Looking for a Recovery Program with a Specific Feature

[Neillithan]

Before people start recommending software (E.G. Recuva), please take a moment to understand what I'm seeking.

I am looking for a free recovery program similar to Recuva, but with the ability to recover files into their original directory and/or directory structure.

Recuva simply finds deleted files and recovers them to a target folder. It does not recover them to their original directory structure.

I know this isn't impossible to do because 1. Recuva actually shows the directory from the Recovery window, it simply does not recreate the directories.

Also, there's a very old program I used to use called Winternals and I recall it being able to recover files to their directory structure. I'm not sure what happened to it, I think Microsoft absorbed it.

I can already see the tidal wave of users saying what I'm asking for is impossible, so I will politely respond ahead of time: No, it's not impossible.

Suggestions?

Thanks,

-Neil

OS: Windows 7 Pro 64bit

[sc302 Veteran]

easeus will restore the file structure. and I believe can do what you ask but you want the deleted recovery part of the software...this will reset the delete attribute. I believe recover my files also supports this.

I personally think that recova and pc inspector are terrible programs for recovery.

[Neillithan]

  On 31/08/2011 at 17:44, sc302 said:

easeus will restore the file structure. and I believe can do what you ask but you want the deleted recovery part of the software...this will reset the delete attribute. I believe recover my files also supports this.

I personally think that recova and pc inspector are terrible programs for recovery.

Unfortunately "recover my files" is not free, but it does work as you claim. Any other suggestions?

[sc302 Veteran]

did you look at easeus?

recovery wizard free will recover as you wish up to 1GB. if your data is that important and you need more what is $70

http://www.easeus.com/download.htm

You also have to understand, winternals was not free it was a $10,000 license from what I remember...just because you could torrent it didn't mean it was free.

[Neillithan]

  On 31/08/2011 at 19:00, sc302 said:

did you look at easeus?

recovery wizard free will recover as you wish up to 1GB. if your data is that important and you need more what is $70

http://www.easeus.com/download.htm

You also have to understand, winternals was not free it was a $10,000 license from what I remember...just because you could torrent it didn't mean it was free.

I'm aware Winternals was not free and yes that is an absurd amount of money. No need to attack. I only mentioned it to keep the naysayers away. Also, I was looking for a program that you can install. I think Winternals required a boot disk? It has been so long since I used it. Anyway, Winternals is ancient history and it's not pertinent to software ideas.

Also, no, I have not checked out EASEUS yet, but I will. If what you say about the 1GB limitation is true, it seems I may pass that up. Sure, data is important but I am not in immediate need of a recovery program. I'm doing research now because I'm bored and it never hurts to be prepared. It seems I have found a program that does what I want. It's called MiniTool Power Data Recovery Free. Are you familiar with this program? Might be worth checking out.

Thanks

P.S. Try not to be so judgmental. Software isn't always acquired (or used) illegally. It's a shame I have to mention this but just to keep the naysayers away--yes I am fully aware torrenting is not inherently illegal.

[sc302 Veteran]

I don't quite qualify under the home user license for anything I do. Unfortunatly if you do work for others as a business entity (joes computer repair for example) technically you don't qualify either.

"License

MiniTool Power Data Recovery Free Edition is for private, noncommercial, home computer use only. Use of MiniTool Power Data Recovery Free Edition within any organization or for commercial purpose is strictly prohibited. "

You charge someone to recover data using this software it becomes commercial/non private.

I am not here to give you a lecture on what you should and shouldn't do, just point that fact out.

BTW, if you had the full version of winternals, you could install that on a pc.

Remember anything that you install on a drive after the fact could erase some of the files on the drive. you are best to install said utilities on another computer and slave the drive onto that other comptuer to restore.

[Neillithan]

  On 31/08/2011 at 19:15, sc302 said:

I don't quite qualify under the home user license for anything I do. Unfortunatly if you do work for others as a business entity (joes computer repair for example) technically you don't qualify either.

"License

MiniTool Power Data Recovery Free Edition is for private, noncommercial, home computer use only. Use of MiniTool Power Data Recovery Free Edition within any organization or for commercial purpose is strictly prohibited. "

You charge someone to recover data using this software it becomes commercial/non private.

I am not here to give you a lecture on what you should and shouldn't do, just point that fact out.

Yep, I understand this perfectly. I know the difference between non commercial and commercial use.

You are talking to someone who will use this for non commercial use, I have no intentions of using this to make money and if I did, I would pay for a license.

  Quote

BTW, if you had the full version of winternals, you could install that on a pc.

Remember anything that you install on a drive after the fact could erase some of the files on the drive. you are best to install said utilities on another computer and slave the drive onto that other comptuer to restore.

I partition my drives accordingly and I have several harddrives. I have suffered data loss before and I have used bootable tools to recover the data. Some free, some not. I configure my Windows so that it's on its own partition and all of my documents / media get stored on another partition / harddrive. The risk to data corruption is minimal.

Appreciate your feedback, others may find it useful. :-)

[MS Bob 11]

Tried Undeluxe ? Has a free home version too.

[Raa]

While yes that's possible, I have to question the reasoning. If you try and recover files back to the original location, you could potentially overwrite recoverable data, thus hampering your effort.

Most older undelete programs used to be able to restore the file/s back to their original locations. I don't think more modern ones allow you to do this because of the previous comment^

Norton Undelete comes to mind, even if it's ancient now!

[sc302 Veteran]

  On 31/08/2011 at 19:12, Neillithan said:

P.S. Try not to be so judgmental. Software isn't always acquired (or used) illegally. It's a shame I have to mention this but just to keep the naysayers away--yes I am fully aware torrenting is not inherently illegal.

