UFS Explorer Professional Recovery

Overview

UFS Explorer Professional Recovery is a full-featured software application designed exclusively for data recovery specialists. The application successfully combines low-level data analysis and data management functions with high-level data recovery tools. UFS Explorer Professional Recovery is the only software of the UFS Explorer group that allows to alter original information on the storage.

Advanced multi-tool interface makes the software suit even complicated data recovery tasks. With UFS Explorer Professional Recovery you can carry out thorough data analysis and conduct full-scaled data recovery. Embedded RAID-Builder mechanism allows to build standard RAID configurations of any level. Moreover, 'RAID definition language' used by this software will let you build any custom RAID configuration. If necessary, low-level tools of UFS Explorer Professional Recovery allow to make permanent changes to the information initially contained on the storage. The software can be installed to several operating systems - Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac OS and Linux.

With consideration for user-friendliness software tools are grouped into several separate blocks each applicable to certain operations. Disk management system automatically defines storages and opens disk images, standard and custom RAID configurations as well as virtual disks of virtual machines. The system will let you open a disk partition or a storage device specifying name or mount point (disk letter, mount path etc.). UFS Explorer Professional Recovery embraces embedded Hex-Viewer tool that allows to view data on a disk or separate disk partition and alter including overwrite data on the storage. File manager allows to preview existing file system and recover data from it. Among other functions file manager includes files search and preview, data analysis, identification and positioning by file content and file descriptors. File system recovery manager allows to find files, preview found files and recover them to a local disk. For added convenience UFS Explorer Professional Recovery manages simultaneous performance of multitasking operations.

The product targets professional service data recovery and assumes at least basic user expertise in data recovery. The software combines a set of read-only data analysis tools to allow solve most practical data loss issues as well as write-enabled hexadecimal editor tool to correct minor or even major file system damage issues.

As a comprehensive multi-functional application UFS Explorer Professional Recovery will be perfect solution for detailed data analysis and professional recovery of lost and deleted data.

Key features

Immediate data access for consistent file systems

The software allows to access data on all the supported file systems, including file systems stored on disk images, virtual disk, RAID storages and etc. with no need of prior scan.

Support of disk images and virtual disks

Software allows to open disk images and virtual disks produced by virtual machines of leading virtualization software vendors (including VMware Player, VMware Workstation, VMware ESX Server, VMware Fusion, Microsoft Virtual PC, Microsoft Hyper-V, Parallels Desktop etc.). The software operates virtual disks and disk image file exactly as if they are real disks and allows to access or recover lost data from disk images and virtual disks.

Recovery of complex RAID storages

Professional Recovery software edition supports virtual reconstruction of RAID system after controller or RAID metadata failure. This means software can virtually build a RAID and read files and folder from it like if it is a real RAID storage. The software can easily handle simple RAID configurations (such as stripe set - RAID level 0, Span, Mirror - RAID level 1) as well as complex RAID such as RAID 5 and RAID 6. The RAID-on-RAID feature allows to build RAID configurations of high complexity such as RAID 50, RAID 60 etc. Support of Runtime Software Virtual Image Files as well as RAID Definition Language allow to set up very custom RAID configuration with different data distribution algorithms.

Disk-on-disk recovery

Software can open disk image files or virtual disks from a file system opened in UFS Explorer. For example, you can easily build RAID that stores VMware ESX virtual machines (VMFS file system), open virtual disk directly from VMFS and recover data directly from virtual machine with no need to extract virtual disk first. This features also enables many low-level data access appliances such as access to system-locked virtual disks of running Hyper-V server, access to CD/DVD image files stored on file system of 'parallel' operating system and so on.

Comprehensive file recovery

Set of tools implemented in the software provides solutions for most practical data loss cases. Depending of situation the software can either simply read or deeply analyze file system metadata to find lost files. Even in case metadata is lost permanently, software may predict file allocation basing on file system specifics, other files allocations and file content analysis to produce fair enough data recovery result even in this case.

Recovery after file system format

With Professional Recovery software edition you can analyze the storage for previous file system formats and even choose among different possible configuration of a file system to recover. In case you are not sure what file system was on the storage before format, let the software analyze the storage and find all the possible file system variants. The software will find all detectable file system variations and let you choose all or any of them for recovery.

Data consistency analysis and error correction

This is the only UFS Explorer edition that implements tools for low-level data consistency analysis. The software allows to identify location of file/folder descriptor, its contents, map of file/folder fragments and navigate among them. If there are problem with file contents, UFS Explorer allows to navigate through file fragments, find a problematic one and give you a chance to resolve it. Write mode-enabled hexadecimal editor tool will allow to correct minor and moderate file system issues (fix directory entries, move superblocks, fix inodes and so on.) to return file system back into consistent state.

Specifications

Supported host operating systems:

Microsoft Windows: all starting Windows NT version 5.1 (Windows XP/2003) and above;
Apple Mac OS X: all starting version 10.6 and above;
Linux: Ubuntu Linux 9.10 (or compatible) and above.

Supported host computer architectures:

Intel Architecture, 32-bit (IA-32, x86) - for all operating systems;
AMD64 (x86-64) - for all operating systems.

Supported file systems for recovery:

NTFS: full support (access and advanced recovery);
FAT/FAT32: full support (access and advanced recovery);
ExFAT: full support (access and advanced recovery);
SGI XFS: full support (access and advanced recovery);
Apple HFS+: full support (access and advanced recovery^*);
JFS (IBM JFS2): full support (access and advanced recovery);
Ext2-Ext4: full support (access and advanced recovery^*);
ReiserFS: full support (access and advanced recovery);
UFS/UFS2: access and damaged file system recovery^** in both little-endian and big-endian variations;
Custom Adaptec UFS: access and damaged file system recovery^**;
Sun ZFS: data access only (can copy files and folders from ZFS file system);
HFS: legacy Apple file system supported in data access mode only (can copy files and folders from HFS file system);
Novell NWFS: legacy Novell file system supported in data access and data analysis mode only;
Novell NSS: modern Novell Storage Services file system supported in data access mode only;
VMware VMFS: data access only (can copy files and virtual disks from VMFS file system).

^* - deleted files recovery rate can be low because of file system design
^** - deleted files might be not recoverable because of file system design

Trial limitations:

Software can only copy files of size below 64KB;
"Save" function of certain hexadecimal viewer/editor dialogs is disabled.

System requirements

Minimal configuration:

any of supported operating systems;
at least 20MB free disk space for software executable files;
at least 1GB RAM;
Linux software version can run from most modern Linux Live CD.

Recommended configuration:

64 bit edition of any of supported operating systems;
over 1GB free disk space for program and temporary files;
at least 4GB RAM for parallel data recovery processing;
default web browser.