Hi,

I need to recover a set of folders which I deleted off an external hard disk. I've tried several freeware data recovery software to no avail. Recuva tells me that the folders have been overwritten by other files, though I'm pretty sure I didn't use the external hard disk after I made those deletions.

Anyway, having exhausted all the freeware options (I think), should I spend money on commercial-grade software? Or, assuming Recuva is right, have I reached a dead-end and I shouldn't spend anymore time or money on this issue?

Thanks!

Hi ultimax,

Firstplace Is the data important or not ??

*If you are sure you did n't write any data into your external drive,then possibilities are very high your data can be recovered.
*Reg your question to buy a software they will cost you anywhere from $100 - $500.
*But I doubt one cant put/purchase the knowledge needed to do the data recovery for sale ... learn instantly and start recovering data ...
*I guess you are not a DR Pro who does DR everyday.
*PM me your email and hardisk details :
number of Partitions
filesystem used
List of very important files that you want to recover

I will help you to recover your data ...

Cheers,

What programs have you used so far? I know most are pretty crappy but there are one or two that have done wonders for me.

Hi Junior,

Thanks for your reply.

I've used all the freeware ones I could find.

What s/w have you find useful? At this point, I guess I'll actually have to purchase something!

Most commercial DR software packages allow a free demo version download.

This will tell you if the files are recoverable.

R-Studio is a pretty good package and quite inexpensive.

_________________
PC Image Data Recovery
http://www.pcimage.co.uk

New!! HDD-PCB.COM for all your PCB and donor HDD requirements!

I think there was only one that I used that ever did the job to tell you the truth. Now If I can just remember it Ill log into my other OS and check it out and will let you know in a few hours.

What is the filesystem on your partitions?

I can advise to try "NTFS Get Data Back" software, it recovered files,other software did not recover

www.restorer2000.com is a pretty decent bit of software for end-users... I think it had a demo version also..

remember any files that you do recover MUST be saved to another drive and NOT to the drive your trying to recover from..

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All went well until I plugged the drive in.

Lately I have been using a nice little program called Active@ File recovery. I was looking for an alternative to R-Studio because I am not a huge fan of it. Also, works quite good with FAT32 partitions also, surprisingly annoying partitions to use commercial recovery software on!