Recovering Deleted Data - Your data vs. your money
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Finding freeware programs that recover data is hard, but I did find some really good ones. People own data that they must have, and companies realize this. Not many people keep backups of important files, so the copies they keep on their hard drives are typically the only ones that they have. If your files accidentally get deleted, you, like many people, may be willing to pay a high premium to get them back, just out of necessity.
There are tons of programs that recover data; they range from $40-$80+. The cost is a little higher than most other software, but there are high stakes involved. If you still can't recover your data and are willing to spend big bucks, there are services that will go a step further to recover your data.
What to do
When you realize that you have accidentally deleted a file, try not to use the hard drive anymore. If you already have a program that will restore a file, great, you're ready to go. If you don't, go get one. Since you don't have one installed, you will have to install it onto the hard drive -- meaning that the software you need could get installed right over the file you need! If you have another hard drive, you could use it for the new software.
What program will work best? Today I'm going to test some freeware and some software and see how far I can recover some files using these programs.
Software
I looked all over for the best of the best programs. I think I have compiled a list of the ones that might be able to help you the most. I picked a few of the best freeware programs, and also found a couple of the best paid applications in case the freeware doesn't work for you.
The best freeware programs I have found are Recovery Files 2.0, PC Inspector Recovery, VirtualLab, and Data Recovery. All of them were pretty straightforward and easy to use. Most of these have wizards to follow, and hopefully your data is recovered by the end of the wizard.
For the paid software, I took a look at Recover My Files and GetDataBack. Both are well known for their ability to recover data. Now it's time to take a look at how well all the programs recover data.
Next: Testing >>
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