Accidentally deleting a file from your Mac is a horror most computer users will face at least once, but what should you do if it happens to you? While keeping a constant backup of your machine is the best solution, that’s not always possible – and once you’ve realized the need for a backup, it may be too late! Fortunately, there are plenty of tools available that allow you to retrieve those files. One such solution is an app called Data Recovery Guru.
Before we dig in, there’s some important background information you may want to be aware of. The HFS file system used by Mac OS X is unique in that any file you delete actually still exists until its written over by something else. The file exists within your drive’s free space and can be recovered until another file needs the same space and overwrites it. Additionally, your Mac is smart enough to leave a bit of buffer so that an accidentally deleted file doesn’t get written over immediately.
Data Recovery Guru takes advantage of this property of Mac OS, and reads data on your drive before it can be written over by something else.
What really makes Data Recovery Guru shine is how incredibly easy it is to use. Simply select the volume you want to recover files on, and click the “start scan” button. You can even review the results in retrieves while the program continues to run.
As with all data recovery programs I know of, Data Recovery Guru isn’t able to retrieve the original names of the files it recovers, which can become problematic if the app recovers a large number of files. This is due to a limitation in Apple’s HFS file system that prevents data like this from being stored after a file is erased, Fortunately, however, Data Recovery Guru allows you to preview recovered files directly within the app, making it easy to find the exact file you want. It also sort all recovered files according to type.
Once you’ve found the file or file you want to recover, just select it and click the Recover button, and the program will ask you where you’d like to save the file. It’s important to note that files must be saved to a volume other than the one they were recovered from.
Data Recovery Guru works well, and is extremely easy to use. And at a cost of $99, it is priced very competitively with other recovery software, such as Prosoft’s Drive Genius 3. I overall found Data Recovery Guru to be an extremely simple and effective solution for recovering lost files, and grant it a rating of 4 out of 5 stars, subtracting a point for its interface, which isn’t as developed or as attractive as that of many competing apps.
For more information, or to purchase Data Recovery Guru, check out their official website.
This is a sponsored review through Review Roster.
