Recommended Software

Piriform Recuva v1.26 Tutorial/Review

Copyright 2006-2009 Piriform Ltd.

By: Beta  Tr WiTcH.DoKtA

I’m sure you have heard that when you delete a file, it isn’t really gone right? Ever accidentally deleted a file and needed to get it back? Reformat and find that you forgot to put something on your backup disk? Of course you have! And this is the program for you, and everyone else too.

Piriform Recuva is a freeware program with more uses than it actually lets on. It is described as a file recovery utility, and sure it recovers deleted files, but the real allure of this piece of software is that you can also securely wipe deleted files off your hard drive.

Recuva is very easy to use, offers superb protection, and reliable, this is definitely one to check out!

Installing Piriform Recuva v1.26

Download Recuva v1.26 from the Piriform website and run the rcsetup126.exe installer

Select your language from the list and hit OK

Click Next

Read the EULA, then click I Agree

Select the folder where you want to install and click Next

If you don’t want to Install the Yahoo Toolbar, clear the checkbox and look at the other install options, then select Install.

Click Finish, then you are done.

Using Piriform Recuva v1.26

First, start the program of course by running Recuva program from the desktop, it’s the icon that looks like a hard hat next to a hard drive.

The Wizard will open up, just click next.

Select which type of file you are looking to recover or wipe and click next.

Select which location you believe the file to be in and click next

If you are trying to recover an accidentally deleted file, just click start.

If you are looking to recover a file after you have formatted your drive, or you are looking for a file that you want to wipe out, click the “enable deep scan” check box, then click start.

After Recuva finishes it’s scan, you will see a list of files applicable to your search in the main program window.

Scroll through the list until you find the file you are looking for, and use the filename/path filter buttons to make your search easier.

The colored lights beside the filename indicates what condition the file is in.

Green means that the entire file can be recovered without any problems

Yellow means that the entire file can be recovered, but it MIGHT have a few errors.

Red means that the file cannot be recovered

After you have found your file or files, check the tickboxes next to the file names.

If you are attempting to recover the files, right click one of the checked files and select “Recover Checked”. Then select a destination for the files to go.

If you are wanting to wipe the files completely off the drive, right click one of the checked files and select “Securely Overwrite Checked”.

If you are sure you want to wipe the files out, click the yes button,

Now, if you want to make absolutely sure that no one can get those files off of your hard drive, click the options button, and under the advanced section of the General tab, there is a box labeled “Secure Overwriting”, here you can select one of four options to overwrite the files with.

Simple Overwrite: Overwrites the files with random data once

DOD Overwrite: Uses US Department of Defense standard of overwriting, 3 passes

NSA Overwrite: Uses US National Security Agency standard, 7 passes

Gutmann Overwrite: For the paranoid, 35 passes

Multiple Passes: first pass overwrites file with random data, second pass overwrites that random data with even more random data, lather rinse repeat, you get the picture.

That’s all there is to it! Simple huh? That’s why I chose this program for all of my recovery/wiping needs. It sure beats having two separate programs for doing each.

I give this program 3 shrunken heads for ease of use, reliability, and protection.

Only reason it doesn’t get more is because it really doesn’t do that much else.

May CyberArmy Rise Again!

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