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2 August 2023  Jennifer Thatcher  Technology Manager of Test Dept.
 

Summary
This article presents practical data recovery software options for different needs and preferences to help prevent data loss or recover deleted data from damaged hard disks.



Table of contents

table iconI. Under what circumstances do you need to use hard disk data recovery software?
table iconII. What are the practical hard disk data recovery software?
table iconIII. How to restore the lost data in the hard disk?
hard drive data recovery software

I. Under what circumstances do you need to use hard disk data recovery software?

When hard disk data is lost or deleted, it can be recovered by hard disk data recovery software. Data recovery is a supplementary measure after a problem with the storage medium, not a preventive measure (such as regularly backing up files), so there are some special circumstances where data cannot be successfully recovered, such as data being overwritten, low-level formatting, and serious disk damage. So under what circumstances can hard disk data recovery software be used?
There are many situations that require the use of hard disk data recovery software, which roughly include the following aspects:
● human error -Human error operation usually results in data loss of the hard disk device. For example, when a laptop or removable hard drive is dropped, it may damage the device and make it unable to read data normally, or delete files by mistake, etc.
● hardware malfunction – Disk drives suffer from wear and tear over time and can eventually lead to complete failure. When a hard drive makes strange grinding or clicking noises, it could be a sign of impending failure.
● firmware corruption -Firmware corruption can also cause the hard drive to fail to read data normally.
● Environmental issues – Hard drives generally cannot withstand excessive heat or humidity. When the hard disk is exposed to direct sunlight or placed in a humid environment, the normal use of the hard disk may be affected, resulting in the inability to access and use the data in the device normally, and data loss may occur.
● electricity failure -During the data transmission process of the hard disk, if there is a power failure and abnormal power failure occurs, the data may not be read normally or lost.
If you encounter the above situation, it is recommended that you use special data recovery software to retrieve the lost data as soon as possible to avoid unnecessary losses. The following will recommend several simple and easy-to-use hard disk data recovery software. If you are struggling to find a data recovery tool, you may wish to check the introduction below.

II. What are the practical hard disk data recovery software?

1. Renee Undeleter

Renee Undeleter It is a software specially used to restore system data files. When you accidentally delete important files, empty the recycle bin, or format the disk/storage, you can use this tool to retrieve the lost data. The software covers four functional modules, including file recovery, format recovery, partition recovery and image creation. Therefore, it can help you solve all possible data loss problems that may occur during system use in an all-round way, which is very convenient.
Hot Topic - ADsRenee Undeleter – Simple & Powerful Software for Data Recovery

Easy to use Recover data by 3 steps;

Multiple scan modes Fast partition scan, whole partition scan and whole disk scan;

Supported file types Image, video, audio, text, email and so on;

Image creation Create a partition image to read and back up data;

Supported devices SD card, SDHC, SDXC, USB flash drive, hard disk and computer.

Easy to use Recover data by 3 steps;

Multiple scan modes Fast partition/whole partition/whole disk scan;

Supported devices SD card/USB/hard disk.

Free TrialFree TrialFree Trial 800 people have downloaded!
Renee Undeleter interface
advantage:
  • Applies to both Windows and Mac systems.
  • It has three different data recovery functions to meet various data recovery needs.
  • The scanning speed is fast and the data recovery quality is high.
  • It is suitable for many situations, such as formatting a disk, emptying the recycle bin, suddenly disappearing a partition, turning a drive into RAW, etc.
  • The free version scans and previews lost files to see if they are damaged.
  • Support scanning multiple devices, such as SD card, U disk, mobile hard disk, local disk, etc.

shortcoming: The free version can only recover 50MB.

2. Piriform Recuva

Piriform Recuva is a free and easy-to-use data recovery tool that can be used to recover files in various storage devices that have been accidentally deleted, such as data in hard drives, USB storage devices, SD memory cards, etc. The file types it supports to recover include photos, music, documents, videos and emails, etc. Click here to view specific data recovery steps.
Piriform Recuva Software
advantage:
  • The software takes up less space.
  • Some types of files can be previewed after scanning.

shortcoming:

  • Only Windows system is supported.
  • There are fewer recovery modes supported, and the free version is less likely to restore files.

3. PhotoRec

PhotoRec is a very compact data recovery tool that supports data recovery from a variety of devices, such as computers, digital cameras, mobile phones, tablets, memory cards, external hard drives, etc. As a free data recovery tool, it has no limit to the total capacity of data recovery, so it has been well received by many users.
PhotoRec software operation interface
advantage:
  • Support Windows, Mac, and Linux systems.
  • Available for free.

shortcoming: The operation is difficult and not suitable for beginners.

III. How to restore the lost data in the hard disk?

Let’s take Renee Undeleter as an example to teach you how to recover lost data in the hard disk with the help of its partition recovery function. When the partitions in the hard disk suddenly disappear, become unallocated space, or files are deleted by mistake, you can use the method described below to scan and recover.
Step 1: Download, install and run Renee Undeleter, select the (Partition Recovery) option on the main interface.
Note: Do not install on the disk that needs to restore data, so as not to cause data overwriting.
Select partition recovery option
Data recovery function introduction:

File Recovery – Quickly retrieve files lost due to accidental deletion or emptying the recycle bin.

Formatted Recovery – Quickly recover files lost due to inaccessible or formatted partitions.

Partition Recovery – Analyze and get partition information and perform a full scan of the entire partition.

Create Mirror – You can create a mirror image for a partition to back up the current partition state.

Step 2: Next, select the hard disk device to be scanned, and click (Next). Select (default setting) on the advanced setting interface.
Select target device for partition recovery
Step 3: Afterwards, the software will analyze the hard disk device. After the analysis, a prompt window of “select the partition you need to scan” may pop up. You can select the corresponding partition according to your needs. If you do not select, it will scan all the partitions and consume will be longer.
Partition recovery scans the data inside the drive
After scanning, you can preview the files in the preview window on the right, then select the files you need to restore, and click the (Recover) button in the lower right corner to restore the selected files.
Partition recovery scan result presentation
Step 4: Next, select the target folder, click (Browse) to select the path to store the file, and then click the (Restore) button to start executing the file recovery command, you only need to wait patiently. Notice : Do not save the recovered files on the original disk to avoid data overwriting, it is recommended to choose another disk to save these recovered files.
Partition recovery data recovery interface