Corrupted Files Recovery Software

It may have happened to you during your use of computers when you are unable to open certain files or the files appear incomplete or messy. These are the signs of a corrupted file. Corrupted files are not a major concern if you have backup files stored away that you can easily recover data from. But if the only copy of file or directory becomes inaccessible, it could mean trouble.

What Is File Corruption?

If you break down any computer file, you will have a sequence of binary numbers. These zeros (0) and ones (1) have different structures and combinations to represent different content. If any part of the sequence is changed, the original file may become broken or incomplete, leaving you with a corrupted file. A corrupted file may not open at all, or produce unexpected results when accessed by the system.

Causes of File Corruption

Logical damage. A file typically becomes corrupted when unexpected problems occur during saving or processing. If a sudden power outage or a computer crash happens when you're saving a file, there's a good chance that the file will become corrupted. 

Virus Infections. Some types of malware may intentionally corrupt files as part of their payloads, usually by overwriting them with inoperative code. Some viruses may manage to alter files critical to the running of the computer's operating system software or physical hardware, rendering the entire system unusable.

Physical Damage. Bad sectors on your hard drive or other storage media can also cause file corruption, even if the saving process finishes properly. For HDDs (Hard Disk Drives), data are represented by magnetized and demagnetized tiny magnetic domains on the platters, while for SSDs (Solid State Drives) by the presence and absence of electrons in NAND flash memories. If the storage media is physically damaged, it means these bits of data are physically damaged. The typical physical damage is scratched platter on hard disk drives.

Any signs of file or directory corruption should be addressed immediately to restore the performance and stability of the operating system. If you're experiencing file corruption, there are several things you can do.

Perform a thorough virus scan. Virus scanners with the latest definition database can detect known viruses that were designed to make files unreadable and may provide a fix depending on the type of virus. 

Restore from previous versions. Many software provides built-in recovery function that enables you to restore the corrupted file to its former versions. Different applications may have different approaches to this. Microsoft Word, for example, features a AutoRecover/AutoSave function that enables us to recover Word document easily from the automatically saved versions. Normally, after an unexpected closure, the Document Recovery task pane will automatically open the next time you open the program so you can get your file back. You can choose among the available files and decide which one you would like to Save as, Delete or Open.

Check for bad sectors. Windows has a couple of built-in tools that can check the integrity of a disk and fix any detected problems. This includes CHKDSK.
There are several parameters for chkdsk command. Chkdsk /f fixes logical error on the memory cards such as file system corruption, while chkdsk /r fixes logical errors as well as checks for bad sectors. Chkdsk /r analyzes the drive and attempts to relocate data it finds to good sectors. It also marks the bad sectors so that these bad sectors will not be used again, which effectively removes the bad sectors from the system. If used without parameters, chkdsk displays only the status of the volume and does not fix any errors. 

Use 3rd party utilities. File corruption is often associated with partition damage or data loss. Software like H Data Recovery helps recover damaged , deleted or lost files. It can also recover damaged partitions and restore data.

Start to make backups. File backup is not as difficult as you may think. Windows has its own backup tools for you to choose. Whether it is system image backup or File History, you can make copies of your important files easily and store them away in case anything bad should happen.

Recover Deleted Files that Bypassed Recycle Bin

The significance of Recycle Bin is that it gives you a chance to undelete files when you make a mistake. It acts like a safe net to inadvertent operations. But sometimes, files will be deleted directly without going to the Recycle Bin. How does this happen and how do we recover these files if we need them back? There could be a couple of reasons for files bypassing recycle bin.

You used Shift + Delete to delete files. By pressing Shift + Delete, the files will be deleted without going to recycle bin first. With default Windows tools, this action is effectively permanent removal of files. The storage space these files took will be marked as "available, free to fill in". It is suggested that you use Shift + Delete with caution and certainty. Otherwise, use Ctrl + D or right-click-delete in case you delete something useful by mistake.

Check the Recycle Bin Properties. Right-click on the desktop Recycle Bin icon and select Properties. See if you have the checked the option "Don't move files to the Recycle Bin. Remove files immediately when deleted." This option is by default off. If you accidentally check this option, files will not go to recycle bin when deleted.

The deleted file is too big for Recycle Bin. It turns out that recycle bin is not a bottomless pit after all. Normally when the Recycle Bin is full, the oldest files in the recycle bin will be removed to make space for the newly deleted files. But when a file is too large to fit in the recycle bin in the first place, you will receive a warning "file too big for recycling bin do you want to permanently delete". If you hit yes, the file will be deleted right away without making a tour to the recycle bin.

