# Disk recovery software needed
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disk-recovery-software-needed/562535
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [December 1, 2010, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disk-recovery-software-needed/562535 "2010-12-01T13:13:04Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Yodalicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yodalicious)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2010, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disk-recovery-software-needed/562535/1 "2010-12-01T13:13:04Z")
Anyone know of a good disk recovery program; hopefully not to expensive? I seem to have lost all the media on one of my external drives. :mad:
Thanks for the help!
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### Author:  [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2010, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disk-recovery-software-needed/562535/2 "2010-12-01T14:09:38Z")
> **[Best PC hard drive recovery tools](https://www.techsupportalert.com/pc-hard-drive-recovery-tools/)**
>
> Are you panicking over how to recover files from your external hard drive? Get to know the best PC hard drive recovery tools here ✅
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### Author:  [@Al\_Bundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al_Bundy)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2010, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disk-recovery-software-needed/562535/3 "2010-12-01T15:35:29Z")
Try Recuva by the same folks that provide free CCleaner.
> **[Download Recuva | Recover deleted files, free!](https://www.ccleaner.com/recuva)**
>
> Recover and un-delete files with Recuva, the award-winning file recovery tool by the makers of CCleaner. Download the latest version today.
There are a host of free programs available. If one doesn’t work, the next just might. There is no damage to the target disk. Perhaps there is nothing wrong with your external drive itself, rather the accessory circuit board inside could be bad. In other words, there may be the opportunity to remove the actual drive inside and place it in another enclosure that is functional.
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### Author:  [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2010, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disk-recovery-software-needed/562535/4 "2010-12-01T21:19:01Z")
**Harmonius…**. You beat me to that link
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### Author:  [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2010, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disk-recovery-software-needed/562535/5 "2010-12-03T02:53:55Z")
I’ve had a lot of success with using [TestDisk](http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk) and [PhotoRec](http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec), both of which are Free Software (and thus open source and free.)
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### Author:  [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2010, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disk-recovery-software-needed/562535/6 "2010-12-03T03:48:23Z")
A day and a half and no response about recovering the data.