Recover data from:
File systems: FAT12/FAT16, FAT32, NTFS, and for Linux Ext(x) and XFS.
Raid types: RAID0, RAID5.
Software RAID0 and RAID5 on Windows Dynamic Disks.

Upgrades for version 5.x to version 6.x are free: the upgrade from any 5.x version to version 6.x can be performed by downloading and installing the latest version of iRecover. Use your license key to turn the trial version into the full version.

Upgrades for the same base version are free: the upgrade from 6.0 to any (future) 6.x version can be performed by downloading and installing the latest version of iRecover. Use your license key to turn the trial version into the full version.

If you have a previous version (4.x and older) and wish to upgrade:
Send your upgrade request and the original order number to DIY DataRecovery support.

Never post any license details in the support forum.

The Standard edition:
Allows you to recover files from non-RAID disks. Use this to get files back from damaged volumes in PCs, laptops and from any disk that is not part of a RAID set. External disks are also supported, as are USB sticks and other devices that present themselves as a disk when connected to a PC.
NOTE: if a hardware RAID is present in the machine and the RAID is still intact on a hardware level (meaning, the RAID still presents itself as one big disk to the system), you can use the Standard edition on this RAID, because you are essentially running iRecover on one big disk.

The Standard Plus edition:
Allows the same procedures as the Standard edition, and also includes a special Digital Image Recovery mode. Use this to recover photos from digital cameras when memory cards fail, when memory cards become corrupted, or if other problems prohibit you from copying the photos in a normal way. Can also be used on memory cards directly (connected to a PC through a media card reader).
NOTE: if the camera presents itself as a normal disk when connected to a PC the Standard edition of iRecover may also work, but the Digital Image Recovery mode is much faster, more reliable, and is specifically created to recover certain types of files. It is therefore easier to use and more likely to succeed.

The Pro edition:
Allows the same procedures as the Standard Plus edition, and also includes a RAID recovery system. Use this to recover data from RAID sets that are no longer intact (also known as a broken RAID). You can recover data from individual former RAID0 and RAID5 disks, as long as all the members are still accessible. When dealing with former RAID5 disks one disk may be absent (a function of RAID5) when for instance one disk has physical problems.
Also allows recovery from software RAID on Windows Dynamic Disks.

When you buy a corporate license you always get the Pro edition.

• iRecover uses the conventional Windows API to open a file, this is done in the same manner as all Windows applications (like Notepad) open files.
• The source disk is read in blocks. If there's no physical damage and the disk was scanned without problems, there should be no problem here. Reading the disk directly is done using a Windows API which allows an entire drive or disk to be opened and treated as a file. iRecover only moves a pointer through this file to read the correct blocks of data.
• After reading a block of data, iRecover calls a Windows API and requests the block to be written to the file that was opened in the first step.
• When all blocks are processed iRecover calls a Windows API to close the file. The file is now copied and iRecover can move on to the next file (if any).
  99 % of all slow-downs occurring during file copying are because iRecover is waiting for a Windows API call to respond.
• When iRecover is trying to read a block of data from the source disk, it can only continue after the Windows API has completed the request. If reading the source disk is the bottleneck, this may indicate that the source disk is going bad. Clone the source disk as soon as possible.
• When iRecover writes to a file it may be waiting for the API because the destination is slow. This may be the case when you are writing files to a network location or other relatively slow media, or maybe the destination disk isn't configured properly.
• In general when the destination drive is slow, normal file copying to this same drive is slow as well. So a slow (target) drive will make iRecover file copying slow too.
• All software that interferes with reading/writing files (for instance on-access virus scanners) will make the recovery process slower, you should disable these processes.

Please note: make sure the operating system supports the disk sizes of both the source disk AND the destination disk. We see a lot of problems in this area. Older operating systems can not cope with disks larger than 128 Gb. For instance, Windows XP only supports 'large' disks after the appropriate service pack is applied. Always make sure the system BIOS can cope with 'large' disks no matter what OS. Find more information on this subject here.

The root is the folder under which (in normal circumstances) all your files are stored. The root branches into sub-folders. iRecover shows this in a similar way: if there is a 'Root' in the list, expand it to view files/folders in the same order as you'd expect to find them under normal circumstances. Normally iRecover will identify the root correctly when dealing with recovery from deleted partitions, recovering deleted files or any other damage that did not 'trash' the root folder.

Note: When dealing with a reformatted drive the root (if present) is empty. This is caused by the fact that re-formatting a drive 're-initializes' the root folder.

• The disk is bad, meaning a lot of sectors can not be read:
  Consider the disk may be 'dying'. If you'd continue the recovery attempt with iRecover (or any other file recovery utility), multiple additional reads are required before you have actually recovered a file. If a disk is really dying, each good read could be the last. You should clone the disk before performing further file recovery! Cloning the disk will read the entire disk in one pass. File recovery software can be run on the clone without further endangering the condition of the problem disk and its data.
• Lack of OS support for large disks:
  To access a drive, iRecover uses the Windows API. If Windows does not fully support large disks, neither does iRecover. Problems with accessing disks larger than 128Gb are common. These problems can be attributed to BIOS problems and incomplete OS support for large disks. Read more here.

The following is a brief description of the requirements for 48 bit LBA support:

Windows XP supports 48-bit LBA with Service Pack 1. You must also have a 48-bit LBA compatible BIOS.

Windows 2000 supports 48-bit LBA with Service Pack 4. You must also have a 48-bit LBA compatible BIOS. To enable 48-bit LBA support with Windows 2000 SP4 you must edit the Windows registry.
To enable 'EnableBigLba' in the Windows registry, perform the following steps:

1. Start a registry editor (regedit.exe). In Windows, click on Start->Run, enter "regedit"
2. Navigate to the
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\atapi\Parameters
   registry subkey
3. From the Edit menu, select New, DWORD Value
4. Enter the name EnableBigLba, then press Enter
5. Double-click the new value, set it to 1, then click OK
6. Close the registry editor

Restart the machine for the change to take effect.

Recent versions of operating systems (like Windows Vista and Windows 7/8) should have no problems accessing large disks.