- Quick specs
- Price: Free
- Operating system: Windows 2000/XP/Vista
- Date added: February 04, 2009
- Total Downloads: 868,457
- Downloads last week: 11,465
- See full specifications
- CNET editors' rating: stars
- Average user rating: stars out of 334 votes
See all user reviews
CNET editors' review
Reviewed by: CNET staff on June 30, 2009
File recovery has never been easier thanks to Pandora Recovery. The program's wizard-like approach to finding and retrieving lost files will appeal to all users.
The user interface is about as straightforward as it gets. Clean and simple menu and command buttons run across the top of the paneled window, while a tree-menu containing hard-disk folders to browse resides in a sidebar. But what stood out the most was the program's wizard, which walked us through the process of locating long-lost files. It first prompts you to check your Recycle Bin, which sounds obvious, but is a necessary time-saver. The program has three search settings (Browse, Search, Deep Scan) and each has its own description so that you'll know which to choose. Depending on the search setting you select, the program's interface changes to accommodate the search. We started with a Deep Scan, which detects deleted file types. Once we selected the file types to include in the scan (All, Images & Photo, Archived Files, Music & Sounds) the program immediately went to work scanning our hard disk. Considering the task at hand, the program quickly pulled up deleted files.
We liked the quick help links located throughout the interface to answer specific questions, but the program does included a very thorough built-in Help file. Our only complaint is that it left files that had to be manually deleted during uninstallation. However, we highly recommend this free program for any user looking to quickly locate a lost file.
Publisher's description
From Pandora :Pandora Recovery is a powerful free tool that provides its users an effective way to attempt recovery of permanently deleted files. And that does not mean restoration of a file from Recycle Bin. The software recovers files removed from Recycle Bin, deleted using Shift + Delete keys bypassing Recycle Bin and files deleted from DOS prompt. Pandora Recovery lets its user browse, search, preview and recover files deleted from NTFS and FAT volumes, supporting hard drives, flash drives and memory cards. It successfully handles archived, hidden, encrypted and compressed files and recovers Alternate Data Streams (ADS). Pandora Recovery features classic interface wizards, hints and context-sensitive help. Pandora Recovery allows user to browse and search the tree of deleted files where show deleted items only button comes handy. Finally, it has ability to scan drive clusters, picking up files whose MFT record has been reused by OS, damaged or recreated (it can restore files on formatted drives).
Version 2.1.1 supports Data carving (surface scan) of Adobe PhotoShop PSD and MS Outlook PST.
What's new in this version:
Data carving (surface scan) of Adobe PhotoShop PSD and MS Outlook PST supported, access to Recycle Bin and GUI improvements.
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User reviews
- Average user rating: 4.2 stars out of 334 votes
- My rating: 0 stars Write review
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Showing 5 of 114 user reviewsSee all 114 user reviews
This software version | All versions -
Version: Pandora Recovery 2.1.1
"Garbage! Disconnected my hard drive!"
Pros: um... I don't know any pros as I never got a chance to even use it!
Cons: Didn't do anything! *but it did cause me trouble*
Summary: It started to do it's 2+ hour sweep of my hard drive, about 20 minutes into it, it kicks me off telling me that the hard drive it was sweeping no longer exists, that it's disconnected. I opened my "computer" and it displayed my master hard drive, bu... read more >>
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0 out of 1 people found this review helpful
Version: Pandora Recovery 2.1.1
Pros: Nothing. This program crashes under Vista and Windows 7.
Cons: It crashes every time, thereby thwarting my hours long recovery effort.
Summary: It CRASHES CRASHES CRASHES. I was not able to recover any files but I was certainly able to see a list of the files I could have recovered if it had not CRASHED!
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0 out of 1 people found this review helpful
Version: Pandora Recovery 2.1.1
"of no use displays other characters"
Pros: good tool which recovers evry thing
Cons: is displaying some different characters. recovered file didnt had the original text.
Summary: i recovered a word file and also some pics. it showed the preview and recovered many pics but in some cases it is showing other characters and the word file which i recovered also had these characters. actual text was missing.
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1 out of 1 people found this review helpful
Version: Pandora Recovery 2.1.1
"Brilliant - don't be put off!!!!"
Pros: Recovered 19gig of data to an external hard drive in 40mins!!!!!!! Amazed. Esp as the guy in the computer shop frowned at me and said there was no such software (but then he wouldn't make a living otherwise so I can't blame him).
Cons: Nothing. It's free and it has done me no damage at all!!!
Summary: I left my job so "deleted" all my files on my work pc. Then I dropped my backup drive before I had backed that up! So I came back to the office and downloaded this. It tells you to back up to an external drive - so make sure you do!!!
... read more >> -
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful
Version: Pandora Recovery 2.1.1
"IT CRASHES!!! CRASHES!!! CRASHES!!!"
Pros: It CRASHES pretty. No left over windows or error messages to read. No insane minutes scouring the internet with some error number that would give you an answer. (Or anything else.)
It just quietly disappears.Cons: It CRASHES!!! Says it all I think.
Summary: Please, CNET, do something about this. Mention it to them in an email. I'm not the only one. They have not responded to me yet.
- See all 114 user reviews Write review
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