Note, however, that the drive itself must be recognised by Windows in order for data to be extracted from it. Support for unmounted drives means that users can now attempt data recovery from drives and partitions not ordinarily visible in Windows itself – including drives that haven’t been assigned a drive letter. If you're looking for more alternatives to Piriform Recuva then take look at our guide to the Best remote desktop software.Recover data from unmounted drives and ISO-formatted optical discs with Recuva 1.50. It costs from $69.95 for a lifetime license and is suited to those with high-spec computers and regular data restoration needs. Meanwhile, Recover My Files has similar features to Recuva. It doesn’t come with any advanced tools, but it does the job. For example, if you’re looking for a simple data recovery program for occasional use, the Ashampoo Undeleter costs just $14.99 for life. Recuva is good, but there are similar applications that could be better suited to your needs. Overall, Recuva is a perfectly reasonable choice if you’re looking for a reliable data recovery solution.

Scans are fast and thorough, and the program runs comfortably in the background. And although its client interface isn’t the most attractive we’ve seen, it is simple and effective. What’s more, Recuva is backed by powerful features, including a deep scan tool, secure file overwriter, and formatted drive scanning. The free version is great for those who want to test the software before purchasing, and annual subscriptions are very competitively priced.

Ultimately, Piriform Recuva is up there with the best data recovery programs we’ve tested. More specific questions can be asked in the active community forum and an impressive selection of short video tutorials is also available.

The FAQ section contains answers to popular questions, and the technical documentation pages provide a detailed overview of the software. There are also four different self-help resources.

Recuva portable zip file