Recovering formatted files from a flash drive. Recovering data from a flash drive after formatting

Advantages

Partition Recovery is a professional utility for recovering photos, documents, music from any media. It can be a hard drive, flash drive, memory card and other removable drives. The program allows you to fix damaged files and entire sectors, returning the original structure of the disk partition table. Thanks to a convenient wizard and the preview function, the entire process of recovering lost files is very simple and intuitive for the user. After launching the application, first of all, you need to select the desired device.

Start Scan

The recovery wizard starts automatically. In the first window, you need to select the type of scan - a full analysis takes longer, but gives more accurate results. Then click "Next" and wait for the process to complete. As a result, the structure of the drive with a list of deleted files will be displayed on the screen. For a more convenient search for the necessary data, you can go to the "Deep analysis" submenu.

Recovery start

Now you need to select a specific file or folder, right-click and select "Restore" from the drop-down list. Specify the method of saving (to a hard disk, CD / DVD, to a virtual image or FTP) and click "Next". Be sure to check that there is enough free disk space.
The final stage - we specify the path to the save folder and some other parameters (restoring the folder structure and alternative data streams, replacing unknown characters). Click the "Restore" button.

A person may, for various reasons, have problems with a removable drive that stores important information. The media could stop displaying files or could not be read at all. There are several powerful specialized programs that will help solve this problem.

In what cases is it possible to recover a flash drive

If something happened to your drive, then remember that you can increase the chances of recovery if you do not:

re-format;
overwrite new data;
create new folders.

When answering the question whether it is possible to recover deleted files from a flash drive, it should be understood that immediately after clicking "delete" the documents are not sent entirely to the trash. First, data is erased from the file table of the drive, so using special software, you can return them back. Exactly the same situation occurs with a hard drive on a computer, so reconstruction on it is also possible. There are several common causes of data loss from removable media:

Human factor. In the course of rash actions, you yourself deleted the existing data from the flash drive. Returning them in this case will be the easiest.
Crash in the file system. As a rule, it occurs when the media is not ejected from the slot incorrectly. In many cases, data recovery from a flash drive after this is successful.
Damage to the flash drive controller, electrical, mechanical damage. With such breakdowns, it is necessary to use a complex of software and hardware in the laboratory. On your own on a personal computer, you can’t cope with such a task.

Data recovery by searching for hidden files and checking for viruses

Deletion of data from the media can be done by malicious software viruses, which tend to hide them. Restoring information from a flash drive in this case does not require special utilities, you only need a good antivirus. To display "hidden" data:

Go along the path "Start" -> "Control Panel" -> "Appearance and Personalization" -> "Folder Options".
Find the "View" section and select the active item "Show hidden files, folders and drives".
Open your removable device, if translucent documents, folders appear, copy the ones you need to a safe place on your hard drive.
Start your antivirus program.
Return the display of hidden folders again to the "Do not show ..." position.

Program for recovering deleted files

You can find many options for different free data recovery software. All of them are able to find documents even if they are erased, but are absolutely useless when the drive is broken. Some programs can find more lost data, others less. Below is a small rating of the most convenient, useful utilities with an overview of their use.

How to recover a flash drive with Undelete 360

A very easy-to-manage utility that finds most of the lost data. It is distributed free of charge, but it must be downloaded from trusted sites, because attackers often plant viruses in the installation file. After downloading and installing, you need to run it. Instructions on how to restore a usb flash drive:

Run a drive test using the Search button.
Next, all found data on the media will be displayed.
Everyone who has “Excellent” written in the “Status” column can be restored without any problems.
Highlight all the necessary items with a checkmark and click "Save".

Recovering deleted files with CardRecovery

A person may unintentionally damage some of the documents on removable media if the device is unsafely removed from the slot. Some viruses that masquerade as a torrent can infiltrate drives and hide the contents of folders. CardRecovery is a shareware utility for recovering lost data. You need to use it like this:

Select the removable drive you want to check.
The next step is to select the data types to be reconstructed. For example, you could have stored a collection of photos, then the utility will search only by graphic resolutions.
Specify the location where to save the recovered files.
Specify the total size of the memory card, start scanning.
All found data can be viewed using the "Preview" button. Select the required information and click "Next".

