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Damaged Hard Drive Recovery Software: 8 Best in 20231
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HDD gets corrupted over time and there is nothing you can do to mend that. Or is it?
When you lose valuable stuff, you may wish to resolve the situation gently, and we are here to help you chose specialized software for that reason.
It is a valuable asset to have specific software for moments of emergency like this, as well as to prevent them in the future.
You can repair damaged hard drives, and most importantly you can retrieve precious data from them using these awesome tools.
Hard drive recovery is essential because we all have critical and potentially irreplaceable data and files stored on our systems.
Whether the data was lost as a result of a hard disk drive crash or due to a computer that suddenly stopped working, it’s paramount to know how to recover your data safely.
You have various options for retrieving your lost data. The first thing you need to do is to connect the hard drive to another computer.
The second step is to try and copy the data to another drive. If this does not work, you also have another option available for recovering your data, and this consists of downloading specialized tools, as listed in this article with the best Data Recovery Software.
Here are the best data recovery programs for Windows when extreme scenarios of damaged hard drives occur.
Disk Drill formerly known as Pandora Data Recovery allows you to find and recover deleted files from NTFS and FAT-formatted volumes.
The software will scan your hard drive and then build an index of existing and deleted files and folders.
After the scanning process is over, you will have full control over which files you want to recover and what destination you want to recover them to.
Let’s quickly look at its key features:
The program can recover archived, encrypted, hidden, and compressed files
You will be able also to recover alternate data streams
Disk Drill Hard Drive Data Recovery Tool is compatible with Windows
The software includes Review File properties and Drive Properties as well
You can recover lost files to your local hard drive, network drive, or flash drive
Disk Drill recovery understands a large number of files. The Deep Scan algorithm is highly familiar with over 300 distinct file signatures.
If your drive’s File Allocation Tables recall any data sectors, Disk Drill can read them and retrieve deleted files with their original file names, location, and parameters.
Disk Drill
Photos, movies, files – you name it, Disk Drill can retrieve it and it’s absolutely free up to 500 MB of data.
Check price Visit website
Stellar Data Recovery Professional can recover data from disks formatted in NTFS, exFAT, and FAT (FAT16/FAT32).
This program can handle a variety of data loss scenarios, including file deletion, drive formatting, disk corruption, lost or deleted partitions, crashed systems, and more.
The data recovery software recovers data from hard drives and solid-state drives found in laptops and desktop computers.
There is also a Clone Disk option, which allows you to make a duplicate of the disk to avoid permanent data loss circumstances caused by a drive failure.
The add-on Drive Monitor application monitors important properties of a hard drive, including temperature, drive health, and performance, to assist prevent data loss due to approaching disk failure.
Stellar Data Recovery Professional has the following essential features:
Data may be recovered from hard disks, SSDs, and USB devices
Data is recovered from a crashed and unbootable machine
Recovers data from a partly burned or damaged CD or DVD
The software elegantly categorizes the scanned files in Tree View, File Type, and Deleted List forms, making it simple to check and choose data for recovery.
Stellar Data Recovery Professional
Recovers any file type from storage media, checks hard drive health, and deals with damaged hard drives for a safe outcome.
Free trial Visit website
Recuva is another software that allows you to recover your deleted files effortlessly and quickly. If you accidentally deleted essential data or you lost your files due to a computer crash, Recuva is the solution that will definitely save the day.
Let’s quickly look at its key features:
Recuva
Team un with Recuva to recover your deleted files quickly and effortlessly.
Check price Visit website
Files lost as a result of hard hardware failures or partition loss? When this harsh circumstance arises, Recoverit from Wondershare is a wonderful solution to save any lost data with the best data recovery success rate.
In fact, if your hard disk is corrupted, you may lose crucial media data saved on it, and Recoverit is the finest solution in this case thus far.
Expert tip:
Here are the main features of Recoverit:
It recovers documents, movies, audio files, and emails.
It aids in the recovery of data from deleted files, the recycle bin, malware attacks, and system crashes
The partition recovery program will restore files when partitions are lost, destroyed, RAW, or inaccessible
Recover data from internal and external hard drives on your PC/laptop
Retrieve ZIP, RAR, SIT, ISO, EXE, HTML, SITX, and more formats
Supports any external USB storage media and memory cards
The Deep Scan takes longer since it searches your disk inch by inch for deeply buried data. Make use of the Filter that enables you to search for a certain file type and provides quick access to what you want. You can pause or stop scanning at any time to retrieve any data that has appeared in the results.
Recoverit Data Recovery
If the files have not been altered and are still present, you can recover your data in three steps, regardless of how you lost it.
Check priceVisit website
Ashampoo WinOptimizer goes beyond a mere data recovery tool. This is an ultra-powerful, next-generation complete tuneup and cleaning suite that comes packed with 37 modules covering everything you need to keep your PC in pristine condition from security, maintenance, privacy, deep scans to repair tools.
Needless to say that if you accidentally deleted files or if you want to permanently get rid of others, this system optimization software is your trusted partner.
Let’s quickly look at its key features:
System optimization, in-depth cleaning, and diagnosis
Remove junk data and broken shortcuts, fix Registry entries, and disable unnecessary services
Next-get SSD-ready Defrag tool to merge free space, automate drive analysis while enjoying uninterrupted use of your PC
Comprehensive dashboards to provide an extensive look of your system
Designed for Windows and set to evolve with it (includes fixing issues introduced through Windows updates)
Privacy Control and Antispy features
Ashampoo WinOptimizer
Get more than data recovery – clean, defrag, recover, and repair with a one-of-a-kind system optimization software.
Check priceVisit website
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard handles partition recovery of a damaged hard disk in such a way that all recovered files are returned to you quickly and in one piece.
One of the finest data recovery tools can simply, rapidly, and safely recover data that has been deleted, erased, or lost from a PC, laptop, or portable device.
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard’s entire scan is divided into three sections: Deleted Files, Lost Files, and Existing Files.
The EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard restores data for a variety of causes, including accidental data deletion, formatting, hard drive corruption, virus assault on disk, system crash, volume loss, operation failure, and many more.
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard’s core features are as follows:
Repairs a hard disk that has been damaged or corrupted.
This method works for inaccessible drives.
A deleted partition on a hard drive can be recovered.
This applies to lost partitions as a result of repair and boot managers failures.
It is possible to repair improper partitioning or partition errors.
In the event that a partition has been formatted or reformatted, you can recover it.
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard is a comprehensive program that aids in the recovery of critical sections of a damaged hard disk as well as the repair of damaged PC components. But don’t just take our word for it, try it out yourself!
EaseUs Data Recovery Wizard
A high-quality, non-destructive data recovery program that specializes in HDD/SSD recovery, format recovery, raw recovery, and partition recovery.
Free trialVisit website
PC Inspector File Recovery is another excellent option for recovering your lost data.
When you launch the program, you will first need to choose your language, and after that, you’ll be prompted with a welcome screen that gives you three options.
Let’s quickly look at its key features:
The first option is to Recover Deleted Files, and this will allow you to restore the files that have been permanently deleted from your drive; the option will only work if the deleted files have not been overwritten yet.