You can customize the maximum size for the recycle bin by right clicking the desktop Recycle Bin icon and select Properties. In Windows operating systems with NTFS filesystem, each volume has a $Recycle.Bin folder under it, which normally is set to Hidden. The capacity of Recycle Bin is the total size of each $Recycle.Bin combined. The calculation might vary in different versions of Windows but starting with Windows Vista, the algorithm for default $Recycle.Bin size is ten percent of the first 40GB of volume size/quota, and five percent of any remaining volume/quota above 40GB.

You delete the files from removable devices. Windows Recycle Bin is a virtual folder that stores the information of files deleted in Window Explorer by users. It records the information such as name, deletion date and the original location of every deleted file.Recycle bin is not an actual folder so it does not have an absolute path. The actual location of recycle bin depends on the operating system and file system. For Windows Vista and above with NTFS, each drive has a $Recycle.Bin folder under it, which normally is set to Hidden. Deleted files’ information is stored in these $Recycle.Bin folders. Desktop Recycle bin collects information from these separate $Recycle.Bin folders and presents them to users so users can view, restore or "permanent delete" these files.

Drives that are considered "removable" - like your USB Pen Drive, SD cards - do not have recycle bins at all. Different operating systems also treat the concept of "removable" slightly differently. For example, your external hard drives are removable in nature but are considered as local drives and have their own recycle bins created by the system. In short, if the system sees the external device as "removable storage medium", it will not assign a recycle folder to it and files deleted from this storage medium will not route to desktop Recycle Bin.

How to Recover Permanently Deleted Files?

Above are some of the common reasons why deleted files don't stop by the Recycle Bin. If you cannot find your files in Recycle Bin, don't worry. You can use 3rd party data recovery software to help you retrieve your lost files. We would recommend H Data Recovery in this particular case. H Data Recovery has 6 unique data recovery modules, each is designed to handle a different data loss situation. You can choose the Accidental Deletion Recovery module to get your lost files back. You can also recover any files that have been cleared out from the recycle bin with the recover From Recycle Bin module.

Recover Files from Windows Command Line format

To format a hard drive means to delete any information on the drive and to set up a file system. There are many good reasons that people would format their hard drives:

Hard drives are riddled with errors and viruses. Errors like “Location is not available - Access Denied” or “Hard drive/disk is not formatted” can be caused by various reasons.If there are a lot of errors and virus problems in the system, we might consider a disk formatting to cleanse the drive, which should work in these circumstances as it wipes out all the data on the computer which includes the viruses and the corrupted files. 
Sometimes it is easier to format your computer then try and find a solution. The trade-off is that you will lose all your files if you are not able to make a backup. 

Format hard drives as a quick way to remove all files. Formatting is the easiest way to delete all the unwanted data and saves a lot of time. It will delete files that you didn’t even know existed. Sometimes the computer might be filled with a lot of temporary files that are hard to locate and delete. In this case, formatting the hard drive might be the easy way out to get a fresh system. Before formatting, make sure you backup of files that you need first.

Format Commands

Formatting a hard drive can be easily done nowadays. In Windows, you can perform format with the built-in tool by right-clicking on the drive letter and select format... You can also choose the Command Prompt to execute the format process with more options.

The format command is a Command Prompt command used to format a specified partition on a hard disk drive or flash drive to a specified file system.
The basic format command syntax is 

format drive_letter: [/q] [/c] [/x] [/l] [/fs:filesystem] [/r:revision] [/d] [/v:label] [/p:count] [/?]

There are actually different types of formatting processes. In Windows operating systems, there are two kinds of format: quick format and full format. As indicated by their name, they differ in the amount of time needed to complete a formatting. However, there is more behind this seemingly obvious difference.

Command format /q will perform a quick format on your chosen hard drive. It will only erase the file table from the filesystem. The operating system will not locate any files without their index so when you look at the hard drive you would not see any data and assume the drive is erased. In fact, the files are actually still there untouched and can be accessed again with the right tool. This is how software like H Data Recovery Software can recover data from formatted disks. Their special algorithm enables you to scan, locate and reconstruct the deleted files.

Command format /p will perform a full format. It will write zero to every sector of the drive to overwrite old data. This write-zero process is also known as erasing. The exact amount of time required to complete the process depends on the capacity of the HDD. The larger the capacity the longer it will take. As a Full Format would wipe your drives clean, the data stored on them will become unrecoverable. This is very useful when you are disposing of or recycling your hard drives containing sensitive or personal information.

