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3 Using Data Rescue

3.1 Welcome to Data Rescue

Welcome to Data Rescue
Welcome to Data Rescue

Start New Scan
Choose this option if you want to begin scanning a drive. This will be the case for the majority of users who haven’t used Data Rescue before.

Resume Suspended Scan
If you have suspended a previous scan, you can use this option to continue where you last left off. Make sure you have the original drive that was being scanned connected to your computer. If you only have one suspended scan, it will be resumed immediately. Otherwise you will be prompted to choose a scan to resume.

Browse Completed Scans
This option is available if you already have one or more completed scans. Selecting this will bring you to the Scan Results where you can locate files for recovery.

3.2 Step 1: Selecting a Drive or Volume to Scan

The first step is to select the hard drive or volume that is missing the files. This step shows a list of all the disk drives and volumes that Data Rescue can see on the system.

To select the drive or volume:

  1. Click on the hard drive or volume icon.
  2. Click on the Next button.

Data Rescue shows a two-level list of all the disk drives and volumes. The first level shows the hardware names of the whole drive, which may include the make and/or model of the hard drive. This will scan the entire hard drive with any partitions.

The second level shows the volumes that belong to the hard drive. In most cases, you will want to select the volume first if it is available. Volumes that are not mounted will be listed with a gray (dimmed) font. Although this may indicate volume corruption, the volume may be selected to be scanned.

The following lists will help you determine what to select based on your situation.

Select the hard drive name if:

Select the volume name if:

3.3 Step 2: Choose a Task

The second step is to select the task to perform on the volume or hard drive. This step will let you choose to scan or clone your volume or hard drive.

To choose a task:

  1. Click on the icon for the task you would like to perform.
  2. Click on the Start button. Wait for the Scan process to complete.

Data Rescue provides a variety of functions to help search for the data on your hard drive. Each scan method is designed to help recover different scenarios. See the tasks section for more information.

3.3.1 Canceling a Scan

Cancel Confirmation Prompt
Cancel Confirmation Prompt

After clicking the Start button, Data Rescue will begin its scan process on the hard drive. You may interrupt the scan process at any time by pressing Cancel. A prompt will confirm if you want to cancel the process. To cancel the scan in progress, click on the Cancel button in the prompt. To close the prompt and return to the scan, click on the Continue button. If you are using a Deep Scan or Deleted Files Scan, the confirmation prompt will have two additional choices for Suspend and End Early.

Selecting the Suspend option will save your current progress, allowing you to continue the scan where you left off later on, even if you have quit Data Rescue or rebooted your system in the meantime. This is a helpful option if you have to temporarily stop the scan and continue at a later time. Suspended scans can be reloaded later through the Manage Scans selection in the File menu. See the Manage Scans section for more information about loading suspended scans.

Selecting the End Early option will force Data Rescue to end its current scan and provide results up to that point of the scan. This is a helpful option if you are having difficulties scanning a hard drive due to bad blocks or slow reads. Please note that ending the scan early will end only the first phase of Data Rescue’s scan process, and will still progress through the next two phases of the scan process to catalog the results. The results from the ended scan may take up to an hour to process. Allow adequate time for the results to be processed.

3.4 Step 3: Find and Mark Files

Scan Results Window
Scan Results Window

The third step is to mark the files and folders to be recovered. Marking a folder will automatically mark all the files and folders contained within the folder.

Data Rescue will organize files into two different folders: Found Files and Reconstructed Files. The files found by Data Rescue will be organized depending on the scan method you use.

Found Files will be listed in the results window when using a Quick Scan or Deep Scan. Found Files displays any files from any file systems it detects, listing original directory structures and file names. You will want to look through the Found Files results if you are recovering from a hard drive that has failed to boot to the operating system or if your external hard drive is failing to mount.

Reconstructed Files will be listed in the results window when using a Deep Scan or Deleted Files Scan. The Reconstructed Files results will organize any found files by category and file type. These results will NOT have their original directory structure and will usually not have their original file names since they are found by file patterns. You will want to look through the Reconstructed Files results if you are recovering from a hard drive that was accidentally reformatted or had files that were accidentally deleted.

