Wise Data Recovery
Paulette Dzurilla
This software enables you to restore deleted files for free, and can also help recover your files after hard drive damage or reformatting. While this review focuses on the Windows version, there's also Wise Data Recovery for Mac. It's compatible with M1, M2 & T2 chip-enabled Macs but the free version only allows you to recover up to 1GB of data rather than the more generous quota for Windows versions (see below)
The number one reason to choose Wise Data Recovery for file recovery is its adaptability. The software is able to recover thousands of file types, including almost every common type of document, image, and video file. It can also save email files, zip folder archives, and executables from permanent deletion.
When we previously reviewed Wise Data Recovery in October 2022, it offered two scanning options: Quick Scan and Deep Scan. Quick Scan Was extremely fast and was generally used to recover recently deleted files. Deep Scan, on the other hand, took significantly longer and is more suited to recovering files from formatted or damaged drives.
From checking the online documentation, deep scan is still advertised as a feature for Wise Data Recovery - both the free and Pro versions. However during our tests we didn't see any "deep scan" option and the instructions to activate it didn't match the version of the software we seemed to be using.
Naturally whether a scan is "quick" or "deep", what really matters is whether your lost data's recovered but if the scan features have changed, we felt there should be more information on the "Wise Cleaner" website.
Wise Data Recovery does have a "preview" feature for files like images but during our tests, we found that it was only able to display a part of the file. We were told to click "Recover" to copy the files to another location to see them in full.
We did this as we wanted to see how the utility performed with a wide variety of files.The album included 4 music files (2 in Mp3 and 2 in FLAC) format, 6 JPG image files of album covers (with thumbnails) and 4 PNG image files. The files also included 2 XML files, a torrent file and an 'SQLite' file containing details of the album. There were 25 files in total.
Delete & format: The files were deleted as outlined above and we also performed a 'Quick Format' using the 'Disk Management' utility built into Windows 11. We then tried to recover the files from the formatted partition.
Recover corrupted files: We used the freeware program 'Victoria' to overwrite the volume header of the drive containing the files with zeroes. The drive didn't mount automatically in File Explorer and showed as being unpartitioned in Windows "Disk Management" utility. We then checked if the utility could see it and if so, recover the files.
We do not believe that running data recovery tools in a virtual environment has a significant effect on how they function. Still, if you're considering buying software we encourage you to read all reviews thoroughly and make sure that the developer offers a refund policy.
In our original test we used an undamaged 107 GB SSD. The Quick Scan finished in about 18 seconds, while a Deep Scan took about 7.5 minutes. The utility's "Deep Scan" feature did turn up a folder of multimedia files and TIF images that had previously been deleted from the recycling bin, but were not wiped from the drive.
The drive appeared immediately inside the utility and the scan lasted less than 3 seconds. A total of 38 files were found. When we recovered these to another drive we found all 25 files intact with their filenames. The remaining files were duplicates of these or system files.
Wise Data Recovery didn't do quite so well on the drive that had been formatted after the files were deleted. In that case only 13 of the 25 files were recovered. These included all 4 of the audio files, all 4 of the PNG image files and a JPG thumbnail. The remaining 4 were system files. With the exception of the thumbnail, the utility was also able to recover the filenames.
The corrupted drive wasn't visible in file explorer but Wise Data Recovery showed it as a "Lost Drive" almost immediately upon launch. When we selected it, it took less than 10 seconds to find 49 files. The 'Preview' function told us that we could only see them partially, so we copied the files to another disk.
All 25 of the original files were present and correct, with their filenames. We opened each individually and found non were corrupted. The remaining files were duplicates of the originals or system files.
In previous reviews, we lamented the fact that scans only showed a blue bar. There was no "estimated time remaining". Fortunately the most recent version of Wise Data Recovery clearly shows the percentage of a scan progress along with the ETA to completion.
