Transferring files from a computer to the Internet or from a computer to another one is a common task. However, ensuring security and safety is of a great issue. Encryption And Decryption is an application to decrypt and encrypt sensitive messages, documents and files. Key Features.
Keeping your personal data safe doesn't have to be difficult—as long as you keep the sensitive stuff encrypted and under your control. That's why this week we're looking at the five best file encryption tools you can use to encrypt your data locally so only you have the key.
Earlier in the week we asked you for your favorite file encryption tools, and you gave us tons of great nominations, but as always, we only have room for the top five.
Advertisement
What's The Best File Encryption Tool?
Times have changed, and more than a few tools have come and gone that were designed to encrypt your …
Read more Read
For the purposes of our roundup, we're focusing on desktop file encryption tools - the ones you use on your own computer to encrypt your own private data, not cloud services that promise to encrypt your data, or business services that say they offer encryption. The goal here is to find the best tools you can use to lock down your sensitive files—whether they're photos, financial documents, personal backups, or anything else—and keep them locked down so only you have the key. For those unfamiliar with the topic, we have a great guide on how encryption works, and how you can use it to keep your own data safe.
A Beginner's Guide to Encryption: What It Is and How to Set it Up
You’ve probably heard the word “encryption” a million times before, but if you still aren’t exactly …
Read more Read
Advertisement
With that out of the way, here are your top five, in no particular order:
VeraCrypt (Windows/OS X/Linux)
Advertisement
VeraCrypt is a fork of and a successor to TrueCrypt, which ceased development last year (more on them later.) The development team claims they've addressed some of the issues that were raised during TrueCrypt's initial security audit, and like the original, it's free, with versions available for Windows, OS X, and Linux. If you're looking for a file encryption tool that works like and reminds you of TrueCrypt but isn't exactly TrueCrypt, this is it. VeraCrypt supports AES (the most commonly used), TwoFish, and Serpent encryption ciphers, supports the creation of hidden, encrypted volumes within other volumes. Its code is available to review, although it's not strictly open source (because so much of its codebase came from TrueCrypt.) The tool is also under constant development, with regular security updates and an independent audit in the planning stages (according to the developers.)
Those of you who nominated VeraCrypt praised it for being an on-the-fly encryption tool, as in your files are only decrypted when they're needed and they're encrypted at rest at all other times, and most notably for being the spiritual (if not almost literal) successor to TrueCrypt. Many of you praised them for being a strong tool that's simple to use and to the point, even if it's lacking a good-looking interface or tons of bells and whistles. You also noted that VeraCrypt may not support TrueCrypt files and containers, but can convert them to its own format, which makes moving to it easy. You can read more in its nomination thread here.
AxCrypt (Windows)
Advertisement
AxCrypt is a free, open source, GNU GPL-licensed encryption tool for Windows that prides itself on being simple, efficient, and easy to use. It integrates nicely with the Windows shell, so you can right-click a file to encrypt it, or even configure 'timed,' executable encryptions, so the file is locked down for a specific period of time and will self-decrypt later, or when its intended recipient gets it. Files with AxCrypt can be decrypted on demand or kept decrypted while they're in use, and then automatically re-encrypted when they're modified or closed. It's fast, too, and allows you to select an entire folder or just a large group of files and encrypt them all with a single click. It's entirely a file encryption tool however, meaning creating encrypted volumes or drives is out of its capabilities. It supports 128-bit AES encryption only, offers protection against brute force cracking attempts, and is exceptionally lightweight (less than 1MB.)
Those of you who nominated AxCrypt noted that it's really easy to use and easy to integrate into your workflow, thanks to its shell support. If you're eager for more options, it also has a ton of command line options, so you can fire up the command prompt in Windows and perform more complex actions—or multiple actions at once. It may not support the strongest or most varied encryption methods available, but if you're looking to keep your data safe from most threats, it's a simple tool that can lend a little security that your data—like files stored in the cloud on Dropbox or iCloud, for example—are secure and convenient to access at the same time. You can read more in this nomination thread here and here.
BitLocker (Windows)
Advertisement
BitLocker is a full-disk encryption tool built in to Windows Vista and Windows 7 (Ultimate and Enterprise), and into Windows 8 (Pro and Enterprise), as well as Windows Server (2008 and later). It supports AES (128 and 256-bit) encryption, and while it's primarily used for whole-disk encryption, it also supports encrypting other volumes or a virtual drive that can be opened and accessed like any other drive on your computer. It supports multiple authentication mechanisms, including traditional password and PINs, a USB 'key,' and the more controversial Trusted Platform Module (TPM) technology (that uses hardware to integrate keys into devices) that makes encryption and decryption transparent to the user but also comes with a host of its own issues. Either way, BitLocker's integration with Windows (specifically Windows 8 Pro) makes it accessible to many people, and a viable disk encryption tool for individuals looking to protect their data if their laptop or hard drives are lost or stolen, in case their computers are compromised, or a business looking to secure data in the field.
