Recovering hard drive files. How to recover a deleted file on your computer and phone - all the ways. Recovering data from a hard drive using special utilities
Surely, everyone has at least once encountered a situation where important files on the computer were accidentally deleted. It's good if they take up little space and are on your hard drive. In this case, nothing bad happened: you can return the data by restoring it from the Recycle Bin. It's worse when the storage medium is a flash drive. In this case, there is no intermediate step, and the information is deleted immediately.
Despite the seemingly irreversible situation, things can be improved. If the user accidentallydeleted files from flash drive, how to restore them– our material will tell.
A little theory
Information on digital media, be it a flash drive or hard drive, is organized into a file system. This is a kind of journal in which data is entered about where each file is physically located (in solid-state memory cells or sectors of a magnetic disk), how much it occupies, and other information. During normal deletion through Explorer, often only this service information is erased. To improve performance and extend the life of the drive, data is not physically erased. Thus, despite the absence of mentions of files in the FS, the cells themselves are still occupied by the treasured bytes belonging to the previously erased file. They are cleared only when an attempt is made to write new data to the same location.
That is, after deleting files from the file system, they continue to be physically present on the disk. The principle of information recovery is based on this. To regain access to them, you need to analyze the contents of cells marked as free and find areas filled with data there.
Each file type, be it images, music, video or document, has a specific structure. If a data recovery program finds an area corresponding to a certain type of data, it reports that it has identified a deleted file and tries to return it.
Is it possible to recover deleted files yourself?
Offered by numerous organizations. Among them are service centers specializing in all types of PC maintenance, as well as laboratories engaged only in this area. They will even return information from a broken drive, but the cost of services can amount to tens of thousands of rubles.
If for an organization that has lost its accounting program log, client base, and other unreserved documents due to a system failure and storage failure, prices can be called acceptable (otherwise the losses reach millions), then for ordinary users they will seem huge. Despite the fact that in market terms a personal photo archive or video from family celebrations may not cost a penny, for a person they are precious as a memory. Lost work-from-home results don't cost millions either, but they can cost you a few lost days.
It is quite natural that the question “how to recover files deleted from the recycle bin, independently”, interests everyone. It is quite possible to do this, but a successful result is not always achieved and depends on a number of factors. To increase the likelihood of a successful recovery, several rules should be followed:
- The less time has passed since deletion, the better.. Don't waste precious minutes by postponing recovery until later. What could be corrected immediately may not be possible later.
- It is not recommended to use the drive after deleting files. It’s easier in this regard with a flash drive: you can simply remove it and put it aside for a while. It is more difficult with a hard drive, especially if it is the only one in the PC, and the deleted information was stored on the system partition. In this case, you should close all programs and proceed to download the file recovery program.
- When downloading recovery programs, you cannot use a disk from which files have been deleted. It is better to download (and install) the software onto a third-party medium (preferably a USB flash drive). Otherwise, the risk increases that new files will be written to the place where the data of interest used to be, and it will no longer be possible to save them.
Recovery programs
To recover deleted files on computer, you need the appropriate software. There are quite a lot of similar programs. Many of them are paid (and relatively expensive, like all professional software). But it is worth noting the free applications: Recuva, R.saver (free for home use in the territory of the former USSR) and Wise Data Recovery. They have approximately the same functionality; as an example, we will give the last one as the simplest but most effective.
How to recover deleted files from a hard drive or flash drive using Wise Data Recovery
To recover deleted files from a flash drive or hard drive, you need to download and install the application (it is not recommended to install it on the target drive). The developers' website is in English, but it is possible to translate the interface into Russian using Google Translator.
After launching the program, a window opens with a minimalistic but clear interface. To start scanning, you need to select in the upper left corner the partition on which there were files that require recovery.
After starting the scanning procedure, the program checks the drive for deleted files, which are displayed on the panel. Search time ranges from several seconds to several minutes. It depends on the disk space, the overall performance of the PC and the number of files that have fallen under the knife.
After completing the search procedure, the program displays a list of detected deleted data on the panel. The color of the icon next to the file name indicates its level of preservation. Green indicates that the document can be saved, yellow warns of the possibility of failure, and red indicates that the data area has already been damaged. In this case, even if it is possible to save the file, there is a high risk that it will not be completely restored. And if, in the case of a photo, this results in empty fragments of the image (like missing puzzles), then it will most likely not be possible to unpack an archive in poor condition.
It should be noted that you should not be afraid of the yellow color. In the image below, the “Windows 10 PE” file is marked as “risky”. But this is a disk image specially deleted to demonstrate the program’s capabilities, which is successfully restored completely.
