We all lose files from occasionally and sometimes it is human error and we accidentally delete them, or a glitch causes the drive to lose them. iBoysoft Data Recovery can find deleted files.
It is best to have file and data recovery software tools installed on the computer before you lose any files, because they are harder to recover the longer they are left. The thing is that deleted files are not really erased from a drive and they remain there until the space is needed.
The more the computer is used and the longer it is used, the more likely the space occupied by a deleted file will be used again and overwritten with new data and files. Avoid having to browse the web, download and install software when you need to recover lost files by pre-installing it and there is a greater likelihood of recovering them.
iBoysoft Data Recovery software enables files and data to be recovered from PC, Mac, HDD, SSD, SD card, USB flash drive and more. There are versions for Windows PC and Apple Mac and I tried them both.
The PC and Mac tools can be downloaded for free and the Mac version enables you to recover up to 1 GB of data for free. I used it to recover some files from a USB flash drive. The Windows version lets you find deleted files and preview them, but recovery requires a paid license.
Scan the drive for lost files
iBoysoft Data Recovery lists all the drives and partitions that are available in the computer or attached to it and you can choose which one to scan for deleted files. Quick and deep scans are available and it is worth trying the quick scan because it is so fast, but it does not always find what you want.
A deep scan is much more thorough and will probably be required and it can take quite some time. How much time depends on the size and speed of the drive, but it could be an hour or more with a big and slow hard disk drive.
Browse the scan results
The deleted files that are found by the scan are organized into folders by file type, so there are folders for zips, GIF and JPEG images, MP3 music files, rich text documents, PDFs and so on. You can select each of these folders and see what files were discovered in the scan.
Some types of files can be previewed, like image files, music and PDF documents for example, and this helps you to identify the lost file you want to recover. A lot of found files are given default filenames like FILE009.JPG and so on, so the preview is useful. However, you could simply select and recover everything found and browse the recovered files later.
The Mac version of the app was better than the Windows version and it correctly named deleted MP3 music files it found and let them be previewed so I could hear them. This is very useful.
Recover lost files
After browsing the files found in the scan and selecting the ones you want to recover, or simply all of them, they can be saved elsewhere. So if you are scanning an external drive, flash drive or memory card, the recovered files can be saved to the internal drive. Files should not be saved back to the drive you are recovering from.
It worked fine on the Mac and I found and saved recovered files to the Mac’s disk. The PC version only allows you to look, not recover without payment, but there is no reason to think it would be any harder. You just select the files and select where you want to save them.
Final thoughts
Real world file recovery is a lot harder than the simple tests I performed (I saved files to a USB thumb drive and then formatted it), and there is no guarantee that the files you need can be found. The problem is that a well-used disk is likely to have thousands of deleted files and finding the one you want could be difficult.
Not only were the files I recently put on the thumb drive found, but dozens of other files deleted weeks or months ago. It makes it difficult to find the files you want. This is not a problem specific to iBoysoft Data Recovery and all recovery software is like this.
Disk encryption can cause serious problems for file recovery software, but iBoysoft Data Recovery is compatible with BitLocker drives on Windows PCs and Macs with the T2 chip, APFS, disk encryption and the new M1 Apple Silicon Macs. I didn’t try this because my Mac is still Intel powered.
It will not cost you anything to put this utility on the computer and see what it can find. If it finds your lost files, you can then purchase a license for the PC or Mac (1 GB of recovered files is free on the Mac). It is not cheap and the Basic edition for Windows is $99 for one year and the Pro edition, which is required for BitLocker encrypted drives is $199 for one year. Is it worth it? It depends on how much you value your lost files.
