Using partition recovery mode with auto-pilot enabled

 

This guide will walk you through a partition recovery session, with auto-pilot enabled.
Read more about auto-pilot mode here.

Click here if you wish to view the walkthrough that explains the use of partition recovery mode with auto-pilot disabled.

Things you need to know before we start:
  • when recovering files, the "source" is the disk or volume that contains the files that we want back, and the "target" is the location where the recovered files will be copied to.
  • this guide assumes you are running the program with the default settings, unless otherwise noted.
 

When to use partition recovery mode:

  • you need to retrieve files from a volume that has been deleted
  • you need to retrieve files from a volume that is no longer listed or visible in Windows

When to disable auto-pilot:

Only disable auto-pilot if the file validation shows close to 100% corruption. This is usually an indication that one or more parameters (that are determined when auto-pilot is enabled) are incorrect. This would mean that you would have to specify these parameters yourself, and you can do so by disabling auto-pilot.
Please note that iUndelete is usually quite capable of determining these parameters automatically and in general the auto-pilot will do fine.

Here we go:

After having selected the type of operation you wish to perform (in this case partition recovery) the following screen will be displayed:

Please note the following:
The "recover from" window section shows disks only, volumes can not be selected.

In this screen you can:

  • Select the source (where to recover the files from):
    Select the disk that contains the volume from which you wish to recover files.
  • Select the target (where to copy the recovered files to):
    Click the folder icon on the right of the "Recover to" section of the program window to select the target location for the recovered files.
  • Set filters (only search for certain file types and disable/enable skipping Windows system files):
    Change filters as required. Add or remove filters (use common wildcard notations) by using the buttons in the filter section.
  • Change scan behavior (set advanced parameters through the configuration display):
    Click the "configuration" button on the right of the "Advanced configuration" section of the program window to change scanning behavior and other settings. The configuration display is explained in detail on this manual page.
After you have performed the proper selections you can click the "continue" button (bottom right, the ">>" icon). You will now see the first step of the file system reconstruction wizard; finding the volume:

In this example we will select the bottom option ("Scan for lost partitions") and we will adjust the second slider (the end location for the scan) to the left; in this example we know that the partition was somewhere near the start of the disk so we don't have to scan the entire disk:

Click the indicated button to have iUndelete start the search. When completed you should see a partition list (or just one, as in this example):

Select the partition and click the continue button. iUndelete will now start the scan:

This window does not require any user interaction and is displayed to inform you of the operation's progress.
Scanning may take a while, depending on the size of the volume that is scanned.

When this step has been completed the "validation result" display will be shown:

In this example the results appear to be particularly good.
Click the continue button to be taken to the "recover files" window.

The "recover files" display:

From here you may select files and folders that must be copied to safety. Use the "Find" button to switch between folder view and file view. In file view you can search for files, you may use common wildcards to help you locate files. Select files and/or folders using the mouse. Hold the shift- and/or ctrl key to select multiple files. When you have selected the items you wish to save, click the "Save" button. iUndelete will now copy the files to the selected target location.

This concludes the partition recovery operation.