The second option is Find Lost Data, and this lets you recover files that have been lost due to a system crash; the scan will take around a few hours, in accordance to your drive’s size.
The last option is Find Lost Drive, and you should use this id your drive letter doesn’t appear in My Computer or Windows Explorer; it will try to connect to the drive, and then it will allow you to browse through the data.
⇒ Get PC Inspector File Recovery
GetDataBack is one of the simplest solutions for recovering your lost data.
GetDataBack is a read-only program, and this means that it won’t attempt to fix or write on the drive that you are about to recover.
Let’s quickly look at its key features:
⇒ Get GetDataBack
These are our top picks for damaged hard drive recovery software for Windows. Take a close look at all of their features and decide which tool is the best for your system’s needs. Also, you might want to have a tour of our dedicated area Data Recovery Hub, for more tips and tricks.
Curious about the latest news about hard drives? Team up with our HDD Guides for more useful insights.
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You're reading Damaged Hard Drive Recovery Software: 8 Best In 2023
Best Hard Drive Recovery Software For Windows 11/10 Pc
Best Hard Drive Recovery Software for Windows 11/10 PC 10 Best Software To Recover Files From Hard Drives (2023) 1. Advanced File Recovery
Don’t let lost or accidentally deleted files be the end of your data story! Advanced File Recovery is the superhero you need for your Windows operating system. It holds the ability to recover lost, formatted, or deleted files from a wide range of storage devices, including hard drives, SD cards, and USB drives. This software will bring your precious data back to life in a single scan. Advanced File Recovery is one such hard drive recovery tool that every Windows user should have in their data recovery toolkit.
Download Advanced File Recovery
Features:
It supports recovery from various storage devices
Advanced File Recovery can recover a wide range of file formats & types
Can recover files even from damaged or corrupted storage devices
The hard drive recovery software has a user-friendly interface & hassle-free navigation
Pros
Has the excellent ability to recover 1000-plus file formats
It has a preview feature that allows you to view recoverable files
Comprehensive and round-the-clock customer support
Cons
The scanning process can be slow when using the deep scan feature
It cannot recover overwritten data
2. Advanced Disk RecoveryDid you accidentally delete or lose an important file on your Windows operating system? Fear not! Advanced Disk Recovery is here to save the day! Its deep scan feature and preview option ensure you can easily recover the right files. But with its overall utility, Advanced Disk Recovery is an essential tool for any Windows user looking to recover lost or deleted files from hard drive & removable devices. Not only this, it supports restoring data from partitions as well.
Download Advanced Disk Recovery
Full Review on Advanced Disk Recovery
Features:
It supports recovery from various storage devices
The hard drive recovery software has a user-friendly interface
Provides a quick scan & a deep scan feature
Can recover various file formats & types in one go
Pros
No limit to data recovery
The preview feature allows users to check the recovered files
Have the ability to create a disk image of a storage device
Simple dashboard
Cons
The capabilities of the trial edition are restricted
The scanning process can be slow while scanning large storage devices
3. Disk DrillDisk Drill is a reliable and powerful data recovery software that can easily help you recover files from the hard drive. Its benefits far outweigh its limitations, and with its user-friendly interface and powerful recovery capabilities, it’s a must-have tool for anyone looking to protect their data from potential files/folders loss scenarios. So, why wait? Download Disk Drill now and enjoy peace of mind knowing that your files are safe and secure!
Features:
Supports hundreds of file formats
Having the capability for lost partition search
Superior data protection and backup features
Has powerful recovery capabilities in one go
Pros
Intuitive user interface
Inexpensive data recovery of up to 500 MB (Windows)
Being able to mount scan findings as a folder
Cons
Phone support not available
Limited support for Linux file systems
4. Wondershare RecoveritFeatures:
Supports over 1,000 file formats
Recovers data from various storage devices
Can recover ultra-HD, 4K, 8K photos/videos without compromising with the quality.
Can recover deleted or lost data remotely.
Pros
Can recover data from encrypted or password-protected storage devices
Can create a bootable USB drive to recover data from a crashed computer
Supports remote data recovery from failed or corrupted NAS servers
Can repair corrupted videos in various formats, including MP4, MOV, and AVI
Cons
The paid version can be expensive comparatively
The scanning and recovery process can take a long time for larger storage devices
5. Disk GeniusLooking for a solution to recover deleted files, backup and restore partition tables, clone partitions or disks, and verify and repair bad sectors on your Windows 10 PC? Look no further than Disk Genius! With its powerful data recovery capabilities, you can easily recover accidentally deleted files and restore them to their original state. Besides data recovery, Disk Genius supports modules for partition management, data backup, rebuild MBR etc.
Features:
Create, delete, resize, format, hide/unhide partitions
Recover deleted or lost files from various storage devices
Clone a disk or a partition to another disk or partition
Backup and restore the partition table
Pros
Scan and fix bad sectors on a disk
Virtualize the current operating system into a VMware virtual machine
Combines data recovery and partition management into one tool
Offers a free trial version for users
Cons
The user interface may not be very intuitive for some users
The software may not be as specialized in data recovery
6. Piriform RecuvaRecuva is a free data recovery tool that can restore files from damaged or corrupted disks, memory cards, and other storage media. It comes from the popular CCleaner family and has a very good reputation among Windows users. It includes a user-friendly interface and supports multiple file systems. You can unlock the premium version with a paid subscription to enjoy higher recovery rate up to 50%-80%, receives auto-update and ability to restore files from virtual disk.
Features:
Deep scan mode for thorough recovery
Covers NTFS, FAT, exFAT, and ReFS in its list of supported systems of files
Can recover files recover data from hard disks and damaged or formatted disks
Portable version available
Pros
Free version available
Quick scan mode available for faster recovery
User-friendly interface
Cons
It may take more time to perform a deep scan
It may not be as effective on heavily damaged disks
7. Stellar Data RecoveryHave you ever lost an important file/folder due to a corrupted or inaccessible hard drive? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered! Our powerful Stellar Data Recovery offers many features, including the ability to recover data from encrypted drives, create image files of hard drives and supports recovery from CD/DVD, HD DVD and Blu-Ray discs. Don’t let data loss bring you down, try this hard drive recovery software today!
Features:
Recovers data from encrypted drives
Can restore data on a dual monitor setup as well.
Capability to rescue lost/deleted data from 4K hard drives.
Can scan and recover multiple file types and formats
Can create image files of hard drives or volumes
Pros
Fast scanning and recovery process
Supports both Windows and Mac operating systems
Can recover files from damaged optical media
Provides a preview of recoverable files
Cons
The free version has limited features and can only recover up to 1 GB of data
The deep scan may consume a prolonged time
8. TestDiskImagine losing all of your important files due to a hard drive crash, virus attack, or accidental deletion. The thought alone can be daunting! However, with TestDisk, a powerful and free external hard drive recovery tool, you can recover lost files and restore your peace of mind. TestDisk is intended to restore missing partitions and repair non-booting discs as well. TestDisk is a well-liked option for inexperienced and seasoned users because of its robust capabilities and user-friendly layout.
