It is one of those unpleasant facts of modern life: if you work with a computer long enough, eventually you will accidentally delete one or more important files — or have an entire hard disk fail; damaging or deleting valuable files which you may wish to recover.
Fortunately, there are a wide variety of tools available for Mac and PC users seeking to restore their lost files; including Data Rescue 3 (www.prosofteng.com), which offers a number of compelling features: including the ability to recover corrupted, deleted or even reformatted files from hard drives — and digital images from digital camera media cards.
Focusing on data recovery, instead of hard drive repair.
According to its publisher, Data Rescue 3 works when other recovery software fails; recovering all types of damaged files from failed hard drives, including those that fail to mount or only partially operate. Whole drives may be recovered or just the specified files.
“Focusing on data recovery, instead of hard drive repair, Data Rescue 3 will work in more cases, recover more effectively, and deliver your files in better condition than other utilities you may have tried in the past,” states the product’s website. “Data Rescue 3 analyzes your entire hard drive looking for your data, then it meticulously reassembles your files and stores them to a different location.”
Recovered files will need to be saved to either a second internal or external hard drive (USB or FireWire compatible), a removable media device (such as a Zip or MO drive), or a networked drive. A bootable DVD is included, for use in cases of massive drive failure.
Data Rescue starts at $99 for the personal edition, in either Mac or PC versions, with an enhanced “pro” version available for power users and IT professionals.