Of course, it goes without saying that BitLocker was a contentious nomination. More than a few of you touted BitLocker's accessibility and ease of use, and many of you even praised its encryption for being strong and difficult to crack. Many of you noted that you switched to BitLocker after the developers of TrueCrypt suggested it. Others, however, brought up the assertion made from privacy advocates that BitLocker is compromised and has backdoors in place for government security agencies (from multiple countries) to decrypt your data. While Microsoft has officially said this isn't true and maintains there's no backdoor in BitLocker (while simultaneously maintaining the code as closed source—but available to review by its partners, which include those agencies), the assertion is enough to make more than a few of you shy away. You can read more about the criticism and controversy at the Wikipedia link above, or in the nomination thread here.
GNU Privacy Guard (Windows/OS X/Linux)
Advertisement
GNU Privacy Guard (GnuPG) is actually an open-source implementation of Pretty Good Privacy (PGP). While you can install the command line version on some operating systems, most people choose from the dozens of frontends and graphical interfaces for it, including the official releases that can encrypt everything from email to ordinary files to entire volumes. All GnuPG tools support multiple encryption types and ciphers, and generally are capable of encrypting individual files one at a time, disk images and volumes, or external drives and connected media. A few of you nominated specific GnuPG front-ends in various threads, like the Windows Gpg4Win, which uses Kleopatra as a certificate manager.
Those of you who nominated GnuPG praised it for being open-source and accessible through dozens of different clients and tools, all of which can offer file encryption as well as other forms of encryption, like robust email encryption for example. The key, however, is finding a front-end or a client that does what you need it to do and works well with your workflow. The screenshot above was taken using GPGTools, an all-in-one GnuPG solution that offers keychain management as well as file, email, and disk encryption for OS X. You can read more in its nomination thread here.
How to Encrypt Your Email and Keep Your Conversations Private
Between constant password breaches and the NSA looking in on everything you do, you've…
Read more Read
Advertisement
7-Zip (Windows/OS X/Linux)
Advertisement
7-Zip is actually a lightweight file archiver—and our favorite archive utility for Windows. Even though it's amazing at compressing and organizing files for easy storage or sending over the internet, it's also a strong file encryption tool, and is capable of turning individual files or entire volumes into encrypted volumes that only your have the keys to. It's completely free, even for commercial use, supports 256-bit AES encryption, and while the official download is Windows only, there are unofficial builds for Linux and OS X systems as well. Most of 7-Zip's code is GNU LGPL licensed and open to review. Compressed and encrypted .7z (or .zip, if you prefer) archives are easily portable and secure, and can be encrypted with passwords and turned into executables that will self-decrypt when they get to their intended recipient. 7-Zip also integrates with the shell of the operating system you're using, making it usually a click away from use. It's also a powerful command line utility.
The Best File Archive Utility for Windows
Windows has a number of good file archiving and unarchiving utilities, and which one you use…
Read more Read
Those of you who nominated it noted that it may not have the most robust user interface, but it gets the job done, and many of you have it installed anyway specifically for its robust file compression and decompression capabilities. You noted it's fast, flexible, free, and easy to use, and while it may not be the fastest file encryption tool (and it's not capable of whole volume or disk encryption), it gets the job done—especially for encrypting files you need to send to someone else and actually have them be able to access without jumping through too many hoops. Some of you noted that 7-Zip's encrypted volumes are flexible—perhaps too flexible, since new files added to an encrypted archive aren't encrypted (you'd have to extract them all and make a new archive for that), but it's otherwise a minor ding. You can read more in its nomination thread here.
Advertisement
Now that you've seen the top five, it's time to put them to an all-out vote to determine the community favorite.
Advertisement
Honorable Mentions
We have two honorable mentions this week. First and foremost is Disk Utility (OS X), which is bundled with OS X as a disk repair and management tool. Disk Utility can also encrypt drives and volumes, and since OS X can create a compressed volume just by right-clicking a file, series of files, or a folder and selecting 'Compress,' Disk Utility makes encrypting anything you want extremely easy. Plus, it's built in to OS X, so you don't need to install anything else. You can read more about it in its nomination thread here.