Features:
Can recover lost partitions and make non-booting disks bootable again
Can fix partition table, recover deleted partitions, and recover files from formatted disks
Capable of scanning and recovering files from all types of file systems
Can reboot the NTFS boot sector
Pros
Free and open-source
Operating systems supported include Windows, Linux, and macOS
Can fix boot sector and MFT tables
Cons
The command-line interface may not be user-friendly for all users
No preview feature for recovered files
Must Read: Weighing The Chances of Recovering Virus Infected Files
9. R-StudioFeatures:
Functions on local and network disks
Recovers files even from heavily damaged drives or unknown file systems
Recognizes and assembles the components of disk managers with slightly damaged databases
Supports various file system features such as NTFS encrypted files and more
Pros
Offers in-depth file analysis with extended search and mask capabilities
Can estimate the successful recovery chances and recoverable file information
Has a standard Windows Explorer-style multi-language interface
Flexible parameter settings
Cons
The software may not work for severely damaged or corrupted files
It has a relatively steep learning curve, especially for beginners
10. Data RescueLooking for external hard drive recovery software that can save your precious memories and important documents from being lost? Look no further then Data Rescue! It is the ultimate solution for Windows users that offers Quick and Deep Scan options to rescue data, cloning capabilities, and a free demo for previewing recoverable files. With the professional license, you get unlimited system activation and drive recovery. Don’t wait to recover your lost data – try Data Rescue today!
Features:
Creates a clone of a failing drive
Offers Quick and Deep scan options
Recover data from hard disk and from various storage devices and file systems
Provides a free demo version with a preview of recoverable files
Offers Standard and Professional licenses
Pros
Recovers a wide range of file types
User-friendly interface with clear instructions
Preview of recoverable files before purchase
Ability to create a clone of a failing drive
Offers flexible pricing options
Cons
Slow scanning process
Limited options for customization during scans
With so many hard drive recovery software options available for Windows, choosing the right one for your needs can be challenging. However, by considering factors such as ease of use, features, success rate, and cost, you can select any of the best tools for your situation. The options we discussed in this article offer a range of features and benefits, so that you can find the one that meets your data recovery needs and get back to using your device with peace of mind.
Our personal recommendation in the category is Advanced File Recovery is a highly effective and trusted data recovery software in the market. It is one of those finest programs in the market that is capable of rescuing files/folders from emptied Recycle Bin as well. Besides, this it supports restoring data from digital camera SD card & Zip drive as well, which is quite helpful!
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Raj Soni
Top 7 Data Recovery Software In 2023
Data loss is a common issue that can happen to anyone at anytime. You may have experienced it yourself, whether it’s because you accidentally deleted a file or because your device got infected with malware. I remember a time when I was working on a project for a client, and my laptop suddenly crashed. I couldn’t access my files, and I was panicking because I didn’t have a backup. I spent hours trying to fix it, but nothing worked. That’s when I realized the importance of data recovery software.
Data recovery software is designed to retrieve your lost or deleted data, whether it’s because of a technical malfunction, accidental deletion, or a cyberattack. It works by scanning your device and locating the missing files and then restoring them to their original state.
If you’re in a similar situation where you’ve lost important data, don’t panic. There is a high chance that you can retrieve your data. However, it’s essential to choose a reliable and trustworthy program to avoid further damage to your storage device.
Which is also what this article is about. I’ve done the legwork to review the top tools that helped me get my data back. There are actually several tools I have used over the years because some tools specialize in certain areas, so I’ll make sure to highlight each tool’s strengths.
Is it guaranteed that you can recover your data?Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that data recovery software will be able to recover all of your lost data. The success of data recovery software depends on various factors, including the extent of the damage, the type of data loss, and the quality of the software being used.
In some cases, data recovery software may be able to retrieve all of your lost data. However, in other cases, it may only be able to recover a portion of it, or in some cases, it may not be able to recover any of it at all.
It’s important to note that if you have experienced data loss, you should stop using the affected device immediately to avoid overwriting or further damaging the lost data.
Recuva is a data recovery software developed by Piriform. It is designed to restore accidentally deleted files, such as documents, photos, videos, music, and emails, from various storage devices, including hard drives, USB drives, memory cards, and digital cameras.
Pros:
Recuva is easy to use, and its interface is straightforward.
The software is fast and efficient, and it can recover files from various storage devices.
Recuva can recover files that were accidentally deleted, lost due to a virus attack, or damaged due to a system crash.
The software can also restore files that were emptied from the Recycle Bin, as well as files that were deleted from digital cameras and memory cards.
Recuva can preview files before recovering them, which helps identify the files that need to be recovered.
The software provides an option to securely delete files, which can be useful in protecting sensitive information.
Recuva can recover files from damaged or formatted disks, saving users from the hassle of having to format the disk.
Cons:
Recuva may be unable to recover all files, especially if they were overwritten or corrupted.
The free version of the software does not offer as many features as the paid version.
The software may not be able to recover files from extremely damaged disks.
Overall, Recuva is an excellent data recovery software that can help users recover accidentally deleted or lost files. It is easy to use, fast, and efficient, and it can recover files from various storage devices. While it may not be able to recover all files, especially if they were overwritten or corrupted, it is still a useful tool to have in case of a data loss emergency.
Here are some of the key features of CleverFiles data recovery software:
Compatibility: CleverFiles is compatible with both Windows and macOS operating systems, and it supports various file systems such as NTFS, FAT, HFS+, APFS, and others.
Preview feature: Before recovering your lost data, CleverFiles allows you to preview your files to ensure that you recover the right data.
Deep scan mode: The software offers a deep scan mode that can recover data that has been lost due to formatting, partition loss, virus attack, system crash, and other scenarios.
User-friendly interface: CleverFiles has a user-friendly interface that makes it easy for users to navigate and recover their lost data. It also provides clear instructions and prompts to guide users through the recovery process.
Flexible recovery options: CleverFiles offers flexible recovery options that allow users to recover their data in a way that suits their needs. Users can choose to recover all their lost data or select specific files and folders.
Support: CleverFiles offers excellent customer support through various channels such as email, live chat, and phone. They also have a knowledge base and video tutorials to assist users with common issues.
TestDisk is a free and open-source data recovery software that is used to recover lost data from damaged or corrupted storage devices. It can be a lifesaver for people who have accidentally deleted their important files or have lost them due to disk failure or other similar issues.
The software is compatible with various platforms, such as Windows, macOS, and Linux.
Key Features:
TestDisk is a command-line tool that can be used to recover lost partitions, fix partition table, and repair file systems on a wide range of storage devices including hard disks, USB drives, memory cards, and CDs/DVDs.
The software is capable of recovering various file types such as photos, videos, documents, and archives. It can even recover lost files from damaged or formatted partitions.
TestDisk is also equipped with a feature called PhotoRec, which is a companion tool that can recover lost files from various file systems including NTFS, FAT, exFAT, and HFS+.
The software supports various file systems including FAT, NTFS, ext2/ext3/ext4, and ReiserFS.
TestDisk is easy to use, even for non-technical users. The software provides a step-by-step wizard that guides users through the recovery process.
The software is lightweight and doesn’t require installation. Users can run it from a USB drive or CD/DVD.
