The next tool I’d like to share with you in my Essential Tools series is another useful tool from a company called Piriform, who created a free drive defragmenter tool in the series, Defraggler.

This tool, Recuva, is an excellent file recovery tool— hence the name Recuva, which is pronounced like recover. Recuva is easy to use and quite impressive in it’s ability to recover files.

It first presents you with a wizard that, if you chose to use it, will guide you through the selection, scanning, and recovery process. Once it has scanned your drive it presents you with a list of files that were deleted– along with their recover ability in plain English! Simply select the files you need to recover and then choose to recover them and your on your way to getting back to that game of Halo with your co workers!

So why not take a second an run over and download the application and give it a shot– It’s FREE!!!

Know of a tool that you think is essential? Post a comment here and if I don’t already have it in my tool belt, I’ll add it and give it a shot. If it makes the grade– I’ll add it to the list of tools to review. The only criteria are:

1. The tool must be free, or inexpensive with a “Per User” type license. (No pay per installation licenses, please)
2. The tool (or it’s installation file) must be small enough to fit on a 256Mb flash drive for portability.
3. Command line run time options are beneficial, but not required.
4. If it has ads… it needs be truly INVALUABLE.
5. It should make the user’s job easier by gathering information or preforming a task that a typical Network or Systems Administrator would preform.

Enjoy!