Iwould like to know if this can recover files after a bad crash & windows has been re-installed.

Ready, Fire, Aim?

I tried to install it on a flash. Works but save the registration number the program wants it for every computer you run it on. You do not have to enter the code after using the program(I think).

From BuBBy: Each new computer will need the registration number, as those details are stored (or read from) on the computer the software is running on, and not on the flash. (ie. not a good candidate to run from a flash drive, compared to others that may not have a dependency on the windows registry.)

From BuBBy: When it comes to data recovery, “expensive” is a very subjective criteria. Depending on how important a successful recovery is – and what value you place on getting your data back – some people might pay hundreds or thousands of dollars. Other people might just give up if they can’t recover their data with a free tool. Regardless of which tool you use, a data recovery tool that you cannot rely on to recover your data is worth absolutely nothing. In fact it might even end up costing you (in lost time, or losing the data itself).

The fact that while a tool works, but that can take several hours to complete the job, is something that is harder to accept when you are “just testing”. If you are in a legitimate DR scenario, most people will normally not mind waiting for a successful outcome. A speedy failure or inconclusive result doesn’t help anyone.

I’m going to hook up my failed drives, a check if Search and Recovery can make heads or tails of them – (I haven’t tried this product before, so I can’t really comment). I’ll update this post once I have done some more testing.

Update: iolo Search and Replace – looks like a much more capable program than SDR. From my limited 2 of 3 trial tests, it will identify delete files and recover without any issues that I struck. On a failed drive set (I prepared earlier) – a corrupted Hardware Based RAID 0 (Stripe Set without parity) – still it was only GetDataBack that could give me files back. Search and Replace came back with just “no partitions detected”, whereas GetDataBack didn’t care for the partitions – it just scanned at the sector level. GDB did take 50% longer to scan than iolo S&R, but at the end of that period, I had something I could start to recover with GDB.

I have a system here almost entirely dedicated to recovery; many of the alternative programs I see mentioned here are on that system. One tip: Try to find “Find and Mount”, it even helps with partitions that are gone, or not detected by the OS.

In the free version the transfer rate is limited, but further it is fully functional. Last known link and version:

http://www.findandmount.com version 2.2

Hope this helps you and others to recover data.

A few remarks:

1. Move is actually copy + shift-delete
2. If a file is shredded by a decent shredder, then it’s gone.
3. Same goes for hard disks that have been security-erased! (ERASE!)
4. If the hard disk is encrypted: Before you even can think about
recovery, you’ll have to get through the encryption first, then
proceed as with a normal system. If you can’t get through
encryption then you’re really up the creek without a paddle…
I.o.w. all is lost.
5. Even if the recovery software permits this: NEVER, EVER RESTORE
TO THE SAME DRIVE AS THE ONE YOU’RE RECOVERING FROM!!! In the
process you could overwrite sectors still in use by other deleted
files!
6. Recovering large quantities of data is a lengthy process, both in
finding files and actually recovering them, so the best advise is:
BE PATIENT!
7. If you delete data from a disk you want to recover: Don’t use that
drive to install programs to, or store data on. Doing so strongly
enhances the chance that you will be able to recover the deleted
data!
8. An old – multi-gig – laptop drive and an USB-case can be an
excellent external medium to restore to.
9. If you have imaging software installed: MAKE AN IMAGE BEFORE YOU
START!!! If necessary you may return to the original status of the drive by restoring the image!