How to recover a flash drive with Recover My Files

This utility can work and recover deleted files from a flash drive, hard drive. After launch, you can choose which action to take - "Recover a Drive" and "Recover Files". The first returns data from the trash, and the second will help if you formatted the drive. After that you need:

In the menu, select the disk on which the recovery will be carried out.
The utility will offer to conduct an automatic search or manually select the data type.
For optimal performance, the “fastest” search method is enough.
Press the "Start" button.
All found data can be saved on the hard drive.

How to recover deleted files from flash drive using PhotoRec

This is a professional utility for reconstructing photos from removable media. PhotoRec is capable of recognizing over 200 different types of image files. Previously, the utility did not offer a graphical interface, the window was in the form of a DOS window, and selection could only be made with arrows, the English layout must be enabled. Recently, graphic design has been implemented, it has become much easier to work with it. Instructions for use:

Run in the folder with the installed program photorec_win.exe.
Select the drive you want to scan.
If the program shows several partitions, then it is better to select the “No partition” item, press the enter button.
All found data will be stored in the recup_dir.1, recup_dir.2 folders.
If necessary, you can stop the program at any time.

File recovery with Recuva

Some utilities are especially popular because they find lost files more efficiently. An example of this is the Recuva flash drive data recovery program. Among other things, this utility is distinguished by ease of use and versatility, so it will be a suitable solution for most users. It works with all types of data, is distributed free of charge for home use. Downloading and installing Recuva is very simple: everything happens automatically, you just need to specify where to install it.

After starting, you must perform the following steps that will recover data from a USB flash drive:

After starting in the utility window, it is better to select the “Other” item.
Through the "Browse" item, find the desired drive.
To detect the maximum amount of data, select the "in-depth analysis" option, which is able to detect even overwritten files. Keep in mind that it will be possible to find, but not always recover.
After scanning, the program will show all the found data on the media. There will be a colored circle next to them.
A green icon indicates that the file is not damaged, the maximum chance of a full recovery.
A yellow icon indicates partial recovery. If this is a text document, then there may be spaces, only pieces will be displayed.

Unfortunately, the loss of data contained on removable devices like ordinary flash drives or memory cards is one of the most common phenomena. And this is not always due to physical breakdowns or software failures. Formatting (quick, full or incorrect) also creates such a problem. Nevertheless, it is possible to produce from a flash drive after formatting. Windows does not have its own tools for this, so all hope is for third-party programs. Many of them cope with such tasks quite successfully.

Restoring a flash drive after formatting: basic principles

If anyone does not know, in the process of formatting removable drives and hard drives, or during the usual deletion of files and folders, information in the physical plane

In fact, the objects are assigned different names and attributes (in the simplest case, the first letter in the name is changed to the dollar sign "$"). Due to this, the object is unreadable, because the system simply does not see it. This is the most primitive example.

Thus, initially restoring a flash drive after formatting and all the information that was previously present on it comes down to finding all objects marked with the indicated symbols. But today, technology has stepped far forward and restoration can be carried out according to some other criteria and using completely different means.

Recovering data from a flash drive after formatting: the best programs

Today, there are a lot of tools for data recovery on any type of device. Not all of them are equivalent to each other in terms of capabilities or recommendations for the use by users of a certain level of training. Nevertheless, among all the utilities that are the most popular and in demand, the following can be distinguished:

Recuva;
Auslogic File Recovery;
RS Partition Recovery;
R-Studio;
R. Saver.

Let's take a look at each of them separately.

Recuva and Auslogic File Recovery

To begin, consider after formatting using the first two utilities, which, according to experts and users, are the easiest to use.

The first application is convenient in that after specifying the device to be scanned for recovery, the user will be able to select the type of object to be defined (music, video, images, etc.). If a full scan is required, regardless of the type of object, you can specify the definition of all files, and then simply click the start button.

