14 DAY TRIAL // Loss is something that makes us all suffer. When loss occurs, one feels empty, powerless, disappointed. There are so few things that could make up for one's loss, and there is nothing that can bring one relief when something dear or very important is lost. While you can't recover the steak your dog ate or your childhood hamster, the vital data your computer somehow managed to lose can be brought back from the dead (well, most of the time, anyway).
The tool I'm going to review today is called Data Rescue II and promises to recover nearly any lost data. Data rescue will scan the un-scanable, search the unsearchable and go where no other recovery tool has gone before, with the goal of bringing you back your beloved lost data. Images, videos, programs, your work for the past year, whole drives, you name it, Data Rescue II will do the impossible to bring it back. And all for $99.
The Data Rescue II ? Emergency Hard Drive Recovery is described by its producer, Prosoft, as being the ultimate rescue tool: Data Rescue II is the best data recovery software on the market for recovering files from a crashed hard drive or a drive where the customer has deleted files. Data Rescue works when all other tools fail, says Prosoft. The tool works with drives that fail to mount or that only partially operate. It comes with emergency bootable CDs for PowerPCs and Intel-based Macs.
Well, I'll have to take their word for granted, since me regretfully (NOT!), I am not willing to dispose of a completely crashed hard drive, to try its powers. I can, however, test it for the simple task of recovering a small file. (As I was saying, the tool is priced at $99. You can, however, take it for a test drive or use it for a small emergency, as the producer allows you to use free of charge the software for a trial, to recover one file, not larger than 5 MB).
I'll describe you my use of Data Rescue II from the beginning. I was asked for my email address and I quickly received the download link for my trial. The tool requires no installation, so it's out-of-the-box ready to go.
The interface of the software is nice: clean and simple, just how I like it. The window is tabbed, you can choose to perform an assisted, step-by-step recovery, or you can choose to get your hands dirty through the expert mode.
Data Rescue II will not write on the damaged disk, as other repair utilities do, thus preventing possible additional loss. If you plan on scanning your entire disk, have a spare one for the tool to write on. For deleted files, Data Rescue scans the free space on drive and searches for file types (it recognizes about 150 patterns, and more are added on every update).
When performing an assisted recovery, you'll follow these steps: the selection of the drive (or volume/folder), the selection of the working volume, the selection of the method to be used. The expert mode does pretty much the same, you'll just have better control over the performed actions and you'll have more options (the Analyze panel and Clone).
The method of scan can be one of the following: Quick scan (first option to choose), Thorough scan (second option, if the first failed), Deleted files scan (scan the free space for deleted items) or Use scan file (recover data from a previous saved scan session). After you've selected what and where and how, the tool will perform the scan and deliver the recovered data. You can view a report of the recovery and a log file with all that took place. All steps can be printed.
That's about it. Clean and simple. And with Data Rescue, it's very likely you'll get your files back (but keeping your fingers crossed too couldn't hurt).
The Good
Data Rescue II is a professional recovery tool that does the dirty job of recovering all your loss. The interface is nice and easy to use, nothing fancy. No matter how bad the deed, Data Rescue II will give it its best shot and get everything back.
The Bad
I can't say I witnessed the true potential of the tool, but for the little I saw, there was nothing to strike me as bad. However, I should say I think it's a little expensive, but if it keeps its word and does the job, I guess it's worth the hundred bucks.
The Truth
The truth is I hope you'll never need this tool or any other of its kind, but as we all know, disaster is almost bound to happen at some point, and when it does, Data Rescue II would surely be a great choice.
These are the screenshots:
