PC Inspector File Recovery
If you're unable to get anywhere using
Smart NTFS Recovery or Smart FAT Recovery (see
here), then try this free tool instead. It's a more viable
solution if you don't want to install a data-recovery tool on your
C drive (a definite must if the data you're trying to recover is
on that very drive). Download PC Inspector File Recovery for free
from
here.
There are two ways to use PC Inspector File Recovery in this way.
You could dig out your BartPE disc (see
here)
and run PC Inspector File Recovery directly from CD. You
don't need to reboot your PC - just insert the CD in Windows -
you’ll see the BartPE Go menu button appear in the
bottom-left corner: click this to access the program.
If that’s not an option, and your data is on a drive other than C,
just install the program to your C drive. Failing that, install it
on another PC. Then browse to the Program Files\PC Inspector
File Recovery folder on that machine and copy both
FileRecovery files, plus the Help file to a folder on a
USB flash drive. Finally copy INT13EXT.VXD from the
Windows\System32 directory into the same folder. You can now
run PC Inspector File Recovery on any machine directly from
your flash drive.
| Data recovery with PC
Inspector File Recovery |
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1 FIRST STEPS
Launch PC Inspector File Recovery. Pick your
language of choice and click the green tick button. Next,
choose what data you’re looking to retrieve by clicking one of
the three buttons on the left - if you pick lost data, jump to
step six; if it’s a lost drive, jump to step eight. If you’re
after deleted data, click the top left icon. |
2 SELECT DRIVE
Wait for the program to scan your hard drives for
available partitions. In most cases you should be able to
select your drive from the Logical Drives tab - it may
be listed twice, in which case select the entry containing the
drive’s letter. Click Preview if you want to verify the
drive’s contents, then click the tick button to continue. |
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3 FIND DELETED FILES
Wait for the drive to be scanned. By default the Deleted
icon - a wastepaper basket - will be open. You can go through
this manually, but you’ll find that the original filename may
not have been preserved, so you might prefer to search for the
file instead: choose Object > Find, enter its
file type and click the green tick to search. |
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4 RESTORE FILE
A list of all matching files will appear. If the filename
doesn’t appear, use the Size and Date modified columns to help
identify it - click them to sort the file entries accordingly.
Select possible candidates by [Ctrl]-clicking them,
then right-click and choose Save to, picking a
different drive to save the recovered files to. |
5 CHECK FILE
Once restored, try opening the file to see if it’s the one
you were looking for - if it is, you can rename it and copy
back to your original drive if you so wish. If it isn’t return
to PC Inspector File Recovery and continue searching or
try another data-recovery tool instead. |
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6 FIND LOST DATA
Lost data - that caused by a quick format, system or
program crash, and so on - is retrieved in a similar way to
deleted files. If the drive is still active, select it from
the Logical Drives list and when the Select Cluster
Range dialog appears click the tick. Then sit back and wait -
it could take some time. |
7 RETRIEVE DATA
PC Inspector File Recovery will find hundreds of
“lost” files - many will be fragments, so be prepared to take
quite some time to go through them all on the off chance
you’ll find what you’re looking for. Follow the tips in steps
3-5 above to help you find your file and check its integrity. |
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8 FIND LOST DRIVE
Searching for lost drives requires one more step than lost
data: as you can’t see the drive in the Logical Drives list
you’ll have to manually search for it. From the Select
Drive dialog, click the Physical drive tab and
select your hard drive - typically named fixed disk #1. Click
Find logical drives. |
9 SEARCH CLUSTERS
You can elect to scan the entire drive for lost drives, or
- if you know roughly where the partition was physically on
the disk - move the sliders to concentrate the search on that
area. Click the tick button and wait for the search, then
select the logical drive to recover your files and folders. |
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