Please note that beginning in Windows Vista, by default the format drive_letter: command equals to format drive_letter: /p, which writes zeros to the whole disk once, unless you specifically use the quick format command format drive: /q. In Windows XP and earlier versions of Windows, the format command does not perform the basic drive sanitation. You can repeat the write zero process multiple times by adding a count to the command, for example, format d: /fs:NTFS /p:3 will zero-fill the D: drive 3 times and set the file system to NTFS .

How to Recover Files from format Command

The quick format (format /q) doesn't overwrite any actual data so you can successfully recover the deleted files with data recovery software like H Data Recovery Software's format recovery module.

To recover formatted files, free download and install H Data Recovery and launch the software. Choose the format recovery module and select the partition you wish to recover files from. Let the scanning process run on its own and when it is done, you can choose a directory to store all the recoverable files.

The full format (format or format /p:count) is designed to overwrite any residual data patterns, rendering all data unrecoverable, especially with multiple overwrite passes. Even with advanced forensic tools and lab equipment, only negligible fragments may be recovered. 

How to Recover Data from Faulty USB Flash Drives

USB flash drives are ubiquitous nowadays. They are portable and sturdy; cheap but relatively large in storage capacity. But just as any other electronic devices, they can degrade and sometimes fail to work. Here are some common USB flash drive issues and how to rescue your important data from a faulty one.

USB flash drives showing 0 byte
When you plug a USB flash drive to computer’s USB port and try to open it in Windows Explorer, you sometimes receive a prompt saying You need to format it before you can use it. But when you are ready to proceed with Format Disk, you got another error message Windows was unable to complete the format. Check the USB flash drive’s properties and you will find 0 bytes in Used space, Free space, and Capacity. 
This could mean your USB flash drive is suffering from some defective parts or virus infection. First, run a virus scan to rule out the possibility of infection, then try different USB ports to be sure. It could be the bad USB ports on host computers or a defective USB flash drive head.  Sometimes when you apply pressure on the drive and it temporarily returns to normal, it could indicate loose solder joint connecting USB flash drive head and its circuit. 

USB Flash Drives Files become shortcut icons
USB flash drives are usually prone to virus infections because people tend to use them to transfer files between different computers. Shortcut virus is one of the common viruses that has been bugging us for years. When it happens, all your data on the device will be changed into shortcuts and become inaccessible. However, if you check the property you'll find that the used space is as same as the original file, which means the shortcut virus just hide your files somewhere and does not permanently delete them.
You can use Command Prompt to fix this problem. Connect your USB flash drive to your computer. Scan USB drive with anti-virus program for any threats. If no threat detected, run Command prompt (CMD) as Administrator by pressing Windows key + R and type in CMD. Type the following command in Command prompt and press ENTER: 
attrib -h -r -s /s /d drive_letter:\*.*
Replace the drive_letter with your USB flash drive's drive letter. Now all Shortcut files should be fixed and working as normal files.  After you have copied all data from USB flash drive to your computer, format the USB flash drive just to be sure.

Access Is Denied
If you receive the "Location is not available - Access Denied" error while double-clicking the USB flash drive, it could mean you don't have permission to access the files or the partition is corrupted.
To change permission, right-click on the volume and select Properties. Switch to Security tab, under Group or user names, highlight your user account name. Click Edit. Tick Full control, Modify and other options with a check mark under Allow, then Apply. Click OK to leave. Recheck the status of issue to see if you can access the files now.
To fix partition, click Start, select Run and enter "chkdsk x:/F" (x being the volume letter). Or you can enter "chkdsk x:/F" directly into the search bar. Tab Enter to start the disk check process. This command requires your disk to be locked. If it failed to lock the disk, system will ask you if you want to run the disk check next time you start the computer. The check interface will automatically close when the checking is done. Then, try to access your folder or drive to see if the problem has been solved. 

Bottom Line
Just like other forms of storage mediums, USB flash drives are not immune to failure and degradation. Basic cares can prolong its life span, and it should be protected to avoid any potential risks of data loss.
USB flash drives contain several electronic parts in their cases. These include a tiny circuit board and a piece of NAND memory unit. Just like any other electronic parts,  being exposed to moisture, excessive heat or cold can shorten their working life and cause malfunctioning. If the device comes with a removable cap, keep it on until you need to use it. The metal wires in the connector might oxidize if being exposed to air for too long.

Most USB flash drive data loss problem can be solved using data recovery software even after you formatted the USB flash drive just to get rid of the problem. H Data recovery software is one of the most trustworthy software out there that is cable of restore data from faulty USB flash drives as well as SD cards and other flash memory media.

Data Recovery software Restore files from Crashed Computers

If your computer constantly crashes, or even won't boot at all, you should be alerted and prepare to transfer your important data if you haven't yet.

