Today’s free software download find is ISOBuster, an award-winning free data recovery program.
Product: ISOBuster
Platforms: Windows 98, XP, Vista (Linux workaround via Wine, Windows emulator)
Purpose: Data recovery via CD, DVD, Blu-Ray and HD DVD, multi-purpose CD/DVD image file reader and exporter.
Pros: Efficiently recovers data and recognizes many proprietary file formats.
Cons: None noted but free version offers less function.
Bottom-Line: ISOBuster rescues data from CDs and DVDs when other programs fail to read these files.
ISOBuster, Background
Professional data recovery is both unpredictable and expensive. Consequently, when I discovered my DVD backed up files unaccessible, my heart sank.
As mentioned in my last free software review, my hard drive crashed and DVD backup was to be my data savior. Wrong. Whether it was a Nero glitch or my own ineptitude, 8 DVDs were blank per my PC. Hundreds of hours of work lost.
Despite my tech background, CD and DVD compilations are not my specialty, nor is data recovery. A teenager with a Limewire account likely knows more about ISO burners than I do. Yet, having been exposed to various ISO and data recovery programs, I can appreciate ISOBuster’s ease of use.
Suspicious that my data was not corrupted, I did a Goggle search on DVD data recovery. Meanwhile concerned about the cost, thankfully, ISOBuster was my first free software download find. Admittedly, I was skeptical. Data recovery and free rarely occupy the same sentence.
Experience with ISOBuster Data Recovery
Using an external CD/DVD writer, ISOBuster didn’t display my files immediately as the DVD-R was not recognized. This happens occasionally with an external drive and is not an ISOBuster failure.
The solution was simple. I closed ISOBuster, inserted the DVD, restarted the DVD-R, and then clicked the ISOBuster icon. Displayed were the folders I anticipated. Momentarily I sat with bated breath. Did they work?
Next I clicked on a folder via the ISOBuster uncluttered interface and tested a file. It did not run.Concerned but hopeful, I tried the following:
Right-click on a folder.
Select Extract Folder
ISOBuster quickly extracted the files to my hard drive as directed. Finding data recovery success, (touchdown dance), I continued the process.
Occasionally ISOBuster noted program errors but this was remedied with a better cleaning of said DVDs.
Ultimately, ISOBuster recovered the files in the correct format to enable a repeat of the DVD backup process. Using Nero again, this time data backup worked like a charm.
ISOBuster Data Recovery Issues
Rare but true, no problems or improvements come to mind concerning ISOBuster as a data recovery tool. Of note ISOBuster is shareware whereas one can buy the program for additional functionality, contribute a donation or use it free-of-charge.
Final Notes on ISOBuster and Data Recovery
Personally, I would feel guilty not to contribute something to the creators as ISOBuster rescued my critical and subjectively priceless files. ISOBuster is comparatively easy to use and very efficient at data recovery. Additional features are available on both the free ISOBuster version and ISOBuster Pro, well worth investigating, but data recovery is the thing the free version does best.
ISOBuster Data Recovery Download: http://www.isobuster.com
These Free Software Download finds are designed primarily for efficiency and as a starting point with which to conduct more research.
