You slide an old disc into the drive and Windows hangs, throws a read error, or shows an empty folder. The disc holds photos, a backup or a project you can't get back. CD Recovery Toolbox Free is built for this situation. It reads what it can from the damaged disc and copies it to your hard drive.
Quick facts
- Price: free
- Platform: Windows only (Windows 98 through Windows 11, plus Windows Server 2003 to 2016 and above)
- Media: CD, DVD, Blu-ray and other optical discs that Windows recognizes
- Not supported: macOS, Linux, game consoles
Key features
Read files off scratched or unreadable discs
The tool targets physical damage such as scratches or exposure to liquids. It also handles discs whose format was corrupted by disc-writing software, and discs that fail because of OS errors. It scans the disc, lists the files and folders it finds, and recovers as much as it can.
Pick only the files you need
After the scan you tick individual files or whole folders, or use Check all and Uncheck all. This helps if your target drive is short on space, because you can save just the important items.
A three-step wizard with a recovery log
You select the drive, choose a folder to save to, then choose the files. A detailed log of the recovery appears at the end. When it finishes, the program opens the folder holding your recovered data.
Read-only, so the disc isn't made worse
The program only reads the disc and saves data elsewhere. It does not modify the disc, so trying it carries no extra risk to the original.
Large files and audio CDs
It can recover files larger than 4 GB. Tracks from damaged audio CDs are saved as separate files. It also warns you if the hard disk may lack free space for the recovered data.
Who it's for
It suits you if you have an old disc with family photos, documents or software backups that no longer read, and you want to try recovery before paying for anything. The wizard is simple enough for beginners. It also works with mini-CDs and mini-DVDs, and with external USB optical drives, as long as Windows sees them.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Completely free
- Simple step-by-step wizard
- Selective recovery of files and folders
- Doesn't write to the damaged disc
- Works from very old Windows versions up to Windows 11
Cons
- Recovery is not guaranteed. How much comes back depends on the damage.
- It can be slow. The vendor says a 700 MB CD can take up to a day and a high-capacity DVD-R up to a week.
- It can't save the result as an ISO image.
- It can't recover deleted files from an overwritten disc.
- It doesn't rename files automatically when names duplicate.
- It's Windows-only, and it can't run on game consoles.
FAQs
Which discs does it work with?
Any optical disc that Windows recognizes. If the disc is visible in Windows Explorer, the program can try to read it.
Will it guarantee my files come back?
No. It tries to read as much data as possible, and a badly damaged area may stay unreadable.
Can I save straight to a flash drive or cloud folder?
You can point it at a folder on a USB flash drive. For cloud storage, the service has to appear in Windows as a mapped drive with a drive letter.
What if the recovered files won't open?
Some data inside those files was damaged. You'll need a repair tool for that specific file type.
What should I do before running it?
Wipe off surface dirt and debris. Avoid aggressive home cleaning, which can make the disc permanently unreadable.
System requirements
Windows 98, Me, 2000, XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10 or 11, or Windows Server 2003, 2008, 2012, 2016 and above. No extra drivers are needed, because the program uses standard Windows drivers.