7-Data Recovery Suite Review

good
key review info
application features
  • Comfortable GUI
  • (4 more, see all...)

A comprehensive application dedicated to recovering files in problematic cases is an essential part of any computer user's toolkit. 7-Data Recovery Suite is one of the tools that promise quick results in various data loss scenarios.

Installation, price, and interface

The installer contains standard options and advises users to not install 7DRS to the drive targeted for recovery. Those who want to bypass the installer and run 7-Data from a pen drive or similar device may switch to its portable counterpart. The trial edition allows data recovery up to 1GB, and removing this limitation costs $19.95/€14.8.

The program's interface has a clean aspect and a well-organized structure. Four buttons in the main menu provide access to the main data retrieval methods.

"Deleted Recovery" focuses on files deleted from the Recycle Bin or permanently removed using the "Shift + Delete" key combination, while "Complete Recovery" fetches items from existing partitions under more severe conditions, such as corrupt or formatted volume. "Lost Partition Recovery" is the most advanced data recovery mode, and it addresses lost or deleted partitions in various circumstances (e.g. hard drive crashed, disk repartitioned, MBR corrupted). Finally, "Digital Media Recovery" scans pen drives for extracting images, music, and videos.

The first step is selecting the drive to retrieve data from, after which the application performs a scan and shows all recoverable files. In most cases, 7DRS preserves the original folder structure. Shown properties include the name, size, type, and modification time for files and folders, along with total files contained by directories. They are color-coded to tell unknown, deleted, raw, compressed, and encrypted items apart.
Like documents and images can be previewed, the contents of other file types can be examined directly (hexadecimal display). It is possible to toggle between details and thumbnail view, locate a file in the results list by name (match case, whole word), as well as generate a list in another tab with files matching specific criteria (e.g. search location, type, date, size, case sensitive). In order to save files and folders to the hard drive, you have to make a selection and establish the output directory (select and deselect-all buttons are available).

Advanced settings

The last three recovery methods offer additional settings to advanced users. They can include RAW files in the recovery procedure and establish the maximal file size (in bytes), or retrieve RAW items only.

Furthermore, the scanner can be filtered by file types: graphics (e.g. BMP, DWG, PSD), documents (e.g. CHM, HTML, RTF, PDF), archives (e.g. CAB, GZ, ZIP, TAR), multimedia (e.g. 3GP, MOV, MP4, SWF), email (DBX, PST), and database (ADP, MDB). These options may be restored to their factory parameters.

Testing performance

7-Data Recovery Suite was put to the test on an Intel Core 2 Duo 6420 2.13 GHz with 4GB RAM on Windows 7 Professional. The targeted partition had 10GB occupied space. High CPU and low RAM were used during tasks (other active apps ran slower).

"Deleted Recovery" finished scanning almost instantly, after deleting files via Shift+Delete, with a success rate of 100%. It took three scans to identify all files weighing in at 10GB. For the second part of the test, the partition was formatted in quick and normal modes. "Complete Recovery" managed to retrieve all files after quick format in a single scan, in 7 minutes and 21 seconds. However, it failed to do so after normal format, barely identifying files with a total of approximately 20MB. It didn't find any files in "Digital Media Recovery" after normal format on a memory card.


The Good

The application is compatible with multiple Windows editions, including 8.1 (Softpedia tests revealed this, although the developer has yet to make it official). It has a very intuitive interface, includes complete help documentation online with video tutorials, and provides multiple languages for the GUI.

7DRS successfully recovers data in "Deleted Recovery" mode and "Complete Recovery" after quick formats.

The Bad

In many cases, the program fails to display document and image content preview. File sizes must not exceed 80MB for previewing purposes. "Deleted Recovery" is not particularly reliable when it comes to recreating the original folder structure for lost files. Results concerning data recovery after a normal format are disappointing.

The Truth

In conclusion, 7-Data Recovery Suite needs to step up its game when it comes to advanced data recovery methods. Nevertheless, users may resort to it when it comes to common file loss scenarios, such as accidental deletion or quick formats. NOTE: We have unlimited 1-year licenses to give away for 7-Data Recovery Suite. In order to win one of them, you are expected to come up with a smart post, positive or negative, about the application in the comments section below.

The campaign ends on Tuesday, November 12. Winners will be notified by the end of the next week; needless to say that we need valid email addresses in order to contact you.

The campaign has ended. Congratulations to the winners!

user interface 4
features 3
ease of use 5
pricing / value 3


final rating 3
Editor's review
good
 
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