Restoration

Pros

• Free to use forever with no ads
• Can restore files that were deleted
• Works with all kinds of storage media
• Very small program size

Cons

• May not successfully recover files if a long time has elapsed since deletion
• Slightly dated appearance

Recover deleted files with this simple and efficient utility.

Restoration is a lightweight, yet powerful data recovery tool for Windows PCs. Its main function is to restore files that were deleted and are no longer in the Windows recycle bin. The program is able to recover data from internal hard drives, as well as a wide range of removable storage media, including USB memory sticks and DVD-RAM discs.

How the File Recovery Process Works

Whenever a file is deleted under Windows, whether by emptying the recycle bin or by any other means, the actual data that makes it up isn't removed from the drive that it's on. Rather, the operating system stops displaying the file name and marks the space that it took up on the drive as "available" so that it can be used again. However, the file's actual data will still be physically present on the drive until its space has been used again for another file.

Using Restoration is really easy. It comes as a small ZIP file that is just 164 KB in size. There's no complicated installation process. You just extract the ZIP archive to a directory of your choice and run the program.

You then select the drive the file you want to recover was on. The program will thoroughly scan the drive for deleted files and come back with a list of those that it may be able to restore. There's an option to search the list by typing in all or part of a file name.

Restoration allows you to get back files that were deleted but whose data is still intact on the drive. The more recently the file was deleted, the higher the chances that it's still intact and can be recovered successfully.

The program has a function called "include used clusters by other files," which will list deleted files that were partially overwritten by other data. Even though this feature will find more deleted files, many of them will have missing information and may not be usable at all, especially for programs and images.

Once you've found the files you want to get back, you simply need to select them and press a button. Restoration will put them back to their original directories.

Other Functions

Restoration's primary use is to recover deleted files. However, the program also has a function that allows you to do the exact opposite. The "complete deletion" function will overwrite all data belonging to deleted files on a drive to make them unrecoverable using software. This makes it impossible to see the information the contained without using highly sophisticated hardware only found in data recovery labs.

Excellent Quality for a Free Program

Restoration is freeware and can be used as often as you want with no limitations. The program never displays any ads either. As it's a slightly older app, its user interface looks a bit dated compared to more modern file recovery programs. Despite this very small drawback, it's still easy to use and can be very useful if you delete a file by mistake.

Pros

• Free to use forever with no ads
• Can restore files that were deleted
• Works with all kinds of storage media
• Very small program size

Cons

• May not successfully recover files if a long time has elapsed since deletion
• Slightly dated appearance