with the full scan): An NTFS partition was found. That partition contained all files and the original folder structure with correct names. All but 1 file was successfully recovered. Files that were not recovered: 1 avi file from the root folder . Overall, all but 1 file and the original folder structure were successfully recovered. | |
ReclaiMe File Recovery | 5.0 | 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. | |
R-Studio | 5.0 | After Show Files: Almost all files and folders were found in their original places with correct file and folder names. The only exceptions were files from the device root folder. All found files and folders were successfully recovered. After Disk Scan: 1 pdf, 1 jpg, and 1 avi files from the root folder were found in the Extra Found Files (Raw Files). Only the pdf and jpg files were successfully recovered, but without their correct filenames. Files that were not recovered: 1 jpg and 1 avi file. Overall, all but 2 files and the original folder structure were successfully recovered, but 2 files only as raw files. | |
DMDE | 4.5 | After Open Volume Nothing was found. After Full Scan Most of the original folder structure and its files were found in their original places, the mkv file having zero size. The rest of the folder structure was found in the $R00018 section. Files from the root folder were found as raw files. All found files were successfully recovered. Files that were not recovered: 1 mkv file. Overall, all but one files were successfully recovered, 4 of them as raw files. The original folder structure was recovered only partially. | |
WinHex | 4.0 | After Open Disk: Most of the original folder structure with all files was found in their original places. The mkv file had zero size. Files from the root folder were not found. All found files were successfully recovered. The rest of the folder structure was found in the Path unknown/ Empty directories/ Directory with ID 43 section. All found files were successfully recovered. After File Recovery by Types: 2 jpg and 1 pdf files from the root were found. They were and successfully recovered. The mkv file was also found but contained only the very beginning. Files that were not recovered: 1 avi and 1 mkv files. Overall, all but two files were successfully recovered, 3 as raw files. The original folder structure was recovered only partially. | |
Summary: DiskGenius was able to recover all files, although 1 file was recovered as a raw file. The rest of the programs couldn’t recover 1 or 2 files. ReclaiMe file recovery Ultimate, DiskGenius, DMDE, and WinHex could recover the original folder structure only partially. |
Files Deleted without Recycle Bin (exFAT file system)
Test description: OS: Windows 10 64 bit HDD: 80 GB Western Digital WD800AAJS, 32 GB exFAT partition.
Data on the disk: 293 files, approximately 17 GB total size, scattered over a certain file structure
Files: 87 jpg, 40 png, 1 mkv, 22 avi, 1 flv, 1 m4v, 2 mov, 5 mp4, 1 mpeg, 4 mts, 86 mp3, 10 pdf, 6 doc, 12 docx, 2 xls, 4 xlsx, 6 odt, 2 ods, 1 zip
The contents of the disk root folder were deleted without Recycle Bin.
Note: Different programs have different options for performing a certain file recovery task. For each program, we initially used the option most suitable for this test. If it did not recover all the data, we then used the most powerful recovery option in the program.
Product | Rating | Test Results | |
---|---|---|---|
ReclaiMe File Recovery | 5.5 | 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. | |
R-Studio | 5.5 | After Show Files: All files and folders were found as deleted and successfully recovered with correct original names. The only one exception was the avi file in the root folder. After Disk Scan: Nothing new was found. Files that were not recovered: 1 avi file. Overall, all but one files and the original folder structure were successfully recovered. | |
Recovery Explorer Professional | 5.5 | After Explore file system: Nothing was found. After Quick scan (index) the file system: Nothing was found. After Scan for lost data (Do indexing of the file system and continue with the full scan): Two ExFAT partition were found. Both contained all files and folders in their original places. The only exception was the avi file from the root folder. All of found files were successfully recovered. Files that were not recovered: 1 avi file. Overall, all but one files and the original folder structure were successfully recovered. | |
WinHex | 5.5 | After Open Disk: All but one file and folder were successfully recovered with correct original names. After File Recovery by Types: The avi file wasn’t found. Files that were not recovered: 1 avi file. Overall, all but one file and the original folder structure were successfully recovered. | |
DMDE | 5.5 | After Open Volume 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 file and the original folder structure were successfully recovered. | |
DiskGenius | 3.5 | After Recover Lost Files: Only raw files were found. The found files were successfully recovered. Files that were not recovered: 1 avi, 2 ods, and 6 odt files. (9 files) 3 Overall, only raw files were recovered. The original folder structure was not recovered at all. | |
Summary: All programs except DiskGenius successfully recovered the original folder structure. All programs couldn’t recover the avi file from the root folder. DiskGenius could recover only raw files, 9 files weren’t recovered. |
Files Deleted without Recycle Bin (FAT32 file system)
Test description: OS: Windows 10 64 bit HDD: 32 GB nway flash card, 32 GB FAT32 partition.
Data on the disk: 292 files, approximately 9 GB total size, scattered over a certain file structure
Files: 87 jpg, 40 png, 22 avi, 1 flv, 1 m4v, 2 mov, 5 mp4, 1 mpeg, 4 mts, 86 mp3, 10 pdf, 6 doc, 12 docx, 2 xls, 4 xlsx, 6 odt, 2 ods, 1 zip
The contents of the disk root were deleted without Recycle Bin.
Note: Different programs have different options for performing a certain file recovery task. For each program, we initially used the option most suitable for this test. If it did not recover all the data, we then used the most powerful recovery option in the program.
Product | Rating | Test Results | |
---|---|---|---|
R-Studio | 6.0 | After Show Files: All files and folders were found in their original places with correct file and folder names. Some files and folders had the ‘?’ character instead of their first letters. Almost all files were successfully recovered, but 1 mp4, 4 png, and 1 avi files appeared damaged after recovery. After Disk Scan: The damaged files were found and successfully recovered with their correct names. Overall, all files and the original folder structure were successfully recovered. | |
WinHex | 6.0 | After Open Disk: All folders and files were found with correct names except that some files and folder had the ? character as their first letters. Overall, all files and the original folder structure were successfully recovered. | |
Recovery Explorer Professional | 5.5 | After Explore file system: Nothing was found. After Quick scan (index) the file system: Only avi and pdf files from the root folder were found. The avi file was successfully recovered, but the pdf file appeared damaged. After Scan for lost data (Do indexing of the file system and continue with the full scan): All files were found in their original places mostly with correct file and folder names. Some files and folders had the ~ character instead of their first letters. All but 5 files were successfully recovered. Those files (1 avi, 1 mov, 3 mts) were found in the Raw recovery results section. They were successfully recovered. Overall, all files and the original folder structure were successfully recovered. 5 files were recovered as raw files. | |
DMDE | 5.0 | After Open Volume: All files and folders were found in their original places with correct names, except several files and folders had the _ character instead of their first letters. Most of them were successfully recovered. 2 xls, 6 doc, 17 mp3, mpeg, and 4 mts files appeared damaged after recovery. After Full Scan: Those damaged files (except 1 mts file) were found and successfully recovered. Files that were not recovered: 1 mts file. Overall, all but 1 files and the original folder structure were successfully recovered. | |
DiskGenius | 4.0 | After Recover Lost Files: Only files from the device root folder were found. 2 jpg files had the ! character instead of their first letters. They appeared damaged. The remnants of the original folder structure were scattered over the folders of the Orphaned Files 152193 type in the Orphaned Files section. Some folders and files had the ! character instead of their first letter. The found files and folders were successfully recovered, except of 10 png, 11 avi, and 1 mov file appeared damaged. Those files were found in the Recovered Types section (raw files) and successfully recovered. Overall, all files were successfully recovered, although 22 files were recovered as raw files. The original folder structure was not recovered. | |
ReclaiMe File Recovery | 4.0 | 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. | |
Summary: R-Studio and WinHex recovered all files and the original folder structure. DMDE didn’t recover 1 file. DiskGenius and ReclaiMe file recovery Ultimate couldn’t recover the folder structure. Recovery Explorer Professional recovered some files as raw files. |
Files Deleted without Recycle Bin (exFAT file system)
Test description: OS: Windows 10 64 bit HDD: 80 GB Samsung SP0812C, 32 GB exFAT partition.
Data on the disk: 293 files, approximately 17 GB total size, scattered over a certain file structure
Files: 87 jpg, 40 png, 1 mkv, 22 avi, 1 flv, 1 m4v, 2 mov, 5 mp4, 1 mpeg, 4 mts, 86 mp3, 10 pdf, 6 doc, 12 docx, 2 xls, 4 xlsx, 6 odt, 2 ods, 1 zip
The contents of the disk root folder were deleted without Recycle Bin.
Note: Different programs have different options for performing a certain file recovery task. For each program, we initially used the option most suitable for this test. If it did not recover all the data, we then used the most powerful recovery option in the program.
