DIY DataRecovery iRecover is a 'one-stop' data recovery solution
that features 3 modes of operation:
- Simple volume recovery mode:
recover data from simple volumes or functional RAID arrays;
recover data from volumes that are corrupt, accidentally
formatted, virus damaged, deleted or otherwise damaged.
- RAID recovery recovery mode:
reconstruct a RAID layout, then recover data; iRecover
reconstructs defunct RAID 0 and RAID 5 arrays and then scans the
drive(s) for lost data. RAID 5 can be reconstructed even if a
member is missing. Please note that iRecover does not repair
broken RAID setups; reconstructing means that iRecover
determines the RAID parameters automatically and uses that data
to copy the files to safety.
- Digital image recovery mode:
this mode is fully functional in the trial version of iRecover
and is free to use. Use this mode to recover your precious
photos from corrupted or damaged memory cards.
Digital Image recovery
Digital image recovery mode is specifically tailored to recover
photographs taken using digital cameras. Pictures are usually stored
on a removable memory device in the camera, such as memory cards or
memory sticks.
Setting up the hardware
You need to set up the system in such a way that your memory card
is accessible as a disk drive. A setup involving an appropriate card
reader device is good for most situations. If you do not have a card
reader, or cannot use it for some reason (e.g. the camera is using
internal non-removable memory), you should try using the camera
itself to access the memory card. Most cameras, when connected to a
PC, allow access to the photos by assigning a drive letter to the
storage device in the camera.
For iRecover, it may be required that you switch to "Logical
drive access mode" (in "disk access options") to
achieve proper access; try this if you have access problems when
using iRecover.
Note: the digital camera typically stores all the images in a
single folder and thus does not hit the demo (trial) version limit
on the number of folders that may be recovered. You may want to try
"Simple volume recovery" mode against the memory card. The
best result may be achieved by running both "Simple
volume" and "Image recovery" modes, making two passes
on the same card, then manually sorting resulting images (you will
need to remove duplicate and broken images).
The procedure
Start iRecover and click
[next] in the 'Initial setup screen'. In the 'Select recovery type'
screen, pick 'Recover images from digital memory card'.

Select the device you wish to analyze, typically a camera memory
card or the camera itself (as in this example).

If your card or camera is not listed, click [Back] until you have reached
the 'Initial setup screen'. Click [Advanced configuration] and
select the 'Disks and partitions' TAB. Switch access mode from 'Disk
access using physical devices' to 'Disk access using logical
drives':

Then go back to the 'Select a device to analyze' display and
continue.
The device is analyzed. No user input is required during this
phase.
iRecover displays a simple diskmap to show the progress of
the analysis.

Since files are detected by looking at the internal file
structure, file names can not be recovered. This is not a problem
since most cameras use a numbering format for file names anyway. The
best thing for you to do at this stage is to simply select all the
files, recover them, and sort them out later. It is possible though
to preview the pictures: simply selecting them will open a preview
window with the picture. This might help you determine which files
to recover.

Now save the files by selecting them and copying them to a safe
place.
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