There are so many reasons that could cause computers to crash down. Here are some common ones:

1. Computer Overheating

CPU as the core of a computer naturally produces heat while carrying out algorithms and processing data. Although computers are designed with heat dispersion in mind, we may still under certain circumstances suffer from overheating problems like random shutdowns, blue screens or freezes.

As part of the PC’s own cooling system, the motherboard can instruct components to shut down as a fail-safe if it fails to bring the temperature down. Another annoying problem that caused by overheating is the noise produced by the ventilation fans as they try desperately to do their job, which is keeping the whole system cool.

Generally speaking, the CPU idle temperature (computer idling at Windows desktop not doing any processing) is within 50°C. When handling demanding tasks, the normal temperature should be around 50-60°C. The max temperature, which is the highest safe temperature recommended by manufacturers is around 70°C. Most CPUs will begin to automatically downscale frequency once they hit 95 to 105°C. If temperatures rise further, the CPU will shut itself down to avoid permanent damage. These temperatures may vary a little, depending on your CUP brand and type.

If your computer is overheating, open up the case and check if there is any dust that's been clogging up the ventilation fans. Ambient room temperatures can affect CPU temps by 5 to 10°C. So it is very important that you keep your computer in places with proper air flow, especially on summer days when the heat builds up more quickly.

2. Dying Hard Disk Drives

Hard disk drives with their relatively low price and huge storage capacity remain the most popular storage devices out there. As the media where your operating system and application data are stored, dying hard disk drives may pose dire threats to your data safety and computer performance stability.

Under normal working conditions, hard disk drives make clicking sound every now and then. The read/write head of a hard disk drive is mounted on the actuator arm and moves back and forth to access files across sectors of the platter. Different models of HDD make different clicking sounds and if your HDD has been making clicking sounds and appears to be functioning correctly then these clicking sound may be the natural working sound of your drive.

However, if you are experiencing random crashes and freezes and the hard disk drive is making loud clicking sounds, you should be concerned that the hard disk drive could be dead at any time. After finding your hard drive is making an unusual clicking noise, you should stop using it immediately, except for necessary operations to backup and, if it has stopped working, salvage data.

3. RAM Issues

Bad RAM is to blame for many blue screens and failed boots. Before we make the decision to swap RAMs, we can first make a quick and free test via Windows to determine whether the RAMs are failing and which one is the root of the failure. 

Open your Start menu and type in mdsched.exe, then press enter. You can choose to restart your computer to check RAM now or choose to check the next time you boot the computer. Once the computer starts the testing progress, it will load a screen that shows the progress and number of passes. Check the diagnostic tool for any errors. If you spot errors, it's time to test the individual RAM one at a time till you nail down the faulty one. If there are no errors, then it's likely that your RAM is not causing any issues, and you should investigate issues.

4. Corrupted Boot Section

Master boot record (MBR) is essential for booting. It holds the information on how the logical partitions, containing file systems, are organized on that medium. Many destructive viruses damage the Master Boot Record and make it impossible to start the computer from the hard disk. For example, the CIH variant would target and attack BIOS and sabotage partition table in the process. Shutting down the computer while dividing partitions or converting filesystems may lead to MBR damage.

We can use the Bootrec.exe in Windows recovery environment to repair, fix or rebuild the MBR. Fixing the MBR and other boot problems in Windows requires installation disk or recovery disk to enter the recovery environment. Once you are in the recovery environment, you can access the Command Prompt to try to fix the MBR. Enter the following commands:

bootrec /RebuildBcd

bootrec /fixMbr

bootrec /fixboot

Exit

Reboot your computer to check if the MBR has been repaired. 

5. Conflicting Hardware or Driver

If your computer crashing just started recently, recall the latest installation. It might hold the key to solving the problem. It can be a new program, a new piece of hardware, or a driver update. There is a good chance that the most recent change is causing the problem. Check the Device Manager for any yellow exclamation marks and update drivers if available. You can also uninstall the faulty driver or program in Safe Mode if necessary.

How to Recover Lost Data Caused by Crashing Computers

The most ideal way to recover any lost data would be using the data backups you created beforehand. Your regular system image backups can prove more than helpful in the event of data loss. But not everyone has a copy of every file sitting around. What if we have no backups to fall back on? As long as the data loss is not caused by severe physical damage, we can mostly recover data with professional data recovery software.

H Data Recovery software, for example, is one of the best recovery software out there. It features 6 main data scan modules, each of which design to tackle different data loss situations such as deletion, formatting, crashed partitions, emptied recycle bin and USB flash drive problems. Restore your personal data after system reset, system crash or hard drive formatting, even without any backups is no longer a mission impossible! H Data Recovery Software implements unique algorithms to deep scan and reconstitute missing data and restore them to your local drives with efficiency and clarity.