When the files of interest are found, all that’s left is to save them by moving them to a new location. You need to check the boxes of the documents you are interested in, click the “Recover” button at the bottom and select a location to save.You cannot specify the same partition on which the source files were stored.This may entail, in the course of rescuing one document, writing it over another. And then the second file will no longer be recoverable.
If you are not satisfied with the result, you can try another software.
How to recover deleted files using Recuva
Recuva comes in free and paid versions. You can download it from the developers' website. Once downloaded, installed and launched, the application will launch the “Recuva Wizard”, allowing you to follow the recovery procedure step by step. First of all, you should specify the type of data you are interested in. This allows you to make your search faster and more efficient.
Next, Recuva proceeds to selecting the location of the deleted data. You need to specify a section or folder to search for information.
After this, the program is ready for scanning. Checking “Enable in-depth analysis” will significantly increase the likelihood of success, but the search time increases, sometimes reaching an hour or more.
After the search, a list of detected files will also be displayed in the program window. Similarly, using a color indicator, the status of the detected file and the chance of its recovery are indicated.
To make your search easier, you can sort the results by name, size, date modified, location, and condition. If the required file is found, you need to select it and press the “Restore” button, specifying the location to copy. If the document was not found, you can try to enable in-depth analysis.
Other programs are structured in a similar way. In general, the functionality of such software is at the same level, only the professional versions have wider capabilities and increased efficiency.
If 2, 3 or even 5 programs show equally disappointing results, you will have to accept: the data is lost forever. Most likely, they were overwritten, and even professionals who demand significant money for their work will not be able to help.
Conclusion
Recover deleted files from Recycle Bin after cleaningCan. The likelihood of success directly depends on how timely the accidental deletion was detected. There is a lot of software for these purposes on the Internet, both free and for money. The programs have limited but sufficient functionality. Which one to choose is a matter of taste and wallet; to recover deleted files, it is not necessary to “donate”.
To get a positive result, you should prevent overwriting a blank area of the media by avoiding placing new data in it. You can do this yourself, and the chance of saving the information is quite high. You should follow all the recommendations, and then the question “how to recover deleted files from a flash drive or hard drive” will not bother you.
If you need help or don't knowhow to recover deleted files on your computer– ask in the comments, we will try to answer all questions.
Accidentally pressing the “Delete” button, inattention, program failures, unsuccessful mouse clicks, virus activity - all this can cause information loss. Files can be easily deleted unintentionally on a hard drive, flash drive, CD and DVD drives, or on any other storage medium. If it is very valuable, then it is worth fighting to restore it. Most often successful.
Start with the trivial - look in the “Basket”. There is a huge chance that you will find accidentally destroyed data there. Without giving in to panic, open the “Trash”. All deleted information is stored in this folder until it is completely cleared. Restoring from it is simple: open the “Recycle Bin”, right-click on the desired file (folder), and select “Restore” from the list of commands. The file will return to its original location where it was deleted. In more complex situations, when the file is not in the Recycle Bin, you will need to resort to the help of special programs. There are a lot of them. Let's look at the work of the most popular and proven ones. These include Recuva. The utility easily copes with the return of lost files of any type: a document, a picture, a spreadsheet - almost anything deleted.
Always restore files using programs to a different drive than the one where they were previously. The main thing is to act thoughtfully, without panic, but quickly. When working with important information, be careful and attentive, and do not forget to periodically create backup copies of files.
Any computer owner can inadvertently delete important files from the hard drive. In this case, a logical question arises: “How to recover deleted files on your computer yourself?”
As a rule, all deleted documents are placed and stored in the trash until the owner himself clears it. Therefore, you first need to look for the files there. As you know, you can restore them from the trash in one click, and they will be sent to the same place where they were before deletion.
If the necessary documents are no longer there, this does not mean that they are gone forever. In some cases, information can be recovered.
How to recover deleted files on your computer after emptying the Recycle Bin? You should know that immediately after deleting a document, only its name disappears in the registry, and the file itself will be stored on the hard drive until new information is written in its place. Once you realize that the Recycle Bin that was just emptied contained important documents, it is important not to save any information on your computer that could take the place of files that were inadvertently deleted.
Recovering information from the HDD is carried out using third-party programs, so it is advisable to install such a program in advance, otherwise, when loading, it may displace the files that need to be found and saved. In this case, you can move the hard drive to another computer that already has such a program, but this option is not always available.
There are many programs for recovering files from HDDs, including both free and paid services. The latter are more functional and provide more options.
How to recover deleted files on your computer for free? To do this, you need to download the Recuva utility from the Internet. This is a convenient application with a simple and intuitive interface that even a beginner can master. Using the utility, it is possible to record video and text documents.