Advertisement
Second, we should tip our hats to the venerable old TrueCrypt, our old champion, which actually earned a number of nominations in the call for contenders thread. We covered the meltdown of TrueCrypt when it happened, with the developers abruptly abandoning the project claiming that it's no longer secure, in the middle of their independent security audit. The developers suggested switching to BitLocker, and pushed out a new version that's widely considered compromised. However, the older version, 7.1a, is still widely regarded as safe, even though development on it has been abandoned, and the tool has been left without security updates since then. Even so, security analysts split on whether you should trust TrueCrypt or move on to another encryption utility. Many people stand by it even though it's a dead project, others have built their own projects on top of it (see VeraCrypt, mentioned earlier), and others keep using the last safe version. We can't recommend TrueCrypt anymore ourselves, but you can read more in its nomination thread here, and over at Steve Gibson's page dedicated to TrueCrypt here.
TrueCrypt's Web Site Updates with Ominous Warning, Details Unknown
TrueCrypt, one of our favorite file encryption tools, has abruptly changed its homepage to a…
Read more Read
Have something to say about one of the contenders? Want to make the case for your personal favorite, even if it wasn't included in the list? Remember, the top five are based on your most popular nominations from the call for contenders thread from earlier in the week. Don't just complain about the top five, let us know what your preferred alternative is—and make your case for it—in the discussions below.
Advertisement
The Hive Five is based on reader nominations. As with most Hive Five posts, if your favorite was left out, it didn't get the nominations required in the call for contenders post to make the top five. We understand it's a bit of a popularity contest. Have a suggestion for the Hive Five? Send us an email at [email protected]!
Title photo by andrey_l (Shutterstock).
Many free data recovery programs exist that can help recover your accidentally deleted files. These file recovery programs can help you recover, or 'undelete' files on your computer.
Files you have deleted are often still present on your hard drive (or USB drive, media card, smartphone, etc.) and can be recovered using free data recovery software.
Data recovery software is just one way to go. See How to Recover Deleted Files for a complete tutorial, including how to avoid common pitfalls during the file recovery process.
Undelete files you thought were gone forever with any one of these freeware data recovery tools.
of 20
RecuvaWhat We Like
Our Review of Recuva
Recuva is the very best free data recovery software tool available, hands down. It's very easy to use but has many optional advanced features as well.
Recuva can recover files from hard drives, external drives (USB drives, etc.), BD/DVD/CD discs, and memory cards. Recuva can even undelete files from your iPod!
Undeleting a file with Recuva is as easy as deleting one! I highly recommend that you try Recuva first if you need to recover a file.
Recuva will undelete files in Windows 10, Windows 8 & 8.1, 7, Vista, XP, Server 2008/2003, and older Windows versions like 2000, NT, ME and 98. 64-bit Windows versions are also supported. There is also a 64-bit version Recuva available.
Piriform provides both an installable and a portable version of Recuva. I tested file recovery with Recuva v1.53.1087 using their portable version on Windows 8.1.
of 20
Puran File RecoveryWhat We Like
What We Don't Like
Puran File Recovery is one of the better free data recovery programs I've seen. It's very easy to use, will scan any drive that Windows sees, and has a lot of advanced options if you need them.
One particular thing to note is that Puran File Recovery identified more files on my test machine than most other tools, so be sure to give this one a shot in addition to Recuva if it didn't find what you were looking for.
Puran File Recovery will even recover lost partitions if they haven't been overwritten yet.
Puran File Recovery works with Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP. It's also available in a portable form for both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows, so it doesn't require installation.
of 20
Disk DrillWhat We Like
What We Don't Like
Disk Drill is an excellent free data recovery program not only because of its features but also due to the very simple design, making it almost impossible to get confused.
The Disk Drill website says it can recover data (up to 500 MB) from 'virtually any storage device,' such as internal and external hard drives, USB devices, memory cards, and iPods.
Disk Drill can also preview image files before recovering them, pause scans and resume them later, perform partition recovery, back up an entire drive, filter files by date or size, run a quick scan versus a full scan for faster results, and save scan results so you can easily import them again to recovery deleted files at a later time.
Disk Drill works with Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP, as well as macOS.
Mac
Pandora Recovery was another file recovery program but it now exists as Disk Drill. If you're looking for that program, you can find the last released version on Softpedia.
of 20
Glary UndeleteWhat We Like
What We Don't Like
Glary Undelete is an excellent free file recovery program. It's very easy to use and has one of the better user interfaces that I've seen.