Product | Rating | Test Results | |
---|---|---|---|
ReclaiMe File Recovery | 6.0 | 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. | |
R-Studio | 6.0 | After Show Files: All files and folders were found and successfully recovered with correct original names. Overall, all files and the original folder structure were successfully recovered. Long disk scan was not required. | |
WinHex | 6.0 | After Open Disk: All files and folders with correct names were found in their original places. They were successfully recovered. Disk scan was not needed. Overall, all files and the original folder structure were successfully recovered. | |
Stellar Windows Data Recovery | 6.0 | After Search Lost Partitions: An unconnected exFAT partition was found. After Partition scan: All files and folders were found in their original places with correct names. They were successfully recovered. Overall, all files and the original folder structure were successfully recovered. | |
DiskGenius | 6.0 | After Recover Lost Files: All files and folders were found and successfully recovered with correct original names. Overall, all files and the original folder structure were successfully recovered. | |
Recovery Explorer Professional | 5.5 | After Explore file system: Nothing was found. After Quick scan (index) the file system: Nothing was found. After Scan for lost data (Do indexing of the file system and continue with the full scan): Two ExFAT partition were found. One of them contained all files and folders in their original places. All of them were successfully recovered. Overall, all files and the original folder structure were successfully recovered after disk scan. | |
Summary: All programs successfully recovered all files and the original folder structure. Recovery Explorer Professional did that after disk scan. |
Files Deleted without Recycle Bin (NTFS file system)
Test description: OS: Windows 10 64 bit HDD: 80 GB Samsung SP0812C, 20 GB NTFS partition.
Data on the disk: 293 files, approximately 17 GB total size, scattered over a certain file structure
Files: 87 jpg, 40 png, 1 mkv, 22 avi, 1 flv, 1 m4v, 2 mov, 5 mp4, 1 mpeg, 4 mts, 86 mp3, 10 pdf, 6 doc, 12 docx, 2 xls, 4 xlsx, 6 odt, 2 ods, 1 zip
The contents of the disk root folder were deleted without the Recycle Bin.
Note: Different programs have different options for performing a certain file recovery task. For each program, we initially used the option most suitable for this test. If it did not recover all the data, we then used the most powerful recovery option in the program.
Product | Rating | Test Results | |
---|---|---|---|
DiskGenius | 5.5 | After Recover Lost Files: All files and folders were found in their original places with correct names. All but one found files were successfully recovered. The only exception is one avi file from the device root folder. This avi file was found in the Recovered Types section (raw files) with incorrect name and was successfully recovered. Overall, all files and the original folder structure were successfully recovered. One file was recovered as a raw file. | |
R-Studio | 5.0 | After Show Files: Almost all files and folders were found in their original locations with correct file and folder names. The only exceptions were 2 jpg and one avi files from the device root folder. Also the mkv file had zero size. All found files and folders were successfully recovered. After Disk Size: Those files were found in the Extra Found Files (Raw Files) and successfully recovered, but without their correct filenames. Overall, all files and the original folder structure were successfully recovered, but four files only as raw files. | |
Recovery Explorer Professional | 4.5 | After Explore file system: Nothing was found. After Quick scan (index) the file system: All files and folders with correct names were found, except two jpg and avi files from the device root folder. Also one mkv file was not found. The found files were successfully recovered. After Do indexing of the file system and continue with the full scan: One jpg and mkv files were found and successfully recovered. The avi file was found in the Raw recovery results section and successfully recovered. Files that could not be recovered: one jpg file. Overall, almost all files and the original folder structure were successfully recovered, one file was recovered as a raw file, and one file was not recovered at all. | |
ReclaiMe File Recovery | 4.5 | 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. | |
Stellar Windows Data Recovery | 4.5 | After Search Lost Partition: An unmounted NTFS partition was found. After Scan of the found partition: All files were found in their original locations with correct names, except for two jpg and avi files from the device root folder. Also one mkv file had zero size. All found files were successfully recovered. After Deep Scan: Those two jpg and avi files were found as raw files and successfully recovered. The mkv file was found but appeared truncated. It was successfully recovered. Partially recovered files: one mkv file. Overall, all files and the original folder structure were successfully recovered, but three files were recovered as raw files, and one file was partially recovered. | |
WinHex | 4.0 | After Open Disk: All files were found in their original locations with correct names, except for two jpg and avi files from the device root folder. Also, one mkv file had zero size. All found files were successfully recovered. After File Recovery by Types: That avi file was found as a raw file and successfully recovered. The mkv file was found but appeared severely truncated. It was successfully recovered. Partially recovered files: one mkv file. Files that could not be recovered: two jpg files. Overall, almost all files and the original folder structure were successfully recovered, but one file was recovered as a raw file, one file was partially recovered, and two files could not be recovered. | |
Summary: All tested programs could recover the original folder structure. DiskGenius and R-Studio were able to recover all files, although some files were recovered as raw files (one in DiskGenius and four in R-Studio). The rest of the programs couldn’t recover at least one file. WinHex showed the worst result (two files could not be recovered). |
Files Deleted without Recycle Bin (FAT32 file system)
Test description: OS: Windows 10 64 bit HDD: 32 GB Kingston DataTraveler memory stick, 32 GB FAT32 partition.
Data on the disk: 292 files, approximately 9 GB total size, scattered over a certain file structure
Files: 87 jpg, 40 png, 22 avi, 1 flv, 1 m4v, 2 mov, 5 mp4, 1 mpeg, 4 mts, 86 mp3, 10 pdf, 6 doc, 12 docx, 2 xls, 4 xlsx, 6 odt, 2 ods, 1 zip
The contents of the disk root were deleted without Recycle Bin.
Note: Different programs have different options for performing a certain file recovery task. For each program, we initially used the option most suitable for this test. If it did not recover all the data, we then used the most powerful recovery option in the program.
Product | Rating | Test Results | |
---|---|---|---|
R-Studio | 6.0 | After Show Files: All files from the root folder were found in their original location with correct file and folder names. Some files and folders had the ‘?’ character instead of their first letters. All files were successfully recovered, but 1 xls, 4 png, and 1 avi file appeared damaged after recovery. After Deep Scan: The lost files were found in raw files and successfully recovered, but with incorrect names. Overall, all files and the original folder structure were successfully recovered, 6 files as raw files. | |
Recovery Explorer Professional | 6.0 | After Explore file system: Nothing was found. After Quick scan (index) the file system: Only 3 files from the root folder were found. They appeared damaged. After Scan for lost data (Do indexing of the file system and continue with the full scan): All files were found in their original places mostly with correct file and folder names. Some files and folders had the ~ character instead of their first letters. All were successfully recovered. Overall, all files and the original folder structure were successfully recovered. | |
WinHex | 5.0 | After Open Disk: All folders and files were found, mostly with correct names. Some files and folders were successfully recovered, some were recovered with incorrect names: they had the ? character as their first characters. 2 mp3 and 1 avi file were not recovered. After File Recovery by Types: Those 1 avi and 2 mp3 files were found and successfully recovered. Overall, all files and the original folder structure were successfully recovered. Three files were recovered as raw files. | |
DiskGenius | 5.0 | After Recover Lost Files: Only files from the device root folder were found. 2 jpg files had the ! character instead of their first letter. They appeared damaged. The remnants of the original folder structure were scattered over the folders of the Orphaned Files 152193 type in the Orphaned Files section. Some folders and files had the ! character instead of their first letter. The found files and folders were successfully recovered, except of 10 png, 11 avi, and one mov file appeared damaged. Those files were found in the Recovered Types section (raw files) and successfully recovered. Overall, all files were successfully recovered, although 22 files were recovered as raw files. The original folder structure was not recovered. | |
ReclaiMe File Recovery | 4.5 | 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. | |
Stellar Windows Data Recovery | 4.0 | After Search Lost Partition: An unmounted FAT32 partition was found. After Partition scan: All files and folders were found in their respective original place. Some folders and files had their correct names, while some had the X character instead of their first characters. Most of these files were successfully recovered, but some files appeared damaged. The recovery process was unusually long. After Deep Scan: Many lost files were found in the Raw Data section and successfully recovered. Files that could not be recovered: 1 mp3, 2 ods, 6 odt, flv, 1 mpeg files. Overall, most files were successfully recovered, many as raw files. The original folder structure was recovered only partially. | |
Summary: R-Studio and Recovery Explorer Professional recovered all files and the original folder structure. DiskGenius and WinHex could recover all files, but some of them were recovered as raw files, that is, without their names and paths. ReclaiMe file recovery Ultimate and Stellar Windows Data Recovery could not recover some files, Stellar Windows Data Recovery shown the worst result. |
Files Deleted without Recycle Bin (exFAT file system)
Test description: OS: Windows 10 64 bit HDD: 80 GB Samsung SP0812C, 32 GB exFAT partition.
Data on the disk: 293 files, approximately 17 GB total size, scattered over a certain file structure.
Files: 87 jpg, 40 png, 1 mkv, 22 avi, 1 flv, 1 m4v, 2 mov, 5 mp4, 1 mpeg, 4 mts, 86 mp3, 10 pdf, 6 doc, 12 docx, 2 xls, 4 xlsx, 6 odt, 2 ods, 1 zip.
The contents of the disk root folder were deleted without Recycle Bin.
Note: Different programs have different options for performing a certain file recovery task. For each program, we initially used the option most suitable for this test. If it did not recover all the data, we then used the most powerful recovery option in the program.
