Free Data Recovery Tools

This tip is provided by Dee Crocker of the Oregon State Bar Professional Liability Fund.

It happens, you accidentally delete something - a file maybe a folder. We've known since the early days of Norton Utilities that all is not lost.

Typically, files are not actually deleted, just the reference to them in the disc's file directory is. So all the data is there, if you can get at it.

A host of utilities have come out since the early days of PCs to help recover files. Lifehacker just had a post with their opinion on the Five Best Free Data Recovery Tools. They include:

* TestDisk (Windows, Mac, and Linux)
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Download

* Recuva (Windows only)
http://www.recuva.com/  

* PhotoRec (Windows, Mac, and Linux)
https://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec 

* Restoration (Windows)
http://www.snapfiles.com/get/restoration.html  

* Undelete Plus
http://undeleteplus.com/