Data Recovery: Partition Recovery Software

Lost or damaged drive partitions may cause serious data loss if not handled properly. Depending on which partitions are damaged or lost, the consequences may vary from inaccessible files to a unbootable operating system.To solve the partition problem, we should first take a look at what are partitions and what do they do.

What Are Partitions?

When referring to a computer hard drive, a partition is a region of the hard drive that is separated from other regions. By dividing the hard drive into segments, the operating system can manage them separately. This reduces the general data loss risk as the failure of one partition will not have negative effects on other partitions. For hard disk drives, partitions keep frequently used files and programs near each other and thus improve the overall computer efficiency.

What Is Partition Table?

Since a hard drive is divided into many separate partitions, a record is created by the operating system about the locations and sizes of each partition. This record is called partition table or partition map. Different operating systems have their own standard for the layout of partition table: for Windows OS, it is called Master Boot Record (MBR) partition table; for mac OS it is called Apple partition map (APM). GUID Partition Table (GTP) is a new emerging partition table standard that is aiming to unify the layout for partition table on storage devices.

A partition table is essential for the operating system to keep track of each partition. Requests to access certain files will firstly be directed to partition table for location information and then to the actual corresponding files. 

Partition Lost or Damaged

Depending on the which partition is damaged, you may experience difference errors.

If your boot partition is lost or damaged, you will not be able to boot your computer at all. You will receive warnings like Non-System disk or disk error，replace disk and press a key to reboot; Error Loading Operating System, or No ROM Basic，System Halted. These warnings will show up when the computer attempt but fail to load the operating system. If it is other partitions rather than the boot partition is lost or damaged, the hard drive space which is originally taken will appear as unallocated in Disk Management. You will not be able to access any of the files stored in that blank part. 

There are several reasons that can cause partition problems:

1. Virus. Virus infection is one of the major threats that could destroy partition table. Many destructive viruses damage the Master Boot Record and make it impossible to start the computer from the hard disk. For example, the CIH variant would target and attack BIOS and sabotage partition table in the process.

2. Human error. You may delete a partition by accident when poking around the Disk Management. Shutting down the computer while dividing partitions or converting filesystems may lead to partition table damage.

3. Hardware failure. Hard disk drive bad sectors or motherboard malfunctions will result in partition table damage as well.

How to Fix Partition Problems and Recover Data

1. Fixing Master Boot Record

Fixing the MBR and other boot problems in Windows requires installation disk or recovery disk to enter the recovery environment. Once you are in the recovery environment, you can access the Command Prompt to try to fix the MBR. Enter the following command and then press enter:

         bootrec.exe /FixMbr

If it successfully repairs your MBR, you should be greeted with the message The operation completed successfully.

2. Using Recovery Software

While the above command can fix your MBR, sometimes it is not enough. And it can not recover deleted partitions for you. If you are concerned that fiddling with the partition may cause permanent damage to the data within them, H Data Recovery is a good choice for you. H Data Recovery tool offers a special module designed to recover files from lost or damaged partitions.

Fix "Access Denied" Error and Recover from External Hard Drive

If you receive the "Location is not Available, X:/ is Not Accessible, Access is Denied" error while trying to open a folder in Windows or double-clicking a certain drive, read on for tips on how to diagnose the problem and retrieve files.

Check for Connection Problem

Let's start with the obvious. Make sure the external drive is not loosely connected. The USB cable should be plugged in firmly on both ends. Unplug your external HDD and try some other ports to see if you have dead USB ports. If you’ve plugged the drive into a USB hub, try connecting it to the computer instead. Some USB hubs won’t provide enough power for your external drive to function. Also, if you are using a desktop PC, try the back USB ports rather than the front USB port. There could be some differences in power level. After you tried all the ports and cables, try connecting the external HDD to another computer. If it works on another computer then you'll know that your computer system is having some issues. If the HDD still cannot be recognized, then it is malfunctioning and needs to be fixed.

Check for Permission and Encryption

Right-click on the volume and select Properties. Switch to Security tab, under Group or user names, highlight your user account name. Click Edit. Tick Full control, Modify and other options with a check mark under Allow, then Apply. Click OK to leave. Recheck the status of issue to see if you can access the files now.

Check for Partition Corruption

Diagnose the disk you are having trouble with Command Prompt.

Click Start, select Run and enter "chkdsk drive_letter :/r" (quotes not included). Tab Enter to start the disk check process. This command requires your disk to be locked. If it failed to lock the disk, system will ask you if you want to run the disk check next time you start the computer. Never power off the computer while checking is in progress! Damage could be done to your disk if you do so! This interface will automatically close when the checking is done. Then, try to access your folder or drive to see if the problem has been solved. 