Users can restore photos while the scan is ongoing, and batch recovery is also possible. The app supports file previews, although as we said you can often only see a partial preview until the full system or device scan is completed. The search function is fast, and filtering by file type, size or modification date is similarly rapid.
You can now also click on "Feedback & Suggestions" to open the support center. Although this doesn't connect you to a live chat. It does allow you to select "function abnormal" or "other issues" to flag any problems. Clear instructions are given on what information to provide, such as screenshots.
The support team is available 24/7, but how long it takes to get a response depends on whether you use the free software or pay for a Pro subscription. Free users may wait up to three days, while Pro users can expect a response within 24 hours.
If you feel comfortable without having your hand held, you could consider using the free and open source TestDisk and PhotoRec file recovery utilities. These were able to recover all files during our tests, though the interface is quite basic. You can use the graphical QPhotoRec tool if you don't feel comfortable with the command line.
During our tests we saw that it was able to recover all the files, with filenames intact from a drive where they'd been deleted and even from a drive with a corrupted volume header. It only fell down on a drive that had been formatted, where only a small number of files had been recovered but of those that were, they opened without issue and almost all had their original filenames.
We feel this is more than balanced out though by the very generous 2GB free data recovery allowance for Windows users. This means you can try the software without obligation to see if it can recover files, even from a formatted drive.
IF and only IF the data is not valuable enough to warrant expert help, you may want to have a look at Test Disk ( Partition Recovery and File Undelete ). It will most likely also give you some deleted files, but better some extra, than some less.
There is no need to worry about the data from a portable hard drive. You can recover data as it is with the original tree structure and original attributes. Use Kernel for Windows Data Recovery software for such data recovery requirement. It has advanced algorithms to scan and recover data from corrupted, formatted or deleted from the storage device. It supports Windows file system and upto latest version of Windows 10 OS. Download the demo software to check the existence of your data.
What is the model of external drive that has failed? Perhaps we can narrow in on whether there is any chance of you recovering the data yourself or if a data recovery professional is your only option.
Wise Data Recovery is a file and data recovery utility allowing you to recover files and folders that have been deleted and marked as free space. It works on local hard drives, removable flash drives, memory cards and other drives on your system. After scanning your drive, the interface will list the files that can be recovered and the likelihood of being able to recover the entire file.
It was so wonderful to see that Wise Data Recovery came with Wise Care 365! I immediately downloaded the Data Recovery program and ran it. I'd had an external drive that failed me last month, and not enough money to do anything about it. So this - this was like a gift from Heaven!
Sadly, it turns out that Data Recovery is unable to read an external drive. Though Windows 7 can see it, though quite a few sample copies of recovery programs can see it - several can even list the files on it, but won't restore until I can pay for the "pro" version of the software...though all these can, at least, see the drive -- Data Recovery cannot.
Nope. It's not Exfat. Two days ago, I was able to see it in Disk Management and might have been able to see what it was, but today I cannot see it in Disk Management. I know it's not Exfat, because it's a 1.5 Tb drive.
We can't write nothing useful: you didn't write which Wise Data Recovery version you are using, downloaded from which website, what OS you are using, how many drives/partitions it has got, how they are formatted, how many space is left, and so forth...
May be you are using another Data Recovery tool (like Unistal or Stellar) instead using Wise Data Recovery...you must need to get an information about the software which you were using...than only can be able to get appropriate feedback.
hey thanks....for special version of wisecleaner.......i have retrieved few files...of c-drive ,but i still cud'nt retrieve videos on folder lock..(after restoration dates changes to last week not previous dates or months)....
Wise data recovery keeps asking me to choose another location to avoid data overwrite. i have tried to use the c:, and create new folders .I just honestly don't know what to do. I'm not at all computer savvy. Thanks for your help!
Tried to recover pictures with Wise recovery data... no files found. Used a FREE data recovery program and they recovered all of the pics... what kind of files DOES Wise Data Recovery recover??? Obviously not .jpgs...
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