In the list of results found files and folders will be marked with different colors. Green - the file is not damaged and can be restored, yellow - the file can be restored (sometimes partially), red - the file cannot be restored. Then all that remains is to select the objects to be restored and specify the path for saving them (preferably on the hard drive).

The second flash drive works almost exactly the same, however, among its shortcomings, it can be noted that, unlike the first (free) one, it is shareware. The trial period of use is only 15 days. But in both cases, restoring a flash drive after formatting with just these utilities looks far from ideal, since most often found objects cannot be restored, and recently deleted large files are not always found.

RS Partition Recovery

This program, according to many, deserves all praise. Among its features, it is worth noting an improved deep analysis system, as well as the ability to apply filters (date, object type, size, etc.).

After starting the scanning process with the selected conditions, after a certain period of time, the results will be displayed on the screen, according to which you can choose to restore individual files and folders, or even entire partitions. To activate the recovery process, the selected objects simply need to be added to the recovery list section through the right-click menu. The next step is to select the method and location for saving, while the drive itself cannot be used as a location.

R-Studio and R. Saver

Finally, we have the most powerful after formatting. According to many experts, today there are no utilities equal to it in terms of search and recovery quality. By the way, one more confirmation is contained in the reviews of users on the Internet who used it in practice. The fact is that the application is able to find files that the user has long forgotten about. Roughly speaking, the program finds almost everything that has ever been contained on the drive. And it is this application that is most often used to recover information on problematic SD cards, even if they have software failures or even controller damage.

Unlike the simplest utilities, which, even with deep analysis, search is very fast, here it will take much more time. But the result justifies such a long wait (for example, an SD card with a capacity of about 32 GB can be scanned for 5-6 hours).

The process itself consists in choosing a drive and starting the analysis. Interestingly, the screen displays the current state of the process, similar to how it is presented when defragmenting disks. Upon completion of the process, the Extra Found Files inscription will appear, by clicking on which you can view the full list of found objects, and then restore them using the standard method of selecting and specifying the re-save location.

In a similar way, the recovery of a flash drive after formatting is also performed by the R. Saver utility, but although it is very similar, it is portable (it does not require mandatory installation on a hard drive) and can even restore file systems of any type.

Instead of total

In general, the issues of recovering information on formatted flash drives and removable memory cards are solved quite simply. Which program of all the variety to prefer? It seems that the R-Studio and R. Saver utilities will be the best option. Of course, scanning will take some time, but much more files that can be recovered in the future will be found, not to mention the very possibility of recovery (Recuva loses to these applications in all respects).

If someone accidentally formatted your flash drive, then don't worry - deleted data can be returned after formatting. The only condition is that formatting should be fast, not low-level, in which not only data is destroyed, but also the file system. Using special programs, you can quickly recover files erased from a flash drive or memory card.

Recovery Rules

To recover information after formatting a memory card or flash drive, you need to follow a few simple rules:

Do not write new information to a flash drive / memory card. If the necessary data is overwritten, then no program will help to return them.
You need to restore files to another drive, such as a hard drive. If you return the information to a formatted flash drive or memory card, then some data may be lost during the overwriting process.

Following these rules, together with the use of suitable software, will allow you to recover files deleted as a result of formatting with a probability of 99%.

Recovery programs

You can find many utilities on the Internet, the description of which says that they can return information after formatting. However, in practice, not every program copes with the task.

In particular, the program (worth 290 rubles) in tests shows a result of 90 percent, and the popular free program Recuva returns about 80% of files. A good indicator, but if there are important data among the remaining 20%, then what is the point in using such a program? Therefore, we will consider proven options that have shown in tests that they can return all information erased after formatting a flash drive or memory card.

RS File Recovery

RS File Recovery helps you recover files after formatting. The only drawback of this utility is that data cannot be saved in free mode. But a convenient wizard allows you to quickly restore the information that you need from a formatted memory card.

