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Photo Data Recovery Software Information
Featuring Klix by JoeSoft
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Recently I found myself in a pickle that I thought only happened to the “other guy”. I’m still scratching my head about the absentmindedness required to accomplish this, but I managed it. On a cold mountain morning while trying to get shots of mule deer, I accidentally deleted earlier pictures of a spider hanging midair by its silk, something I’d never gotten before. Out of habit, I was deleting shots that were rejects on the fly. With the cold weather and lack of java flowing through my veins, I wiped out the spider by clicking the delete button too fast. I’ve had hard drives crash that were backed up, but never a compact flash card deleted without backup. It was time to look into data recovery.
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Fig.1 Klix software startup
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Upon reaching civilization, I began searching for data recovery software on CNET, where download.com resides. A variety of offerings and pricing options popped up, most allowing a search for missing files without being able to recover them. I tried a few (Recover Files 2.0, eData Unerase, Active Undelete, Pandora Recovery, and Virtual Lab Data Recovery) to see how well they worked. For reasons ranging from not discovering the missing files to what I’d consider pricing scams, none of these data recovery software tools met my needs.
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Fig.2 Klix photo recovery thumbnails
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I’d nearly given up on trying to recover the files when I was reading the latest issue of PC Photo magazine. There I saw an ad for Klix by JoeSoft, software specifically for recovering deleted photos. It said free Demo, which was pretty much the same as the others, but I thought I’d give it a shot. As it turned out, the handicapped Demo version of the software could see the files on my USB connected flash drive. It was priced fairly at $29.95, so I went for it.
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Fig.3 Klix deleted photo scan complete
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The Klix software interface is really straightforward. Plug your deleted drive into a computer compact flash slot, or a USB connected reader. I tried the latter first. Run Klix, and it will immediately find the compact flash card and list it, see Fig. 1 Select the drive location you want to recover data from, and then click the Start Scan button.
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Fig.4 Klix select recovery files
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You’ll be taken to the next screen that shows thumbnail versions of the photos as they’re discovered, Fig. 2. I found it very satisfying to see photos appearing, as several of the previously tested utilities only list file names. If you only need a couple of files, it’s nice to actually see them vs. guessing which ones you need or having to recover all of them by default. This way you can zero in on only what you need. A status bar at the top of the screen lets you know what percentage of the files have been found.
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Fig.5 Klix recovered file placement
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Once you see the files you need, you can either let it finish discovering the whole drive, or Stop the process and go straight to recovering your photos. Both methods worked fine for this tester. If you wait for the process to complete, a dialog box with a Close button will appear, Fig. 3. This needs to be closed before proceeding to photo recovery.
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Fig.6 Klix file recovery status
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The rest is simple. Click on the files you want recovered, or use the Select All button if you need them all. Selected files will appear with a green border. Then click the Recover button, Fig.4. Next is a screen that allows you to select the location where your recovered files will be placed. Navigate to the desired folder, and then click Open, Fig.5. A status bar will appear as your files are transferred, Fig.6. That’s it, you’re done, photos recovered!
Andrew Williams / CritterZone.com
P.S. - I’m not getting paid to plug Klix. It just did a really good job.
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