Frequently Ask Questions

Please see Very Important Information.

If new data has not overwritten deleted data, you can recover files in almost all cases, including:

• Files deleted from the Recycle Bin or network shared folders. (For a network shared folder, run File Scavenger® on the computer where the folder physically resides.)
• Files deleted in a command prompt window or in Windows Explorer using the Delete/Shift key combination.

Recovery is much more likely for files on NTFS and exFAT volumes than FAT or FAT32 due to the latter’s inherent structures.

Reformatted drives can be recovered using the Long Scan. NTFS and exFAT volumes are highly recoverable. For reformatted FAT or FAT32 volumes, however, only contiguous files can be recovered. Click here for more information.

Deleted or corrupted volumes can be recovered using the Quick or Long Scan and selecting the disk number where the volume resided. All types of volumes (i.e., NTFS, FAT/FAT32 or exFAT) are highly recoverable.

You can use the Long Scan to recover files lost when partitions are merged or resized unsuccessfully. You may need to use volume affiliation.

Please read and follow the 100% safe recovery procedure.

This action reformats drive C: and reinstalls the original Windows operating system and programs. Many data files may be overwritten and cannot be recovered. But many others should be recoverable. The chances are better for smaller, less fragmented files residing on larger disks.

Please read and follow the recovery procedures. The Long Scan should be used.

The folder "My Documents" is reset with a new installation of Windows. All files in the folder are deleted but may still be recovered if they have not been overwritten. The chances are better for smaller, less fragmented files residing on larger disks.

Please read and follow the recovery procedures. The Long Scan should be used.

Being overwritten means the disk clusters once occupied by the file have been reused to store new data. A file it not immediately overwritten when deleted. It is only overwritten when Windows needs space for new files and somehow allocates the same clusters once belonged to the file. A file is not recoverable if overwritten.

File Scavenger supports the following file systems:

• NTFS, FAT 32/16/12, exFAT
• Ext3, Ext4 (both 32- and 64- bit), XFS, HFS+, HFSX, UFS1, UFS2
• VMWare VMFS and VMDK, Microsoft VHD and VHDX

Please read and follow the 100% safe recovery procedure.

PST files are highly recoverable from a corrupted or deleted volume.

PST files no larger than a few megabytes are highly recoverable if accidentally deleted from an NTFS volume

PST files of any size are highly recoverable on an NTFS volume that is frequently defragmented using a tool such as the Windows Disk Defragmenter.

Otherwise PST files are not likely to be recoverable due to their large size and high degree of fragmentation.

In general File Scavenger® is a file recovery utility and cannot recover individual emails. However, email programs typically store emails, attachments and email addresses in files. Such files can be recovered if lost. For example, Outlook Express® and Outlook store information in DBX and PST files, respectively.

File Scavenger® is especially proficient in recovering JPEG photos on any media. Scan the media using Quick Mode first and Long Mode if necesary. Click here for more information.

Most importantly, you need to protect the subject drive. Then follow the Data Recovery Best Practices.

If new data has not overwritten deleted data, you can recover files in almost all cases, including:

• Files deleted from the Recycle Bin or network shared folders. (For a network shared folder, run File Scavenger® on the computer where the folder physically resides.)
• Files deleted in a command prompt window or in Windows Explorer using the Delete/Shift key combination.

Recovery is much more likely for files on NTFS and exFAT volumes than FAT or FAT32 due to the latter.s inherent structures.

Reformatted drives can be recovered using the Long Scan. NTFS and exFAT volumes are highly recoverable. For reformatted FAT or FAT32 volumes, however, only contiguous files can be recovered. Click here for more information.

Deleted or corrupted volumes can be recovered using the Quick or Long Scan and selecting the disk number where the volume resided. All types of volumes (i.e., NTFS, FAT/FAT32 or exFAT) are highly recoverable.

You can use the Long Scan to recover files lost when partitions are merged or resized unsuccessfully. You may need to use volume affiliation.

Please read and follow the Strategies for Unbootable Computer

The restoration reformatted drive C and reinstalled the original Windows operating system and applications. Many data files must have been overwritten. But many others should be recoverable. Recoverability is better for smaller, less fragmented files and on larger disks.

Please read and follow the Strategies for Computer Restored to Factory Settings.

"My Documents" was reinitialized when Windows was reinstalled. All files in that folder were deleted. Deleted files that have not been overwritten are recoverable. Recoverability is better for smaller, less fragmented files and on larger disks.

Please read and follow the Strategies for Computer Restored to Factory Settings.

Being overwritten means the disk clusters once occupied by the file have been reused to store new data. A file it not immediately overwritten when deleted. It is only overwritten when Windows reuses the clusters to store new data. A file is not recoverable if overwritten.

• File Scavenger Version 4
• File Scavenger Version 3
• Disk Recoup Version 2

The software can be purchased directly from our Web store at:
http://www.quetek.com/products3.htm

We accept the follow types of payment:

• Major credit cards (VISA, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, Diners, JCB, ...)
• PayPal payments
• Bank transfer
• Wester Union money transfer

Please visit http://www.quetek.com/invoice.htm

Please see Licensing and Technical Support.

