Best file recovery freeware for deleted files on Windows
Every now and then everyone deletes files which are not supposed to be deleted. Inexperienced users believe that once they delete a file it cannot be recovered. That is a myth.
If you have deleted a file inadvertently the first place to look for is the Recycle Bin. If you do not know
how to recover files from the Recycle Bin get in touch and I will be glad to help (free of charge)!
If you are unlucky and do not find the file in the Recycle Bin (as you might have permanently deleted a file by pressing shift key when deleting the file) do not despair. There are solutions available that can help you recover the files you have deleted from your computer or the Recycle Bin. When you delete a file in a Windows based computer all the system does is mark that space on the hard disk as available for writing or storing new files. The deleted files are there on your hard disk till data is written on that part of the hard disk by newer files. Therefore there may be some files on your computer that have deleted a year back and are recoverable!
Some of the practices that assist in recovering files are
- More empty space you have on your hard disk the better the chances of recovery as the file you have deleted would not be reused till other parts of the hard disk are used.
- Smaller deleted files like MS Word or MS Excel documents, have a higher chance of recovery than bigger files like videos or music files.
- Some of the TOOLS that you can use are
Undelete Plus
Undelete Plus is an award winning freeware that can recover deleted files. It also recovers files 
deleted on your network! You can view the deleted files by name, size, type and date. Undelete Plus is a powerful software which can be used to SWIPE or delete the files permanently and securely that you have deleted in the past but are still there on your hard disk.
Recuva 
This software has been developed by the developers of CCleaner which is a famous software that can be used to clean your storage devices of redundant files. Recuva is super fast and easy to use. It lists all the deleted files from your storage device and also lets you know if it is recoverable or not. Another utility that has been developed by the same is Defraggler. Highly recommended.
UndeleteMyFiles
This, as far as I’m concerned, is the best utility to recover deleted files. Apart from the fact that it recovers deleted files there are a few features which others lack and they are very helpful. The first one being the preview mode. After the software has scanned your computer for deleted files it allows you to preview the deleted files before restoring the files. Another feature is the ability to filter your search for deleted files by size and type amongst other things. Last but not the least UndeleteMyFiles allows you to clean your hard disk to securely delete files so that they can never be recovered. This is the one for me!
Restoration
Restoration is a freeware which is easy to use as it has an intuitive interface. It basically scans your hard disk to recover deleted files. The success rate is good with smaller files (up to 1 MB). Bigger files are tougher to recover. For a detailed user walkthrough go here.
Undelete
If you want to keep track of your deleted files in the future so that you can recover them then Undelete is the software for you. There are different versions available but be warned that there were files that I had deleted which Undelete could not recover.
If you have used one of these utilities please share the results to help the readers access which one is the best.
