I'm beginning to think people take a free application, do some tweaking, remove any reference to the original software. Then rename it and ask $30.00 for it. Just so people believe they are getting something for nothing.

Further information on Giovanni's RecoveryDesk from Softpedia .

"RecoveryDesk 3.8.8
Demo / USD 29.95
cannot recover files larger than 64KB
nag screen"

Well, we have to debunk the myth of 'undelete'. You can undelete a file only if it hasn't been written over by another information (or file) on the drive in that file system (that is why secure wipe exists, writting zeros on the drive everywhere).
So lets say you have a 1gb flash drive with the file a.txt in it. You delete it and put some other files on the flash drive. Those files may be written over a.txt and the information is lost, with any software out there. Even worst if your drive gets full, certain loss. Only somethink like top CIA brainy COULD (not certainly) get your data back, and that is if it hasn't been written over too many times.

Now on SoftOrbits Flash Recovery: once a undelete software, it should undelete on fixed drives as hdds as well, if someone could get it to work. It's algorithms still need working, so i wouldn't recommend it.

@Giovanni (#13):

You listed Recovery Desk as the first free alternative. It should not be there. Here's why:

If you go to their website, there's a description of the program and a place to download. There is no mention of a purchase price and no menu or button to take you to a place to purchase it.

When you download, install, and run it you are immediately presented with three options:
- Register
- Purchase a license
- Demo

Demo will show you files but not restore them.

If you choose to purchase, it costs USD$49.95.

~N

Hi, I just tried this out and it works great. I got a USB stick I use alot and have recently deleted everything from it. Using SoftOrbits Flash Drive Recovery I managed to recover complete applications, zip files, html, txt files, etc with all information intact. I plugged the USB stick in, loaded Flash Drive Recovery and well... It did the rest. Thanks SoftOrbits and Give away of the day.

Took a 1Gb flash drive with 6 zip files. Did a non-quick format. SFDR found nothing. For the Recuva fans - it also found nothing.

One word? FreeUndelete @OfficeRecovery.

Installed and tested on a flash drive by deleting some files on the drive and then scanned using SoftOrbits Flash Drive Recovery. Nothing was found on the drive and no message that it had even been scanned was displayed. Reran same test using Piriform Recuva, it showed all of the deleted files and offered to restore them.

Verdict: Uninstall SoftOrbits Flash Drive Recovery as it doesn't work. Continue to use the free version of Piriform Recuva.

SteveB

17 Gunit . read please. Giovanni says "still didn’t verify if it’s really able to recover files even from a re-formatted USB Drive" so maybe it does what it claims without the reformat bit.perhaps you could test it? although others have to no avail.

#17 - Giovanni didn't say he didn't try the software, he simply said he didn't try the using the software on a re-formated USB drive. As for me, the program was able to recover erased / deleted photos okay (as do many of the free programs) but after formating and then re-formating again... I was only able to recover 34 of 200 photos originally on the drive.

In my experience with several types and kinds of these drives over the years, usually the name brand USB drives have their own(FREE) software to recover files, and/or format when there are issues with these drives. Just do a thorough search and use those utilities first.

I have installed it in a Dell XPS 15, with i7 and 8GB RAM, and with MS Windows 7 Pro 64 bits. I have three USB flash drives with problems that can not be read. I have tried all these devices with this software. Nothing was discovered or/and recovered, and all of them are full of files. It did not work to me. Uninstalling.

Quote #5 Giovanni "This GAOTD looks like a pretty good USB data recovery tool which does what it claims pretty well, even though I still didn’t verify if it’s really able to recover files even from a re-formatted USB Drive."

How can you say it does what it claims then in the same sentence say that you haven't tried it yet??? If you're going to give reviews on the products I believe it would be a good idea to try it before you comment on how well it works.

SoftOrbits does not work! Loaded and registered in Win 8 x64 fine. Let the program run 15 minutes and found nothing. Down loaded Recuva as suggested by others and ran that program. It found 319 photos that had been deleted. Restored one file of 5Mb just fine. Don't bother with this one. I will be deleting this after I post this.

Wow, this will come in handie one day...thanks!

Tried it on two pc's. Neither installation would even read the SD cards. No Back button once you click "Scan" (if I can get that far). Shows my drives but clicking on one locks the app up or does nothing. "Scan" should not be enabled if no drive is selected (basic Windows Operations 101!) I'll be uninstalling and trying one of the other apps suggested.