You may upgrade by paying the difference between the price of the Personal-Use and Professional-Use license. Buy the Professional- Use license at full price from http://www.quetek.com/products3.htm and send us email requesting full credit for the Personal Use license.

• From Version 5.0 or 5.1: There is no upgrading fee between minor versions.
• From Version 4.3:
  • Personal Use License: $ 27.00.
  • Version 4 Professional Use License to Version 5 Professional license: $93.00
  Please enter the Invoice Number for your Version 4 purchase in the box at the bottome of the Purchase page to receive an upgrade credit.
• From Version 3: Full price.

We are required by the EU to collect VAT on purchases made by consumers. Business customers do not have to pay this tax if a valid VAT number is provided.

Only accounts with Administrators privileges on a Windows computer can run File Scavenger®.

Run File Scavenger® on the computer where the drive physically resides.

The Quick Mode is fast but may not work in all cases. The Long Mode is comprehensive but takes significantly more time. It may also recover many defunct files you no longer want, thus cluterring up the results. The best strategy is to first try the Quick Mode and then use the Long Mode if necessary.

The Quick Mode is best for recovering files deleted accidentally or by a virus and for reconstructing a broken RAID or spanned volume. It is very fast. It uses the Windows file system structure and, therefore, almost always recovers the original folder paths. However, if the file structure is compromised, such as in the case of a corrupted or deleted partition, this mode may not work.

The Long Mode can be used when the drive has been reformatted, repartitioned or has become corrupted. In many cases, it can find files even when the Windows file system structure has been compromised. The Long Mode examines every sector of the drive and takes significantly more time. Under severe conditions, files may be found without the original folder or even filename. When the original filename cannot be determined, a sequential filename will be assigned in the following format:

File type + sequential number + file type.

For example, the first Excel file will be named xls000001.xls.

If a drive is corrupted or its integrity otherwise compromised, you may get better results by scanning the disk number instead of the drive letter. For example, if drive D: on Disk 1 is corrupted, scan Disk 1 instead of drive D:.

Windows® changes the filename part of a file in the Recycle Bin for internal tracking purposes. File Scavenger® tries to restore the original name if possible. When the original filename is not found, search for the file extension, which remains the same. Look for filenames in the format below and use other attributes such as size, date, etc. to locate the missing file.

Recycle Bin filename format for Windows XP and older:

D + Drive letter + random number + original file extension

For example, "myfile.doc", originally on drive E: may be renamed to "DE34.doc". Search for *.doc, sort by filenames and scroll down to "DE".

Recycle Bin filename format for Windows Vista and 7:

$R + 6 random alphanumeric characters + original file extension

For example, "myfile.doc" may be renamed to "$RSELQ3S.doc".

You can scan the disk number assigned to the drive. All drives are assigned a disk number that can be displayed in Windows Disk Management unless the drive is physically defective and is not detected by Windows®.

Such a file cannot be recovered because its contents cannot be located. However, a data recovery technician may be able to locate the missing data. We provide this service for a fee and with a success rate of about 50%. The fee is only charged if data is recovered.

No new data should be written to the problem drive to avoid permanently writing over the lost files. File Scavenger® has a safety check to prevent saving recovered files to the drive being scanned.

If you are recovering files from the only drive on the computer, you will need a new drive letter by mapping a network shared folder or installing a new disk such as an external USB drive or another storage device such as a USB flash card. Generally recovered data cannot be saved to CD or DVD drives because they require a staging folder on drive C:.

However, if you are willing to take the risk of losing some or all of the lost data permanently (with no chance of recovery), you can override this safety check. The risk depends on the size of the files and the amount of free disk space. For example, if the disk has 40 GB of free space and 2 MB of data is being saved, the risk is very low. But if you are saving 1 GB of data over 2 GB of free space, it is almost certain that much of the lost data will be overwritten, resulting in corrupted recovered files. Type Yes in the Overriding code textbox to override the safety check.

Writing to a CD or DVD typically requires a staging folder on the boot drive (usually drive C:). Recovering data to these media, therefore, is not allowed to avoid accidentally writing to the drive holding the lost data.

If your computer has a USB port, external USB drives and flash drives are excellent alternatives.

If a drive has been deleted, resized, reformatted or corrupted, scanning the disk number instead of the drive letter can produce better result. For example, if drive D: is on Disk 1, search Disk 1 instead of D:.

If a recovered file is not usable after different scan methods have been used, it may have been corrupted. Common reasons are:

• New data has been written to the drive, overwriting original data.
• The file was affiliated with the wrong volume.
• The file was fragmented and was on a FAT or FAT32 volume. Click here for more information.
• For a reconstructed RAID or spanned volume, it is possible that incorrect configuration settings have been used.

Please read the help sections listed below:

• Recovering software-based RAID.
• Recovering hardware-based RAID.

In demo mode, File Scavenger® only saves the first 64 kilobytes of each file. The recovered file, therefore, may not open. JPEG files will only display the top part of a picture. You can save files smaller than this limit or use Preview to display picture files.

Use the View Filter to show only the desired file types, then select them for recovery. For example you can display only JPEG photos by clicking on the View Filter icon on the Filename heading banner and choose Filename containing .jpg. Please see the screenshot below.

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