Lost photos on a pen drive that suddenly shows as empty or corrupted?
A USB stick gets formatted by mistake, a virus wipes the folders, or the drive asks to be reformatted. The files are usually still on the device, and the right scanner can often find them. USB Drive Recovery Software is a Windows tool built for this job. It scans a logically corrupted or formatted pen drive and restores the files it finds.
Quick facts
- Platform: Windows. A separate Mac version is sold by the same vendor.
- Works with: pen drives, thumb drives, jump drives, key chain drives and flash drives.
- Search modes: Basic, Deep and Signature search.
- Trial: a demo version is available to download before you buy.
Key features
Three search modes for different levels of damage
You pick Basic, Deep or Signature search before the scan starts. Use the lighter mode first, then move to a deeper one if the files don't show up.
Preview files before you recover them
The program has a data preview facility. You can look at lost files before the actual recovery, so you restore only what you need.
Recovers documents, pictures, audio and video
Supported formats include text files (doc, txt), pictures (jpeg, tiff, bmp, png, gif), audio (wav, aiff, mp3, midi, mpeg) and video (avi, wmv, mpg, asf, mov).
Handles several causes of data loss
The vendor lists virus attacks, formatted or reformatted drives, human error and other causes of data loss as situations the tool is meant to handle.
Works across common drive brands
The vendor names Kingston, SanDisk, Transcend, Jet flash, Sony, Lexar and other makers. It also names camera brands such as Nikon, Olympus, Canon and Panasonic.
Who it's for
It suits you if you have a logically damaged or accidentally formatted pen drive and want to recover files yourself. The interface is described as simple enough for technical and non-technical users alike. It is not meant for a drive that is physically broken or no longer detected by your PC.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Three scan modes let you escalate from a quick scan to a deep one.
- You can preview files before recovering them.
- It covers many file types and drive brands.
- A demo is available, so you can test it on your own drive first.
Cons
- It is a Windows program. Mac users need the vendor's separate Mac edition.
- It targets logical corruption and deletion, not hardware failure.
- The vendor's pages show few technical details, such as how long scans take.
FAQs
Can it recover files after I formatted the drive?
Yes. The vendor says it restores data from formatted or reformatted USB drives, as well as from logically corrupted ones.
Which files can it find?
It finds documents, pictures, audio and video in many formats. Examples are doc, jpeg, png, mp3, avi and mov.
Can I check what it finds before paying?
You can download the demo version and run it on your drive. The program also previews lost files before you recover them.
Does it work with my brand of USB stick?
It is stated to work with all major brands, including SanDisk, Kingston, Transcend and Lexar.
Is there a version for Mac?
Yes, the vendor sells a separate Mac edition of its USB drive recovery tool.
System requirements
The listing gives 256MB RAM and 18MB of disk space for installation. It supports Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1 and 10, in 32-bit and 64-bit editions, plus Windows Server.