Product | Rating | Test Results | |
---|---|---|---|
ReclaiMe File Recovery | 6.0 | 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. | |
R-Studio | 6.0 | After Show Files on the partition: All files and folders were found and successfully recovered with correct original names. Overall, all files and the original folder structure were successfully recovered. | |
WinHex | 6.0 | After Open Disk: All files and folders with correct names were found in their original places. They were successfully recovered. Disk scan was not needed. Overall, all files and the original folder structure were successfully recovered. | |
Stellar Windows Data Recovery | 6.0 | After Search Lost Partitions: An unconnected exFAT partition was found. After Partition scan: All files and folders were found in their original places with correct names. They were successfully recovered. Deep scan was not needed. Overall, all files and the original folder structure were successfully recovered. | |
Recovery Explorer RAID | 5.5 | After opening file system: Nothing was found. After Scan for lost data (Only index this file system (run quick scan)): Nothing was found. After Scan for lost data (Index this file system and then scan unused space): All files and folders were found and successfully recovered with correct original names. Overall, all files and the original folder structure were successfully recovered. | |
DMDE | 5.5 | After Open Volume (opening the partition): All folders were found with correct names, but they appeared empty. Files in the root folder were also found. These files were successfully recovered. After Full Scan (scanning the partition): All files and folders with correct names were found in the initial folder. All files and folders were successfully recovered. Overall, all files and the original folder structure were successfully recovered. | |
Summary: All programs successfully recovered all files and the original folder structure. Recovery Explorer RAID and DMDE did that after disk scan. |
Files Deleted without Recycle Bin (FAT32 file system)
Test description: OS: Windows 10 64 bit HDD: Kingston DataTravel G4 32 TB flash stick, 32 GB FAT32 partition.
Data on the disk: 292 files, approximately 9 GB total size, scattered over a certain file structure.
Files: 87 jpg, 40 png, 22 avi, 1 flv, 1 m4v, 2 mov, 5 mp4, 1 mpeg, 4 mts, 86 mp3, 10 pdf, 6 doc, 12 docx, 2 xls, 4 xlsx, 6 odt, 2 ods, 1 zip.
The contents of the disk root were deleted without Recycle Bin.
Note: Different programs have different options for performing a certain file recovery task. For each program, we initially used the option most suitable for this test. If it did not recover all the data, we then used the most powerful recovery option in the program.
Product | Rating | Test Results | |
---|---|---|---|
Recovery Explorer RAID | 6.0 | After Disk opening: Nothing was found. After Scan for lost data (Only index this file system (run quick scan)): Only 3 files from the root folder. They appeared damaged. After Scan for lost data (Index this file system and then scan unused space): All files were found in their original places mostly with correct file and folder names. Some files and folders had the ~ character instead of their first letters. All were successfully recovered. Overall, all files and the original folder structure were successfully recovered. | |
R-Studio | 6.0 | After Show Files: All files from the root folder were found in their original location with correct file and folder names. Some files and folders had the ‘?’ character instead of their first letters. All files were successfully recovered, but 1 xls, 4 png, and 1 avi files appeared damaged after recovery. After Deep Scan: All files from the root folder were found in their original location with correct file and folder names. They were successfully recovered. Overall, all files and the original folder structure were successfully recovered. | |
WinHex | 5.0 | After Open Disk: All folders and files were found, mostly with correct names. Some files and folders were successfully recovered, some were recovered with incorrect names: they had the ? character as their first characters. One mp3, 3 mts, and 1 avi files were not recovered. After File Recovery by Types: The mts file was found as an m2ts file, also 1 avi and 1 mp3 were found and successfully recovered. Files that could not be recovered: 2 mts files. Overall, all but two files and the original folder structure were successfully recovered, with 3 files as raw files. | |
DMDE | 5.0 | After Open Volume: All folders and files were found with correct names. Some files and folders were successfully recovered, but some were recovered with incorrect names: they had an underscore as their first character. Most, but not all, files were not successfully recovered. After Full Scan (scanning the partition): All unrecovered files were successfully recovered, except for 1 mts file. It could not be recovered even from raw files. Files that could not be recovered: 1 mts file. Overall, all but one files and the original folder structure were successfully recovered. | |
ReclaiMe File Recovery | 4.5 | 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. | |
Stellar Windows Data Recovery | 4.0 | After Search Lost Partition: An unmounted FAT32 partition was found. After Partition scan: All files and folders were found in their respective original place. Some folders and files had their correct names, but some had the X character instead of their first characters. Most of these files were successfully recovered, but some files appeared damaged. The recovery process was unusually long. After Deep Scan: Many lost files were found in the Raw Data section and successfully recovered. Files that could not be recovered: 6 mp3, 2 ods, 6 odt, 1 flv, 1 mpeg files. Overall, most files were successfully recovered, many as raw files. The original folder structure was recovered. | |
Summary: R-Studio and Recovery Explorer RAID recovered all files and the original folder structure. Stellar Windows Data Recovery showed the worst results, ReclaiMe file recovery could not recover the original folder structure. |
Files Deleted without Recycle Bin (NTFS file system)
Test description: OS: Windows 10 64 bit HDD: 80 GB Samsung SP0812C, 20 GB NTFS partition.
Data on the disk: 293 files, approximately 17 GB total size, scattered over a certain file structure
Files: 87 jpg, 40 png, 1 mkv, 22 avi, 1 flv, 1 m4v, 2 mov, 5 mp4, 1 mpeg, 4 mts, 86 mp3, 10 pdf, 6 doc, 12 docx, 2 xls, 4 xlsx, 6 odt, 2 ods, 1 zip
The contents of the disk root folder were deleted without the Recycle Bin.
Note: Different programs have different options for performing a certain file recovery task. For each program, we initially used the option most suitable for this test. If it did not recover all the data, we then used the most powerful recovery option in the program.
Product | Rating | Test Results | |
---|---|---|---|
R-Studio | 6.0 | After Show Files on the partition: All files were found in their original locations with correct file and folder names. All files were successfully recovered. Overall, all files and the original folder structure were successfully recovered. | |
Recovery Explorer RAID | 5.5 | After Explore file system: Nothing was found. After Scan for lost data (Only index this file system (run quick scan)): All files and folders with correct names were found, except one mkv file. The found files were successfully recovered. After Scan for lost data (Index this file system and then scan unused space): The mkv file was found in the Raw scan results section. It was successfully recovered. Overall, all files and the original folder structure were successfully recovered with one file as a raw file. | |
ReclaiMe File Recovery | 5.0 | 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. | |
DMDE | 5.0 | After Open Volume: Nothing was found. After Full Scan: All files and folders were found in their original places with correct names, except for one mkv file. All found files were successfully recovered. The mkv file was found in the raw files, but truncated by 4 times. 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. | |
Stellar Windows Data Recovery | 5.0 | After Search Lost Partition: An unmounted NTFS partition was found. After Partition scan: All files and folders were found in their original places with correct names, except the mkv file that has zero size. All found files were recovered successfully. After Deep Scan: The mkv file was found in the Raw Data section as a raw file. It was truncated by 2 times, but successfully recovered. The scan time was very long. 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. | |
WinHex | 4.5 | After Open Disk: All files were found in their original locations with correct names, except for one mkv file that has zero size. All found files were successfully recovered. After File Recovery by Types: The mkv file was found, but it size was very small. It was successfully recovered, but it appeared very short and may be well considered as not recovered. Files that could not be recovered: 1 mkv file. Overall, all but one files and the original folder structure were successfully recovered. | |
Summary: R-Studio could recover all files and folders without disk scan. Recovery Explorer RAID could recover all files and folders, but one file as a raw file only, that is, with incorrect names. Other programs could recover the mkv file only partially. WinHex could not practically recover the mkv file. |
Files Deleted without Recycle Bin (FAT32 file system)
Test description: OS: Windows 10 64 bit HDD: 32 GB Kingston DataTravel G4 memory stick, 32 GB FAT32 partition.
Data on the disk: 292 files, approximately 9 GB total size, scattered over a certain file structure
Files: 87 jpg, 40 png, 22 avi, 1 flv, 1 m4v, 2 mov, 5 mp4, 1 mpeg, 4 mts, 86 mp3, 10 pdf, 6 doc, 12 docx, 2 xls, 4 xlsx, 6 odt, 2 ods, 1 zip
The contents of the disk root were deleted without Recycle Bin.
Note: Different programs have different options for performing a certain file recovery task. For each program, we initially used the option most suitable for this test. If it did not recover all the data, we then used the most powerful recovery option in the program.
