FAQ on GDB:
Q. Can fragmentation of the disc affect the result of the recovery?
A. GetDataBack is searching your hard drive to find one of the FAT (File Allocation Table). If no FAT is found GetDataBack will attempt the recovery without this information. In this case the possibility of bringing fragmented parts from all over the drive together gets smaller.
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Q. Can I investigate the quality of my recovered files before I buy the software?
A. Yes, GetDataBack contains a build-in viewer which lets you investigate the quality of your files and you can also open the files with their original application before you have to register the program.
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Q. Can I use GetDataBack to recover data from CD's, CDR's and DVD's?
A. No, GetDataBack is a software for hard drives, floppy drives, Jaz drives, Zip drives, Memory Sticks, Smart Media, Compact Flash, Secure Digital and Multi Media Cards only.
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Q. Can I use GetDataBack to recover data if my hard drive is not recognized by the BIOS of my computer?
A. No, if the BIOS is not recognizing the hard drive, our software is not able to perform a recovery. Please make sure that the connections, jumper settings and controllers are ok. If the hard drive is still not recognized, try to connect it to another computer and see if it gets recognized there.
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Q. During usage of GetDataBack I do receive a disk error, what does this mean?
A. GetDataBack is a solution for software related problems, it cannot help you with failed hardware. A disk error is a sign for a hardware problem. We recommend to stop working with the corrupted drive until you make a disk image. (Every try to access data can increase corruption !) After successfully creating an image you can use the image file as an input for GetDataBack.
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Q. How can I optimize the quality of the recovery?
A. What did you choose in the second step? We recommend choosing physical drive for your recovery.
In Step 4 be sure to choose the file system which contains the most applicable information to perform the recovery on. You can compare the file system quality by viewing the details in the right window. Another indicator for better file system quality is the percentage rating on the right side of the graphic below. Before you register, please test enough files to be sure you are satisfied with the results of the recovery.
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Q. I cannot open the recovered files. Why?
A. There are three possible reasons for the inability to open the recovered files.
GetDataBack is searching your hard drive to find one of the FATs (File Allocation Tables). If no FAT is found GetDataBack will attempt the recovery without this information. In case of fragmented files, the chances of bringing all parts together gets smaller. However, only a fraction of the recovered file is usually affected by this problem. Another FAT related problem can occur if GetDataBack find a FAT that is not the file system's FAT. In this case GetDataBack uses misleading allocation information.
Another possible reason is that your files were overwritten by other data. In this case there is no way to retrieve the data.
The third possible reason is that you have chosen the wrong file system entry in Step 4 of the recovery. Be sure to choose the file system that contains the most applicable information to perform the recovery on. You can compare the file system quality by viewing the details in the right window. Another indicator for better file system quality is the percentage rating on the right side of the graphic below.
Recommendations:
Regarding point 1 you should check the beginnings of the bad files with a hex viewer (you can use GetDataBack's build-in F3-Viewer). Compare these file starts with the starts of the same type of files that are readable. The file starts should look "similar". If they do there is a chance of putting together the files manually using a disk editor, e.g. Runtime's DiskExplorer. The file info option in GetDataBack shows you the clusters it uses for the recovery of the certain file.
If GetDataBack was using a false FAT, check the "Ignore Fat" options in the options dialog and re-run the scan.
Check point 3. Re-run GetDataBack and proceed to Step 4. Try other entries, that come close in size and position to the partition you want to recover. We will gladly assist you in determining which entry to choose (see: Support).
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Q. I don't know which file system I had on my drive before it crashed. What shall I do?
A. If you don't know which file system you had on your drive before the crash, you can use both of our demo versions of GetDataBack to explore your drive. First of all, you have to download the demos to a working Windows computer and install the software, than connect the crashed drive as the second hard drive and make sure that the BIOS is recognizing the drive. Now you can use the Fat and the NTFS demos to explore your drive. You cannot destroy anything, as long as the drive is not physically damaged, because GetDataBack is a read-only software.
After you followed the instructions, with the right version you will receive a recovery tree with your files and folders. You can evaluate the quality of the recovery by clicking 'recovery->open' in the main menu. If your files look ok, you can copy them to a safe location on another drive. (full version only)
A little hint if you are inexperienced with different Windows versions:
Win 3.11, Win 95, Win 98, Win Me use a FAT based file system.
Win NT, Win 2000 can have both file systems: NTFS or FAT.
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Q. Is it safe to run GetDataBack on my crashed hard drive?
A. Yes, as long as your drive doesn't have a physical problem, it is safe to use GetDataBack, because the program will not change anything on the crashed drive, it is a read- only software. Install the software on a working Windows computer and attach the hard drive which contains the lost files as a second hard drive to this computer. Make sure that the second hard drive is recognized by the BIOS. Then run GetDataBack and in Step 1 select your bad drive (usually this is HD129). Press ' next '. In Step 2 select the partition which contains the lost files. If the drive doesn't have more than one partition, select the whole drive. In Step 3 you will be asked to select the range of the drive to be scanned. Usually you don't have to change anything. Just go with the predefined selection and press ' next '. The program now will scan your drive. Depending on the the size of the drive this will take some time. As soon as the scan is ready you will see a list of of possible file systems the program has found. Usually you should select the first file system on the list. Press ' next '. Now the program will create the tree of the recovered files. After a while you will see a tree with you recovered files and folders. Now you can see whether GetDataBack has found the files. If the files are found you can evaluate the quality of the recovered files. Just select a file you are interested in and click ' Recovery->View' or ' Recovery->Open' in the main menu. If the files looks okay, they most likely will be ok after you have copied the recovered files to a safe location on another drive.
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Q. The software only runs in a Windows environment, as my computer is a laptop, I cannot have more than one hard disk
A. It would be possible to copy our software to a floppy, but this wouldn't help you because you would need to have a bootable windows system on the same floppy and that is impossible. However, the remote feature in connection with WinPE might help you. Another option is to attach the laptop drive, using an adapter, directly to a desktop computer.
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Q. Will GetDataBack work on a hard drive larger than 8.2 gigabyte?
A. Yes, GetDataBack will work on any size of hard drive, but huge hard drives can take a while to be scanned and recovered.
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Q. Will GetDataBack work on a hard drive larger than 136 gigabyte?
A. Yes it will under the following conditions:
The BIOS must be capable of handling these drives. Many aren't and you might have to upgrade the BIOS or use another computer.
You need Windows XP Service Pack 1. Please read
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb%3ben-us%3b303013 for more information.
Check Windows' Disk Management tools. If it recognizes the drive with its correct size GetDataBack will do too.
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Q. What is your update policy?
A. Licensed users are entitled to free lifetime updates. If you lost your key, or your current key stops working, email
support@runtime.org with your registration name and we will send you a new key as soon as possible.
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Q. How do I recover files I deleted with Windows Explorer?
A. First, check "Recover deleted files" in the Options screen. Then run GetDataBack as usual until it has build the Recovery tree. "Permanently deleted" files can be found in their original folder (if still available). Files from "emptied recycle bins" can be found below the RECYCLE directory. Note that these files have lost their original file names, but still have their original extensions.
It is also a good idea to use the Search feature.
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Q. Does GetDataBack support Unicode character sets?
A. Yes it does. You can recover files whose names are encoded in non-standard character sets. This includes all Unicode character sets, such as Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Russian, Greek,... We recommend to perform the data recovery on an NT/XP computer because Win9x/ME does not fully support Unicode.
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