External hard drive recovery programs

Recovering from external hard drive is not the sole purpose of this tool, it also supports data recovery of laptop, desktops, external SSD, pen drive, USB flash drive, memory card, thumbdrives, music player, digital camera, and other storage media.

PhotoRec works in command-line environment. Despite the name, this free digital picture and file recovery tool not only let you recover photos, but can undeleted many of other popular file types from computer hard drives, SD card, external HDD, and other devices. What's praiseworthy about PhotoRec is that you can recover underlying data from your storage drive even if the file system is reformatted or damaged.

It is a companion program to TestDisk, another open source data recovery application for fixing partition table and recovering deleted partitions on a hard drive if they haven't been overwritten yet. PhotoRec does a good job at recovering files, but because this application runs in the command line without a graphical user interface, it certainly isn't the most friendly programs for new or novice users.

But if you're familiar with a command line interface, you will get a good control over both the file and operating system only through a keyboard. Recuva is very similar to Aiseesoft Data Recovery that makes file recovery a piece of cake. It comes with a wizard, which is suitable for those who know little or nothing about data recovery on an external hard drive, to get user through the entire process.

Once opened, you can just get on with recover deleted files from your external hard drive immediately. Click Next, select file type you're trying to recover, choose the specific location where mounts your external HDD, and click Start. Files it found are displaying on the windows and you're ready to recover them. If you're looking for an app where you don't need to fiddle about with options, Recuva is worth a try, you may love it.

You can judge it by its name. Puran File Recovery does exactly what you'd expect. It's simple, and free for home use. This lets you test drive the app and see how it can help you recover from unexpected data loss. There are many reasons that your external hard drive can experience data loss. Some of the most common are:. The main reason to use external hard drive recovery software is its reliability and ease of use when faced with a data loss scenario.

While you may be able to get your files back with one of the other methods we have described above, chances are good that at some point they will not be sufficient to recover your lost data. Even if you are in the habit of backing up your computer every day, there is a chance you can delete files before you get the opportunity to back them up.

Data recovery software may be your only hope in this kind of situation. Disk Drill offers free data protection tools and is well worth having on your computer for that eventual data loss. A little familiarity with the program will reduce the stress of coping with a real data loss situation. Getting into the habit of backing up your external hard disk is the best defense against data loss. There are multiple options available for creating backups. Here are some suggestions for reliable methods with which to back up your valuable data.

Look around for a plan that fits your budget and storage needs. However you do it, start backing up your data today! Not all hard drive problems result in catastrophic data loss. However, some issues that may only be annoying at first can subsequently get worse and lead to bigger problems. Here are some signs that your external hard drive is experiencing some issues that may demand your attention. Ignoring them is not recommended!

If your external hard drive starts exhibiting any of these signs of looming problems, your best course of action is to create a byte-level backup of the device that can be used for potential data recovery. This type of backup only reads your device one more time and saves the drive from the physical activity required of a recovery procedure.

Disk Drill provides this capability for free and the backup can be used to recover files that had been deleted from the external drive. A corrupt external hard drive may still appear to be physically operational but may display problems with the data stored on the device. Corruption can occur due to many reasons including:. Your disk may be corrupt if you experience problems like lost files or unexplained system crashes. These issues can make it impossible to use the device without addressing its data corruption.

If the drive is recognized by your operating system, you should try to get the data off the device as soon as possible. Creating a byte-level backup using a tool like Disk Drill is one option, or you can simply copy the files to another hard drive. You can also use data recovery software to scan the drive for files that were deleted due to the corruption. Formatting the drive should eliminate the corruption and enable you to use the device normally again.

Once the disk is reformatted , you can copy the data back to the original device. At the beginning of this article, we discussed how to get Windows to detect your external hard drive. If you are successful in this effort, you can recover the lost data using data recovery software. If you cannot get your operating system to recognize the drive, your options are pretty much limited to engaging a professional data recovery service to restore your data.

Puran File Recovery is a new entrant into the world of free file recovery program. However, it does have the capability to retrieve deleted content, and that made it add to the list. The major factor that pushes a user to use the program is its fast scanning technology.

You can even navigate and learn options within the program with ease and at a faster pace even though you do not have a clue about recovery programs. It will offer complete assistance in identifying and recovery deleted partitions and data from any external hard drives. Stellar Phoenix Data Recovery software, which works on different versions of the Windows OS has successfully passed various recovery tests, making it a viable solution to enter the top five list.

It recovers a variety of file types, partitions, and archives from deleted or formatted disks. It even functions efficiently in recognizing external hard drives and performs well. With the 10 best free data recovery software for external hard drive and process, you can easily get the data back.

Try Free Try Free. Ivan Cook updated on Free Download Free Download. Product-related questions? People Also Ask. What's Wondershare ID? This software still owns a large number of fans due to its excellent performance in file recovery. With a low price, Recuva exceeds its competitors even its interface is old and sort of complex for beginners. Let's see what you can do with this external hard disk recovery software:. After getting to know some basic features of the top 5 exernal hard drive recovery software, you may now pick up one and apply to bring your lost files back on the external hard drive, USB, SD card.

Besides recommending you the best hard disk recovery software, we also collected some useful tips for protecting data on your exernal hard drive. Hope you can follow and take care of your own files right now. Data protection is always a better choice than a cure.

To reduce the risk of losing files completely from any storage device, you need to both minimize the chance of data loss and get a data recovery tool to rescue data once it's lost without any backup. Generally, there are two ways to protect data on your external hard drive: grow a good habit of using the drive and back up your external hard drive regularly. Growing good habits is helpful to minimize the chance of accidental data loss on your drive. While backing up your disk is helpful to avoid complete data loss once you get files lost on your storage medium.

External hard drive data recovery is easy if you get help from data recovery software. Almost all the data recovery tools available support external hard drive recovery but vary in quality. Choose the one you trust and apply it to recover data from your external hard disk as soon as possible.

Among most data recovery software, EaseUS hard disk recovery software is more practical and reliable due to its powerful data recovery capacity and excellent tech support. Anyone who encounter problems while using EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard can reach us for online support by emailing to [email protected]. Besides data recovery, as a responsible data recovery software provider, we also suggest you back up your vital data regularly.

Nothing can be better than having a regular backup of your files. He mainly writes articles about data recovery tutorials on PC and Mac and how-to tips for partition management.