The more information about deleted files you specify, the faster the program will find and restore them. If the necessary documents are found, you can think about where to get the license key. But there are other programs with which you can recover deleted data without registration.

R-studio

There is also a kind of recovery wizard, but there are a little less options for filtering files:

photorec

If you decide to use the Photorec utility, then first create a folder on the system drive where the recovered files will be saved. Since the program does not have an interface in the usual sense for a modern user, it is better to prepare in advance for its use.

After other utilities, the Photorec program will seem complicated and outdated to an unprepared user, but external attractiveness is not the main thing here. This utility returns all files deleted during formatting for free, for this it is worth figuring out how to work with it.

Puran File Recovery is a relatively simple, completely free data recovery program in Russian, which is suitable when you need to recover photos, documents and other files after deletion or formatting (or as a result of damage to a hard drive, flash drive or memory card). Of the free recovery software I've been able to test, this option is probably the most effective.

Details on how to use Puran File Recovery and the test for recovering files from a formatted flash drive are in a separate instruction.

Transcend RecoveRx - Free data recovery software for beginners

Transcend RecoveRx, a free program for recovering data from flash drives, USB and local hard drives, is one of the simplest (yet effective) solutions for recovering information from a wide variety of drives (and not only Transcend).

The program is completely in Russian, confidently copes with formatted flash drives, disks and memory cards, and the entire recovery process takes three simple steps from choosing a drive to viewing the files that were recovered.

R.Saver is a simple free utility in Russian for recovering data from flash drives, hard drives and other drives from the Russian data recovery laboratory R.Lab (I recommend contacting such specialized laboratories when it comes to really important data that needs to be recovered All sorts of multidisciplinary computer help in this context is almost the same as trying to restore them yourself).

The program does not require installation on a computer and will be as simple as possible for a Russian user (there is also detailed help in Russian). I'm not sure about R.Saver's applicability in complex cases of data loss, which may require professional software, but in general the program works. An example of work and where to download the program -.

Photo Recovery in PhotoRec

PhotoRec is a powerful photo recovery utility, but it may not be very convenient for novice users, due to the fact that all work with the program is carried out without the usual graphical interface. A graphical user interface version of Photorec has also recently been introduced (previously all actions had to be performed on the command line), so now its use has become easier for a novice user.

The program allows you to recover more than 200 types of photos (image files), works with almost any file system and device, is available in versions for Windows, DOS, Linux and Mac OS X), and the bundled one can help you recover a lost partition on a disk. (+ where to download).

DMDE Free Edition

The free version of the DMDE program (DM Disk Editor and Data Recovery Software, a very high quality tool for recovering data after formatting or deleting, lost or damaged partitions) has some limitations, but they do not always play a role (they do not limit the size of the recovered data, and when recovering an entire corrupted partition or RAW drive don't matter at all).

The program is in Russian and is really effective in many scenarios for recovering both individual files and entire volumes of a hard drive, flash drive or memory card. Details about using the program and video with the data recovery process in DMDE Free Edition -.

Hasleo Data Recovery Free

Hasleo Data Recovery Free does not have a Russian interface language, but it is convenient enough for use even by a novice user. The program claims that only 2 GB of data can be recovered for free, but in reality, after reaching this threshold, the recovery of photos, documents and other files continues to work (although you will be reminded to purchase a license).

Details about using the program and the recovery result test (the result is very good) in a separate article.

Disk Drill for Windows

Disk Drill is a very popular data recovery program for Mac OS X, however, more than a year ago, the developer released a free version of Disk Drill for Windows, which does an excellent job of recovering, has a simple interface (albeit in English) and, which is a problem for many free utilities, does not try to install something extra on your computer (at the time of writing this review).

In addition, Disk Drill for Windows still has interesting features from the paid version for Mac - for example, creating an image of a flash drive, memory card or hard drive in DMG format and then recovering data from this image in order to avoid more data corruption on the physical drive.

