Data Recovery Digest

Do-It-Yourself Windows File Recovery Software: A Comparison

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The Best Pro Data Recovery Software - Review 2023

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File recovery performance

Emptied Recycle Bin

  • 2023
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  • 2021
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Emptied 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 moved to Recycle Bin, and then the Recycle Bin was emptied.

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 files and folders, 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 locations with correct names and folder structure. All files and the entire original folder structure were successfully recovered.

Overall, all files and the entire 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 Some remnants of the previous folder structure and their files were found with correct names. Also files from the root folder (with correct names) were found.

After Scan for lost data (Do indexing of the file system and continue with the full scan) All files and folders were found in their original locations with correct names and folder structure, except the avi file from the root folder.

Overall, all files and the original folder structure were successfully recovered except for the avi file from the root folder.

DMDE 5.0

After opening the partition: Nothing was found.

After disk scan: 2 folders of the $F00046 type were found. They contain some parts of the original folder structure and their files, all with correct names. They were successfully recovered.

Overall, all files were successfully recovered. The original folder structure was recovered only partially.

DiskGenius 4.5

After Recover Lost Files Some remnants of the original folder structure and their files were found in the Recycle Bin, some with correct names, some with incorrect names. Other files and folders were found in the Orphaned Files section, except the avi file from the root folder. All found files and folders were successfully recovered.

Files that were not recovered: 1 avi file.

Overall, all files, except 1 avi file were successfully recovered, but the original folder structure was recovered only partially.

ReclaiMe File Recovery 4.0

After initial scan: The program found some remnants of the original folder structure in two sections: [Unclassified]/ #1157 and [Unclassified]/ #1159. They contain subfolders and files with correct file names. They were successfully recovered.

After deep scan: The rest of the file structure was found and successfully recovered (except the mkvfile). Its part was found among raw files.

Partially recovered files: 1 mkv file.

Files that were not recovered: 1 avi file.

Overall, all but 2 files was successfully recovered. 1 file was recovered only partially. Only some remnants of the original folder structure were recovered.

WinHex 4.0

The unconnected disk was found using the List volumes that do not have drive letters option.

After Open Disk (disk scan): Two folders (Directory with ID 326 and Directory with ID 328) were found in the Path unknown/ Empty directories section with remnants of the original folder structure and their respective files, with correct names. The Recycle Bin contained the rest of the folder structure, with incorrect folder names, but their files had their correct names. It also contained the files from the root folder with incorrect filenames. All fond files were successfully recovered, except 2 files.

After File Recovery by Types: Nothing new was found.

Files that were not recovered: 2 avi files.

Overall, almost all files were successfully recovered with correct filenames. 2 avi files were not recovered. Only some remnants of the original folder structure were recovered.

Summary: Only R-Studio and Recovery Explorer Professional could recover the original folder structure and all files, R-Studio did that even without a long disk scan. The other programs recovered almost all files, but could not recover the original folder structure.

Emptied Recycle Bin (exFAT file system)

Test description: OS: Windows 10 64 bit HDD: 80 GB Western Digital WD800AAJS, 32 GB exFAT partition. SP0812C, раздел exFAT 32 ГБ.

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 moved to the Recycle Bin, and then the Recycle Bin was emptied.

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 found in their original places with correct names. All found files were recovered successfully.

Overall, all files and the original folder structure were successfully recovered.

R-Studio 6.0

After Show Files: All files and folders were found as deleted in their original places with correct names. All found files were recovered successfully.

Overall, all files and the original folder structure were successfully recovered.

WinHex 6.0

After Open Disk: All files and folders were found in their original places with correct names. All found files and folders 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 in their original places with correct names. All found files and folders were successfully recovered.

Overall, all files and the original folder structure were successfully recovered.

DMDE 6.0

After Open Volume: Only empty folders were found in the original places and files from the root folder, all with correct names. They were successfully recovered.

After Full Scan: All files and folders were found in their original places with correct names. All files and folders were recovered successfully.

Overall, all files and the original folder structure were successfully recovered.

Recovery Explorer Professional 5.0

After Explore file system: Nothing was found.

AfterQuick 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) 2 ExFAT partitions were found. Both partitions contained some parts of the original folder structure. One folder (Video) was in its original place containing all its files and folders with correct names and paths. The rest of the folder structure was found in the Recycle Bin. Files and folders from the device root folder had incorrect names, but their subfolders and files had correct names. All found files were successfully recovered.

Overall, all files were successfully recovered but the original folder structure was recovered only partially.

Summary: All but one programs were able to recover all files and folders from their original places with correct names. R-Studio, ReclaiMe File Recovery Ultimate, and WinHex did that without long disk scan. Recovery Explorer Professional recovered the original folder structure only partially and that required a long scan.

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