Check for Virus Infection and Anti-Virus Settings

Scan your whole system with your favorite anti-virus software. After the full scan, restart the computer to check if the problem has been solved. Also check the client policy for external drive scanning to make sure the anti-virus is not blocking you from access the external hard drive.

Utilize a Recovery Software to Retrieve Data

If the above methods all fails, you can use a professional data recovery software to save your important files. H Data Recovery Software can recover inaccessible files from hard drives with partitions corrupted or damaged. Remember to save your recovered data to another drive or partition to avoid overwriting. After you get your files back, format the disk partition and the issue should be solved. 

How Do I Recover Files from a Dead Computer

If your computer suddenly dies and won't boot, it can be due to operating problems or hardware issues. Whatever the cause, don't panic or rush to reinstall the OS. We need to find a way to rescue important data first. Here are some tips that can help you to get your computer booted and your valuable data recovered.

Boot from a Restore Disc or Recovery Drive

Often when your computer fails to boot, it's because the operating system is damaged. If this is the case, you can use the restore disc to recover your files.
With many operating systems, restore disc such as Linux live CD for Linux OS or Windows Recover drive can be created to handle situations like this. If you have prepared a restore disc or a recovery drive before, simply insert it into the computer and start it up. After the computer boots from the disc, you can enter the Windows installation environment and restore from your system image or repair your system. 

If you don't have any file backups, here is a little trick that allows you to salvage files:

1. Open the Command Prompt in Windows installation environment.
2. Type Notepad and hit Enter key to launch Notepad application.
3. Click File and select Open...
4. You can use this Open dialog as a Windows Explorer window to browse and copy files to your USB flash drives or external hard drives

Repair the MBR

Master boot record (MBR) is essential for booting. It holds the information on how the logical partitions, containing file systems, are organized on that medium. 

We can use the Bootrec.exe in Windows recovery environment to repair, fix or rebuild the MBR. Enter Command Prompt in Windows Recovery Environment and type in 

• bootrec /RebuildBcd
• bootrec /fixMbr
• bootrec /fixboot
• Exit

Reboot your computer to check if the MBR has been repaired. 

Pull out the Hard Drives

If you cannot even boot from restore discs, then there are possible hardware problems with your computer. There are chances that your hard drive is not at fault. You can open up you computer, pull out the hard drive and connect it to another computer to transfer all the important files.

If it is a laptop we're talking about, you should know that opening up your laptop will void your warranty so think twice before you do it. Also, opening laptops are relatively harder than desktop computers. If you find it too hard for you, take it to a PC repair stop for help.

To keep regular backup files and prepare a recovery disc is important, you can learn how to prepare system image files and backup files from our previous articles.

How to Recover Files from Memory Cards

A memory card or flash card is an electronic flash memory data storage device used for storing digital information. These are commonly used in portable electronic devices, such as digital cameras, mobile phones, laptop computers, tablets, video game consoles...

There are various forms of memory cards. The most common memory cards nowadays are SD cards, microSD cards, CompactFlash and miniSD cards. Unlike built-in storage, many memory cards are designed with portability in mind and can be removed and accessed on other devices. The frequent plug in and out makes memory cards prone to damage and potential data loss. You might have received error messages like "The file or directory is corrupted or unreadable" or "Disk in drive X:\ is not formatted. Do you want to format it now?"

When we cannot access the data within Memory cards, we can try to recover files from memory cards with the tips provided below:

Check Errors Using CMD

We can check memory cards with chkdsk in Command Prompt for logic errors.
The chkdsk command line is short for "check disk". It verifies the file system integrity of a volume and fixes logical file system errors. It can also check for bad sectors and mark them.

There are several parameters for chkdsk command. Chkdsk /f fixes logical error on the memory cards such as file system corruption, while chkdsk /r fixes logical errors as well as checks for bad sectors. Chkdsk /r analyzes the drive and attempts to relocate data it finds to good sectors. It also marks the bad sectors so that these bad sectors will not be used again, which effectively removes the bad sectors from the system. If used without parameters, chkdsk displays only the status of the volume and does not fix any errors.

Here's how to fix your memory card errors:

1. Insert your memory card into a USB memory card adapter. Plug the USB adapter into a USB port on your computer. Windows automatically recognizes the device and assigns a drive letter to it. 

2. Go to the start menu, type in cmd in a search bar, hit enter and then you can see cmd. exe listed. You can also press Windows key + R to quick access the Command Prompt.

