Hard drive recovery

logo Recuva Recuva
logo Hetman Partition Recovery Hetman Partition Recovery
logo HDD Low Level Format Tool HDD Low Level Format Tool
logo Acronis Disk Director Acronis Disk Director
logo Victoria HDD Victoria HDD
logo HDD Regenerator HDD Regenerator
logo R-Studio R-Studio
logo HDDScan HDDScan

The hard disk is an unreliable device, it can get damaged or, God forbid, fail at all, for example, after an unsuccessful formatting process. Amateurs believe that a simple user cannot restore a hard drive and bring it back to life. The opinion is mistaken, since there are a lot of programs that help to solve this problem and recover the lost files completely or partially at home. Non-serious hard drive failures can and should be fixed by yourself. To do so, look for damaged sectors on it with the help of special utilities.

The following selection of programs introduces you to paid and free programs for checking your hard drive and fixing the errors found. They are multidisciplinary - they not only diagnose the system for errors, but also fix them. A nice bonus is that they are all free. When choosing a program, evaluate the user friendliness of the interface and the set of available functions. Compatibility is also important: the higher the score on this criterion, the more devices the software supports.

From the huge selection of programs any user will find a recovery tool to his liking.

All Hard drive recovery in rating

With the development of cloud technologies more and more information is stored digitally: texts, photos, books, music, but often it is the information you need at the moment that turns out to be irretrievably lost. When the built-in functions of the Windows operating system fail to cope with data recovery, it is worth using a specially developed utility Recuva.

Pros

    • Data recovery from any type of media from hard drive to email
    • Recovery of any type of files - documents, music, videos, photos, etc.
    • Data recovery even from damaged or formatted media
    • Reliable file deletion that makes it 100% unrecoverable
    • Advanced deep scanning mode
    • Search by name and by extension
    • User-friendly interface

Cons

    • Works only on Windows, you can't recover files from Mac OS

    • Low probability of recovering damaged media

When working with various dаta: texts, spreadsheets, photos, videos and other content, unpleasant situations of unexpected loss of information often occur, including information that is extremely necessary at the moment. This applies to the hard drive, flash drive and other removable media. The developers suggest using the Hetman Partition Recovery utility to reanimate damaged and lost files, and recovery is possible directly to the optical media. To understand the tools of the control panel is not difficult, after installing this program all actions are carried out with the help of the File Recovery Wizard, and further you can choose the necessary options according to the user's choice.

Pros

    • The cause of data loss is irrelevant to the program
    • Any user can configure the application
    • Two scanning modes - fast and deep
    • Export of recovered data is possible through several channels
    • Support of all common media formats
    • Works with any file format, directories and subdirectories.
    • Name search among the found items
    • High speed
    • Huge amount of instructions, useful materials and community

Cons

    • HFS (MacOS) and other specific file systems are not supported

    • In the free version it is not possible to complete saving the result

Every user runs into problems from time to time with internal and external drives: write and read errors, applications do not function properly after an upgrade, and removable drives are unreadable. HDD Low Level Format Tool has all the tools you need to keep your system running smoothly and completely erase all the data on your drive. Clear control panel and russified interface make this software popular among users.

Pros

    • Powerful formatting algorithms
    • Compatible with all major HDD manufacturers
    • Ultra-DMA support
    • Supports connection of drives with software errors
    • SMART status and device information display
    • Works with MicroSD, SD, MMC, CompactFlash, and other memory cards
    • Choice of operating modes at the user's discretion
    • Wiping the whole information from the disk without possibility of recovery
    • Sleek interface

Cons

    • Low formatting speed without buying a license

    • No support for boxes and external chassis

    • No detailed status information about connected external devices is displaye

The specialized Acronis Disk Director software optimally manages and maintains all hard disk partitions on the user's device. The user interface includes an extensive set of working tools, while a novice user can take advantage of a more simplified operating mode. The software features can not only fully format the drive, but also offers a number of useful additional options.

Pros

    • Copy, move data, and clone disks
    • No need to format the disk to split it into multiple volumes
    • Hide partitions, system and other partitions can be password protected
    • Recover lost data
    • Editing support for fat16, fat32, ntfs, ext3, ext4, exts, Linux swap
    • Updateable base of drivers
    • High performance ratings
    • Ability to boot from LiveCD and clone, restore, copy and resize the destination disk

Cons

    • The file system partition recovery process can take quite a long time
    • The trial version is functionally limited
    • Manual mode requires a lot of manipulations with the hard drive
    • Necessary to create an account to activate and register the program

Hard disks tend to get damaged in the process of operation and special software is developed for their recovery. Victoria HDD utility is adapted for fast troubleshooting of small problems of your hard disk drive. The developers took into account the most demanded functions and designed the control panel in a concise and understandable to the average user. This software is designed for recovering the performance and increasing the productivity of various drives of user devices, it is suitable for all versions of the Windows operating system and supports 32-64 bit platforms.

