Tab One: File Types. Search speed will decrease in proportion to the number of File Types which are selected; if you are certain of which File Type you are searching for, then only select that File Type. If you are unsure which type of file has been lost, then select more options.
Note that selections can be made even while the search is being executed.
Tab Two: The "General" tab (see below) is a Program Control which determines whether the Recover My Files "Wizard" or "Tips on startup" dialogue boxes appear when the program is opened. The "Wizard" screens are detailed in the "Steps to File Recovery" section and provide the simplest way of launching the program.
It is also where the program "Event Log" can be activated or deactivated. The Event Log is displayed under a tab in the Preview Window. It contains detailed information about the activity of the program and can assist in troubleshooting the File Recovery process.
The "Search" tab (see the screen shot below) controls how Recover My Files will search for your Deleted and Lost Files
In this Panel you can select whether you want to search for Deleted files by clicking the "Search for Deleted Files" box.
Also you can select whether you want Recover My Files to try and determine the type of Deleted File by clicking the "Try and determine file type of Deleted Files"
Our Recommendation: Keep both these options on.
In this Panel you can select whether you want to search for Lost files by clicking the "Search for Lost Files" box.
Also you can select whether you want Recover My Files to try and determine the file size of the Lost Files by clicking the "Try and determine file size of Lost Deleted Files"
When Recover My Files finds a deleted file on your hard disk the program: determines the type of file that it has found (e.g. is it a MS Word document or a JPEG); and then determines the size or length of the file (e.g. is it 1 megabyte or 5 megabytes).
When the "Go to end of file when file found" option is selected:
Recover My Files stops processing the file that it has located, moves to the end of the file, and continues the search of your hard disk from this point. It will continue this process until it reaches the end of your hard disk and the search is complete.
Advantages: The speed of the search is increased because the contents of identified file types are not searched.
Disadvantages: If corruption of a deleted file has occurred the reported files size may be inaccurate (a rare occurrence) and may cause the program to 'skip' an otherwise recoverable file.
When the "Go to end of file when file found" option is NOT selected:
Recover My Files locates a deleted file, calculates its type and size, but continues to search through the files contents looking for other embedded files. In rare instances the information used to determine the file size can be corrupt and inaccurate. Using this method we ensure that other files are not missed due to the skipping process.
Advantages: This method may recover additional files from your computer.
Disadvantages: It will increase the time that it takes for the search to complete.
Our Recommendation: It is rare that files will be missed due to the reporting of an incorrect file size. We recommend the "Go to end of file when file found" is selected (the default setting) as the search speed increase is beneficial. However, if time is not an issue in your search, turning off the "Go to end of file when file found" option will ensure that all possible files are found.
In rare circumstances you may which to make use of three advanced features in Recover My Files.
Search Active and Non-Active Areas. If this is selected Recover My Files will search the entire drive, sector by sector or cluster by cluster. This should only be used if you have accidentally deleted your entire drive, re-partitioned your drive, or re-formatted your drive.
Prompt for Start Cluster/Sector. You can use this option to start the search of your disk drive at a specific sector or cluster on the drive. You will be prompted at the beginning of the search for the sector or cluster.
The Search Level: Cluster or Sector, specifies whether you want Recover My Files to search using sectors or clusters. Cluster searching is faster, as is the Default setting. Use sector searching when you have accidentally formatted, or re-partitioned your drive.