Existing users, 
The fact that I seem to be the lone dissenter here causes me to view most of this glowing feedback about Data Rescue II with deep suspicion...
It may indeed be a fine program for recovering a crashed drive, but I can't comment on that aspect because I haven't yet been in the unhappy position to have to test it under emergency conditions. However, some 'independent users' are suggesting here that they (1) accidentally deleted gigs of important files, then (2) bought this app, recovered every last byte of data, and lived happily ever after. TOTAL LIES!!
This from Data Rescue's OWN website:
<Begin quote>
"Can Data Rescue recover a file I just deleted (I'm running Mac OS X)?
No, there is no tool on the market that can recover deleted files without being loaded ahead-of-time. OS X (UNIX) writes over your deleted file immediately, impeding recovery (this was different in previous operating systems that were not based on UNIX)... In Classic Mac OS, this is not the case. Frequently, you will be able to recover deleted files as long as the operating system has not reused their directory and catalog information yet ..."
<End quote>
Most of us might remember being able to successfully recover files that had been deleted several years beforehand, using earlier versions of Norton Utilities under OS9 (no longer recommended since Peter Norton sold out to Symantec, who immediately lost the plot and went on to develop versions that can cause serious damage to current file structures). But under OSX, once it's gone it's gone for good, regardless of what claims are made for any commercial file recovery program nowadays!!
So, don't be taken in by some of the BS and marketing hype that you read here. if you're thinking about forking out a fairly hefty $99 in the hope of saving your bacon after the event, you'll end up losing your data AND your money too!
The simplest (and cheapest) option? Try to make a habit of the #1 rule of computing, which has been around since day one -- always back up all important data. CD's or DVD's only cost a few cents nowadays and (better still) if you're upgrading to Leopard, use Time Machine.
Version:
Examine your motives for buying!
Feedback Type: Commentary
Contributed by: Idunnoeither Tuesday, February 05 2008 @ 12:00 AM PST
Product Platform: MacOSX
Used Product For: Less than a month
Comments
Examine your motives for buying! - akiko.larosa
THIS IS MISINFORMATION.DR II is a fantastic product. We have used this at work to recover disasterous data loss with almost not issue. It's given us a blanket of security knowing that even what hasn't been backed up is somewhat safe. This is no alternative to backup but it is a godsend when bad things go really bad.
Tuesday, February 26 2008 @ 09:23 AM PST
Examine your motives for buying! - Deborah Shadovitz
Data Rescue II DOES have a feature to easily search and recover all recoverable Trashed files. I have used it for a client and think it worked fine. (Have not heard back as to whether any files were missed.)However... Prosoft is being WISE in advising you not to count on it for recovering trashed files. When you delete a file (on any OS) you are telling the OS to write over that files areas of the hard drive. If you have done a lot on your computer since the trashing, there is the likelihood that new files have been written to that space. Thus, the files are really gone and nothing will help. If you have trashed files but done little, then they are recoverable. In this case, Data Rescue II is going to help. At any rate, Data Rescue II will do it's best to try to recover your files.
I have to wonder about <i>your</i> motive for posting your post here. Are you bothered that people have raved about this great product?
Have you seen the price of data retrieval services? The cost of this app does not even come close! And it does wonders!
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Wednesday, February 13 2008 @ 12:00 AM PST