The biggest advantages in Glary Undelete include the easy 'Folders' view, a Explorer-style view of recoverable files, and a prominent 'State' indication for each file, suggesting how likely a successful file recovery will be.
One disadvantage of Glary Undelete is that installation is required before you can use it. Another is that you're asked to install a toolbar, but you can, of course, decline if you don't want it. Aside from those facts, Glary Undelete is top notch.
Glary Undelete can recover files from hard drives and any removable media you might have including memory cards, USB drives, etc.
Glary Undelete is said to work in Windows 7, Vista, and XP, but it also works fine in Windows 10, Windows 8, and versions older than Windows XP. I tested Glary Undelete v5.0 in Windows 7.
of 20
SoftPerfect File RecoveryWhat We Like
What We Don't Like
SoftPerfect File Recovery is another superb file undelete program. It's very easy to search for recoverable files. Anyone should be able to use this program with very little trouble.
SoftPerfect File Recovery will undelete files from hard drives, memory cards, etc. Any device on your PC that stores data (except for your CD/DVD drive) should be supported.
SoftPerfect File Recovery is a small, 500 KB, standalone file, making the program very portable. Feel free to run File Recovery from a USB drive or floppy disk. Scroll down a bit on the download page to find it.
Windows 8, 7, Vista, XP, Server 2008 & 2003, 2000, NT, ME, 98, and 95 are all supported. According to SoftPerfect, 64-bit versions of Windows operating systems are also supported.
I tested SoftPerfect File Recovery v1.2 in Windows 10 without any issues.
of 20
EaseUS Data Recovery WizardWhat We Like
What We Don't Like
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard is another great file undelete program. Recovering files is very easy to do with just a few clicks.
My favorite aspect of EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard is that the user interface is structured much like Windows Explorer. While that may not be everyone's ideal way to display files, it's a very familiar interface that most people are comfortable with.
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard will undelete files from hard drives, optical drives, memory cards, iOS devices, and pretty much anything else that Windows sees as a storage device. It also does partition recovery!
Please know that Data Recovery Wizard will only recover a total of 500 MB of data before you'll need to upgrade (or up to 2 GB if you use the share button in the program to post about the software on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+).
I almost didn't include this program because of that limitation but since most situations call for undeleting much less than that, I'll let it slide.
Data Recovery Wizard supports Mac and Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP, as well as Windows Server 2012, 2008, and 2003.
Mac
of 20
Wise Data RecoveryWhat We Like
What We Don't Like
Wise Data Recovery is a free undelete program that's really simple to use.
The program installed very quickly and scanned my PC in record time. Wise Data Recovery can scan various USB devices like memory cards and other removal devices.
An instant search function makes it really quick and easy to search for deleted files that Wise Data Recovery has found. A Recoverability column shows the likelihood of a file being recovered with Good, Poor, Very Poor, or Lost. Just right-click to restore a file.
Wise Data Recovery works with Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP. There's also a portable version available.
of 20
RestorationWhat We Like
What We Don't Like
The Restoration data recovery program is similar to the other free undelete apps on this list.
The thing I like most about Restoration is how incredibly simple it is to recover files. There are no cryptic buttons or complicated file recovery procedures — everything you need is on one, easy to understand program window.
Restoration can recover files from hard drives, memory cards, USB drives, and other external drives.
Like some of the other popular data recovery tools on this list, Restoration is small and does not need to be installed, giving it the flexibility to be run from a floppy disk or USB drive.
Restoration is said to support Windows Vista, XP, 2000, NT, ME, 98, and 95. I successfully tested it with Windows 10 and Windows 7, and didn't run into any problems. However, v3.2.13 didn't work for me in Windows 8.
of 20
FreeUndeleteWhat We Like
What We Don't Like
FreeUndelete is self-explanatory — it's free and it undeletes files! It's very similar to other undelete utilities around this rank on our list.
The major advantage of FreeUndelete is it's easy to use interface and 'folder drill down' functionality (i.e. files available for recovery are not shown in a big, unmanageable listing).
FreeUndelete will recover files from hard drives, memory cards, and other similar storage devices in, or connected to, your PC.
FreeUndelete works on Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP.
of 20
ADRC Data Recovery ToolsWhat We Like
What We Don't Like
ADRC Data Recovery Tools is another great, free file recovery program. File recovery with this program is uncomplicated and could probably be accomplished by the average computer user without any kind of documentation.
