PhotoRec ignores the filesystem and goes after the underlying data, so it will still work even if your media's file system has been severely damaged or re-formatted. PhotoRec is file data recovery software designed to recover lost files including video, documents and archives from Hard Disks and CDRom and lost pictures (thus, its 'Photo Recovery' name) from digital camera memory. Those more familiar with such procedures should find TestDisk a handy tool in performing onsite recovery.

For those who know little or nothing about data recovery techniques, TestDisk can be used to collect detailed information about a non-booting drive which can then be sent to a tech for further analysis. TestDisk has features for both novices and experts. TestDisk can be used to collect detailed information about a corrupted drive which can then be sent to a tech for further analysis. It was primarily designed to help recover lost data storage partitions and/or make non-booting disks bootable again when these symptoms are caused by faulty software, certain types of viruses or human error (such as accidentally erasing a partition table). TestDisk is a free data recovery utility.

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