Product | Rating | Test Results | |
---|---|---|---|
R-Studio | 5.5 | After Open Drive Files on the partition: All files from the root folder were found in their original location with correct file and folder names. Some files and folders had the ‘?’ character instead of their first letters. All files were successfully recovered, but one xls, four png, and one avi files appeared damaged after recovery. After Disk Scan: All files and folders were found and successfully recovered. | |
Recovery Explorer RAID | 5.5 | After Explore file system: Nothing was found. After Scan for lost data: All files were found in their original locations mostly with correct file and folder names. Some files and folders had the ~ character instead of their first letters. All were successfully recovered. | |
DMDE | 4.5 | After Open Volume (opening the partition): All folders and files were found, mostly with correct names. Some files and folders were successfully recovered, some were recovered with incorrect names: they had an underscore as their first character. two xls, all doc, 25 mp3, one jpg, mpeg, and four mts files were not successfully recovered. After Full Scan (scanning the partition): All unrecovered files were successfully recovered, except for 1 mts file. It could not be recovered even from raw files. Files that could not be recovered: 1 mts file. | |
ReclaiMe File Recovery | 4.0 | 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. | |
WinHex | 3.5 | After Open Disk : All folders and files were found with correct names. Some files and folders were successfully recovered, some were recovered with incorrect names: they had the ? character as their first characters. one mp3, three mts, and one avi files were not recovered successfully. Files that could not be recovered: one mp3, three mts, and one avi files. | |
GetDataBack+RAID Reconstructor | 1.0 | After opening the partition: The program found folders and files in their initial place. They had the x character instead of the first characters. They appeared damaged after recovery. After Fast scan: The same was found. After Thorough file system scan and recovery: The same was found. Also the [Lost & Found] section contained all files and folders with incorrect names. They were appeared damaged after recovery. After Complete disk scan, find any data trace, slow: The same was found. Overall, nothing was recovered. | |
Summary: R-Studio and Recovery Explorer RAID showed the best results in the test; they could recover all files and the correct folder structure. GetDataBack+RAID Reconstructor could not recover anything. |
Files Deleted without Recycle Bin (exFAT file system)
Test description: OS: Windows 10 64 bit HDD: 80 GB Samsung SP0812C, 32 GB exFAT partition.
Data on the disk: 293 files, approximately 17 GB total size, scattered over a certain file structure
Files: 87 jpg, 40 png, 1 mkv, 22 avi, 1 flv, 1 m4v, 2 mov, 5 mp4, 1 mpeg, 4 mts, 86 mp3, 10 pdf, 6 doc, 12 docx, 2 xls, 4 xlsx, 6 odt, 2 ods, 1 zip
The contents of the disk root folder were deleted without Recycle Bin.
Note: Different programs have different options for performing a certain file recovery task. For each program, we initially used the option most suitable for this test. If it did not recover all the data, we then used the most powerful recovery option in the program.
Product | Rating | Test Results | |
---|---|---|---|
ReclaiMe File Recovery | 5.5 | 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. | |
R-Studio | 5.5 | After Open Drive Files on the partition: Almost all files and folders were successfully recovered with correct original names. Only one avi file from the root folder could not be recovered.This file could not be recovered even after disk scan. Files that could not be recovered: the avi file from the root folder. | |
GetDataBack+RAID Reconstructor | 5.5 | After opening the partition: All files and folders with correct names were found in the initial folder. All files and folders were successfully recovered except the avi file from the root folder. After Fast scan: The same was found. After Thorough file system scan and recovery: The same was found. After Complete disk scan, find any data trace, slow: The same was found. Files that could not be recovered: the avi file from the root folder. | |
WinHex | 5.5 | After Open Disk: All files and folders with correct names were found in the initial folder. All files and folders were successfully recovered except the avi file from the root folder. After Scan for lost partitions of the entire disk: The lost file was not found. Files that could not be recovered: the avi file from the root folder. | |
Recovery Explorer RAID | 5.0 | After Explore file system: Nothing was found. After Scan for lost data: Almost all files and folders were successfully recovered with correct original names. Only one avi file from the root folder could not be recovered.This file could not be recovered even after disk scan. Files that could not be recovered: the avi file from the root folder. | |
DMDE | 5.0 | After Open Volume (opening the partition): All folders were found with correct names, but they appeared empty. Files in the root folder were also found. These files were successfully recovered, except the avi file from the root folder. After Full Scan (scanning the partition): All files and folders with correct names were found in the initial folder. All files and folders were successfully recovered except the avi file from the root folder. Files that could not be recovered: the avi file from the root folder. | |
Summary: None of the programs could recover the avi file from the root folder. R-Studio, ReclaiMe File Recovery, GetDataBack+RAID Reconstructor, and WinHex could recover files without performing a disk scan. |
Files Deleted without Recycle Bin (NTFS file system)
Test description: OS: Windows 10 64 bit HDD: 80 GB Samsung SP0812C, 20 GB NTFS partition.
Data on the disk: 293 files, approximately 17 GB total size, scattered over a certain file structure
Files: 87 jpg, 40 png, 1 mkv, 22 avi, 1 flv, 1 m4v, 2 mov, 5 mp4, 1 mpeg, 4 mts, 86 mp3, 10 pdf, 6 doc, 12 docx, 2 xls, 4 xlsx, 6 odt, 2 ods, 1 zip
The contents of the disk root folder were deleted without the Recycle Bin.
Note: Different programs have different options for performing a certain file recovery task. For each program, we initially used the option most suitable for this test. If it did not recover all the data, we then used the most powerful recovery option in the program.
Product | Rating | Test Results | |
---|---|---|---|
R-Studio | 6.0 | After Open Drive Files on the partition: All files were found in their original locations with correct file and folder names. All files were successfully recovered. | |
Recovery Explorer RAID | 5.5 | After Explore file system: Nothing was found. After Scan for lost data: All files with correct names were found on the NTFS partition, except one mkv file, one avi and 2 jpg files from the root folder. These files were found in raw file with incorrect names. All files were successfully recovered. | |
DMDE | 5.0 | After Open Volume: Nothing was found. 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 had zero size. All those files were successfully recovered. 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 an incorrect file name and size lesser than original. Files that were partially recovered: 1 mkv file. | |
ReclaiMe File Recovery | 5.0 | 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. | |
GetDataBack+RAID Reconstructor | 4.5 | After opening the partition: 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 has zero size. All found files were successfully recovered. After Fast scan: The same was found. After Thorough file system scan and recovery: The same was found. After Complete disk scan, find any data trace, slow: The same was found. Files that could not be recovered: two jpg, one mkv, and one avi files. | |
WinHex | 4.5 | After Open Disk: 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 has zero size. All found files were successfully recovered. After Scan for lost partitions of the entire disk: The lost files were not found. Files that could not be recovered: two jpg, one mkv, and one avi. | |
Summary: R-Studio could recover all files and folders without disk scan. Recovery Explorer RAID could recover four files from raw files only, that is, with incorrect names. DMDE, and ReclaiMe file recovery could recover the mkv file only partially. GetDataBack+RAID Reconstructor and WinHex could not recover four files. |
Files Deleted without Recycle Bin (exFAT file system)
Test description: OS: Windows 10 64 bitHDD: 80 GB Samsung SP0812C, 32 GB exFAT partition. Data on the disk: 293 files, approximately 17 GB total size, scattered over a certain file structure Files: 87 jpg, 40 png, 1 mkv, 22 avi, 1 flv, 1 m4v, 2 mov, 5 mp4, 1 mpeg, 4 mts, 86 mp3, 10 pdf, 6 doc, 12 docx, 2 xls, 4 xlsx, 6 odt, 2 ods, 1 zipThe contents of the disk root folder were deleted without Recycle Bin.
Note: Different programs have different options for performing a certain file recovery task. For each program, we initially used the option most suitable for this test. If it did not recover all the data, we then used the most powerful recovery option in the program.
Product | Rating | Test Results | |
---|---|---|---|
R-Studio | 5.5 | After Open Drive Files on the partition: Almost all of the files and folders were successfully recovered with correct original names. Only one avi file from the disk root folder could not be recovered. This file could not be recovered even after disk scan. Files that could not be recovered: the avi file from the root folder. | |
Active@ File Recovery Ultimate | 5.5 | After Quick Scan (opening the partition): Almost all of the files and folders were successfully recovered with correct original names, except for the avi file from the root folder. After QuickScan Plus and Super Scan: This avi file was found in its initial place but appeared damaged. Files that could not be recovered: the avi file from the root folder. | |
Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery Technician | 5.5 | After Scan: All of the files and folders were found in their original locations with correct names, except for the avi file from the root folder. All found files were successfully recovered. After Deep Scan The avi file was not found in raw files. Files that could not be recovered: the avi file from the root folder. | |
Recovery Explorer RAID | 5.0 | After Explore file system: Nothing was found. After Scan for lost data: All of the files and folders were found in their initial place and were successfully recovered, except for one avi file. Files that could not be recovered: the avi file from the root folder. | |
DMDE | 5.0 | After Open Volume (opening the partition): All of the folders were found with correct names, but they appeared empty. Files in the root folder were also found. These files were successfully recovered, except for one avi file from the root folder. After Full Scan (scanning the partition): All of the files and folders with correct names were found on the exFAT partition. All of the files and folders were successfully recovered except for the avi file from the root folder. Files that could not be recovered: the avi file from the root folder. | |
ReclaiMe File Recovery | 5.0 | 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. | |
Summary: None of the programs could recover the avi file from the root folder. R-Studio, Active@ File Recovery, and Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery Technician could recover files without performing a disk scan. |
Files Deleted without Recycle Bin (NTFS file system)
Test description: OS: Windows 10 64 bitHDD: 80 GB Samsung SP0812C, 20 GB NTFS partition.Data on the disk: 293 files, approximately 17 GB total size, scattered over a certain file structure Files: 87 jpg, 40 png, 1 mkv, 22 avi, 1 flv, 1 m4v, 2 mov, 5 mp4, 1 mpeg, 4 mts, 86 mp3, 10 pdf, 6 doc, 12 docx, 2 xls, 4 xlsx, 6 odt, 2 ods, 1 zipThe contents of the disk root folder were deleted without the Recycle Bin.