TestDisk is free and open-source, which means anyone can use it without any restrictions or hidden costs.
Overall, TestDisk is an excellent data recovery software that is powerful, versatile, and easy to use. It is a great choice for people who have lost their data due to various reasons and want to recover it quickly and efficiently.
Recoverit is a data recovery software that helps individuals and businesses recover lost or deleted files from a variety of storage devices, including hard drives, USB drives, SD cards, and more. Losing important data can be a stressful and frustrating experience, but Recoverit aims to alleviate some of that anxiety by providing a simple and effective solution for data recovery.
Supports multiple file types: Recoverit can recover a wide range of file types, including photos, videos, documents, and emails, among others.
Works with multiple storage devices: The software can recover data from various storage devices, such as hard drives, USB drives, memory cards, and cameras, among others.
Easy to use: Recoverit has a user-friendly interface that makes navigating easy, even for those with little technical experience.
Preview before recovery: Recoverit allows users to preview the files before recovery to ensure they recover the right files.
Safe and secure: The software is designed to ensure that the recovered data is safe and secure and will not be damaged during recovery.
One of the best things about Recoverit is that it’s compatible with both Windows and Mac operating systems. Additionally, the preview function is a fantastic feature that lets you preview your files before you initiate the recovery process. This way, you can ensure that you’re recovering the correct files and not wasting your time on unnecessary data.
EaseUS Data Recovery helps recover deleted, lost, or formatted data from various devices like computers, laptops, hard drives, USB drives, memory cards, and other storage devices. Losing important data can be a frustrating experience, and EaseUS Data Recovery software is designed to help recover the data in a simple and effective way.
Here are some key features of EaseUS Data Recovery software:
Easy to use: The software has a user-friendly interface that allows users to navigate and recover their lost data easily.
Quick and deep scans: The software can quickly scan the device to find lost data; if it cannot find it, it can perform a deeper scan to search for the data.
Preview function: Users can preview the recoverable files before recovering them, which saves time and ensures that the correct files are recovered.
Multiple file formats: The software supports various formats, including documents, photos, videos, audio, emails, and archives.
Multiple languages: The software is available in multiple languages, which makes it accessible to users around the world.
Multiple platforms: The software is compatible with Windows and Mac operating systems.
Multiple storage devices: The software can recover data from various storage devices, including hard drives, USB drives, memory cards, and other storage devices.
The software is easy to use and has a wide range of features that make it effective for recovering data from a variety of storage devices. The deep scan feature is particularly impressive, as it can recover data from even severely damaged disks.
In terms of cons, the app can be a bit slow when scanning large drives, which can be frustrating. Additionally, the free version of the software only allows for a limited amount of data recovery, which can be a downside if you have large amounts of lost data.
MiniTool Data Recovery Software is a powerful data recovery tool that helps users to recover lost or deleted files from a wide range of storage devices such as hard drives, USB drives, memory cards, and other storage media. This software is easy to use and provides an intuitive interface that even non-technical users can operate without any difficulty.
The tool is designed to help users recover their data in various situations, including accidental deletion, virus attacks, system crashes, and hardware failure.
Supports various file formats: This software supports various file formats, including documents, photos, videos, audio files, and archives.
Multiple Scan Modes: The software comes with multiple scan modes, including Quick Scan, Deep Scan, and Full Scan, allowing users to choose the appropriate scan method based on the data loss scenario.
Preview Functionality: The preview function allows users to view the recoverable files before starting the recovery process, enabling them to choose the necessary files to recover.
Filter and Search Option: The software also includes a filter and search option, which allows users to filter the results based on file type, size, date modified, etc., making it easier to locate the files they want to recover.
Supports Various Storage Devices: MiniTool Data Recovery Software supports a wide range of storage devices, including hard drives, USB drives, memory cards, and other storage media.
Safe and Secure: The software is safe and secure to use, as it does not overwrite or damage the original data during the recovery process.
One of the things that makes MiniTool data recovery software stand out is its ability to recover a wide range of file types, including photos, videos, documents, and more. It can also recover data from a variety of file systems, such as NTFS, FAT, and exFAT.
Another great thing about MiniTool data recovery software is that it offers a free version that allows users to recover up to 1GB of data. This can be really helpful for people who only need to recover a few files and don’t want to pay for a full-featured data recovery software.
R-Studio is a data recovery software that helps to retrieve lost or damaged data from various types of storage devices, such as hard disks, USB drives, CD/DVD, and other types of memory cards. Losing data can be a distressing experience, but R-Studio offers a reliable solution to help recover lost data, which can provide some comfort to users who have lost important files.
Key features of R-Studio include:
Support for various file systems: R-Studio can recover data from various file systems, including FAT (FAT12, FAT16, FAT32), exFAT, NTFS, ReFS, HFS/HFS+ (Mac), UFS1/UFS2 (FreeBSD/OpenBSD/NetBSD/Solaris), Ext2/Ext3/Ext4 FS (Linux), and more.
Deep scanning: R-Studio performs a deep scan of the storage device to locate lost or damaged files, which increases the chances of data recovery.
Preview feature: The software allows users to preview recovered files before restoring them, which helps to ensure that the right files are restored.
RAID recovery: R-Studio can recover data from damaged or corrupted RAID configurations, including RAID 0, 1, 5, and 6.
Emergency startup media: R-Studio allows users to create an emergency startup media (such as a USB drive or CD/DVD) to recover data from a computer that cannot boot.
Flexible search parameters: Users can specify search parameters such as file name, extension, and size to make the recovery process more efficient.
One of the cool things about R-Studio is that it can work with different file systems, so it doesn’t matter if you’re using Windows, Mac, or Linux. It can also recover files from different types of storage devices, including RAID arrays.
Overall, R-Studio is a reliable and effective tool for data recovery, and it’s definitely worth considering if you’ve lost important files and need to get them back.
How does data recovery software work?Data recovery software works by scanning your storage device and locating lost or deleted data. It analyzes the file system of the storage device to search for fragments of data that can be recovered.
When you delete a file or experience data loss, the file is not immediately removed from your storage device. Instead, the space it occupies on the device is marked as available for new data. Until new data is saved in that space, the deleted file can often be recovered using data recovery software.
8 Best Expense Management Software & Tracker Apps (2023)
Enterprises use expense management software to manage, plan, and predict expenses. Most expense management solutions cannot handle complex expense approvals, require manual inputs for functioning, and lack tools for proper forecasting.
Choosing an expense management service with sufficient users to manage your scale is always the best. It would help if you relied on a solution that supports employee card management, budgeting, automation, workflow management, and many integrations. Choosing the best expense management tools can go a long way in helping you manage your business needs.
Our team has meticulously handpicked the eight best software to track expenses easily. The evaluations were based on travel/expense management, budgeting tools, approval workflows, and pricing.
Best Expense Tracking Software: Top Picks!Provider Region/Currency Support Mobile Apps Free Trial Integrated Payments and travel expenses Link
Ramp 195 Countries with 40+ Currencies Android and iOS Lifetime free Basic Plan Yes Learn More
Expensify 58 Currencies iOS, iPadOS and Android Free Plan Yes Learn More
Happay 150+ Countries Android and iOS, iPadOS Lifetime free Basic Plan Yes Learn More
Rydoo 19 Countries iOS, iPadOS, and Android No No Learn More
DivvyPay USD Android and iOS Yes, 14 Days No Learn More
Best for automation in managing expenses
Features:
Receipt Matching: Robust AI-powered algorithms can extract data from images of receipts and take action accordingly.
