Category Archives: Disk Structures and File Systems

Disk Structures File Systems are vital for an operating system to locate your data on a hard disk. A chain of pointers, starting at the first sector of your drive eventually points to individual files.

On disk structures

File System Recovery vs. RAW Recovery

This article explains RAW Recovery vs. File System Recovery. File System Recovery is able to preserve the directory tree and recover data with the original file names. Some times however RAW Recovery is the only option. To recover data from a disk, basically two methods are available to data recovery software: They can try to… Read More »

Professionals use ReclaiMe to recover NAS data

A 5 star review from an IT pro is always good news. The fact that the reviewer compared ReclaiMe Ultimate to competing products  even adds value. Better than the rest, easier than the rest “I have tried with many other Data recovery software such as UFS Explorer, DiskInternals, Captain Nemo, none of them mange to… Read More »

Petya or NotPetya from a data recovery perspective

This is not a blogpost on the inner workings of this ransomeware. I am purely interested in discussing the recover-ability of your data. The Petya or NotPetya ransomware appears to do three things to prevent you access from your data: It encrypts the MBR Individual files files are encrypted Then it encrypts the Master File… Read More »

Asking data recovery advice in community forums, is not without risk.

Online Community Support Forums and data recovery advice I like helping people when it comes to disk and data loss related problems. A few decades ago I was a frequent visitor and contributor of hard disk related Usenet newsgroups, for example “comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage”. And more recently I decided to spent a little time on this hobby… Read More »

Undelete, File Recovery or Data Recovery Software. What is the difference?

For many, undelete, file recovery or data recovery software is all kind of the same thing. Even ‘professional’ reviewers use the terms loosely. And more often than not they tend to compare full blown data recovery software under review to other (free) software offering less options. Recuva from Piriform and also PhotoRec from CGsecurity are often used… Read More »

File Recovery from a SSD

Is file recovery from a SSD (Solid State Drive) possible? As more and more PCs and laptops are shipped with a SSD drive this question becomes more relevant. The question is relevant because a SSD treats deleted data differently than a conventional hard disk. File recovery software companies that claim ‘best ssd recovery software’ (all… Read More »

Can my data be recovered using file recovery software if …

“Can my data be recovered using file recovery software if ..” , or, “can I recover my data after ..” is the most common type of pre-sale question I get. In this article I focus on Windows file systems (FAT(32) and NTFS). Note: In this article we will assume the disk is physically intact: It spins… Read More »

Recover data from a RAW file system using ReclaiMe

To recover data from a RAW file system using ReclaiMe you will need a running Windows system and an additional disk to copy data to.  ReclaiMe File Recovery ReclaiMe is an easy to use, effective tool for file recovery. For Windows file systems (FAT, exFAT, NTFS, ReFS) you need to purchase the Standard License For support: joep@disktuna.com… Read More »