Note: Different programs have different options for performing a certain file recovery task. For each program, we initially used the option most suitable for this test. If it did not recover all the data, we then used the most powerful recovery option in the program.
Product | Rating | Test Results | |
---|---|---|---|
R-Studio | 6.0 | After Open Drive Files on the partition: All files were found in their original locations with correct file and folder names. All files were successfully recovered. | |
Recovery Explorer RAID | 5.5 | After Explore file system: Nothing was found. After Scan for lost data: All files with correct names were found on the NTFS partition, except one avi and 2 jpg files from the root folder and the mkv file. These files were found in raw file with incorrect names. All files were successfully recovered. | |
Active@ File Recovery Ultimate | 5.5 | After QuickScan: 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 had zero size. All found files were successfully recovered. After QuickScan Plus: Same results. After Super Scan: The avi and jpg files from the root folder and the mkv file were found in raw files with incorrect names and successfully recovered. | |
DMDE | 5.0 | After Open Volume: Nothing was found. 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 had zero size. All those files were successfully recovered. 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 an incorrect file name and size lesser than original. Files that were partially recovered: 1 mkv file. | |
ReclaiMe File Recovery | 5.0 | 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. | |
Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery Technician | 5.0 | After Scan: All files were found in their original locations with correct names, except for one avi and 2 jpg files from the root folder. Also one mkv was found with zero size. All found files were successfully recovered. After Deep Scan: The avi and jpg files from the root folder were found in raw files (Raw Data) with incorrect names and successfully recovered. The found mkv file had a smaller size than that of the original. Files that were partially recovered: 1 mkv file. | |
Summary: R-Studio could recover all files in their original place. Recovery Explorer RAID and Active@ File Recovery could recover some files from raw files, that is, with incorrect names. DMDE, Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery Technician, and ReclaiMe file recovery could recover the mkv file only partially. |
Files Deleted without Recycle Bin (FAT32 file system)
Test description: OS: Windows 10 64 bitHDD: 32 GB Transcend Memory Card, 32 GB FAT32 partition. Data on the disk: 292 files, approximately 9 GB total size, scattered over a certain file structure Files: 87 jpg, 40 png, 22 avi, 1 flv, 1 m4v, 2 mov, 5 mp4, 1 mpeg, 4 mts, 86 mp3, 10 pdf, 6 doc, 12 docx, 2 xls, 4 xlsx, 6 odt, 2 ods, 1 zipThe contents of the disk root were deleted without Recycle Bin.
Note: Different programs have different options for performing a certain file recovery task. For each program, we initially used the option most suitable for this test. If it did not recover all the data, we then used the most powerful recovery option in the program.
Product | Rating | Test Results | |
---|---|---|---|
R-Studio | 5.5 | After Open Drive Files on the partition: All files from the root folder were found in their original location with correct file and folder names. Two jpg files had the ‘?’ character instead of their first letters. The avi file was successfully recovered, but the two jpg and pdf files appeared damaged after recovery. After Disk Scan: All of the files and folders were found in their original location mostly with correct file and folder names. Some of them had the ‘?’ character instead of their first letters. All found files were successfully recovered. | |
Recovery Explorer RAID | 5.5 | After Explore file system: Nothing was found. After Scan for lost data: All of the files were found in their original locations mostly with correct file and folder names. Some files and folders had the ~ character instead of their first letters. All were successfully recovered. | |
DMDE | 5.0 | After Open Volume (opening the partition): All of the files and folders were found with correct names. Some files and folders were successfully recovered, some were recovered with incorrect names: they had an underscore as their first character. 2 xls, 6 doc, 28 mp3, 1 jpg, 1 mpeg, and 4 mts files were recovered incorrectly. After Full Scan (scanning the partition): Most files were successfully recovered, except for 1 mp3 and 1 mts files. They could not be recovered even from raw files. Files that could not be recovered: 1 mp3 and 1 mts files. | |
ReclaiMe File Recovery | 5.0 | 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. | |
Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery Technician | 4.5 | After Scan: All of the files and folders were found, mostly with correct names. Some files and folders had the ‘X’ character instead of their first letters. These files were successfully recovered with the following exceptions: 2 ods, 6 odt, 72 mp3, 1 flv, 1 mpeg files which appeared damaged. After Deep scan: The mp3 files were found in the Raw Data (raw files) and successfully recovered. Files that could not be recovered: 2 ods, 6 odt, 1 flv, 1 mpeg. | |
Active@ File Recovery Ultimate | 4.0 | After Quick Scan: Only files from the root folder were found. After recovery they appeared damaged. Also, the four folders from the root folder were found, but they appeared empty. After SuperScan: Almost all files were found with incorrect names among Raw Files (Signature Files) and successfully recovered. Files that could not be recovered: 5 mp3, 5 docx, 2 xls, and 2 xlsx. | |
Summary: R-Studio and Recovery Explorer RAID showed the best results in the test; they could recover all the files and correct folder structure. DMDE and ReclaiMe File Recovery recovered the file structure but not all the files. Active@ File Recovery could recover only some raw files. |
Files Deleted without Recycle Bin (exFAT file system)
Test description: OS: Windows 10 64 bit HDD: 80 GB Samsung SP0812C, 32 GB exFAT partition. Data on the disk: 293 files, approximately 17 GB total size, scattered over a certain file structure Files: 87 jpg, 40 png, 1 mkv, 22 avi, 1 flv, 1 m4v, 2 mov, 5 mp4, 1 mpeg, 4 mts, 86 mp3, 10 pdf, 6 doc, 12 docx, 2 xls, 4 xlsx, 6 odt, 2 ods, 1 zip
The contents of the disk root folder were deleted without Recycle Bin.
Note: Different programs have different options for performing a certain file recovery task. For each program, we initially used the option most suitable for this test. If it did not recover all the data, we then used the most powerful recovery option in the program.
Product | Rating | Test Results | |
---|---|---|---|
R-Studio | 5.5 | After Open Drive Files on the partition: Almost all files and folders were correctly recovered with correct original names. Only one avi file from the disk root folder was recovered incorrectly. This file could not be recovered after disk scan. Files that could not be recovered: the avi file from the root folder. | |
ReclaiMe File Recovery | 5.5 | 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. | |
Do Your Data Recovery | 5.5 | After Quick Recovery: All files were found in their original locations with correct names, except for the avi file from the root folder. All found files were correctly recovered. After Advanced Recovery The avi file was not found in raw files. Files that could not be recovered: the avi file from the root folder. | |
DMDE | 5.0 | After Open Volume (opening the partition): All folders were found with correct names, but they appeared empty. Files in the root folder were also found. These files were correctly recovered, except the avi file from the root folder. After Full Scan (scanning the partition): All files and folders with correct names were found in the $F00007 folder on the exFAT partition. All files and folders were correctly recovered except the avi file from the root folder. Files that could not be recovered: the avi file from the root folder. | |
Active@ File Recovery Ultimate Corporate | 5.0 | After Quick Scan (opening the partition): Almost all files and folders were correctly recovered with correct original names, except the avi file from the root folder. After QuickScan Plus and After Super Scan: This file was found in raw files but appeared damaged. Files that could not be recovered: the avi file from the root folder. | |
Recovery Explorer Professional | 4.5 | After Explore file system: Nothing was found. After Scan for lost data: Four deleted folders Document, Music, Photos, Video from the root folder were found in the $LostFiles/$Group100… section on the exFAT partition. They contained all respective subfolders and files with correct names. They all were recovered correctly. 1 pdf and 2 jpg files from the root folder were found in their original places. All of them were recovered correctly. Files that could not be recovered: the avi file from the root folder. | |
Data Rescue 5 | 3.0 | After Quick Scan: Nothing was found. (exFAT isn’t supported) After Deep Scan: Only raw files were found (Reconstructed Files) mostly with incorrect file names. They were correctly recovered. Files that could not be recovered: 1 mkv, 1 flv, 2 mts, 15 mp3, 10 pdf, 6 doc, 2 xls, 2 ods, 1 avi from the root folder. | |
Summary: R-Studio, Active@ File Recovery, and Do Your Data Recovery could recover files without performing a disk scan. None could recover the avi file from the root folder. Data Rescue 5 could recover only raw files and not all of them. |
Files Deleted without Recycle Bin (NTFS file system)
Test description: OS: Windows 10 64 bit HDD: 80 GB Samsung SP0812C, 20 GB NTFS partition. *Data on the disk:*293 files, approximately 17 GB total size, scattered over a certain file structure Files: 87 jpg, 40 png, 1 mkv, 22 avi, 1 flv, 1 m4v, 2 mov, 5 mp4, 1 mpeg, 4 mts, 86 mp3, 10 pdf, 6 doc, 12 docx, 2 xls, 4 xlsx, 6 odt, 2 ods, 1 zip
The contents of the disk root folder were deleted without the Recycle Bin.