More details about using and downloading the program:

Wise Data Recovery

Another free software that allows you to recover deleted files from memory cards, MP3 player, flash drive, camera or hard drive. We are talking only about those files that were deleted in various ways, including from the Recycle Bin. However, in more complex scenarios, I did not check it.

The program supports the Russian language and is available for download on the official website: https://www.wisecleaner.com/wise-data-recovery.html. When installing, be careful - you will be prompted to install additional programs, if you do not need them - click Decline.

Undelete 360

Also, like the previous option considered, this program helps to recover files deleted in various ways on the computer, as well as data lost as a result of system failures or viruses. Most types of storage devices are supported, such as USB flash drives, memory cards, hard drives, and others. The address of the program's website is http://www.undelete360.com/, but be careful when you go - there are ads on the site with a Download button that are not related to the program itself.

Free trial EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Free

EaseUS Data Recovery is a powerful tool for recovering data after deleting, formatting or changing partitions, with a Russian interface language. With it, you can easily recover photos, documents, videos and more from your hard drive, flash drive or memory card. This software is intuitive and, among other things, officially supports the latest operating systems - Windows 10, 8 and 7, Mac OS X and others.

MiniTool Power Data Recovery Free

The Minitool Power Data Recovery Free program allows you to find partitions lost as a result of formatting or file system failures on a flash drive or hard drive. If necessary, in the program interface, you can create a bootable USB flash drive or disk from which you can boot a computer or laptop and recover data from the hard drive.

The completely free program SoftPerfect File Recovery (in Russian) allows you to recover deleted files from all popular drives in various file systems, including FAT32 and NTFS. However, this only applies to deleted files, not those lost as a result of changing the partition's file system or formatting.

This simple program, 500 kilobytes in size, can be found on the developer's website https://www.softperfect.com/products/filerecovery/ (three different programs are presented on the page at once, only the third is free).

CD Recovery Toolbox - software for recovering data from CDs and DVDs

CD Recovery Toolbox differs from other programs discussed here in that it is designed specifically for working with DVDs and CDs. With it, you can scan optical discs and find files and folders that cannot be found in any other way. The program can help even if the disk is scratched or unreadable for some other reason, allowing you to copy to your computer those files that are not damaged, but it is not possible to access them in the usual way (in any case, this is what the developers promise ).

You can download the Recovery Toolbox CD from the official website https://www.oemailrecovery.com/cd_recovery.html

PC Inspector File Recovery

Another program with which you can recover deleted files, including after formatting or deleting a partition. Allows you to recover files in various formats, including separately photos, documents, archives and other types of files. Judging by the information on the site, the program manages to complete the task even when others, like Recuva, fail. Russian language is not supported.

I’ll note right away that I didn’t test it myself, but learned about it from an English-speaking author, whom I tend to trust. You can download the program for free from the official website http://pcinspector.de/Default.htm?language=1

Update 2018: the next two programs (7-Data Recovery Suite and Pandora Recovery) were purchased by Disk Drill and became unavailable on the official websites. However, they can be found on third-party resources.

7 Data Recovery Suite

The 7-Data Recovery Suite (in Russian) is not completely free (you can recover only 1 GB of data in the free version), but it deserves attention, because in addition to simply recovering deleted files, it supports:

Recovery of lost disk partitions.
Data recovery from Android devices.
Allows you to recover files even in some difficult cases, for example, after formatting in other file systems.

Learn more about using the program, downloading and installing it:

Pandora Recovery

The freeware Pandora Recovery is not well known, but in my opinion one of the best of its kind. It is very simple and by default, interaction with the program is carried out using a very convenient file recovery wizard, which is ideal for a novice user. The disadvantage of the program is that it has not been updated for a very long time, although it works successfully in Windows 10, 8 and Windows 7.

In addition, there is a function "Surface Scan" (Scanning the surface), which allows you to find more different files.

Pandora Recovery allows you to recover deleted files from your hard drive, memory card, flash drive and other drives. It is possible to recover files of only a certain type - photos, documents, videos.

Have anything to add to this list? Write in the comments. Let me remind you that we are talking only about free programs.