Autopilot: You can speed up receipt collection by directly fetching important details from 3rd party services such as Lyft, Gmail, and Amazon.
Login: It has native support for quick logins through SSO from services like Okta, Google, and Azure. You can use it to implement 2 Factor Authentication as well.
Automation: Wide range of tools for expense approvals, policy implementation, and compliance save your time and reduce the chances of manual errors.
Digitization: You can digitize your operations, ensuring paperless submissions of invoices from employees and affiliates.
Onboarding Resources: Provides extensive guidance and training sessions for beginners to get started and familiarise themselves with the platform.
Data Syncing: It performs real-time data syncing, ensuring all data of vendors, customers, suppliers, and affiliates is up to date.
Prevent Frauds: Provides extensive Control over cards, ensuring fraud can be detected and prevented immediately.
Pre-Approve Expenses: You can better support your employees financially by pre-approving certain critical expenses with appropriate limits.
Compatibility: This service is compatible with various tech stacks, accounts, and banks, ensuring complete coverage across your company.
Actionable Insights: It provides robust, actionable insights for your business that can drastically improve your financial performance.
Rules: Allows you to define precise rules for employee expenditure across each category and with multi-level conditionals for receipts and memos.
👍 Pros 👎 Cons
Allows you to reimburse employees for out-of-pocket bills, including international expenses, quickly. Limited customer support with a lack of on-time responses for critical issues.
Intelligent AI-driven chatbot does tasks like managing expenses, compliance, and bookkeeping.
Integrates with a wide range of 3rd party services like FreshBooks, Sage, and XERO.
Pricing:
Free Trial: Lifetime Free Basic Plan
Price: Contact Customer Support for Pricing
Best for receipt tracking and management
Expensify is an ideal expense management service that helps manage all aspects of business and optimize costs. Its robust receipt tracking lets you stay updated with your receipts’ status. You can use it to perform in-depth audits, mitigate duplicate tickets, verify transactions, and ensure correct exchange rate utilization.
Expensify keeps your data safe and private by following all modern security standards, including GDPR and compliance with Privacy Shield Standards. You can distribute free Expensify Cards for your entire team and gain various insights. It also has features to help you with accounting, payroll, and taxes.
Features:
Transactions Import: To maintain accurate records, you can easily import and merge your financial transactions from personal and business cards.
Multiple Approvers: You can create complicated approval workflows with various parameters and logic to suit your needs. It will intelligently flag expenses that need your attention.
Two-Way Synchronization: Perform real-time syncing of your data with accounting and taxing software, ensuring all data is up-to-date across the software.
Tax Calculation: It helps you perform tax calculations by your land law. You can configure custom tax slabs, rates, codes, and other parameters.
Delegated Access: You can give your CA, Attorney, and other employees empowered access to all your data. This ensures they can review everything but can’t make changes without your permission.
PCI Compliance: All the data is protected through modern security standards, including PCI compliance and GDPR.
Next-Day Expense Claims: Provide incentives to employees by submitting timely expense reports and issuing reimbursements with minimum delays.
Travelling Preferences: It adapts and learns your preferences, including preferring airlines, seats, hotels, and timings, to create the most suitable plans for you.
Cost Insights: Admins are provided with real-time expense reporting that gives them deep insights into trip costs from all employees.
Integrations: It easily integrates with standard 3rd party services like Oracle, Financial Force, and Sage.
👍 Pros 👎 Cons
Allows you to quickly import your GL codes to tag expenses with multi-level detailing.
Expensify cards allow you to manage rewards, reimbursements, and benefits effectively.
Admins can define their policies and limits for expenses across various categories.
Pricing
Free Trial: Lifetime free Basic Plan
Price: They have three plans for the business. Free, Collect, and Control starting at $0, $5 and $9 per monthly user, respectively.
Best for the broadest range of Integrations
Happay lets you set up approval workflows for your business and ensures a seamless flow. You can also configure it to directly approve small expenses and ask for additional approvals in case of more significant costs. All transactions, including pending approvals, are made available to admins in real-time.
It provides automated expense reporting and analytics in tables, bar charts, and graphs that can be exported as PNG, CSV, or PDF formats. This is one of the best expense management software solutions to improve efficiency and ensure on-time payments/reimbursements, keeping employees and vendors happy.
Features:
Smart Audits: The on-cloud intelligence audits all your financial transactions to analyze performance, figure out room for improvement, and suggest changes.
Notifications: During any approval process, it sends push notifications to involved employees, vendors, and admins, ensuring everyone is on the same page.
Automated Data Capturing: Employees can use the mobile app to upload images that get processed easily. AI-driven tools help you quickly capture, extract, and process all data from invoices.
Data Analytics: It provides complete visibility into all your expenses and analyses all transactions across departments, employees, and teams.
Real-time Reporting: The dashboard provides real-time insights into all business activities. This includes pending approvals, in-process approvals, and cost overruns.
Policy Expenses: You can set up strict policies to ensure employees are not paid for out-of-policy expenses.
Reminders: On-time reminders keep you up-to-date on any urgent/high-priority tasks that may have skipped your mind. It can send push notifications via mobile, email, and web apps.
Spending Analysis: Periodically analyze all your spending across the business to mitigate the risks of budget overruns, improve your vendor selection, and take better policy decisions.
Integrated Travel Management: Seamlessly merge travel management expenses with other expenses to ensure quick filings/approvals from travel expenses.
Analyse Performance: It helps you minimize gaps in approvals, expense filling, and reimbursements and ensures faster and more accurate processing of finances.
Care: You can provide all your employees with a predefined standard of care that ensures proper procedures and policies are followed for maximum safety.
Fare Freeze: It can block ticket when they are quoting at lower prices, ensuring minimum approval delays and cost-effective budget tickets.
👍 Pros 👎 Cons
Provides a complete picture of the approval trail for in-depth auditing of financial transactions. Limited options for generating, customizing, and configuring reports.
Native mobile apps for Android, iOS, and iPadOS are ideal for staying current with all events.
Native integrations with Oracle Net Suite, Tally, SAP, and Microsoft Dynamics 365
Pricing: Contact Customer Support for Pricing
Best for managing small business needs
Rydoo is an ideal expense tracking software that allows you to perform expensing and management, ensuring no extra burdens during month/year ends. Employees can quickly scan all expense receipts from their phones and upload them using Easy Scan technology. Easy Scan extracts, populates, and processes all necessary details like date, amount, and currency in real-time for all invoices.
You can configure your company policies, like mileages, to ensure real-time costs can be seen as the employees travel. This keeps everyone better informed of expenses and provides faster processing. It helps you comply completely with the land law by strictly adhering to VAT, Sales Tax regulations.
Features:
Real-time data insights: This helps you better understand your company’s spending behaviour to make better financial decisions. It gathers all data to provide a comprehensive overview of all details.