Note: Different programs have different options for performing a certain file recovery task. For each program, we initially used the option most suitable for this test. If it did not recover all the data, we then used the most powerful recovery option in the program.
Product | Rating | Test Results | |
---|---|---|---|
Recovery Explorer Professional | 5.5 | After Explore file system: Nothing was found. After Scan for lost data: All files with correct names were found on the NTFS partition, except one avi and 2 jpg files from the root folder and the mkv file. These files were found in raw file with incorrect names and correctly recovered. | |
Active@ File Recovery Ultimate Corporate | 5.5 | After QuickScan: 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 had zero size. All found files were correctly recovered. After QuickScan Plus: The results were the same. After Super Scan: The avi and jpg files from the root folder and the mkv file were found in raw files with incorrect names and successfully recovered. | |
R-Studio | 5.5 | After Open Drive Files on the partition: All files, except one avi and two jpg from the disk root folder, were found in their original locations with correct file and folder names. All files were correctly recovered. After Disk scan: Those avi and jpg files were found with its incorrect name in the Extra Found Files and correctly recovered. | |
Do Your Data Recovery | 5.5 | After Quick Recovery: All files were found in their original locations with correct names including the mkv file, except for one avi and 2 jpg files from the root folder. All found files were correctly recovered. After Advanced Recovery The avi and jpg files from the root folder were found in raw files (Special lost files (Label) More lost files (RAW) ) with incorrect names and successfully recovered. | |
Data Rescue 5 | 5.0 | After Quick 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 had zero size. All found files were correctly recovered. After Deep ScanS: The avi and jpg files from the root folder were found in raw files (Reconstructed Files) with incorrect names and successfully recovered. Files that could not be recovered: 1 mkv | |
DMDE | 5.0 | After Open Volume: 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 had zero size. All found files were correctly recovered. After Full Scan: The avi and jpg files from the root folder were found in raw files with incorrect names and successfully recovered. The mkv file had an incorrect file name and size lesser than original. Files that were partially recovered: 1 mkv file. | |
ReclaiMe File Recovery | 5.0 | 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. | |
Summary: R-Studio and Do Your Data Recovery Enterprise could recover the most files in the original place. DMDE and ReclaiMe file recovery could recover the mkv file only partially. Data Rescue 5 could not find the mkv file at all. |
Files Deleted without Recycle Bin (FAT32 file system)
Test description: OS: Windows 10 64 bit HDD: 32 GB Transcend Memory Card, 32 GB FAT32 partition. Data on the disk: 292 files, approximately 9 GB total size, scattered over a certain file structure Files: 87 jpg, 40 png, 22 avi, 1 flv, 1 m4v, 2 mov, 5 mp4, 1 mpeg, 4 mts, 86 mp3, 10 pdf, 6 doc, 12 docx, 2 xls, 4 xlsx, 6 odt, 2 ods, 1 zip
The contents of the disk root were deleted without Recycle Bin.
Note: Different programs have different options for performing a certain file recovery task. For each program, we initially used the option most suitable for this test. If it did not recover all the data, we then used the most powerful recovery option in the program.
Product | Rating | Test Results | |
---|---|---|---|
R-Studio | 5.5 | After Open Drive Files on the partition: Almost all files were found in their original location with correct file and folder names. Some files and folders had the ‘?’ character instead of their first letters. Almost all were correctly recovered. Exceptions are: 1 xls, 4 png, and 1 avi. After Disk Scan: 1 xls, 4 png, and 1 avi. were found and correctly recovered. | |
Recovery Explorer Professional | 5.5 | After Explore file system: Nothing was found. After Scan for lost data: Almost all files were found in their original locations with correct file and folder names. Some files and folders had the ~ character instead of their first letters. All were correctly recovered. | |
DMDE | 5.0 | After Open Volume (opening the partition): All folders and files were found with correct names. Some files and folders were correctly recovered, some were recovered with incorrect names: they had an underscore as their first character. 2 xls, 6 doc, 18 mp3, 1 jpg, 1 mpeg, and 4 mts files were recovered incorrectly. After Full Scan (scanning the partition): All incorrectly recovered files were correctly recovered, except for 1 mp3 and 1 mts files. They could not be recovered even from raw files. Files that could not be recovered: 1 mp3 and 1 mts files. | |
Active@ File Recovery Ultimate Corporate | 4.5 | After Quick Scan: Only files from the root folder were found. After recovery they appeared damaged. Also, the four folders from the root folder were found, but they appeared empty. After SuperScan: Almost all files were found with incorrect names among Signature Files and correctly recovered. Files that could not be recovered: 5 mp3, 5 docx, 2 xls, and 2 xlsx. | |
Data Rescue 5 | 3.5 | After Quick Scan: Nothing was found. After Deep Scan: Only raw files were found (Reconstructed Files) mostly with incorrect file names. They were correctly recovered. Files that could not be recovered: 1 flv, 3 mts, 13 mp3, 10 pdf, 6 doc, 2 xls, and 2 ods. | |
ReclaiMe File Recovery | 3.0 | 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. | |
Summary: R-Studio and Recovery Explorer Professional showed the best results in the test; they could recover all files and the correct folder structure. DMDE recovered the file structure but not all the files. Active@ File Recovery, Data Rescue, and ReclaiMe File Recovery could not recover the correct folder names and structure and could recover only some from raw files. Do Your Data Recovery Enterprise could not complete the test at all. |
Files Deleted without Recycle Bin (NTFS file system)
Test description: OS: Windows 8.1 64 bit. HDD: 1 TB Seagate ST31000528AS cc37, 20 GB NTFS partition. Data on the disk: 293 files, approximately 17 GB total size, scattered over a certain file structure Files: 87 jpg, 40 png, 1 mkv, 22 avi, 1 flv, 1 m4v, 2 mov, 5 mp4, 1 mpeg, 4 mts, 86 mp3, 10 pdf, 6 doc, 12 docx, 2 xls, 4 xlsx, 6 odt, 2 ods, 1 zip
The contents of the disk root were deleted without the Recycle Bin.
Note: Different programs have different options for performing a certain file recovery task. For each program, we initially used the option most suitable for this test. If it did not recover all the data, we then used the most powerful recovery option in the program.
Product | Rating | Test Results | |
---|---|---|---|
Recovery Explorer Professional | 5.5 | After Explore file system: Nothing was found. After Scan for lost data: All files with correct names were found on the NTFS partition, except files from the root folder and the mkv file. These files were found with incorrect names in raw files and correctly recovered. Files that could not be recovered: two xlsx and four mp3 files. | |
DMDE | 5.5 | After Open Volume: Nothing was found. After Full Scan: All files with correct names were found on the NTFS partition, except files from the root folder and the mkv file. The mkv file was zero-sized, and 2 xlsx and 4 mp3 files were damaged. These files were found with incorrect names in raw files and correctly recovered. Files that could not be recovered: two xlsx and four mp3 files. | |
R-Studio | 5.5 | After Open Drive Files on the partition: All files, except one pdf from the disk root folder, were found in their original locations with correct file and folder names. All files were correctly recovered except two xlsx and four mp3 files. After Disk scan: The pdf file was found with its correct name in the Extra Found Files and correctly recovered. The rest of the unrecovered files could not be recovered. Files that could not be recovered: two xlsx and four mp3 files. | |
Active@ File Recovery | 5.5 | After QuickScan: All files were found in their original locations with correct names, except for files from the root folder. All were correctly recovered, except the mkv, two xlsx, and four mp3 files. After QuickScan Plus: The results were the same. After Super Scan: The files from the root folder and the mkv file were found in raw files with incorrect names and successfully recovered. Files that could not be recovered: two xlsx and four mp3 files. | |
ReclaiMe file recovery | 5.0 | 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. | |
FILERECOVERY Enterprise | 4.5 | After Explore Volume: Nothing was found. After Deleted File Recovery: All files with correct names were found on the NTFS partition, except files from the root folder and the mkv file. The mkv file was zero-sized, and 2 xlsx and 4 mp3 files were damaged. One avi, two jpg, one pdf files from the root folder were found in raw files with incorrect file names, and correctly recovered. Files that could not be recovered: two xlsx, the mkv, and four mp3 files. The program crashed while recovering raw files. | |
Summary: None of the programs could recover all files, but R-Studio could recover the most files without a disk scan. |
Files Deleted without Recycle Bin (FAT32 file system)
Test description: OS: Windows 8.1 64 bit. HDD: 32 GB Transcend Memory Card, 32 GB FAT32 partition. Data on the disk: 292 files, approximately 9 GB total size, scattered over a certain file structure Files: 87 jpg, 40 png, 22 avi, 1 flv, 1 m4v, 2 mov, 5 mp4, 1 mpeg, 4 mts, 86 mp3, 10 pdf, 6 doc, 12 docx, 2 xls, 4 xlsx, 6 odt, 2 ods, 1 zip
The contents of the disk root were deleted without Recycle Bin.
Note: Different programs have different options for performing a certain file recovery task. For each program, we initially used the option most suitable for this test. If it did not recover all the data, we then used the most powerful recovery option in the program.