3. Type in "chkdsk drive_letter: /r" (quotes not included). For example, if "H" is assigned to your memory card, type "chkdsk h: /r".

4. Wait until the "chkdsk" program finishes checking your memory card for structure corruption. When it is done, you're prompted to save lost chains into files. Click the “Yes” option. In a few moments, "chkdsk" will display all of your lost data files that have been repaired on your computer.

5. Exit to Desktop and enter Computer. Double click on the memory card drive letter to check if it has been successfully fixed.

Recover Files Using Data Recovery Software

Sometimes the memory cards suffer from partition lost or RAW  problems. In these cases, the computer will fail to recognize memory cards and will not assign drive letters to them. We can attempt to recover the inaccessible files using 3rd party utilities such as H Data Recovery Software.

H Data file recovery is a fully-featured data recovery software. It is able to recover data in most data loss situations, recovering from memory cards with lost or damaged partition included! Here is the step-by-step tutorial:

Step 1. Install and launch H Data Recovery Software.

Step 2. Insert the memory card into a USB card adapter and plug your card adapter into your computer. Select the Flash Memory Recovery module by clicking it. The software will automatically detect all the flash memory cards currently connected to this computer. Choose your memory card and click Next.

Step 3. H Data Recovery will scan the memory card file system and try to find and reconstitute the files. When the scan is complete, you will be able to see the list of all recoverable files. If you act quick enough after the format, the chance of a complete recovery is very high.

Step 4. Select all the files you want to restore, and click the Next button. Choose a place you want to restore these files to.

Free up Drive Space in Windows

Although the storage capacity of hard drives is expanding each year, files are also getting larger. High-definition movies, lossless music files and photo-realistic games quickly and quietly eat up the drive space. If your PC is running low on storage, here are some tips for you to free up some space.

1. Run Disk Cleanup Tool

Disk Cleanup is a Windows built-in tool designed to delete unwanted temporary files and junks.

You can find it under Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup. Then you could select a volume to clean. The other way to access Disk Cleanup is to right-click the drive you wish to clean in File Explorer, select Properties, and click the Disk Cleanup button under General tab.

After the tool finishes the scanning, you will see a list of options that could be cleaned, including cached Web pages, temporary application files, reports from Windows Error Reporting, Recycle Bin files and so on. If you updated your system from an older version of Windows, you will see a folder called Windows.old that is taking up a considerable amount of space.

Windows.old is not something new that comes with the free Windows 10 upgrade. Starting with Vista, when you "upgrade install" (upgrade from one version of Windows to another with a new copy of Windows), a windows.old folder will be created. The Windows.old folder contains all the files and data from your previous Windows installation, like Windows system files, installed program settings and different users accounts' files. It is a backup file in case you want to revert to the old version, or you find something missing and you want to do some digging around. 

Select the types of files you want to delete and click OK. You can go ahead and delete the Windows.old without any problem as long as you don't want to downgrade and you have every important file you need from the old version.

2. Clear Application Cache Files

Windows Disk Cleanup cleans junks and temp files created by Windows operating system, but it doesn’t affect temporary files used by other programs. Various web browsers create a lot of cache files to reduce Internet access time; various 3D design or video editing software can generate gigabytes of preview files to reduce the staggering when you preview your works. 

For example, in Chrome, click the More icon in the upper-right corner, On your browser toolbar, click More icon (three dots). Select More tools, and then click Clear browsing data. In the "Clear browsing data" box, click the checkboxes for different options. Click Clear browsing data to clear all the caches.

Before you clear application caches, you should know that deleting these files will potentially affect the efficiency when you access files and these caches will continue to be created as you use these applications.

3. Reduce the Recycle Bin size

Recycle Bin is a virtual folder that stores the information of files deleted in Window Explorer by users. It doesn't have a path or a fixed capacity. The capacity of the Recycle Bin is determined by each underlying volume size.
In Windows operating systems with NTFS filesystem, each volume has a $Recycle.Bin folder under it, which normally is set to Hidden. The capacity of Recycle Bin is the total size of each $Recycle.Bin combined. The calculation might vary in different versions of Windows but start with Windows Vista, the algorithm for default $Recycle.Bin size is ten percent of the first 40GB of volume size/quota, and five percent of any remaining volume/quota above 40GB. You can manually set the capacity of each recycle bin.

Right-click on the Recycle Bin icon and select Properties. Select the Recycle Bin Location for the drive you wish to change the Maximum size for. Select Custom Size and set the Maximum size in MB for storage you want. Click on Apply. Repeat the above steps to change the recycle bin size on other volumes.
When you finished tweaking the values, click OK to leave.

