Overview
MiniTool's recovery tool is built around four starting points, and choosing the right one is most of the job. Recover from a logical drive when the volume is still there and the files are not. Recover from a device when the whole disk needs scanning. Recover a lost partition when the volume itself has disappeared. And use the bootable environment when the machine will not start at all. Each path leads to the same scan engine with a different scope.
The Business editions are what is unlocked in this build. Standard covers a single machine, Deluxe adds the bootable builder, Enterprise covers server operating systems, and Technician allows use across client machines. The relevant difference for most people is that all of them here write files out, with none of the preview only behaviour that shows you your data and then asks for payment before it will save any of it.
Scanning and filtering
The scan runs in stages and shows results as it goes, so files often appear within the first minute even on a drive that will take four hours to finish. You can recover what has been found without waiting for the whole scan, which matters when the one document you need turns up early.
Results are large, sometimes hundreds of thousands of entries, which is why the filtering is the part that makes it usable. Filter by file type, by size, by modification age, or by whether the file is intact or partially overwritten, and search by name or extension within the results. The preview renders images, documents, audio and video directly from the scan so you can confirm before recovering.
Lost partitions and formatted volumes
When a volume vanishes entirely, usually after a failed install, a partitioning mistake or a corrupted table, the partition recovery path searches the disk for the structures that mark where volumes began and ends up presenting the volumes it found. From there the normal scan runs against the recovered volume as though nothing had happened.
For a formatted volume, the deep signature scan is the answer, walking the disk for recognisable file headers. Names are gone, so the results come grouped by type, and the preview is the only practical way to sort them. Custom file signatures can be added for a format the tool does not know, which matters for specialist software with its own file types.
Bootable media and damaged drives
The bootable builder writes a recovery environment to a USB stick so a system drive can be scanned from outside Windows. This is the only correct way to recover a system volume, because running from inside the installation you are trying to recover is writing to the very drive you need untouched.
For a drive with bad sectors, the imaging feature copies what can be read into an image file and scans that instead, retrying failing sectors a configurable number of times rather than stalling forever. A drive that is physically failing gets worse with every read, so imaging once and working from the copy is the difference between recovering most of it and recovering none of it.
Rules that decide the outcome
Stop writing to the affected drive immediately. Every write may land on the clusters holding the file you want. Install the software elsewhere, or use a machine where the affected drive is attached as a secondary disk.
Always recover to a different physical drive. Scan sessions can be saved and reloaded so a long scan is not repeated. And be realistic about what is possible: a file deleted this morning is very likely recoverable, a volume that has been in use for a month since the deletion is much less so, and a physically dead drive is a job for hardware specialists rather than software.
What you get
- Four scan entry points for drives, devices, lost partitions and unbootable systems
- Results shown progressively during the scan with recovery before completion
- Filtering by type, size, age and intactness
- Search by name and extension within results
- Preview for images, documents, audio and video from the scan
- Lost partition search and recovery
- Deep signature scan for formatted volumes
- Custom file signature definitions
- Bootable USB recovery environment
- Sector imaging with configurable bad sector retries
- Saved and reloadable scan sessions
- Server operating system support in the Enterprise edition
Inside the archive
- Power Data Recovery installer with all Business editions unlocked
- Bootable media builder
- Imaging module
- Interface language packs
- Readme with the recover to another drive warning
System requirements
| Operating system | Windows 10, Windows 11 or Windows Server, 64-bit |
|---|---|
| Processor | Dual core 2 GHz or faster |
| Memory | 4 GB minimum, 8 GB for deep scans of large volumes |
| Graphics | No dedicated card required |
| Storage | 1 GB for the program, plus a destination drive for recovered files |
| Other | A USB stick for the bootable environment |
Installing it
- Install onto a drive other than the one you need to recover from.
- Turn off real time protection before running setup.
- Run setup as administrator.
- Build the bootable stick if the affected drive is the system drive.
- Set the recovery destination to a different physical drive before you start writing anything out.
Mirrors
| Route | Region | Note | State |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direct, primary | Europe | No wait, resumable | Online |
| Direct, secondary | North America | No wait, resumable | Online |
| Torrent magnet | Global | Optional | Online |
Release history
- Deep scan speed improved on volumes above 4 TB
- Custom file signature definitions added
- Fixed the bootable builder failing on some USB controllers
- Progressive result display during scanning
- Imaging retry count made configurable
- Lost partition detection reworked for damaged tables
- Preview extended to more video formats
Questions about this release
Is this preview only until I pay?
No. All the Business editions are unlocked here, so found files write out without any purchase step.
Can I recover to the same drive?
Technically yes, and you will overwrite the data you are trying to save. Always use a different physical drive.
My system drive is the problem, what now?
Build the bootable USB stick and scan from outside Windows. Running the scan from inside the installation you are recovering defeats the purpose.
The drive is clicking, will this help?
No. That is mechanical failure. Image what you can immediately, then stop and consider a hardware recovery service.
Comments
All editions unlocked so I can use it on client machines. Bootable stick works properly.
Progressive results meant I recovered the file I needed ten minutes into a four hour scan and stopped there.
Comments are read before they appear. If a build stops working, say so here and it gets rebuilt rather than quietly left up.
Partition vanished after a bad install. Found it, scanned it, everything back. Two hours total.