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Flash File Recovery by Panterasoft

Flash File Recovery by Panterasoft

Digital camera memory cards are nearly indestructible, though that does not mean that the images you store on them cannot be lost. All to often pictures are accidentally erased or memory cards are formatted. Thanks to Flash File Recovery by PanteraSoft, your valuable images may not be lost.

Flash File Recovery allows for the recovery of erased images from many different types of media including Compact Flash, Smart Media, Secure Digital, Memory Stick, Micro Drives and many more. It can also recover files from corrupt and damaged media as well.

Installation and Usage

Flash File Recovery installs very quickly after downloading the small installation file from the web site. Usage is very simple, and is guiding along in a wizard like interface.

List of rescuable files Lost files preview

Recovery of images could not be easier. It is a quick process completed in very few steps. To begin, select the drive your media occupies. Next, choose the recovery method. For recently deleted files, a fast scan should be all you need. This scans the FAT, or the file system index, to determine where the files reside and recover them from there. For damaged cards, formatted cards, or cards that have been used since deleting the files you wish to recover, a full scan is necessary. This scan searches the media, sector by sector, looking for files to recover.

After the search, a listing of the files found on the media is presented along with their file size and starting sector. A preview of lost files makes selecting which images to recover a breeze. Next, pick the location you would like to restore the files to and finally, start recovery.

Testing

I tested Flash File Recovery with a Sandisk 512MB, non write-accelerated compact flash card. I performed a full scan on the card looking for deleted images. The scan took 53 minutes to complete using a USB 1.1 card reader connected to an Athlon 1Ghz PC with 512 MB or RAM. I was running Windows XP SP1. The software recovered 271 files of which 246 were usable images. The camera only recognized that there were 55 images on the card at the time.

I then place the card back in the camera and performed and in-camera format of the card. Re-running Flash File Recovery on the newly formatted card resulted in finding 242 usable images.

Using the Fast Scan setting of the software did not work for me. I contacted Panterasoft about the error and was informed that some camera's (including my Canon) do not behave well with this method. The recommended method of recovery is the full scan though, and given the number of files found, would fully agree.

Purchase

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The average rating for this review is: 9.00

Flash File Recovery is available for purchase directly from Panterasoft for $49.50 US. As a photographer, this is a low price to pay if it can save the loss of important images. PCIN.net subscribers will receive a 15% discount from Panterasoft when they purchase Flash File Recovery.

Conclusions

Digital photography has eased the ability for people to take many more photographs than previously affordable. However, it has also made it very easy to lose photos already taken, either buy accidental or deliberate deletion, or because of memory card corruption or failure. Flash File Recovery should be considered part of everyone's digital toolkit to recover those lost images. The software works well, is easy to use and provides a graphical view of recoverable images to help select what to restore and what not to.

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