4. Reduce the Maximum Space Used for System Protection

System protection regularly creates information about system files. It can also keep copies fo system settings and previous versions of files. You can reduce the amount of hard disk space allocated to System Restore. By doing so, you will have fewer restore points available as older points will be replaced by new ones more frequently.

When you are freeing up drive space, you could sometimes inadvertently delete files you still need. When this happens, act quickly to prepare for data recovery and stop putting new files into your hard drive. The chance of a successful data recovery is very high when you act quickly and select a proper tool.

Can We Recover Files from Hard Drives Formatted Multiple Times?

How do I recover photos from memory card which was formatted three times? Does re-format a hard drive multiple times make any difference?

The biggest concern when disposing of old computers or other electronic devices is the personal or sensitive data doesn't get into the wrong hands. We've discussed how to safely and responsibly dispose of storage devices without raising potential privacy breach risks. But how about format the storage devices multiple times? Will it make the data recoverable? What if I accidentally formatted a hard drive twice and want to recover the files stored inside?

There are actually different types of formatting processes. In Windows operating systems, there are two kinds of format: quick format and full format. As indicated by their name, they differ in the amount of time needed to complete a formatting. However, there is more behind this seemingly obvious difference.

A quick format will only erase the file table from the filesystem. The operating system will not locate any files without their index so when you look at the hard drive you would not see any data and assume the drive is erased. In fact, the files are actually still there untouched and can be accessed again with the right tool. This is how software like H Data Recovery Software can recover data from formatted disks. Their special algorithm enables you to scan, locate and reconstruct the deleted files.

A Full format will write zero to every sector of the drive to overwrite old data. This write-zero process is also known as erasing. The exact amount of time required to complete the process depends on the capacity of the HDD. The larger the capacity the longer it will take. As a Full Format would wipe your drives clean, the data stored on them will become unrecoverable. This is very useful when you are disposing of or recycling your hard drives containing senstive or personal information.

How to Perform Different Format

1. In Windows Explorer

In Windows Explorer, right-click on the drive you wish to format and click Format... Option. Check the Quick format check box to perform a quick format of the select drive. Leave it unchecked to perform a full format instead.

2. In Command Prompt

You can also use the command format to execute the format, and choose to set the file systems along the way.

Please note that beginning in Windows Vista, by default the format drive: command equals to format drive: /p, which writes zeros to the whole disk once, unless you specifically use the quick format command format drive: /q. In Windows XP and earlier versions of Windows, the format command does not perform the basic drive sanitation. You can repeat the write zero process multiple times by adding a count to the command, for example, format d: /fs:NTFS /p:3 will zero-fill the D: drive 3 times and set the file system to NTFS .

In Conclusion

So, back to the question. Does formatting a drive multiple times make the data unrecoverable? It all depends on how you execute the format. If you quick format a hard drive, the number of repeated times does hardly matter. You can recover the lost data with software like H Data Recovery painlessly. If you perform a full format, even with one pass of zero-fill (overwrite with zero once), the data will be very likely unrecoverable. On the other hand, it is a good way to dispose of personal data.

How to Recover Files from Lost Partitions

A storage device must have at least one partition before a file system can be set up and store data. The partition can contain all of the storage space on the drive or just some of it. On many storage devices, a single partition will often take up the entire drive.

Many hard drives come with a partition already set up so we can jump straight to the formatting step. We can have the partition formatted with a file system such as the NTFS file system on Windows drives, FAT32 file system for removable drives, HFS+ file system on Mac computers, or the ext4 file system on Linux. Files are then written to that file system on the partition.

When partitions are lost, the drive returns to its original unallocated raw state. When a hard drive or a partition becomes RAW, it means its filesystem cannot be recognized by the computer and therefore is unable to be mounted as a drive. Since the computer can't see any filesystem, it prompts you to format it before you can use this drive.

Partition lost is not as common as data loss. It could happen for various reasons: HDD failure, corrupted partition table and so on. Sometimes we know a partition is lost because we accidentally pressed the wrong key and deleted it. 
When a partition is lost, all data saved in it will become inaccessible. If there’s no important data in the missing partition, we can easily solve the problem by creating a new partition or repartitioning the hard drive. However, it is often not the case. Most of the time, the lost partition contains a lot of valuable data and the loss of them would bring us enormous troubles. 

The easiest way to recover lost partitions would be using a third party software. H Data Recovery Software features a module designed to tackle this problem. 

Here's how to recover data with H Data Recovery Software:

Step 1. Install and run H Data Recovery 

Step 2. Choose "Hard Disk Partition Lost or Crash" from the main menu 

Step 3. Perform a full scan on the drive 

Step 4. View all the recoverable files listed and recover whichever you want.