Any free recovery programs that actually work?

**Rammsteinmad** · 11-01-2011, 08:01 PM

One of my USB sticks has been corrupted, or whatever happens when it needs to be reformatted.

Thankfully it's not too important, but it'll certainly make my life easier if I can get the data back. So, anyone know of any good programs?

I've tried a few which disguise themselves as 'freeware' etc, but as soon as it comes down to saving the files, it says you need the full version!

**Jura** · 11-02-2011, 01:36 AM

http://www.piriform.com/recuva

It was a long time ago when I used it so I don't really remember how to use it but it worked. If you've used the usb since, then it might be hard to recover some files since they may have been over-written with new stuff.

**Rammsteinmad** · 11-02-2011, 05:19 AM

No I haven't reformatted it yet, hoping to recover these files so I don't have to write them out again (just some word documents and guitar pro files). Thanks for the link, will give it a shot in a minute.

**Jura** · 11-02-2011, 06:34 AM

I didn't mention anything about reformatting. Once you fill up a usb drive or hard drive the data will always be there until you get new data which will over-write old data that's there. You can still recover data after reformatting but if you've downloaded stuff recently or put stuff on a drive then more and more old data will not be recoverable. So if you ever plan on selling a drive with sensitive information, to be safe, besides formatting and using secure deleting programs you can just copy a stupid movie until the drive fills up and old data should be over-written.

11-01-2011, 08:01 PM	#1
Rammsteinmad TPWW's #3 Peep Posts: 20,891	Any free recovery programs that actually work? One of my USB sticks has been corrupted, or whatever happens when it needs to be reformatted. Thankfully it's not too important, but it'll certainly make my life easier if I can get the data back. So, anyone know of any good programs? I've tried a few which disguise themselves as 'freeware' etc, but as soon as it comes down to saving the files, it says you need the full version!

11-02-2011, 01:36 AM	#2
Jura ▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬ Posts: 16,011	http://www.piriform.com/recuva It was a long time ago when I used it so I don't really remember how to use it but it worked. If you've used the usb since, then it might be hard to recover some files since they may have been over-written with new stuff.

11-02-2011, 05:19 AM	#3
Rammsteinmad TPWW's #3 Peep Posts: 20,891	No I haven't reformatted it yet, hoping to recover these files so I don't have to write them out again (just some word documents and guitar pro files). Thanks for the link, will give it a shot in a minute.

11-02-2011, 06:34 AM	#4
Jura ▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬ Posts: 16,011	I didn't mention anything about reformatting. Once you fill up a usb drive or hard drive the data will always be there until you get new data which will over-write old data that's there. You can still recover data after reformatting but if you've downloaded stuff recently or put stuff on a drive then more and more old data will not be recoverable. So if you ever plan on selling a drive with sensitive information, to be safe, besides formatting and using secure deleting programs you can just copy a stupid movie until the drive fills up and old data should be over-written.