Paperless Operations: Completely paperless operations ensure faster processing, minimization of manual errors, and a hassle-free experience. It also minimizes the chances of unexpected errors or missing data with accurate data extraction.
Per Diems Management: Set your daily allowance rates and upload your jurisdiction’s defaults to have them appear dynamically for your travellers.
Automated Expense Approvals: Configure parameters and rules to approve everyday day-to-day expenses without requiring your attention.
Mitigate Out Of Policy Expense: You can create strict rules to define the expenses covered in your policy. Any invoices for out-of-policy fees would be rejected, saving you unnecessary spending.
Rich Insights: The AI-driven systems analyze and provide critical business performance insights. It helps you move forward in the right direction with all branches, employees, and projects.
Quick Onboarding: Rydoo’s team of experts helps you with a fast and effortless initial setup by creating the perfect onboarding plan for your needs.
Snap: It allows you to save pictures of your receipts and retrieve them in future from the cloud when needed.
Automated Checks: Rydoo performs in-depth site audits and flags any suspicious behaviour. It keeps you updated about any alerts and threats.
Rydoo Cards: It provides branded virtual and business cards for various business use cases, including one-time, recurring, or continuous expenses.
Integrations: You can integrate it with more than 100+ ERP and 3rd party integrations.
👍 Pros 👎 Cons
Stay compliant with tax laws ensuring streamlining of the entire expense management process. Lacks tools for niche use cases like reimbursement management and SSO.
We are designed to be intuitive and beginner friendly for being used by anyone.
It provides forecasts for expenses in the coming months and helps you plan accordingly.
Pricing:
Free Trial: Yes, 14 Days
Price: The plan starts at €8 per month, billed annually.
Best for Highly scalable expense management software.
Features:
Budget Alignment: You can align your budgets following your business requirement by setting up limits by department, team, or project.
Approvals: Administrators can remotely view, manage, approve, or decline any fund request from their phone or web app.
Expense Tracking: It allows you to track your business performance and real-time expenses and take appropriate actions to stay within the allocated budgets.
Expense Reporting: You are provided with reports that can be quickly sorted and filtered to analyze performances based on a particular department, project, team, or individual budget.
Budget Management: Budgeting tools allow you to predefine budgets and compare current and expected expenses. You can also use these tools to forecast upcoming costs and plan your business accordingly.
Freedom: You can allow managers and team leaders to set their budgets and make financial plans accordingly.
Predefined approval workflows: It reduces by burden by allowing you to define approval workflows for approving daily expenses to employees like sales lunch or coffee breaks.
Enforceable Budgets: All your reimbursements are paid from a predefined budget. This ensures you never overspend your budget due to excessive reimbursements.
Free Reimbursements: DivvyPay provides free-to-use reimbursements ideal for managing off-card expenses like mileage or cash reimbursements.
Expense Management Reports: It generates expense reports by performing receipt matching and rule-based categorization.
Two-Step Transaction Approvals: Budget owners provide initial acceptance or rejection to reimbursement requests in a two-step approval system, and administrators are alerted to grant final approval.
👍 Pros 👎 Cons
Provides native mobile notifications when the status of the invoices changes. Complicated tools for budgeting and configuring expense limits.
Performs real-time 2-way sync of all expenses with your accounting software.
Effortless integrations with popular services like Slack, Oracle Net Suite, and Sage Intact
Pricing:
Free Trial: Lifetime free Basic Plan.
Price: Lifetime free
Best for running detailed expense audit
Airbase is one of the best expense management solutions for business analysis and planning. It allows employees to upload receipts directly through the app. All receipt images are digitally processed with data extraction and storage, ensuring minimum human intervention.
Airbase allows you to configure company policies for all expenses, including the time window for receipt uploading, mandatory fields, budget restrictions, and allowances. It also flags/blocks any out-of-policy expenses. You can use it to explore in-depth audit trails for analyzing your business performance. Computerized transactions allow you to ensure on-time payments for all employees and vendors without requiring effort.
Features:
Audit Trail: It captures every expense detail in real-time and utilizes them for performing a periodic audit trail involving notes, receipts, and other documentation.
Receipt Management: Your employees can use it to capture and populate expense details using OCR technology, allowing for faster submission and approvals.
Mobile App: It has a native app for Android and iOS that allows you to access business data and manage activities remotely.
Real-time Spend Reporting: You can track real-time spending by monitoring all your spending. It can further be used to approve and deny any transaction case-by-case basis.
Forecasts: It uses your existing data to understand spending patterns and user behaviour. This is used to accurately forecast future spending to ensure you never exceed the budget.
Virtual Credit Cards: Airbase allows you to create and distribute virtual credit cards for your employees. You retain complete administrative controls with the ability to set spending limits.
Operations: It helps manage and streamline processes by directly routing requests for approvals to the responsible approver via email and Slack. This ensures minimum delays and rapid turnaround times.
Categories and Tags: All expenses and transactions can be assigned specific tags and categories to retrieve similar transactions easily.
Full Stack: All expense management, reporting, payments, and analysis happen in a single interface, eliminating the need for internal communication channels.
Direct Payments: It has in-built tools and systems to process approved payments and make them directly to the employee’s accounts.
Catch-All Emails: Employees can send receipts to a pre-configured catch-all email address that matches and stores their receipts with respective transaction records.
👍 Pros 👎 Cons
Maintains complete security and data privacy by following standards like SOC 2 Type II and SOC 1 Type II. Poorly designed automation workflows can be tough to configure for beginners.
Streamlines payroll by making payments directly to the employee’s bank account
A dashboard lets Employees easily track reimbursements, payments, and other requests.
Pricing: Contact Customer Support For Pricing
Best travel and expense management system
Navan (formerly TripActions) is an ideal expense management solution that enjoys real-time reporting of all your expenses. You can easily track your transactions across all cards and reimbursements. It provides data-driven insights that help you minimize spending leakage, improve financial forecasts, and ensure better optimization of financial resources.
Navan has in-built capabilities to manage your taxation in compliance with land laws. You can easily capture and submit details related to VAT and other taxes. All transactions are categorized into predefined labels, ensuring manual input is unnecessary. It provides expedited payments for all reimbursements in more than 40 countries and 25 currencies.
Features:
Scalability: Digital reconciliations, AI-driven receipt scannings, and auto-generated expense reports ensure that the software scales up with your business requiring minimum additional efforts.
Real-time Analytics: You can track and manage your business expenses by staying up-to-date with the latest financial activities in real-time.
Control: You can easily control all spending rules and enforce all your company policies for all employee payments.
Global Card Linkage: Your employees can link their existing cards from Visa or Mastercard to track all their expenses while retaining the card benefits.
Unified Dashboard: It provides a unified dashboard for managing business expenses with data filtering, searching, and live maps support.
Productivity: You can use it to improve business productivity by automating reconciliations and eliminating the need for expense reports through innovative expense management technology.
Analytics: All business spending is tracked and monitored by powerful Analytics tools. AI-enabled systems use this data to provide actionable insights into your business.
Automated Expense Management: This business expense management software automatically categorizes transactions and expense details, requiring no human intervention.