Product | Rating | Test Results | |
---|---|---|---|
R-Studio | 5.5 | After Open Drive Files on the partition: Almost all files were found in their original location with correct file and folder names. Some files and folders had the ? character instead of their first letters. Almost all were correctly recovered. Exceptions are: one xls, four png, and one avi After Disk Scan: One xls, four png, and one avi were found and correctly recovered. | |
Recovery Explorer Professional | 5.5 | After Explore file system: Nothing was found. After Scan for lost data: Almost all files were found in their original locations with correct file and folder names, except one avi file. Some files and folders had the ~ character instead of their first letters. All were correctly recovered. The avi file was found among raw files with an incorrect name and correctly recovered. | |
DMDE | 5.0 | After Open Volume (opening the partition): All folders (appeared empty) and files from the root folder were found with correct names. The files were correctly recovered, with one exception: two files had an underscore as their first character. After Full Scan (scanning the partition): A FAT partition was discovered containing all folders and folders with correct names, except that some folders and files had an underscore as their first character. They were correctly recovered, except for one mpeg and 4 mts files. They could not be recovered from raw files. Files that could not be recovered: one mpeg and 4 mts files. | |
Active@ File Recovery | 4.5 | After Quick Scan: Only files from the root folder were found. After recovery they appeared damaged. Also the four folders from the root folder were found, but they appeared empty. After Quick Scan Plus: Files from the root folder and four empty folders were found. In addition, folders Virt_Dir_xxxxxxxxx were found in the ! Lost & Found ! section. They contained the deleted files and folders with correct names, except that some had the underscore instead of the first character. When recovered, they appeared broken. After SuperScan: Almost all files were found with incorrect names among Signature Files and correctly recovered. Files that could not be recovered: all xls and 5 mp3 files. | |
FILERECOVERY Enterprise | 4.5 | After Explore Volume: Nothing was found. After Deleted File recovery: Folders from the disk root with changed names (like Cluster xxxxx) were found in the Orphaned Folders in the Block 32768 section. They contained files with original names, except that some of them had an underscore instead of the first character. Most files were correctly recovered, except one mov, 11 avi, and 10 png files. All the avi files were correctly recovered from raw files, with incorrect file names. Files that could not be recovered: one mov and 10 png files. | |
ReclaiMe file recovery | 3.0 | 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. | |
Summary: R-Studio and Recovery Explorer Professional showed the best results in the test; they could recover all files and the correct folder structure. DMDE recovered the file structure but not all the files. Active@ File Recovery and FILERECOVERY Enterprise could not recover the correct folder names and structure. ReclaiMe File Recovery could recover only some from raw files. |
Files Deleted without Recycle Bin (exFAT file system)
Test description: OS: Windows 8.1 64 bit. HDD: 1 TB Seagate ST31000528AS cc37, 32 GB exFAT partition. Data on the disk: 293 files, approximately 17 GB total size, scattered over a certain file structure. Files: 87 jpg, 40 png, 1 mkv, 22 avi, 1 flv, 1 m4v, 2 mov, 5 mp4, 1 mpeg, 4 mts, 86 mp3, 10 pdf, 6 doc, 12 docx, 2 xls, 4 xlsx, 6 odt, 2 ods, 1 zip
The contents of the disk root were deleted without Recycle Bin.
Note: Different programs have different options for performing a certain file recovery task. For each program, we initially used the option most suitable for this test. If it did not recover all the data, we then used the most powerful recovery option in the program.
Product | Rating | Test Results | |
---|---|---|---|
Active@ File Recovery | 5.5 | After Quick Scan (opening the partition): Almost all files and folders were correctly recovered with correct original names, except the avi file from the root folder. After QuickScan Plus and After Super Scan: This file could not be found, even in raw files. Files that could not be recovered: the avi file from the root folder. | |
FILERECOVERY Enterprise | 5.5 | After Explore Volume (opening the partition): Almost all files and folders were correctly recovered with correct original names, except the avi file from the root folder. Also the mkv file was truncated. After Deleted File recovery (scanning the partition): The unrecovered file was not found, even among raw files. Partially recovered files: the mkv file. Files that could not be recovered: the avi file from the root folder. | |
R-Studio | 5.5 | After Open Drive Files on the partition: Almost all files and folders were correctly recovered with correct original names. Only one avi file from the disk root folder was recovered incorrectly. This file could not be recovered after disk scan. Files that could not be recovered: the avi file from the root folder. | |
ReclaiMe file recovery | 5.0 | 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. | |
DMDE | 5.0 | After Open Volume (opening the partition): All folders were found with correct names, but they appeared empty. Files in the root folder were also found. These files were correctly recovered, except the avi file from the root folder. After Full Scan (scanning the partition): All files and folders with correct names were found in the $F00007 folder on the exFAT partition, except 4 mts files. All files and folders were correctly recovered except the avi file from the root folder. Files that could not be recovered: the avi file from the root folder and four mts files. | |
Recovery Explorer Professional | 5.0 | After Explore file system: Nothing was found. After Scan for lost data: Four deleted folders Document, Music, Photos, Video from the root folder were found in the $LostFiles/$Group100… section on the exFAT partition. They contained all respective subfolders and files with correct names. They all were recovered correctly. The files from the root folder were found in their original places (except the avi file). All of them were recovered correctly. Files that could not be recovered: the avi file from the root folder. | |
Summary: R-Studio, Active@ File Recovery, and FILERECOVERY Enterprise could recover files without performing a disk scan. None could recover the avi file from the root folder. |
Files Deleted without Recycle Bin (exFAT file system)
Product | Rating | Test Results | |
---|---|---|---|
R-Studio | 5.5 | After Open Drive Files on the partition:
After disk scan: | |
Active@ File Recovery | 5.5 | After Quick Scan (opening the partition):
After SuperScan (disk scan): | |
FILERECOVERY Enterprise | 5.5 | After Explore Volume (opening the partition):
After Deleted File recovery (scanning the partition): | |
DMDE | 5.0 | After Open Volume (opening the partition):
After Full Scan (scanning the partition):
No unrecovered files were found in the second partition and raw files. | |
UFS Explorer Professional Recovery | 5.0 | After opening the partition:
After Recover lost data (scanning the partition): | |
Test description: OS: Windows 8.1 64 bit Data on the disk:
The contents of the disk root were deleted while bypassing the Recycle Bin. Summary: R-Studio, Active@ File Recovery, and FILERECOVERY could recover files without disk scan. |
Files Deleted without Recycle Bin (NTFS file system)
Product | Rating | Test Results | |
---|---|---|---|
R-Studio | 5.5 | After Open Drive Files on the partition:
After disk scan: | |
Active@ File Recovery | 4.5 | After Quick Scan (opening the partition):
After SuperScan (disk scan):
| |
DMDE | 4.5 | After Open Volume (opening the partition):
After Full Scan (scanning the partition):
| |
FILERECOVERY Enterprise | 4.0 | After Explore Volume (opening the partition):
After Deleted File recovery (scanning the partition):
| |
UFS Explorer Professional Recovery | 4.0 | After opening the partition:
After Recover lost data (scanning the partition):
No unrecovered files were found in the raw files. | |
Test description: OS: Windows 8.1 64 bit Data on the disk:
The contents of the disk root were deleted and the Recycle Bin was bypassed. Summary: R-Studio recovered almost all files and folders with their correct file names. And it did that without performing a disk scan. The rest of programs recovered almost all files and folders, except the name of one folder, and mp4 files from the root folder could only be recovered from raw files. |
Files Deleted without Recycle Bin (FAT32 file system)
Product | Rating | Test Results | |
---|---|---|---|
R-Studio | 5.5 | After Open Drive Files on the partition:
After disk scan:
| |
DMDE | 4.0 | After Open Volume (opening the partition):
After Full Scan (scanning the partition):
The unrecovered file wasn’t found in the raw files. | |
Active@ File Recovery | 3.5 | After Quick Scan (opening the partition):
After SuperScan (disk scan):
| |
FILERECOVERY Enterprise | 3.5 | After Explore Volume (opening the partition):
After Deleted File recovery (scanning the partition):
One time the program crashed when attempting to recover video and mp3 files. | |
UFS Explorer Professional Recovery | 3.0 | After opening the partition:
After Recover lost data (scanning the partition):
| |
Test description: OS: Windows 8.1 64 bit Data on the disk:
The contents of the disk root were deleted while bypassing the Recycle Bin. Summary: R-Studio showed the best results in the test. |
To test the performance of each program’s data recovery features, we ran a series of tests using a few common data loss scenarios. Each of these tests was run in Windows 7 32-bit. The same file set was used for each test and included the following files:
- Archives: rar, zip
- Audio files: acc, mp3
- Documents: doc, docx, xls, xlsx, odt, ods, pdf, txt
- Video files: flv, mp4, mpg, avi, m4v
- Images: jpg, png, tiff
- Programs: exe
Files deleted without Recycle Bin
Files were deleted using Far Manager with the “Delete to Recycle Bin” option disabled.
