Free Data Recovery Tools

Recovering deleted files from Windows

When a file in windows is deleted its not really deleted, at least not right away. When you delete a file in windows, windows hides the file from view and marks the space on the disk where the file is as writable space. What this means is that your file is still on your hard drive until windows writes over that space with a new file. Sometimes this process can happen immediately other times it could be months or years.

There are a bunch of tools on the market that you can use to recover files that have been deleted.
Most of them cost money but there are few free ones. I have added a few links to some of the free ones.

One note I have had different results from different programs so sometimes you might have to use more than one program to find what you need.


Recuva
Windows tool that can also recover files from Hard Disk and Removable Media like MP3 players, cameras, and flash drives.

Undelete Plus
Windows program that run on Windows 95 through Vista.

Testdisk
Its a dos based tool so there is not windows GUI, but if you can find your was around the DOS commands its one of the most advanced free recovery tool out there.

Restoration
Another windows tool