MFA and SSO: It has native support for Multi-Factor Authentication that provides great security to critical business accounts. SSO eases the login process and is a huge convenience for users.
Backups: Navan performs daily backups, ensuring the safety of your data against unexpected losses. Multiple geographically distinct servers are used to implement geographical redundancy.
Reward Programs: Employees earn rewards when they do business travelling on Navan Cards. They can redeem these rewards in future for personal usage.
Guidance: Navan’s team of experts provides proper guidance through one-on-one sessions, conferences, online events, and documentation.
Dynamic Limits: The active policies allow you to adjust the spending budgets dynamically based on various factors and conditions.
Travel Costs: Reduce travel costs by incentivizing employees who spend less during business trips.
Support: Their AI-driven assistant answers your common queries and frequent issues and helps you find quick solutions with minimum effort.
👍 Pros 👎 Cons
It integrates with 3rd party services like QuickBooks, Oracle, and Google Suite to automate expense reporting It is tough to make changes or manually correct any database errors.
Helps streamline payments through virtual corporate cards linked to Navan for flights or hotel bookings.
Allows you to issue virtual or physical cards for all employees for one-time use or recurring payments.
Pricing:
Free Trial: Lifetime Free Basic Plan
Price: Contact Customer Support For Pricing
Best AI-driven business expense tracker app
Brex is among the best expense management software solutions for managing the global workforce with support for fast international transactions with ease. It provides reimbursements in local currencies for over 70 countries. You can use it to perform live tracking of finances across every department, team, and individual.
Brex helps in data collection, which enables you to close the books faster. It matches the receipts with transactions, generates memos, sends approval notifications, and prepares data for tax filings. You can use its OCR technology to check tokens in various languages and currencies.
Features:
Tax Collection: It collects and stores all tax information, including VAT, that can be used for tax filings with your local governing authorities.
Personalization: The booking software dynamically learns employee preferences and searches for their preferred airlines and hotels in the future.
Iternary Management: Brex allows users to make unlimited itinerary changes based on their requirements without issues.
Policy Control: It provides custom controls for setting limits across cards, reimbursements, travel platforms, departments, etc.
Approval Hierarchy: You can define approval hierarchy so that any transaction requiring manual approvals may be directly forwarded to the concerned individual. It can also be used to handle large procurements requiring multiple licenses.
Expense Rules: Allows you to create easily understandable expense rules that govern the approval/rejection of expenses.
Stipends: Using predefined rules, you can issue one-time or recurring stipends for various use cases like wellness, performance, and behaviour.
Import/Export Data: It provides built-in functionality to export transactional data directly with the ERP CSV transfer feature.
Automation: It integrates well with leading automation platforms to improve productivity and efficiency. This streamlines expense management processes, bookkeeping, payroll, and HR management.
2 Way Sync: Brex synchronizes all data with your accounting software, ensuring minimum data discrepancies across platforms.
Spend Control and Approvals: Helps implement spend controls, ensuring no department or branch exceeds the budget. The approval system provides necessary expenses that need manual approvals before being processed.
Live Support: Their team of experienced professionals can help you with initial setup, management, and frequent issues via email, 24×7 calls, or live chat.
👍 Pros 👎 Cons
Provides unlimited reimbursements with no transaction fees. Limited reports and data insights are made available.
Integrates with top ERPs such as NetSuite, Oracle, and QuickBooks.
Allows you to custom configure policies based on the use case, level, region, and department.
Pricing:
Free Trial: No
Pricing: Contact Customer Support For Pricing
FAQsSome of the key differences between accounting software solutions and expense management tools are as follows:
Account Software Expense Management Software
It is used to track all financial transactions and perform proper bookkeeping. It is used to optimize expenses and better understand spending platforms.
You can use it to manage payroll and send/receive money. Many tools come with built-in invoicing capabilities. You can use it for understanding financial constraints and managing unnecessary expenses.
Helps in calculating and paying taxes ensuring complete compliance. Performs in-depth audits to provide reports for business performance and areas of improvement.
It allows you to manage better and maintain cash flow, improve working capital and keep affiliates happy. Assists you in making budgets for your business/financial goals.
Some of the key parameters to consider while choosing an expense reporting software are:
Reports/Analytics: You should always choose a tool that performs in-depth financial audits and provides robust reports to identify areas for improvement and help compare performance.
Compatibility: Always prefer tools compatible with your existing technology stack and integrate with your other services like accounting and management tools.
Pricing: You should always rely on services that provide cost-effective pricing plans for your current business needs and can be scaled up easily per your requirements.
Best Expense Tracking Software: Top Picks!Provider Region/Currency Support Mobile Apps Free Trial Integrated Payments and travel expenses Link
Ramp 195 Countries with 40+ Currencies Android and iOS Lifetime free Basic Plan Yes Learn More
Expensify 58 Currencies iOS, iPadOS and Android Free Plan Yes Learn More
Happay 150+ Countries Android and iOS, iPadOS Lifetime free Basic Plan Yes Learn More
Rydoo 19 Countries iOS, iPadOS, and Android No No Learn More
DivvyPay USD Android and iOS Yes, 14 Days No Learn More
The VerdictWe’ve discussed some of the best expense tracking software solutions. While all of them are great, some are more geared towards specific use cases. Our final verdict should be instrumental in helping you make the right call.
If you want to automate your expense management and minimize human input, Ramp is your best choice.
Expensify is ideal for tracking and managing receipts to ensure timely processing.
If you manage a small business, Rydoo is the ideal expense management software for your needs.
8 Best Encryption Software For Windows
Regardless of whether they are used at workplace, or at home, We use our computers for storing a whole lot of private and confidential information. From important business reports to those invaluable family vacation photos, just about everything is stashed on our computers’ hard disks. So it’s extremely important to ensure that this information is secured against any and all unauthorized access. And that’s exactly what disk encryption software help you do. Utilizing everything from randomized keyfiles to industry standard encryption algorithms, these applications provide your data the privacy it deserves. Can’t wait to know more? Here’s a listing of the 8 best encryption software for Windows.
Best Encryption Software for Windows in 2023 Best Encryption Software for Windows 1. VeraCryptBased on TrueCrypt, the hugely popular encryption program, VeraCrypt provides top-grade encryption for your data. It’s considered as one of the best encryption software across Windows, Linux, and macOS. It essentially works by creating password-protected encrypted volumes, but can also encrypt entire disk partitions, including the system partition, and even the entire hard drive. Further, now with the latest release, you can also encrypt folders and files by mounting the encrypted data to a disk volume.
To start off, you specify the details regarding the encrypted volume to be created, such as volume size, save location, as well as the encryption and hashing algorithms to be used. For additional security, you can specify a password, as well as a keyfile (any random file of your choice that acts as an additional authenticator). Once an encrypted volume has been created, it must be always mounted first (on any of the available mount points) through VeraCrypt, after supplying the password and keyfile (if used) to access the data stored on it. Any data moved/copied to an encrypted volume is automatically encrypted as well. VeraCrypt supports industry-standard encryption algorithms, such as AES, Serpent, Twofish, SHA-2 and can even employ more than one of them in cascading mode.
