There are numerous data recover software on the internet, some free and some you need to purchase. Most data recover software allows you to recover lost data or deleted files either from your hard disk or CD/DVD media.
Before downloading or buying a data recover software, here are some tips that will help to determine which data recover software is the best for you.
Easy Installation
A good data recover software should be easy to install. Since most people aren’t computer geeks, it should be fast and easy to install and works in a variety of platforms such as windows 98/Me to windows NT to windows 2000/XP.
User Interface
The data recover software should be user friendly. Instructions are clear and the all the data recover options should be clearly visible and not hidden in sub menus and such.
I’m sure you do not want to spend hours fiddling with the software to figure out how to recover your data.
Features
The best data recover software should have tools that allow you to recover data from multiple sources such as your hard disk as well as from CD or thumb drive.
The data recover software should also be able to recover part or all of the data. Basically you can choose to recover one file or multiple files easily.
It have support for multiple file systems such as FAT, FAT32 and NTFS since different operating system uses different file systems.
Some data recover software also works as a background agent which helps to backup critical system files and data you designate to be protected.
Support
The data recover software vendor needs to support good support either via email, helpdesk or phone. Nowadays with the internet, the vendor should have a knowledgebase for common problems on their website.
Search Capabilities
A good data recover software should be search capabilities to search for files you want recover. Many times, there could be thousands of files that could be recovered and it is time consuming to manually find the file you want. Therefore, a good data recover software should allow you to search for a file easily.
Data Recovery Effectiveness
You may be surprised some data recover software are not able to restore back files you want. They are able to locate the files but can’t restore them or to their original file directory.
A good data recover software should have all of the above features.