best unerase / file recovery utility?

[AllGold]

I emptied the trash but didn't realize until it was too late that I put a folder full of files in there that I didn't want to delete.

My needs in this case are pretty simple, just unerase or untrash some files. I don't need a bunch of disk repair capabilities. What software would work best for this?

I have an ancient version of Disk Warrior. I was just going to upgrade that but they do not let you download an upgrade. :dunno: You can pay for it online but the only way you can get the upgrade is to wait for it to come by snail mail. :mad2:

I looked at Disk Drill and they bait and switch you. On MacUpdate it shows as free. It is free if you want to see what you have deleted (I already know) but to actually recover you have to pay for the Pro version.

[olnacl]

I guess I don't have to ask if you are running Time Machine?

[Paul F.]

DataRescue has saved my bacon before... but it's not free.

And yeah, TimeMachine would be the "best" solution, but you can't set it up AFTER you accidentally delete a file. ( Go ahead, ask me how I learned THAT lesson! ).

[AllGold]

olnacl wrote:
I guess I don't have to ask if you are running Time Machine?

No, you don't.

I do have backups for really important stuff. I also have some backups for kind of important stuff--but not enough or current enough.

What I deleted today is honestly not important enough to have backups. But I know it's not gone, just hidden without some utility (though the file names are gone).

I'm trying PhotoRec right now, the free non-GUI unix utility. Despite its name, it does all different file types not just photos.

[Paul F.]

If you have an external drive with enough space, it's so g** d*** easy to set up TimeMachine that there's just no reason NOT to...
You've already wasted 10 times the amount of time you could have been ahead by if you'd had TimeMachine running...
Two clicks, and you have the folder back.

Seriously man, solve this with PhotoRec (great idea, by the way... ), and then go get a couple terabytes of TimeMachine drive...
Plug it in, flip the switch on TimeMachine, and forget about it until you delete a file you really needed...

[ka jowct]

I looked at Disk Drill and they bait and switch you. On MacUpdate it shows as free. It is free if you want to see what you have deleted (I already know) but to actually recover you have to pay for the Pro version.

I didn't know there was a free version, but it's really hard to believe that any decent recovery utility would be free.

Data Rescue shows you what it can recover, so that you can figure out whether to buy it. At least, it used to do that in the past. I haven't had a need to check out the current version, but I would hope that it works the same way.

Mariner was offering Disk Drill Pro for $59 ($30 off) but that offer ended on the 10th.