ADRC Data Recovery Tools should be able to undelete files from any non-CD/DVD storage device like memory cards and USB drives, as well as hard drives, of course.
ADRC Data Recovery Tools is a standalone, 132 KB program making it a very portable data recovery tool that will easily fit on any removable media you might have.
Data Recovery Tools officially supports Windows XP, 2000, and 95 but I successfully tested data recovery with this program on Windows Vista and Windows 7.
I also tested ADRC Data Recovery Tools v1.1 in Windows 8 and 10 but was unable to get it to work.
of 20
CD Recovery ToolboxWhat We Like
What We Don't Like
CD Recovery Toolbox is a completely free and very unique file recovery program. CD Recovery Toolbox is designed to recover files from damaged or corrupted optical drive discs — CD, DVD, Blu-Ray, HD DVD, etc.
According to the publisher, CD Recovery Toolbox should help recover files from discs that have been scratched, chipped, or have surface spotting.
One obvious con is the inability of CD Recovery Toolbox to recover files from hard drives or portable media drives. However, the program isn't designed to do that so I haven't held that fact against it.
CD Recovery Toolbox works in Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, XP, Server 2003, 2000, NT, ME and 98. I tested CD Recovery Toolbox successfully in Windows 7.
of 20
UndeleteMyFiles ProWhat We Like
What We Don't Like
UndeleteMyFiles Pro is another free file recovery program. Don't let the name fool you — it's entirely free even though it says 'Pro.'
Tree View and Detailed View are the two viewing perspectives you can choose from. You can also preview files, which sounds nice, but all it does is restores the data to a temporary folder and then opens it.
Emergency Disk Image is one of the included tools in UndeleteMyFiles Pro. This tool takes a snapshot of your entire computer, places all the data in one file, and then lets you work through that file to find deleted data that you want to restore. This is very handy because after the image file has been made, you don't need to worry that new data written to your hard drive will replace any important deleted files.
There's a nice search option in UndeleteMyFiles Pro that lets you search by file location, type, size, and attributes.
Something I really didn't like about UndeleteMyFiles Pro is that the recovery process doesn't tell you if a file is in a good state of being recoverable like most of the other software in this list.
I tested UndeleteMyFiles Pro in Windows 8 and XP, and it worked as advertised, so it should also work in other versions of Windows. However, I also tested v3.1 in Windows 10 and found that it didn't work as it should.
of 20
MiniTool Power Data RecoveryWhat We Like
What We Don't Like
Unlike some of the other file recovery programs from this list, Power Data Recovery needs to be installed to your computer before you're able to use it. This isn't the best way to work with this type of software because the install may overwrite your deleted files and make them less likely to be recoverable.
Another downside to Power Data Recovery is that you can only recover 1 GB of data before you have to upgrade to a paid version.
However, I do like the fact that the program finds deleted files quickly and that you can recover files from both internal drives and USB devices. Also, Power Data Recovery lets you search among the deleted data, recover more than one folder or file at once, export the list of deleted files to a text file, pause or stop the scan when you find what you need, and filter the files by name, extension, size, and/or date.
Power Data Recovery works in Windows 10, 8, 7, and older versions all all the way through Windows 95, plus Windows Server 2008 and 2003. I tested this version of Power Data Recovery in Windows 10.
of 20
TOKIWA DataRecoveryWhat We Like
What We Don't Like
TOKIWA DataRecovery is an effective data recovery program and is very similar to many others on my list.
The best thing TOKIWA DataRecovery has going for it is its ease of use. It has a single program window where you can scan for files to recover, sort the files, and undelete them. There are no complicated procedures at all.
TOKIWA DataRecovery can recover files from hard drives, memory cards, USB drives, and other external drives.
TOKIWA DataRecovery is a standalone, 412 KB file, making it a completely portable tool suitable for a USB drive or floppy disk.
DataRecovery officially supports Windows 7, Vista, XP, 2003, 2000, NT, ME, 98, and 95. However, I tested TOKIWA DataRecovery with Windows 10 and Windows 8, too, and it works just as advertised.
of 20
PC Inspector File RecoveryWhat We Like
What We Don't Like
PC Inspector File Recovery is another good free file recovery program with an arguably 'deeper' search for deleted files than other similar undelete programs.
PC Inspector File Recovery can recover files from most hard drives, external drives, and memory cards.
I'd recommend trying PC Inspector File Recovery only if another, higher rated data recovery program didn't do the job for you. The not-so-easy-to-use interface and long hard drive scan times keep this file recovery app out of the Top 10.
