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Darth Incubus · November 9th, 2009, 05:41 PM

While doing a complete reinstall on my primary PC, I made the mistake of using files from my backup external drive. Thanks to juggling space for the files from my main PC, I had only ONE copy of the files on that drive. Then I compounded that mistake by using files from that drive to clean up an errant Windows 2000 machine for a friend -- the clean-up worked fine, but not before a Windows 2000 glitch whacked my directory!

I tried all sorts of freeware, including:

PC-Inspector by Convar, which though promising in terms of being able to recover a defunct drive was never able to complete a scan of the external drive. I do have to wonder about just how efficacious a program Convar is ever going to put out, especially as freeware, as they are also in the business of recovering data themselves. Nevertheless, as far as I got I got with this program it looked promising.

I was able to recover files using...

Recuva from Piriform (same folks who make CCleaner), but it retained next to none of the file structure and it was impossible for me to determine which files were in the recycle bin OR even deleted but not yet overwritten at the time of the directory failure. This was a mess I just wasn't too keen on sorting through.

Finally, I tried the shareware version of...

File Scavenger by QueTek™ Consulting Corporation, which, to my amazement, I was able to recover not only my files, but my folder structure -- and avoid recovering the files from the recycle bin and those that were deleted but not overwritten almost altogether. Shareware gets you a scan and paltry file recovery, while the full program costs $49.99 (and the license apparently allows you to recover your current scan without restarting the program).

At $49.99, this is a pricey program. I managed to buy an installation disk, paperwork, and even the invoice for an old version of this program from a techie friend of mine for a song. It still worked just fine even if it was a bit less polished. I did, unfortunately, have to repeat a scan that had taken more than a day the first time.

All of these programs are available on Download.com at CNET, I've included the product pages as the first link of each paragraph respectively. The second link in each is to the developer website.

NOTE: All of these programs take forever to scan a large drive. All of these programs take forever to recover a large external drive. If you lose a hard drive this way, I'd start with the PC-Inspector because it promises to recover not only files but folder structure. Recuva recovers a little structure. If push comes to shove, use the trial ware of File Scavenger -- if the results of the scan look promising, you can decide if it's worth $49.99 to get your data back.

November 9th, 2009, 05:41 PM	#105
Darth Incubus Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 27 Thanks: 398 Thanked 230 Times in 22 Posts	While doing a complete reinstall on my primary PC, I made the mistake of using files from my backup external drive. Thanks to juggling space for the files from my main PC, I had only ONE copy of the files on that drive. Then I compounded that mistake by using files from that drive to clean up an errant Windows 2000 machine for a friend -- the clean-up worked fine, but not before a Windows 2000 glitch whacked my directory! I tried all sorts of freeware, including: PC-Inspector by Convar, which though promising in terms of being able to recover a defunct drive was never able to complete a scan of the external drive. I do have to wonder about just how efficacious a program Convar is ever going to put out, especially as freeware, as they are also in the business of recovering data themselves. Nevertheless, as far as I got I got with this program it looked promising. I was able to recover files using... Recuva from Piriform (same folks who make CCleaner), but it retained next to none of the file structure and it was impossible for me to determine which files were in the recycle bin OR even deleted but not yet overwritten at the time of the directory failure. This was a mess I just wasn't too keen on sorting through. Finally, I tried the shareware version of... File Scavenger by QueTek™ Consulting Corporation, which, to my amazement, I was able to recover not only my files, but my folder structure -- and avoid recovering the files from the recycle bin and those that were deleted but not overwritten almost altogether. Shareware gets you a scan and paltry file recovery, while the full program costs $49.99 (and the license apparently allows you to recover your current scan without restarting the program). At $49.99, this is a pricey program. I managed to buy an installation disk, paperwork, and even the invoice for an old version of this program from a techie friend of mine for a song. It still worked just fine even if it was a bit less polished. I did, unfortunately, have to repeat a scan that had taken more than a day the first time. All of these programs are available on Download.com at CNET, I've included the product pages as the first link of each paragraph respectively. The second link in each is to the developer website. NOTE: All of these programs take forever to scan a large drive. All of these programs take forever to recover a large external drive. If you lose a hard drive this way, I'd start with the PC-Inspector because it promises to recover not only files but folder structure. Recuva recovers a little structure. If push comes to shove, use the trial ware of File Scavenger -- if the results of the scan look promising, you can decide if it's worth $49.99 to get your data back. Last edited by Darth Incubus; November 24th, 2009 at 11:51 AM.. Reason: added "deleted but not overwritten" to "files in recycle bin"