My name is Paul Pruitt. I have 10 years professional computer experience and A+, Net+, MCP, and HDI Help desk certifications. I've also passed 4 of 7 required MCSE Windows 2000 Exams.

I got interested in data recovery as a fluke in 2002 at a help desk position where I was asked to recover an un-openable Excel file. I went on the Internet and found that an answer to such a problem is to try to open such files in other spreadsheets. I downloaded Open Office and was able to open the file in the spreadsheet. I was hooked.

Since then I have put in a lot of hours researching these issues and helping people.If you have any comments or questions, contact me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The rating of software is under construction. Please be patient with inconsistencies and undeserved ratings. I enthusiastically encourage feedback for ratings, which can be sent to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The scale I use is 1 - 5 with 1 being poor quality likelihood and 5 being excellent. For speed 1 is slow, 5 is speedy.

I have been helping recover data for users for almost 5 years now but only have experience with about 20% of the programs in this Web site. Nevertheless most software here falls into identifiable categories or have a reputation of which I'm aware, but remember what Jesus said "Woe unto those with a good reputation.."

The quality and likelihood ratings should only be used as a rough beginning point when determining the likely value of the program for your purposes. Generally GUI programs get 2 points higher than a command line doing the same thing. A legendary command line program like John the Cracker can still get a 5 rating.

Also note high quality can make up for a lack of 100% guarantee data recovery. Additionally, ratings are high for programs whose aim is limited but succeed in an excellent manner.

This rating is definitely art, experience and intuition and is not a science at the moment. Really there should be 3 ratings, program quality, likelihood of data recovery and speed of recovery if successful and as you might be seeing on the site I'm in the middle of splitting the cells and separating the ratings. For now with most software there are still 2 rating cells, and for those with 3, the likelihood cell still represents the combined ratings.

The criteria I use for recovery speed is more straight forward. Online services with no downloading Active X elements, get a 5. Downloadable software with no installation routine, generally get a 4 unless the software takes some considerable processing time. Downloadable freeware that requires installation gets a 3 unless processing takes more than say a half a minute when it will get a 2.

Command line software will generally get a 2 because in addition to processing time, you need to start the command line, figure out how the software works, and form your arguments. Also many if not most of the users of this site will be slowed by the intimidation factor of these programs. Expert users though can use this software quite quickly and the speed rating does not apply to them. For some command line programs that give instantaneous results and really require no arguments I give a 3.

Also large programs which are really designed for other uses than data recovery, such as Open Office, will get a 2 rating. Open Office for instance can take up to an hour to download on a dial-up line and 10 minutes to install on a slow computer.