Platform Availability: Windows XP, 7, 8, 8.1, 10; Mac OSX 10.6 and above, Linux (Desktop), Android, iOS
Price: Free
Download
2. AxCryptNote: The standard installer of AxCrypt includes some bundled third-party applications. However, these can be easily skipped during installation.
Platform Availability: Windows (Desktop), macOS
Pricing: Free, Yearly subscription starts at $35
3. 7-ZipYou may know 7-Zip as the tiny yet powerful free archival program that supports a ridiculous number of formats, but it also has some sweet encryption goodness built into it, and that’s why 7-Zip is ranked among the best encryption software for Windows. Essentially, 7-Zip can be used to create password-protected archives, which are further secured with the AES-256 encryption standard. Keep in mind, this is not a standard password lock but a truly encrypted system that deploys a strong 256-bit key length for maximum protection. Basically, you are getting powerful encryption in the form of a password-protected archive and without any charge.
Platform Availability: Windows, Mac OS X, Linux (Desktop)
Download
4. BitLocker Drive EncryptionBitLocker Drive Encryption can be enabled from System and Security available under the Control Panel. The encrypted disk is secured via a user-specified password, which can be saved to numerous locations (e.g. USB drive, Microsoft account), or even printed. This password also acts as the recovery/authentication key if the encrypted drive is moved to another system, in order to establish data integrity. And using the BitLocker To Go option, you can even encrypt USB flash drives. The best part is that since BitLocker is deeply integrated with Windows, you can enable a user password for even loading the bootloader during the initial bootup. To sum up, BitLocker has gone through many improvements over the past few years and now it’s among the best encryption tool for Windows.
Price: Free
5. Gpg4winIt’s not exactly the most straightforward thing to use, but once you get a hang of Gpg4win, you’re going to love the truckload of options this powerhouse encryption software offers on Windows. Essentially, Gpg4win is a Windows-based graphical front end of the OpenPGP encryption standard which was originally developed for Linux. It lets you secure not just your data, but also email, and then some more. However, for the sake of simplicity, this discussion focuses on just the file encryption part.
Platform Availability: Multiple graphical front-ends for Windows (I would recommend Kleopatra), Mac OS X, Debian (Desktop); RPM, Android, VMS, RISC OS (Mobile & Other)
Price: Free
Download
6. AES CryptPlatform Availability: Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, iOS
Price: Free
Download
7. EncFS4winWorry not, the software is not just available on the command line, but you can also use it in GUI so that is great. Apart from that, if you want to quickly encrypt or decrypt a file then you can find a try icon under the taskbar. Further, you can move the encrypted files to cloud platforms like Google Drive and Dropbox without any issue. Overall, it may not be the best in terms of ease-of-use, but you get a secure disk encryption software on Windows 7, 8, 8.1, and 10.
Platform Availability: Windows, Linux, macOS
Price: Free
8. CryptomatorFurthermore, you can integrate Google Drive and Dropbox with Cryptomator and assign a password for a folder on the cloud. Cryptomator calls it the Vault and it encrypts all your uploaded files and folders. As for the encryption standard, it deploys the AES 256-bit algorithm to encrypt all your data. That’s not all. Cryptomator is completely free and open-source and does not require any subscription. In case, you find the service useful, you can choose to donate the company.
Platform Availability: Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, iOS
Download
All Set to Encrypt Your Data?
How To Defrag Your Windows Hard Drive
Due to the difference in technology, HDDs are inherently slower than their SSD counterparts, and their performance decreases over time as you store more and more data on them. This can be attributed to data fragmentation during the writing process. However, there is a simple fix for it called defragmentation. In this article, we will go over a few simple methods to help you defrag your Windows hard drive and get a significant performance boost.
What Is Defragmentation?To understand what defragmentation is, you need to know how a hard drive works. Think of the latter as a train where the coaches store and carry data. Every time you add more data to your hard drive, it’s broken down into smaller pieces or fragments, and a new coach is added to the train to store that data. These coaches are added in a sequential manner.
Now, during the process of storing more data, the hard drive fills up the empty coaches with some fragments of data and creates new coaches for the remaining pieces. This results in data being scattered all across the hard drive. Even though it seems efficient that those empty spaces are finally being used, that’s not the case.
The issue here is that whenever data fragments are stored farther away from each other, it takes a while for your computer to recollect it all before it can be presented to you again. This slows down the overall reading speed of that hard drive. This is another reason why hard drive-based computers tend to slow down when your storage is almost full. The process of reversing this breakdown and reorganizing the data on the hard drive is called defragmentation.
These days Windows automatically defrags mechanical hard drives. However, it only works for drives that are physically connected to your motherboard. So, if you have an old or external HDD, it’s always a good idea to defragment it yourself for a smoother performance.
How To Defragment Your Hard Disk in Windows 10 and 11Now that we know what defragmentation means, we can begin with the steps to do it manually on your PC.
1. Use the Disk Optimization Tool
Open the disk optimization tool – search for the “Defragment and Optimize Drives” program in Windows Search.
Check the percentage of fragmented files in the results.
Note: There’s no hard and fast rule regarding how fragmented your drive should be before you can defrag it. However, you should try to maintain the fragmentation level below 5% so that the defragmentation process doesn’t take too long.
When Windows is finished with the process, the Optimize Drives program should show your drive as 0% fragmented.
2. Schedule OptimizationYou can put this whole defragmentation process on an automated schedule from the same location.
3. Use the Command Line
Press Win + X and choose ”Windows Terminal (Admin)” from the pop-up menu.
To defrag that drive, use the following command, replacing X with your drive letter:
defrag XWait for the defragmentation process to complete.
If you want to defrag your whole system except for your main drive, use this command instead: defrag /E X:. Here, X is the letter of the drive you want to exclude.
4. Use a Third-Party Defragging ToolInstead of using the inbuilt defragging tool, you can also use third-party defragmentation tools like MyDefrag or Auslogics Disk Defrag to achieve the same results.
Depending on your drive size, it can take a while to defragment your HDD.
Once the process is complete, you will get a message that says “Defragmentation Complete.”
Close Disk Defrag.
Frequently Asked Questions Are there reasons not to defrag your computer?If your computer has a mechanical hard disk installed or you have an external hard disk, you always want to defrag those disks. The only exception where you never need to defrag your computer is when it’s using only a Solid State Drive (SSD) or an M.2 NVMe Drive, because those are modern versions of mechanical drives and automatically defrag themselves without requiring manual intervention. If you defrag these drives, at best, it will do nothing, but it can also cause unnecessary wear and tear if done multiple times.
How often should you defrag a hard drive?For most Windows users, defragging an HDD once a month should be fine. You can use your PC’s inbuilt “scheduled optimization” feature to set a monthly cleanup cycle for your hard drive. Not only does it reduce the need to do it manually, it also improves the performance of your HDD. However, if regular defragmentation of your hard drive does not speed it up, you should consider upgrading it to an SSD.
Image credit: Pixabay
Ojash Yadav
Ojash has been writing about tech back since Symbian-based Nokia was the closest thing to a smartphone. He spends most of his time writing, researching, or ranting about Bitcoin. Ojash also contributes to other popular sites like MakeUseOf, SlashGear, and MacBookJournal.
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