Not being judgemental, but looking at your comments regarding winternals I know that this was not acquired legally or you would have had the abiltiy to install locally on the harddrive to be able to recover vs off of a boot disk that was either given to you, you torrented because someone mentioned it, through googling you found the name, or found it in a news group. You asked for a free utility and I gave you choices, you didn't like the choices I gave regardless of the reasons and that is fine. There are very few good freeware utilities out there that can accomplish what you want, and freeware is what you are looking for from a legal perspective and what we can talk about on this forum (and am reinforcing that). I can't tell you in a public arena to go there and download x pirated software because it will do what you want, it is against the rules.

https://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?app=forums&module=extras&section=boardrules

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No Illegal Software/Copyrighted Discussion.

Discussions involving warez, cracks, security circumvention, using torrents for downloading copyrighted or illegal material is strictly prohibited. This includes music files or other unauthorized software. Asking for help in doing so will cause warns or suspensions of accounts.

The following punishments may be applied to your account following infractions:

1.Posting a link to pirated software/film/tv/music. = SNIP POST + WARNING LEVEL RAISE

2.Suggesting (overtly endorsing) that somebody pirate material. = SNIP POST + WARNING LEVEL RAISE

3.Requesting assistance in pirating material. = SNIP POST + WARNING LEVEL RAISE

4.Posting screenshots that show obviously pirated material (e.g. someone's uTorrent download screen) = SNIP POST + PM and/or ZERO LEVEL WARN

5.Openly discussing pirated material (e.g. z0mg - new episode of Lost was amazing!! BitTorrent FTW!) = SNIP POST + PM and/or ZERO LEVEL WARN

Repeat offenders of the above examples will eventually be restricted from posting all together.

  On 01/09/2011 at 05:10, Raa said:

While yes that's possible, I have to question the reasoning. If you try and recover files back to the original location, you could potentially overwrite recoverable data, thus hampering your effort.

Most older undelete programs used to be able to restore the file/s back to their original locations. I don't think more modern ones allow you to do this because of the previous comment^

Norton Undelete comes to mind, even if it's ancient now!

If the file has been marked for deletion/overwrite (delete attribute enabled), the file can be unmarked for deletion/overwrite (remove the delete attribute). technically the file is not moving or occupying space that it isn't currently occupying, so it isn't copying at all or moving..keeping data and stucture intact.

[Neillithan]

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Not being judgemental,

Yes, yes you *are*.

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but looking at your comments regarding winternals I know that this was not acquired legally or you would have had the abiltiy to install locally on the harddrive to be able to recover vs off of a boot disk that was either given to you, you torrented because someone mentioned it, through googling you found the name, or found it in a news group

100% untrue and pure speculation on your part. You sir, are wrong. The means by which this software was acquired was not illegal and yes, it was a boot CD. This does not suggest theft or piracy. This was years ago. I repeat, YEARS ago. I have not sought a recovery alternative for many years because I have been using Recuva, which is very limited and inefficient. The first mention of this program was merely a passing thought and not meant to have any bearing on this forum topic--nor does it suggest illegal activity.

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There are very few good freeware utilities out there that can accomplish what you want, and freeware is what you are looking for from a legal perspective and what we can talk about on this forum (and am reinforcing that).

You pretend like I'm trying to rid myself of pesky illegal software and become legitimate. Again, this is pure speculation, thus highly judgmental of you. The legality of using software for personal use has nothing to do with this. Your statement is beyond the intentions of this thread, I am perplexed why you would try to force this subject.

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No Illegal Software/Copyrighted Discussion.

I've been trying to get off this topic for quite a while now but you won't let it rest, if anything, you should be reprimanded for suggesting piracy at every turn.

If you do not stop talking about this, I will either be required to ask an admin to close this thread or take action against you. Talk about the forum subject and keep your remaining thoughts to yourself.

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You asked for a free utility and I gave you choices, you didn't like the choices I gave regardless of the reasons and that is fine

It is my right to have an opinion and you are only half correct. I did not like your EASEUS suggestion; however, I was kind to you in explaining that I would check it out and it may not be what I'm seeking. What more do you want? The other program you suggested, I downloaded from the main site, used and determined it was not what I desired--indicated here:

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Unfortunately "recover my files" is not free, but it does work as you claim. Any other suggestions?

You are welcome to suggest more programs, but you are free to indulge your agenda via private message with a forum admin. For remainder of this thread, I am going to talk about the forum topic and so should others.

[Neillithan]

  On 01/09/2011 at 05:10, Raa said:

While yes that's possible, I have to question the reasoning. If you try and recover files back to the original location, you could potentially overwrite recoverable data, thus hampering your effort.

Most older undelete programs used to be able to restore the file/s back to their original locations. I don't think more modern ones allow you to do this because of the previous comment^

Norton Undelete comes to mind, even if it's ancient now!

Regarding this--recovering directory structure does not mean recovering the files to their original locations. It means all of the recovered files will be recovered to a folder on a different harddrive / partition with a similar directory pattern.

For example: If you are recovering an MP3, it may be located in "D:\Music\Song.mp3" If you need to recover this file, you can recover it to "F:\Music\Song.mp3".

As you can see, the directory structure is intact, the only difference is drive letter.

[Neillithan]

  On 01/09/2011 at 05:02, xpclient said:

Tried Undeluxe ? Has a free home version too.

That is a really awesome program. This will surely prevent disaster when using the operating system. I recently tried an alpha program called AeroFS and one of the things it did was delete a gig of data during a synchronization error. I was able to retrieve the data using Recuva, but the fact that the deleted files skipped the recycle bin and went straight into limbo scared the heck out of me. This program would definitely prevent data loss, especially from buggy programs. Thanks. :-)