Deleted Files (FAT32)
Disk 1 – Disk size: 1 GB, Partition size: 1 GB
Disk 2 – Disk size: 1 GB, Partition size: 500 MB
Product | Rating | Test Results | |
---|---|---|---|
Ontrack® EasyRecovery™ Enterprise | 5.5 | For the 1 GB partition: All files were found after scanning for file signatures and were correctly recovered. For the 500 MB partition: All files were found upon opening the partition. They appeared in the Orphaned Folders folder in their respective subfolders. | |
Active@ File Recovery Ultimate Corporate | 5.5 | For the 1 GB partition: All files were found after scanning for file signatures and were correctly recovered. For the 500 MB partition: All files were found folder in their respective subfolders upon opening the partition. | |
R-Studio | 5.0 | For the 1 GB partition: the recovered folder had an incorrect name and contained the rar, zip, acc, mp3 files. After scanning, the following files were found in the Extra Found Files: jpg, png, tiff, doc, docx, xls, xlsx, odt, ods, pdf, txt, flv, mp4 (2 similar copies), mpg. For the 500 MB partition: All files were found in their respective subfolders upon opening the partition and successfully recovered, but the rar and mpg files appeared damaged. | |
Restorer Ultimate | 5.0 | For the 1 GB partition: Folder recovered with incorrect name. Contained the rar, zip, acc, mp3 files. Disk scan yielded the following Extra Found Files: jpg, png, tiff, doc, docx, xls, xlsx, odt, ods, pdf, txt, flv, mp4 (2 similar copies), mpg. For the 500 MB partition: Upon opening the partition, all files were found and recovered in correct subfolders but the rar and mpg files were corrupted. | |
Recover My Files | 4.5 | For the 1 GB partition: All files, except exe, were found after scanning for file signatures and were correctly recovered. For the 500 MB partition: All files, except docx, and xlsx, were found in their respective subfolders upon opening the partition. The docx and xlsx files were found but appeared damaged. | |
Stellar Phoenix Technician | 4.0 | For the both partitions, only the following files were found and successfully recovered by scanning for file signatures: ¬jpg, png, tiff, mpg, doc, xls, pdf, mp3. The following files were found and recovered, but appeared damaged: avi, zip. | |
UFS Explorer Professional Recovery | 4.0 | For the both partitions, only the following files were found and successfully recovered by using scanning for file signatures (IntelliRAW): jpg, png, tiff, mpg, doc, xls, pdf, mp3. The following files were found and recovered but appeared damaged: avi, zip. | |
GetDataBack + RAID Reconstructor + Captain Nemo | 2.0 | For the both partitions, only the following files were found and successfully recovered by scanning for file signatures (Lost files): jpg, doc. The following files were found and recovered, but appeared damaged: mp3, zip. | |
DMDE | 0.5 | For both partitions, the folder was recovered but no files were recovered. | |
For the FAT32 test, most of the programs successfully found and recovered most of the files, but only after performing a raw file search. Many programs recovered the files, but could not recover the folder structure and file names. Ontrack® EasyRecovery™ Enterprise and Active@ File Recovery showed the best results in this test, they could recover files from the 500 MB partition with their file names and folder structure. DMDE fared worst in this test, as it does not appear to support raw file search. |
Deleted Files (NTFS)
Disk 1 – Disk Size: 1 GB, Partition Size 1 GB
Disk 2 – Disk Size: 1 GB, Partition Size: 500 MB
Product | Rating | Test Results | |
---|---|---|---|
R-Studio | 5.5 | All files, except the avi file, were immediately found in correct folders and successfully recovered upon opening the partition. The avi file was found but appeared damaged. | |
UFS Explorer Professional Recovery | 5.5 | All files, except the avi file, were immediately found in correct folders and successfully recovered upon opening the partition. The avi file was found but appeared damaged. | |
GetDataBack + RAID Reconstructor + Captain Nemo | 5.5 | All files, except the avi file, were immediately found in correct folders and successfully recovered upon opening the partition. The avi file was found but appeared damaged. | |
DMDE | 5.5 | All files, except the avi file, were immediately found in correct folders and successfully recovered upon opening the partition. The avi file was found but appeared damaged. | |
Restorer Ultimate | 5.5 | All files, except the avi file, were immediately found in correct folders and successfully recovered upon opening the partition. The avi file was found but appeared damaged. | |
Stellar Phoenix Technician | 5.5 | All files, except the avi file, were immediately found in correct folders and successfully recovered upon opening the partition. The avi file was found but appeared damaged. | |
Ontrack® EasyRecovery™ Enterprise | 4.0 | For the 1 GB partition: All files, except the mp3, acc, avi and exe files, were immediately found in correct folders and recovered upon opening the partition. The mp3, acc, avi, and exe files were found but appeared damaged. For the 500 MB partition: All files, except the exe files, were immediately found and successfully recovered. | |
Active@ File Recovery Ultimate Corporate | 4.0 | For the 1 GB partition: All files, except the mp3, acc, avi and exe files, were immediately found in correct folders and recovered upon opening the partition. The mp3, acc, avi, and exe files were found but appeared damaged. For the 500 MB partition: All files, except the exe files, were immediately found and successfully recovered. | |
Recover My Files | 4.0 | For the 1 GB partition: All files, except the mp3, acc, avi and exe files, were immediately found in correct folders and recovered upon opening the partition. The mp3, acc, avi, and exe files were found but appeared damaged. For the 500 MB partition: All files, except the exe files, were immediately found and successfully recovered. | |
Most programs successfully recovered all files but one in this test. For both disk setups, R-Studio, UFS Explorer Professional Recovery, GetDataBack, DMDE, Restorer Ultimate, and Stellar Phoenix Technician successfully found all files in their correct folders and recovered them, with exception of one avi file which appeared damaged. When using Ontrack® EasyRecovery™ Enterprise, Active @ File Recovery, and Recover My Files, we could not recover mp3, acc, avi and exe files on the 1 GB partition or the exe file on the 500 MB partition. |
Below are the results of the data recovery tests we performed with each of the software candidates. These tests were designed to recreate the most common data recovery scenarios faced by professionals. In each test, the operating system was Windows 7 32-bit.
For each test, the same set of test files were deleted from the disk. In instances where the file system was damaged or a partition was deleted, the files listed below were present on the disk prior to the damage or repartitioning.
Test File Set
- Archives: rar, zip
- Audio files: acc, mp3
- Documents: doc, docx, xls, xlsx, odt, ods, pdf, txt
- Video files: flv, mp4, mpg, avi, m4v
- Images: jpg, png, tiff
- Programs: exe
Deleted files (Recycle Bin bypassed)
Files were deleted using Far Manager with the “Delete to Recycle Bin” option disabled.
Deleted Files (NTFS)
Disk 1 – Disk Size: 1 GB, Partition Size 1 GB
Disk 2 – Disk Size: 1 GB, Partition Size: 500 MB
Product | Rating | Test Results | |
---|---|---|---|
R-Studio | 5.0 | The rar, zip, acc and mp3 files were found in the recovered folder. Recovered files folder was incorrectly named. The following files were located as Extra Found Files: jpg, png, tiff, doc, docx, xls, xlsx, odt, ods, pdf, txt, flv, mp4 (2 similar copies), mpg. The avi file appeared damaged for the both disk setups. For the second disk setup, the rar and mpg files appeared damaged. | |
Restorer Ultimate | 5.0 | The rar, zip, acc and mp3 files were found in the recovered folder. Recovered files folder was incorrectly named. The following files were located as Lost Files: jpg, png, tiff, doc, docx, xls, xlsx, odt, ods, pdf, txt, flv, mp4 (2 similar copies), mpg. The avi file appeared damaged for the both disk setups. For the second disk setup, the rar and mpg files appeared damaged. | |
UFS Explorer Professional Recovery | 4.0 | No files were found during the standard scan. After scanning for file signatures (IntelliRAW), the following files were found: jpg, png, tiff, mpg, doc, xls, pdf, mp3. The following files were found but appeared damaged: avi, zip. No folder information recovered. | |
GetDataBack + RAID Reconstructor + Captain Nemo | 2.0 | No files were found during the standard scan. After scanning for file signatures the following files were found (Lost files): jpg, doc. The following files were found but appeared damaged: mp3, zip. No folder information recovered. | |
DMDE | 0.5 | Found a folder, but no files were found. | |
R-Studio and Restorer Ultimate showed the best results in file recovery. DMDE recovered no files. |
Deleted Files (NTFS)
Disk 1 – Disk Size: 1 GB, Partition Size 1 GB
Disk 2 – Disk Size: 1 GB, Partition Size: 500 MB
Product | Rating | Test Results | |
---|---|---|---|
UFS Explorer Professional Recovery | 5.5 | All files and folder information found successfully, except the avi file, which was found but appeared damaged. No disk scan required. | |
R-Studio | 5.5 | All files and folder information found successfully, except the avi file, which was found but appeared damaged. No disk scan required. | |
DMDE | 5.5 | All files and folder information found successfully, except the avi file, which was found but appeared damaged. No disk scan required. | |
Restorer Ultimate | 5.5 | All files and folder information found successfully, except the avi file, which was found but appeared damaged. No disk scan required. | |
GetDataBack + RAID Reconstructor + Captain Nemo | 5.5 | All files and folder information found successfully, except the avi file, which was found but appeared damaged. No disk scan required. | |
For both disk setups, all programs successfully found all files in their correct folders and recovered them, except for the avi file which appeared damaged. The files were found without a disk scan. |