PC Inspector File Recovery officially supports Windows XP, 2000, NT, ME, and 98. However, I tested PC Inspector File Recovery in Windows 8 and it ran as advertised. I also tested v4 in Windows 10 but it didn't work correctly.
of 20
iBoysoft Data Recovery FreeWhat We Like
What We Don't Like
Another free data recovery program is available from iBoysoft. This one is severely limited in that it can recover only 1 GB of data, but if you need to undelete just a few files, or even a video or collection of music, you're probably fine being limited to 1 GB.
iBoysoft Data Recovery Free starts off by having you select the hard drive to scan, and then shows all the deleted files in a regular folder structure like you see above. You can browse through them much like you can in Explorer, and easily select the files you want to restore.
Besides being able to filter the results by file extension and search by file name, the only other thing you can do before recovering a file is preview it, but only if it's smaller than 5 MB.
When you exit the results screen, you have the opportunity to save the results to an SR file that you can later reopen in iBoysoft Data Recovery Free to work out of the same list of deleted files. This is great so that you don't have to rescan the drive to continue sifting through the results.
This program works on Windows 10 and older versions of Windows, and it's also available for Mac computers.
Mac
of 20
Orion File Recovery SoftwareWhat We Like
What We Don't Like
Orion File Recovery Software is a free file recovery program from NCH Software that's basically the same as most of the other programs in this list.
A nice wizard prompts you to scan for specific file types at the launch of the program, like documents, images, videos, music, or a custom file type. You can also scan the entire drive to search for all file types.
Orion File Recovery Software can scan any attached hard drive, whether internal or external, flash drives, and memory cards for deleted data. Then you can search through the files with an instant search function, while easily identifying the recovery potential of each file.
A nice addition to Orion File Recovery Software also functions as a data destruction program, so you can scrub all the files it finds to make them unrecoverable for future scans.
Orion File Recovery Software works with Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP.
The setup tool might try to install other NCH Software programs along with the file undelete tool, but just deselect those options if you wish not to install them.
of 20
BPlan Data RecoveryWhat We Like
What We Don't Like
BPlan Data Recovery is a file recovery program like the others in this list. It may not look as nice as similar software, but it can recover many different types of deleted files.
I found BPlan Data Recovery to be a bit difficult to navigate around. It was hard to know what I was doing because of the layout of the results. That said, it still managed to find and recover images, documents, videos, and other file types.
I tested BPlan Data Recovery in Windows XP but it also works in Windows 10, 8, 7, and Vista.
While testing this program, the desktop shortcut the installer created was incorrect, and therefore didn't open BPlan Data Recovery. You might need to open bplan.exe in this folder to make it work: 'C:Program Files (x86)BPlan data recovery.'
of 20
Stellar Data Recovery Free EditionWhat We Like
What We Don't Like
This free data recovery tool from Stellar is easy to use because it walks you through a simple wizard where you select what and where to search for deleted files.
A unique feature in this program is the preview option you have while the scan is taking place. You can watch, in real time, which files the program finds before the scan completes.
Something else we like about Stellar's free file recovery program is that when you exit the results screen, you're given the option to save the list of deleted files so that you can resume recovering them later.
of 20
PhotoRecWhat We Like
What We Don't Like
The free PhotoRec file recovery tool does the job but it isn't nearly as easy to use as other programs in this list.
PhotoRec is limited by its command-line interface and multiple step recovery process. However, my greatest problem with PhotoRec is that it's very difficult to avoid recovering all deleted files at once, not just the one or two you're after.
PhotoRec can recover files from hard drives, optical drives, and memory cards. PhotoRec should be able to undelete files from any storage device on your PC.
If another data recovery program hasn't worked, give PhotoRec a try. I just don't recommend making it your first pick.
PhotoRec officially supports Windows 7, Vista, XP, Server 2008, 2003, 2000, NT, ME, 98, and 95, as well as macOS and Linux. I tested PhotoRec in Windows 7.
PhotoRec is downloaded as part of the TestDisk software, but you'll want to still open the file called 'photorec_win' (on Windows) to run it.
'Why have you only included 20 free data recovery programs?'
True, there are many more file recovery programs than those listed above, but I've only included true freeware file recovery programs that also undelete wide ranges of files. I didn't include file recovery programs that are shareware/free trials, nor ones that won't undelete reasonably sized files.
If you still need help with a file recovery issue, see my Get More Help page. I'm also happy to hear your thoughts on additions or changes to this list.
Comments are closed.
|
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |