When you delete a file, it is not yet removed permanently from your storage media. Windows just hides the files and the space currently occupied by the deleted file can be overwritten.
If you take actions quickly, it is perfectly possible to recover deleted files intact. Data recovery software is designed to scan the entire storage media for recently deleted files.
The software should also be able to salvage files from corrupted data, inaccessible storage media and lost partitions.
It must support any storage media, including hard drives, SSDs, USB flash drives, SD cards and optical discs.
Accidental data loss could happen due to unintentional deletion, unintentional formatting, virus infection, software corruption, power outages, hacking attacks and logical damages.
If you are planning to use a data recovery software, here are important features to have:
- Lost data recovery: When users press Shift+Delete in Windows, files will be removed directly and won’t be moved to the Recycle Bin. Also, when you empty the Recycle Bin, deleted files can’t be recovered using normal methods. Recovering these lost files are the basic feature of any data recovery software.
- Recover formatted drive: You may format the drive intentionally or accidentally. When you format a drive, it will be scrubbed clean and files in it will be lost. The ability to recover formatted drive is another basic feature that you should get. The software must support hard drives, SSDs, USB flash drives and SD cards.
- Recover portable storage: It is quite upsetting if your external hard drives get inaccessible, corrupted or damaged. With a good data recovery system, there’s a good chance that you recover files from inaccessible external hard drives, SD card and digital camera.
- Partition recovery: Partitions can be damaged or deleted accidentally, when you manage drives. This will make partitions and files in them no longer accessible. The data recovery software should effortlessly make the partition accessible again without any data loss.
- Data protection: A data recovery software shouldn’t only ensure effective data recovery, but also protection for important files. It should have comprehensive features set to prevent future data loss and ensure quick future recovery. Recently recovered files can be kept in cloud-based recovery vault, so they can be protected against future data loss.
- Optical media recovery: Despite more preferences towards USB flash drives, optical discs are still preferred by many people for long-term data backup. However, poorly maintained optical discs could be scratched and corrupted. Data recovery software should be able to perform recovery from CD, DVD or Blu-Ray discs with damaged areas or bad sectors.
- Robust file support: Data recovery software should support any file, regardless of the extension. This allows you to recover any kind of file that you have on the device.
- Easy-to-use interface: The interface of data recovery software should be highly intuitive. Users should be able to use the software immediately with acceptable learning curve. Some data recovery programs have a Wizard feature to walk people through if it’s their first time using the tool. Some recovery programs have complex customization settings, but the basic interface must be easy to understand. If users want to quickly recover some lost files, they should be able to do that with a few clicks.
- Good performance: It should take only a few seconds to scan and recover lost files on a USB flash drive when use a data recovery software. Scanning an SSD should be relatively quick to do, but it may take quite some time with a large-sized mechanical hard drive. Regardless of the storage media, scanning and recovering lost files shouldn’t take a long time.
- Emergency data recovery: For businesses, data loss can be a catastrophic disaster that paralyze operations. An emergency data recovery system is needed to quickly retrieve lost files intact, so businesses can immediately resume operations. Serious data loss could be caused by boot failures, unexpected system crash, virus attack and hacking.
- Pause and resume: Large-sized drives will take longer to scan and recover. The data recovery software should include the ability to pause, resume and schedule the activity. This will make the data recovery session more flexible and customizable.
- Advanced scanning algorithm: For quick recovery of a few deleted files, the software should have a Quick Scan feature. If there are many files that need to be recovered, the Deep Scan feature should effectively scour every byte of the drive to get buried files. The Deep Scan feature should be able to dive deep into the media to recover missing files, although no partition is found. It could reconstruct lost files from pieces scattered throughout a hard drive with high degree of fragmentation. It would be a condition that otherwise be seen as impossible. You can recover files like work documents, music, pictures and videos that had been deleted a while ago. It may take a long time to do scanning on a large, slow hard drive. It should be possible to scan files based on file type to significantly speed up the process.
- Recover while scanning: To speed up the process, files discovered during the scan can be recovered immediately. This should significantly save the time.
- Repair corrupted files: Recovered files could be corrupted or damaged. If the integrity of recovered files is ruined, the data recovery software should be able to perform the repair operations. Damaged JPG, MP4, DOC and other common file types can be repaired easily.
- Recover data loss from RAID: RAID-based systems are quite common and a good data recovery system should ensure effective retrieval of lost files from any RAID storage. The key ability is the recognition of the RAID metadata and modify RAID configurations if needed. These utilities should be cross-platform with support for various operating systems, including Windows, Linux and macOS.
- Recover data loss from NAS: Data loss in a NAS (Network-Attached Storage) can be caused by inappropriate storage configuration, issues with firmware updates and accidental file deletion. Utilization of NAS is increasing in small business and big corporations. There’s a need for highly effective tools to restore lost files from such devices. The tool must compensate for the lack of technical skills among users. NAS models may have unique design peculiarities that must be supported by the data recovery software.
In my opinion ,EaseUS Data Recovery Software offers comprehensive features to recover deleted files in your system, portable storage and network.You can try it with free version .