Made by an established company selling truckloads of data recovery tools, we approached DiskInternals Partition Recovery with high expectations. DiskInternals Partition Recovery looks promising – at least on paper. Supporting all popular file systems, applying multiple recovery modes and employing all known tricks to extract the last bit of usable data from the disk is no less than we’re about to accept.
Spec-wise, DiskInternals Partition Recovery supports all types of Windows file systems (all revisions of FAT and NTFS), can recover files and folders as well as repair damaged file systems, restore corrupted partitions and recover inaccessible hard drives by fixing the MBR (Master Boot Record) blocks. Let’s see how it does in the lab.
Performance
In the lab, DiskInternals Partition Recovery was nothing close of exceptional. It passed our usual torture tests with flying colors, finding and saving all files we deleted from both the hard disk and the test flash stick. It did just as well with the formatted stick (however, please read below on some restrictions that may apply when restoring formatted media).
Our usual testing schedule does not involve intentionally corrupting the file system or deleting partitions, so this tool is one of the few we do these tests for. What we did was deleting all partitions from our test drive, and then creating another set of partitions.DiskInternals Partition Recovery was able to locate the deleted volumes, and successfully restored them to give us access to information stored there. Impressive stuff.
Just like the other DiskInternals tools, DiskInternals Partition Recovery comes with complete support for previewing files before the recovery. The toolkit is exactly the same as 
in other general-use DiskInternals tools, so let’s just say it’s one of the better solutions out there. The preview can display pictures, playback sound and videos, enter compressed archives such as ZIP and RAR, show Word documents and Excel spreadsheets complete with formatting, and so on, and so forth.
Still, the product is not without a couple of quirks. Chances of successful recovery are still buried deep in the file properties – instead of being shown right beside them in the file list. Also, unlike some other DiskInternals tools, DiskInternals Partition Recovery only comes with English user interface – no localized versions are available up to date. These gripes are quite minor, and won’t stop us from recommending this product to everyone who needs it.
A Word on Formatted Media
Note that, while DiskInternals Partition Recovery can recover all types of filesfrom formatted disks and memory cards, completing a full format of a hard disk will overwrite all data stored on the disk. Full formatof the hard drive makes files completely unrecoverable. Quick format or full format operation performed on a memory card by digital cameras, or an interrupted full format of a hard disk will leave you some chances, so it’s worth a try nevertheless.
Value
As the value goes, DiskInternals Partition Recovery plays in a league of its own. $139.95 buys you a complete recovery suite that can fix disks, repair partitions and make inaccessible volumes accessible. All that in addition to best-in-class recovery of deleted files and folders. Up to this day, we know of no competitor that comes even close. Conclusion: if you need it – buy it.
Features
- Supported file systems: NTFS, NTFS 4, NTFS 5, FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, VFAT
- Supported operating systems: Microsoft® Windows® 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, 2003 Server, Vista
- Supported file formats: recovers all types of files, including compressed and encrypted files. Original file names are supported
- Folder recovery: check. Folder structure is also preserved.
- Recoverable system areas: file systems, partition tables, MBR
- Supported media: all types of storage media is supported including hard drives, solid-state drives, flash, and all types of memory cards
- Step-by-step recovery wizard and full Explorer-like UI are available
- Full pre-recovery preview
- Additional features: can save recovered information locally (another disk or partition, burn CD/DVD) or remotely (LAN, FTP)
Drawbacks
- Chances of successful recovery buried deep in file properties (instead of being displayed alongside files in the file list)
- English only UI
