Asking for info and recommendation for help with File Recovery Software

[Tearren]

Hey,

I don't really do much video conversion anymore, so its been a while since Ive been on this forum so 'Hello' fellow video files. But everyone on the forum always seemed nice and friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. So, I thought I would ask here. I am looking for suggestions for a trusted and safe (ie no malware, bloatware, spyware etc) file recovery program. I have done file recovery before, but not in the last 10 to 15 years, so I am not really familiar with the latest programs. I like to play it safe and don't just want to install a program on my computer I know nothing about or company that makes it.

I am trying to recover data from a drive that has been formatted. The types of files I am trying to recover are pics and videos, maybe some docs. I would like a program that uses a GUI instead of a commands.

I have seen many suggestions for Recuva, on places like youtube, but none have been suggested by youtubers that I would trust. Do you know if Recuva is safe (ie no malware, bloatware, spyware etc)? I see it is made CCleaner and there is a free version. I thought I remember ccleaner had 'issues' a while back, but I am not certain, so I thought I would ask about it.

I have also used Active File recovery in the past successfully and without issue, but that was 10 to 15 years ago. And with the changing landscape of software company acquisitions, I am not certain about this either. Has anyone used Active File Recovery recently and know it is safe and would recommend it?

Are there any File recovery Programs you have used and would recommend?

I don't necessarily need a free program, though it would be nice. I would be willing to use a paid program.

I have a I7-9700k, with 32GB RAM, RTX 2600 Super.

Thanks for your help!
Tearren

[The_Doman]

From a similar topic here:
Data recover for Reformatted drive

For these kind of situations i always use the Getdataback recovery software and do a full/deep scan of the drive to find the lost data.
With a NTFS filesystem the change of recovering files/folders is pretty high.
Of course data in the overwritten part of the disk is forever lost/unrecoverable.
Not freeware but you can preview/open files to see if the recovery is possible/successful.

[Attachment 79609 - Click to enlarge]

I hope it is not a SSD?
Because when a TRIM operation has been used (which is the default on Windows) the changes are almost zero.
Aesonlabs: Is it possible to recover data from TRIM enabled SSD?

[ProWo]

Testdisk.
https://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Download

[Tearren]

@The_Doman asked:
"I hope it is not a SSD?"

Well I have a WD HD that is formatted and maybe a USB drive, not sure if the USB would be considered and function like a small SSD or not in terms of TRIM...? They both would have been originally formatted as NTFS though.

@The_Doman and @ ProWo

Thank you both for the recommendation I will check those out.

[Cornucopia]

Usb connected discs do not support TRIM, though they may support a USB equivalent (UASP). FAT/FAT32/exFAT partitions do not support TRIM, NTFS does.

Btw, ALWAYS remember to save any recoveries onto a completely different drive!


Scott