Pros

    • Advanced hard disk diagnostic tools
    • Supports SATA and IDE interfaces
    • S.M.A.R.T. parameter setting
    • Detects bad sectors
    • Hard drive scanning for over 1TB
    • File manager and reference guide
    • Logical partition data output over the port
    • Performing a low level format
    • Technical information output after test completes

Cons

    • No official site updates
    • Complicated control for the beginner

The main function of HDD Regenerator is to restore the operation of hard drives and other storage media. The program detects damaged areas and transfers their coordinates to the Windows operating system. A sector is reassigned on the storage medium - the lost data is recovered.

Pros

    • Working through a DOS window
    • Low system requirements
    • Creates bootable CD/DVD, USB Flash disk; Creates bootable CD/DVD, USB Flash disk
    • Can set scanning range
    • High quality recovery process of damaged disks and flash drives through a special re-magnetizing algorithm
    • Supports all file systems
    • Detailed scanning results are shown in a dialog window
    • Simple principle of work with the application, easy control
    • Ability to detect physical damages of hard drives

Cons

    • 30 days trial period
    • No updates from official developer's site
    • Severe hiccups when mechanical damage of the drive sectors is detected - checkout time increases up to a year

Recovering lost data can often be a real challenge for the user. Especially if it was a very important file, a copy of which does not exist. Information can be deleted from the computer due to incorrect operation of the operating system or its failure. Today there are many utilities for data recovery. One of them is R-Studio. It copes with its task better than other similar resources.

Pros

    • Recovering data lost due to system crashes and malicious attacks
    • Create an image of the disk or a part of it
    • Data is available to be stored on a network drive after the recovery process
    • Supports most file systems
    • Special modules for reconstruction and copying
    • Built-in NTFS file editor
    • Recovery of disk partitions after reformatting
    • Data recovery via remote access

Cons

    • Administrator rights are required to install the program

    • Conditional free software

MHDD was created specifically for working with computer hard drives. The main purpose of the program developers intended the diagnostic process to evaluate the condition of the disk. Today, however, MHDD does more than just diagnose. With this utility, users can perform a number of important manipulations. The positive point is that the program is absolutely free and freely available.

Pros

    • Free software can regulate the noise emitted by the drive
    • Ability to remove bad sectors
    • Accurate hard drive diagnostics
    • Deleting low-level data
    • Setting passwords on the drives
    • Built-in log with test results
    • Quick diagnosis of bad sectors
    • Enables SMART self-diagnostic mode
    • Supports IDE, SATA, SCSI, USB interfaces

Cons

    • Difficult for beginners to operate

The hard disk drive is one of the most key components of a user's device, but over time its performance no longer matches the original technical parameters. This happens for a variety of reasons: the influence of malware, incomplete cleaning of deleted applications that conflict with new applications, incorrect computer shutdown and others.

Pros

    • Hard drive testing and diagnostics
    • Detecting dead sectors on the hard drive
    • Multiple recovery modes
    • Excluding dead sectors from the file system
    • Two levels of testing: drives and files
    • Can be used on any computer
    • Supports external hard drives, raid arrays
    • Easy and user friendly operation
    • Versatility and portability - can even be launched from a floppy disk

The performance and integrity of information on the user's computer directly depends on the condition of the hard disk, so its parameters should be periodically checked.

Pros

    • Easy to use command line
    • Low system requirements
    • Adjustable acoustic mode
    • Ability to view S.M.A.R.T attributes
    • Supports RAID arrays and USB, Firewire drives
    • Saves drive information in a text file
    • Modify spindle start/stop settings and power management
    • Runs in background
    • Requires no PC installation, runs from removable media

Cons

    • No updates from the official website

Hard Disk Sentinel is one of the best applications for tracking the health of hard drives. The program measures the temperature of hard drives, real-time data transfer rate, monitors S.M.A.R.T. indicators and promptly informs the user about possible malfunctions. From this article you can learn more about the functionality of the application as well as download and install the Windows version of the program.

Pros

    • allows you to monitor the data transfer speed in real time
    • Locates possible failures and malfunctions effectively
    • Measures disk drive temperatures
    • Monitors S.M.A.R.T. parameters
    • Can work in the background, monitoring hard drive operations
    • Provides detailed information on hard drive parameters and uptime
    • Provides user-friendly monitoring results in the form of convenient reports
    • Power control settings in case of critical events
    • Hot-key operation support
    • Variety of additional functions and flexible customization for each user's needs

Cons

    • in the free version the set of features is significantly limited