AltDataRecovery - File Recovery

File Recovery can recover files that are deleted from the system. No matter the files are deleted using Ctrl-D, DOS delete command or drag and drop to the recycle bin, it can retrieve the files in just few minutes. You can select a partition or a folder to scan, and the result is presented as the original directory structure. For those files that are deleted by emptying the recycle bin, they usually appear in a folder called "RECYCLER" in the result window. Then you can select the files you want to recover and store them to a new directory.

The File Recovery task can be finished in three simple steps.

Step 1. Select a target partition or directory to scan, and then click Next to start.

Select a target directory/partition

Step 2. Select the files that you want to recover, and then click Next to continue.

(Note: Because the files are deleted by emptying the recycle bin, in the "Found Files List" window, they are listed under the RECYCLER folder.)

Found Files List, the scan result

Step 3. Select or enter a directory where you want to store the recovered files.

We highly suggest you to select a directory that is not located in the same partition as the source partition. Because if the recovered files are copied to the partition, they will eventually replace the space that contains the source data. As a result, you will not able to get all the files you selected in the previous step.

Recovered file store directory selection

Finish: Recovery Result

The Recovery Result shows the report of the recovery task.

Finish

File Recovery Options

In most cases, you can scan lost files using the default settings. However, AltDataRecovery also provides some custom scanning options. To change the options, select the File Recovery Options item in the Options menu. There are three options available:

1. Ignore files that had been deleted before the directory was deleted: By default, this option is unchecked, meaning that the software will try to find all files in deleted directories. If this option is checked, File Recovery will only look for the files that existed at the time the directories were deleted. By enabling this option, the scanning process will be faster.

2. Ignore Temporary folders: Microsoft Windows creates temporary folders. They are created when certain operations or programs start, and they are usually deleted after the operations or programs end. Therefore, the files in temporary folders are usually useless for users and finding those files is meaningless. By default, this option is checked in order to speed up the scanning process.

3. Ignore bad dated files: In some cases, partial data of a deleted file has been replaced by some new files, causing the header information of the deleted file can not be retrieved. Therefore, the date information of the files are invalid. That is, the deleted file is most likely incomplete and can not be recoverd. By default, this option is checked in order to speed up the scanning process.