iSkysoft Data Recovery 2.2

This application provides an easy solution to recover lost data from your hard drive or from other storage devices connected to your computer. In addition, it helps you retrieve lost partitions. If possible, it is advisable to install the program onto an external hard drive, so that you could perform proper scans and avoid permanent data deletion.

The interface is neat and user-friendly. It is conveniently structured on four modules, suggestively named according to the tasks they perform. The first section helps you recover lost data from within a selected drive. If you remember the file type, it is recommended to enable a filter criterion and search just for images, videos, audios, documents, e-mails, or archives. This way, the waiting time till the scanning is complete will be considerably reduced. However, if no data is retrieved, you can enable a thorough search and start a deep scan. Obviously, the process will take longer, but the chances of finding the files you are looking for will be bigger. When the scanning process is over, you have the chance to preview the results and see if they contain the data you were looking for. Yet, if the content is not displayed, my advice is to save the files nonetheless and use additional tools specialized in repairing damaged files.

The recovery of RAW files is done in a similar manner. Plus, you can search for a given file extension. You shouldn't worry that the file type you are looking for is not supported, since the program displays quite an impressive number of available formats. Unfortunately, the original file name is not preserved, but the preview is still provided. As with most other similar utilities, iSkysoft Data Recovery allows you to recover lost partitions too. You can either select the quick scan for a fast yet superficial search, or you can choose the advanced option, which implicitly takes a longer amount of time. The program also allows you to resume a scanning process that you previously stopped – this is a good feature, as you don't have to start a paused session from the very beginning. However, the condition is to keep the app opened. Once you close it, all the pending processes are lost.

The program seems to cover all your file recovery needs. However, I didn't like that the trial version didn't let me save any file whatsoever. I don't expect the tool to work at its full capacity, but a thorough demonstration, up to the very end of the process, would convince me more to purchase the program, mainly being a very pricey one.