Once the program is downloaded from the network, you need to unzip it, and then install and configure it using the Recuva wizard. After this, you can move on to the main actions.
How to recover deleted files on your computer using the free Recuva utility? After the installation wizard has finished its work, you need to click the “Start” button and begin searching for the necessary files. Once the search process is complete, a list of files will appear. Some of them will have the inscription “Viewing is not possible.” This means that other information has already been recorded on top of these documents and they cannot be restored.
Files that can still be saved should be checked and clicked “Recover”. After this, you will need to specify the folder in which you want to save the documents and confirm by clicking “OK”.
You can restore files in Recuva in a different mode. To do this, click on the “Go to advanced mode” button. A window will open in which the found files will be arranged in the form of a table. The contents of the document can be seen in the “View” tab, the parameters are in the “Summary” section. To do this, you need to tick them and start the process. The information will be saved to the specified folder.
Of course, the program will not be able to save all deleted files, so it makes sense to store especially important information on removable media.
A headache for PC users is the loss of files: photos, documents and other data. We won't go into theory: this practical guide explains the basic principles of file recovery. We hope you can put them into practice.
Let's look at three main scenarios on how to recover deleted files on a computer:
Programs used during recovery:
Is it always possible to recover deleted files on your computer?
Not always, but in many cases it is quite possible. Let me explain.
After deletion, the files remain on the hard drive. In the file table they are assigned a label – “0”. This means that this space is not occupied and can be used to record other information.
Thus, the file is hidden from your eyes, it is deleted only conditionally and can be restored as long as it is not overwritten by other data. (By the way, you can restore files after overwriting, but there is a risk that they are partially damaged and cannot be returned).
How to assess the chances of recovery after removal?
The likelihood of file recovery depends on many factors. The checklist looks something like this:
- How the deletion was carried out - through the Recycle Bin, bypassing it (Shift + Del), through the formatting command
- Time elapsed since deletion - the further you go, the higher the risk of files being overwritten
- Type of deleted files - some files (images, videos) can be partially recovered, others cannot be recovered if even one byte of data is lost
- Type of storage device – hard drive, RAID array, etc.
- File system type - NTFS/FAT/exFAT, etc.
If the circumstances are successful, the files can be restored in whole or in part. It’s impossible to determine the probability in numbers, but it’s worth a try.
How to recover files from the Recycle Bin
Typically, after deleting (via the Del key), files are sent to the Recycle Bin. The Recycle Bin is temporary storage; the data is there for 30 days, after which it is automatically deleted. If during this time you change your mind (for example, remember that the files you need are among the deleted ones), check the contents of the Recycle Bin and restore the files. How to do it:
- Open the Recycle Bin through the icon on your desktop or through Explorer
- Select the files to be restored and use the Restore item in the context menu
- The files will be restored to their original location
How to recover files if the Recycle Bin has already been emptied
Even when you empty the Recycle Bin, the files are not permanently destroyed. However, you will need additional utilities and time to successfully recover deleted files. Recovery programs work on the same principle: they scan the file system, looking for sectors on the computer marked “file deleted.”
Note. By installing a program, you inevitably make changes to the file table, reducing the chances of recovery (depending on the amount of computer information recorded on the hard drive). We recommend installing the recovery program on a flash drive, another computer, or a disk partition that was not used to store deleted files.
Recovering files after formatting
Let's move on to more “severe” cases. In particular, after formatting, not only individual files, but also the entire partition of the hard drive undergoes changes. The result is permanently deleted files.
Is there a chance to recover data on a PC in such a situation?
- After quick formatting - yes
- After full formatting the chances are minimal
What programs will help you recover files on your hard drive?
In fact, there are dozens of recovery programs. We do not recommend taking the first one you come across: there is a risk that you will not only not recover your files after deletion, but will also waste money on useless functions. We will list three programs that have been tested and are respected by other users.
1. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard: advanced file recovery after deletion (in difficult cases)
- Convenience. Data Recovery Wizard is perfectly integrated with the file system and Windows OS. Thanks to the built-in recovery wizard, working with it is convenient.
- Secure Recycle Bin. Unlike the standard Recycle Bin, you can store deleted files in it and restore them even after emptying.
- Solving complex cases. Recovering files deleted without the Recycle Bin (via Shift+Delete), after formatting or on HDD partitions with the “raw file system”.
2. Recuva – a universal solution for file recovery
Recuva is a free and actively developing program for the Windows platform. It's very easy to restore files on your computer, plus it doesn't require money for basic functions or lifting limits. By the way, on the pages of Softdroid we have already told. Read our detailed guide.
Let us note three main features of this program.
- Simplicity. Recuva offers the most novice users to use the Deleted File Recovery Wizard. Here you can specify certain types of files (for example, only photos), select a search location, and set other parameters for finding deleted information.
