Difference between revisions of "data recovery software"

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<hide>
 
<hide>
 
[[page type::article]]
 
[[page type::article]]
[[thing type::software category]]
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[[thing type::software]]
 
[[category:software]]
 
[[category:software]]
 
</hide>
 
</hide>
 
==About==
 
==About==
When drives and storage media become unreadable by the usual methods, it is often possible to recover data using specialized [[software]].
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When drives and storage media become unreadable by the usual methods, it is often possible to [[data recovery|recover data]] using specialized [[software]].
  
 
Damaged data generally falls into one of two categories, which we'll arbitrarily designate as "rescue" and "recovery":
 
Damaged data generally falls into one of two categories, which we'll arbitrarily designate as "rescue" and "recovery":
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* '''recovery''': directory listings are unavailable or damaged
 
* '''recovery''': directory listings are unavailable or damaged
  
Different software is appropriate depending on which of the two situations is occurring.
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Different software is appropriate depending on which of the two situations is occurring. (All software listed is [[free/open-source]] unless otherwise indicated.)
 
==rescue==
 
==rescue==
(directories ok, files/data bad)
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Where directory listings are ok, but data in files cannot be read:
 
===Linux===
 
===Linux===
 
* [[ddrescue]]: like [[dd]], but handles read errors better
 
* [[ddrescue]]: like [[dd]], but handles read errors better
 
* [[myrescue]]: similar to ddrescue, but tries to rescue readable stuff first
 
* [[myrescue]]: similar to ddrescue, but tries to rescue readable stuff first
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===Self-booting===
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* [http://www.grc.com/sr/spinrite.htm SpinRite] is an excellent tool for recovering damaged data on drives where the disk surface may be damaged but the drive hardware is usable. (Proprietary; ~$90; copyable)
 
===Windows===
 
===Windows===
* [http://www.grc.com/sr/spinrite.htm SpinRite] is an excellent tool for recovering damaged data on otherwise apparently-healthy drives. (Proprietary; ~$90)
 
 
* [http://www.stellarinfo.com/partition-recovery.htm Stellar Phoenix Partition Recovery] (Proprietary; ~$100)
 
* [http://www.stellarinfo.com/partition-recovery.htm Stellar Phoenix Partition Recovery] (Proprietary; ~$100)
  
 
==recovery==
 
==recovery==
(directories bad, raw data readable)
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Where directories bad, but raw data is readable:
 
===Linux===
 
===Linux===
* [[dares (software)|dares]]: for CDs/DVDs only; attempts to identify known file types; does not recover directory info
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* [[software/dares|dares]]: for CDs/DVDs only; attempts to identify known file types; does not recover directory info
 
* [[testdisk]]: looks for munged partitions, lets you adjust partition table
 
* [[testdisk]]: looks for munged partitions, lets you adjust partition table
 
** [[PhotoRec]] is part of the testdisk package, and can extract files from raw data by looking for known headers. [http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec home page]
 
** [[PhotoRec]] is part of the testdisk package, and can extract files from raw data by looking for known headers. [http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec home page]

Latest revision as of 16:39, 11 June 2014

About

When drives and storage media become unreadable by the usual methods, it is often possible to recover data using specialized software.

Damaged data generally falls into one of two categories, which we'll arbitrarily designate as "rescue" and "recovery":

  • rescue: the directory listing can be read, and filesystem-checking utilities (such as scandisk in Microsoft Windows and fsck in Linux) report no errors, but attempting to read files results in error messages, time-outs, or bad data
  • recovery: directory listings are unavailable or damaged

Different software is appropriate depending on which of the two situations is occurring. (All software listed is free/open-source unless otherwise indicated.)

rescue

Where directory listings are ok, but data in files cannot be read:

Linux

  • ddrescue: like dd, but handles read errors better
  • myrescue: similar to ddrescue, but tries to rescue readable stuff first

Self-booting

  • SpinRite is an excellent tool for recovering damaged data on drives where the disk surface may be damaged but the drive hardware is usable. (Proprietary; ~$90; copyable)

Windows

recovery

Where directories bad, but raw data is readable:

Linux

  • dares: for CDs/DVDs only; attempts to identify known file types; does not recover directory info
  • testdisk: looks for munged partitions, lets you adjust partition table
    • PhotoRec is part of the testdisk package, and can extract files from raw data by looking for known headers. home page

Windows