This GAOTD looks like a pretty good USB data recovery tool which does what it claims pretty well, even though I still didn't verify if it's really able to recover files even from a re-formatted USB Drive.

Did anyone here check it out?

THUMBS UP from me!

BEST FREE (PORTABLE) ALTERNATIVES

- Recovery Desk
http://www.recoverydesk.com

- (Portable) Undelete 360
http://www.undelete360.com

- (Portable) Wise Data Recovery (==> can even restore email files)
http://www.wisecleaner.com/wisedatarecoveryfree.html

- (Portable) Recuva
http://www.piriform.com/recuva

- Puran Data Recovery 1.0
http://www.puransoftware.com/Data-Recovery.html

- PhotoRec (==> great FREE tool for recovering pictures from memory cards and USB flash drives)
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec

- (Portable) Toolwiz File Recovery 1.3.0.0
http://www.toolwiz.com/products/toolwiz-file-recovery

- (Portable) Pandora Recovery
http://www.pandorarecovery.com

And to recover data/files/movies/music from scratched CD, DVD, BD and HD DVD:

http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Back-Up-and-Recovery/Abyssal-Recovery.shtml

Hmmm...pretty much saturated field, isn't it dudes?? LOL!

Enjoy!!

Installed without problems on Win 7 64-bit.
No 64- bit version, sadly.

Errored out on a 16 GB USB and found the usual corrupted data remnants on a 8 GB SD card. Found nothing after I did a full Format on the card.
It's rather slow when scanning. For this type of software that isn't necessarily a bad thing though. Not impressed by the results, Piriform's Recuva seems to find more but I'm too lazy to do a thorough test right now.

Overall SoftOrbits Flash Drive Recovery isn't bad but it's too limited to warrant it's pricetag. No quick or deep scan mode. There's no search option or file filtering in the results. Besides that it's actually crippled as it only works on solid state tech.

Uninstalled. Also thumbed down for the price, for $30 it's lacking in options and it should work on all types of drives, not just solid state. Thanks anyway GOTD and SoftOrbits.

@Invisible: Maybe this article on Raw Disk Format can help you out. Try Recuva, You might be in luck.

Installed ok, but didn't retreve anything off my 4 gb drive that I can't open, I feel that I was a guinea pig here trying out a product that doesn't do what it says just for kicks from a company that doesn't give alot of info on their products. Thanks anyways GAOTD.

USB, Flash-Cards etc can only be partially recovered if the data from your card from your camera was deleted on your camera. If you delete the content or format the card on your PC, there is little to no chance to get any data back. This is the fact about USB cards of all types. Recovery software that claims otherwise is a lie.

I've tried it on a 1Gb pendrive, but doesn't work: it stops after a few minutes with an error alert. XP sp3 here.

No one beter then Piriform's Recuva and it's always free, not understand why people pay for a simple tool like this, and the price of 30 dollar must be a joke.

It does not work on a flash drive that has become RAW. It says the drive is 0.00 MB. It works like the first person said - it does nothing after you click to scan. Just goes straight to a blank page to "recover", but there is nothing there to recover. I try every recovery tool I can find to try to fix this drive with no luck, but some of them found something. This one finds nothing. It is small and compact and it's nice that you can preview the files first. Also that they are in a tree view with all the folders and file names (some of them are spelled with a _ in the beginning of the name for some reason)and you can pick what you want to recover by checking the boxes. I wish it would do that for my RAW drive. It's exactly what I'm looking for. I tried a good flash drive in it and it works on that one - scan starts an actual search, and it took about 20 minutes for an 8GB drive with almost nothing on it - but that one doesn't need a recovery tool - the RAW disk does.

I don't think this works. It is there but wouldn't do anything. Doesn't show my drives. Anyone get theirs to work?

great idea -doesn't work - same as no.1

I downloaded and installed this program. It's a smooth install because the key is included in the readme file. So no need for email address. I tried it and for the most part it works well. The interface was easy to use but the results were some what mixed. I only tried it on one of my 4 GB memory sticks and some files were recovered flawlessly. Others did not fare as well. I wish this publisher luck with this program but it faces a lot of competition, both free and paid programs.

Best Free Alternative : Testdisk, Glary undelete, Power Data Recovery, Photorec, Restoration, Recuva, Wise Data Recovery, and many more.

Installed OK, opened OK, read drive OK. Proceeded to 'scan', and absolutely nothing happens. Have to close program and re-open to check next drive.
It would be nice if there was some sort of help or settings tool.
Guess this one will have to go to file 13