We do not generally recommend selecting and recovering all of the Found and Reconstructed files simultaneously, especially from a Deep Scan. It is generally better to spend a little time to select and recover just the files and folders you want. For example, Deep Scans typically contain huge amounts of Mac OS files and folders that will not be useful when recovered, and will just increase the time and space needed for the recovery. You can browse and/or use the search feature to help locate files you are interested in.

In addition, if you intend to recover many files under Found Files, we recommend that you start by recovering a few important files first, then verify that the files open properly before recovering the rest of the listed files.

3.4.1 Previewing Files

Data Rescue allows you to preview major file types before recovering the files. This will help determine whether the files can be recovered properly before being transferred onto another hard drive. Major file types such as .doc, .pdf, .mp3, and .jpeg can be previewed through Data Rescue.

Preview Window
Preview Window

To preview files within Data Rescue:

  1. Click on a file’s name within the list to highlight it.
  2. Click on the Preview button or press the space bar on the keyboard to view a thumbnail of the image or an overview of the document.

As a convenience to the user, double-clicking on a file in the Scan Results window will cause the file to be temporarily recovered into Data Rescue’s workspace and the operating system will open the file with the appropriate application. For example, double-clicking on a .mov movie file will open the default media player application, typically QuickTime. This double-click preview feature is only available while booted directly from the operating system. The double-click preview is disabled in Demo mode and when booted from the DVD.

To preview files within their default application (while booted from the operating system):

  1. Double-click on the file you want to preview.

3.4.2 Searching the Scan Results

The search feature will allow you to quickly filter your results and find your most important files. If you are looking for a specific file, you may use the Search Field in the Scan Results window or click on the Edit menu and select Find.

Search Results Window
Search Results Window

The Search Field in the Scan Results window can be used to quickly filter the results for specific filenames or extensions. The Scan Results window will be updated with any files that match the extension or word within the filename. Highlighting a file from the list will display the path to the file on the bottom half of the window. Please note the Search feature does NOT look within the contents of the files for keywords.

To use the Search Field:

  1. Click in the Search Field and type in a file name or extension.
  2. Press the Return key on the keyboard, or click on the Search button. Allow adequate time for the results to filter and update the list.

The Find feature in the Edit menu allows you to search for specific criteria of a file, including file name, date created, and file size. This allows you to filter out a range of files if you remember the date created or file size.

Find Window
Find Window

To use Find feature:

  1. Click on the Edit drop down menu and select Find.
  2. Optionally, check Search selected folder only to only search the selected folder.
  3. Select the parameters for the file you are trying to find and click on Search.

After viewing the Search results, you may return to the complete Scan Results by clicking on the View drop down menu, and selecting Scan Results. Any files marked for recovery in the Search results will remain marked for recovery when returning to the Scan Results.

3.4.3 Recovering Files

While previewing the files, you may begin marking any files to recover. You may choose to recover each file individually or in groups by marking multiple files and pressing the Recover button, or dragging and dropping files into a Finder window to recover them to the destination hard drive.

After completing a scan and before recovering a large number of files, it is highly recommended to first try and recover only a few of your important files to make sure they contain good data. There are some situations where there can be uncertainty about the proper Allocation Block Layout choice section for more information about Allocation Block Layouts).

Specific files can be marked for recovery by using the checkboxes within the Scan Results list. This allows you to choose multiple files throughout the scan results to be recovered as one process. If you would like to recover all the possible results from your hard drive, you can mark the root selections Found Files and Reconstructed Files, however it is generally best to select specific files and folders you want to recover to save time and hard drive space.

To recover files using the checkboxes:

  1. Click on the checkboxes to mark any files you are interested in recovering.
  2. Click on the Recover button.
  3. Select the destination for your files to be transferred to and click on Open. Allow adequate time for the files to be transferred onto the destination.

The “drag and drop” recovery process is the quickest way to move a file or folder to the destination hard drive if you are booted from your operating system. However, this method of recovery is not available while booted from the DVD since the operating system’s Finder windows are not available to drag to a destination.

To recover files using the drag and drop method:

  1. Highlight the file or folder you want to recover.
  2. Click and drag the highlighted file or folder from the Scan Results list onto the destination hard drive or folder on Apple’s Finder. Allow adequate time for the files to be transferred onto the destination.
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