Data recovery is the process of retrieving inaccessible, damaged, corrupted, or formatted data from a storage device. Sometimes you may accidentally delete some data on your system and if you have not taken its backup before then there are some data recovery tools that can be used to recover deleted data.
Usually, when you delete a file in a system you don’t remove the file instead just the pointer to that file gets removed and disk space is available for writing new data. And until this space is not overwritten by some other data the previous data is still recoverable.
So today in this article we will discuss the best data recovery tools for your Linux system.
Testdisk
Testdisk is a free and open-source command-based data recovery tool. It is mainly used to retrieve damaged partitions and make a non-bootable disk bootable again which is caused by faulty software or human error.
The key features of Testdisk are –
- Can be used to get complete information about a corrupted disk
- Compatible with various operating systems including Linux, Windows, macOS, etc
- Able to recover deleted partitions
- Create partition backup for EFI GPT partitions
- Rebuilds partition table and rewrites corrupted MBR
Ddrescue
GNU ddrescue or simply Ddrescue is free and open-source software for retrieving data from disk drives, CD ROMs, and other storage media. It simply copies raw bocks from one device to another. To minimize the data loss it scraps good sectors from partially read blocks.
This tool is written in C++ and was released initially in 2004.
Key features of the Ddrescue tool are –
- This tool is easy to use and fast in recovering lost data
- You can pause or resume an ongoing operation at any time
- It can efficiently recover data in spite of disk error and bad sectors
- It maintains a log file that keeps track of advancement and reduces redundant scanning
Mondorescue
Mondorescue is another free command-line data recovery tool. It focuses on stability and provides an easy-to-use interface to its users. Mondorescue can be used to recover data from different types of storage disks including tapes, CD/DVD, hard drives, LVM, and software & hardware RAID, etc.
Key features of Mondorescue are –
- Supports multiple types of storage devices
- You can also perform the partition management tasks such as resizing, partitioning, formatting, etc.
- It verifies the integrity of data
- It can be used to recover MBR
- Available for Linux and Windows operations systems
Safecopy
Safecopy is a data recovery tool that aims at getting the maximum data possible from a damaged or corrupted storage device. It is one of the most reliable tools to recover data when all other tools fail you can try this one. This software is written using the c programming language.
Key features of Safecopy tools are –
- More reliable than other recovery tools in Linux
- It creates a filesystem image of a damaged disk or media
- Uses incremental data rescuing
- You can pause and resume data rescuing operations at any time
- You can share data using the private data sharing link option
Redo Rescue
Redo Rescue which was earlier known as Redo Backup and Recovery tool is a free backup and data recovery software. It runs from a bootable CD or USB that you can plug into any device and start recovering data. It features a GUI which is the frontend to the partclone command in Linux.
The benefit of this tool is that you can use it for different operating systems.
Key features of Redo Rescue tool –
- Redo rescue is available to use on a bootable CD or USB
- It comes with basic applications i.e. a web browser, text editor, file manager, and a terminal
- You can access other applications while recovery operations
- It can clone disk partitions with the partclone
PhotoRec
This is another data recovery tool build by the developers of Testdisk i.e. CGSecurity. It is a free and open-source command-based tool that is specifically designed to recover digital media such as photos, videos from camera memory, hard disk, and other storage devices. You can install and use it on multiple platforms.
Key features of PhotoRec are –
- It has an intuitive and interactive interface
- Using PhotoRec you can recover data from camera memory
- It is able to recover data from badly damaged storage devices
- It can recover a wide variety of file formats
- You can add custom file signature to detect less known files
Foremost
Foremost is a forensic data recovery program for Linux operating system. It recovers files from their header footer and data structure using a process called file carving. Although written for law enforcement uses, it is freely available for general data retrieval purposes.
Features of Foremost utility are –
- Can retrieve data that was in different formats
- You can add custom file format by editing the available configuration file
- Can recover iPhone data using a computer
- Extract data elements that are embedded or lost from an image
SystemRescue
SystemRescue earlier which was known as SystemRescueCD is a Linux distribution that is used to repair the damaged, unbootable system using a live USB or CD ROM. It provides a tool to recover data, create partitions, and test storage devices.
The key features of the SystemRescue tool are –
- It uses the FSArchiver tool to rescue data of a filesystem to a compacted archive file
- It uses the Gparted tool to create and edit partitions
- Uses tool to identify bad sector on the storage device
- You can also access the Windows filesystem
- You can take backup and restore over the local networks
- Support browsers like Firefox
Scalpel
Scalpel is an open-source cross-platform file carving tool that is based on the Foremost data recovery tool. This utility makes use of asynchronous input-output and multithreading to find data effectively. Like Foremost, it is also used for digital forensic and law enforcement purposes.
Key features of Scalpel tool are –
- Advantage of multithreading for faster processing and data recovery
- Asynchronous input-output allows other devices to do processing instead of waiting to complete a process.
- Able to recover different types of file format
- Regex support
- Embedded header-footer matching for better processing of files.
TrinityRescue Kit
Trinity Rescue Kit or TRK is a free and open-source Linux distribution. It is designed and used specifically for data recovery and repair operations on Windows and Linux operating systems.
The key features of Trinity Rescue Kit include –
- It has a simple and easy-to-use GUI
- Wide range of hardware support
- You can easily reset Windows password with the improved winpass tool
- You can clone computers over the network via multicast
- Update automatically to ensure the security of your data
- easy script to find and mount all local file system
- UTF-8 international character support
- Preinstalled rootkit detection utilities
Download Trinity Rescue Kit (TRK)
Ultimate Boot CD
The Ultimate Boot CD is a set of programs related to system repair and recovery of data. It can be booted live from a USB or CD to troubleshoot a Linux or Windows machine and recover damaged data.
The key features of Ultimate Boot CD are –
- Works perfectly on older hardware
- You can use it live from a USB or CD
- Automatic updates
- You perform multiple tasks including cloning from failing disks and examining distinct hardware elements
- Can be used for MBR and GRUB recovery
- You can test the stability of a system
Conclusion
There are so many other system repair and data recovery tools here we discussed only a few of them. Now for any query, you can write us in the comments below.