- Deep scanning. By activating the option, you increase the chances of recovering a deleted file, even if a normal scan using other recovery utilities failed to find anything.
- Visibility. All found files are marked. The color indicates the probability of recovery: high, medium, low. A quick preview is available for found images.
3. DiskDrill – recover deleted files on PC and Mac OS X
DiskDrill is a young product on the computer recovery software market, but good technical support and community indicate the maturity of the program.
DiskDrill functionality is suitable for recovering most files stored on a PC: images, music, videos, documents, archives. There is a version of the program not only for Windows, but also for Mac OS. Regardless of the OS, you can recover 100 MB of found files for free (and this is a generous limit).
Features of DiskDrill:
- Selecting the type of data to be recovered. You can only select file types that will appear in the search results. Filtering by attributes and flexible search among recovered files are also available.
- Pause/continue scanning at any time. Convenient if you have a large HDD/SSD.
- Overwrite protection. By locking partitions while DiskDrill is running, you protect your hard drive from overwriting deleted files.
Recovering files on your computer using Hetman Partition Recovery
Hetman Partition Recovery: universal recovery toolkit
Question answer
Photos were deleted from the computer in an unknown way. I suspect that some kind of virus could have done this. I tried to recover a deleted file using the Wise Data Recovery program. All files that were found are in the "LOST" state. As I understand it, they cannot be restored? Did the virus eat them? Or is there a way to somehow cure these files and still restore them?
Answer. See if Wise Data Recovery has a deep scan mode. Most likely no. Install other recovery programs. For example, Recuva has an in-depth scan feature, which increases the chances of recovering deleted files. You can also use PhotoRec to recover photos on your computer. Both recovery utilities are free.
Quite often, PC users are faced with an unpleasant situation when they need to recover missing data from their hard drive that was erased by mistake or accident. The system marks such data as “zero”, after which other information can be written on top of it. If you write other data and the user fills up the free disk space, the original files will be lost forever.
What not to do and what is better to do:
- Under no circumstances should you install programs or save files to the disk on which the lost files were located - this will increase the chances of their successful recovery.
- For further work, it is recommended to use an external drive.
You can turn to specialists to extract data, but their work is usually too expensive. Doing the restoration yourself is also quite possible.
How to recover data
There are special programs that allow you to restore all the necessary files. For the most part, they are suitable not only for working with computer disks, but also for external media.
There is a possibility that the information will only be partially restored, but you will have to come to terms with this. To get the best results from a data recovery program, you should install it on an external drive, run it from there and follow the instructions.
In this article we will look at the process of recovering files from a flash drive using the free but very effective program R.Saver (official website), which can:
- recover deleted files;
- reconstruct damaged file systems;
- restore data after formatting;
- recover files using signatures.
At the end there will be a list of other programs with which you can try to recover your lost data.
We will check how R.Saver recovers files after standard deletion from storage media. To do this, let's take an ordinary USB flash drive with the NTFS file system, create a separate folder on it, save several different files into it, and then delete them.
Next, download the archive with the program, extract the files (files should be extracted to a different partition from which the recovery will be performed) and run the r.saver.exe file. The tool is portable and works without installation.
In the main program window, call up the context menu and select “Search for lost files.”
In the next window, click “No”, since we deleted the files manually and not by formatting.
We wait until the scanning process is completed.
After scanning, we will see the deleted folder, and inside it – our files.
Determine the save location, click “Select”.
That's all. The files were successfully recovered and saved to the local disk of the computer.
Other programs for recovering deleted information
Recuva
One of the most promising products. The program is free, Russified and does not cause any difficulties in learning. Recuva will find deleted files from your computer or external media and restore them immediately. After downloading and installing it on your computer or external drive, you should do the following:
- After starting the recovery wizard, mark all the data that should be restored;
- Mark the section or folder where the lost data was;
- After this, scanning of the marked folders and searching for deleted files begins. The in-depth scanning function will take longer, but show better results;
- Recuva will then retrieve the lost data from your hard drive or external storage device. For external media, the sequence of actions will be the same as for a hard drive;
- The program highlights all found data in different colors. Green - which were completely removed, yellow - which were partially restored, red - which remained deleted with the loss of all information.
At the final stage, you need to mark the folder where all the files will be saved.
R-Studio
Paid, but professional program. In demo mode, it allows you to recover files no larger than 256 KB. Recovers all data accidentally lost or missing after formatting or a virus attack from a hard drive or removable media. The list of supported versions includes all popular versions of Windows. A practical interface and advanced functionality with additional features will delight the most demanding users. The algorithm of actions after downloading will be as follows.
