I formatted a virtual drive and used many recovery programs with no luck. I bumped into Recuva and it seems to have found the majority of the data after a long 15 hour deep scan but I am not complaining at all. My problem is all my files (and I am talking about 200k+ files) were all neatly categorized in folders. Recuva is restoring all files to a single folder and it would seem has lost all the folders that all the files were categorized in. I've used recovery software in the past and they have always shown me a folder tree with the recoverable data. When I restore the data, the data is in their respective folders. Recuva doesn't seem to do this unless I am missing an option somewhere. Any advice?
The option is in Advanced Mode, Options/Actions, check Restore Folder Structure. Maybe this should be checked by default, but it isn't. You can still restore the folder structure within your original folder, which keeps the recovered files separate for reinstatement later.
If a deleted folder has been reused then the files it contained will all be grouped within a default folder called ? - there may be many thousands of files there.
Thank you @Augeas Recuva is currently restoring files. If I cancel the restore do I have to rescan all over again or will it take me back to the restore window and from there I can access the advanced mode?
If you cancel the restore then you don't have to rescan. Just switch to Advanced Mode if you're not there already and check the option as described. (I have also edited my previous post to add more info.)
@Augeas I tried the advanced option and it put all files under the "?" folder. So I guess Recuva couldn't find the folder structure even though it was only a quick format on the virtual drive?
As I am looking into the advanced options under "Actions" I see the "Recovering" and "Restore folder structure". And "Secure overwriting". This is talking about attempting to reconstruct the folder structures right? And the secure overwriting option has nothing to do with performing an overwrite like Ccleaner does but instead it is asking if the drive was over written and how it was over written so Recuva can better recover? I guess I am confused about the information here. And if I check "restore folder structure" and I select a deeper "secure overwriting" option, do I have to rescan to see the results?
This is indeed one of the most confusing aspects of Recuva which Piriform have been told many times, and it would be so simple to fix.
The Restore Folder Structure checkbox means that, if checked, the recovered files will be nested in their original folders, as far as that is possible.
The Secure Overwriting drop-down list applies when you select a file or files from the scanned file list and then chose to overwrite them in place. It has no bearing on recovery at all, except that files can't be recovered when they're overwritten. It should be somewhere else, such as under the General tab.
Just check the Restore Folder Structure checkbox. Ignore the Secure Overwriting list, it does not apply to recovery.
You won't have to rescan if you check Restore Folder Structure.