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Software Deployment for Mac computers Deploying software to multiple systems is not an easy thing to do, especially when IT administrator does not have an automated software deployment tool. Also, performing tasks such as software installation and uninstallation/deletion involves lot of process that might consume IT administrator time and efforts.
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macOS, the operating system previously known as Mac OS X, is beautiful, stable, and typically attached to a $1000+ MacBook / iMac. If we want to run macOS on a Windows PC, without the very particular hardware required for Hackintosh, a Mac OS X virtual machine is the next best thing. And, best of all, it won't cost a dime. Here's how to install the latest macOS High Sierra on a VMware or Virtualbox virtual machine.
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Table of Contents
- Intel CPUs
- VMware Workstation Player
- VirtualBox
- AMD CPUs
- VMware Workstation Player
- Troubleshooting
Why run a Mac OS X virtual machine?
There are a few circumstances when a Windows user might need access to a Mac OS X installation.
One example is programmers who need to use the Apple-exclusive XCode to develop and test iOS or macOS apps.
The same goes with iMovie and Final Cut Pro for moviemakers and editors, GarageBand and Apple Logic Pro for creators and sound engineers, and more professional applications with no Windows version.
Then again, we might just be curious about Apple's operating system and want to see what the fuss is all about.
Whatever the reason, a Mac OS X virtual machine is the cheapest way to try out the latest OS from Cupertino. Cheapest as in 'free.' Sure beats buying a four-figure MacBook Pro.
In case you are not familiar with virtual machines, it's a way to emulate an entirely different computer system within our PC. For more information, you can check out our guide:
We have also covered how to create a Windows Virtual Machine, both in Windows and Linux operating systems.
Creating a Windows virtual machine is exceedingly simple. It is arguably easier than installing Windows on our PC.
However, creating a Mac OS X virtual machine is not officially supported by Apple. The company only wants to see macOS running on the Mac hardware because this is what they are selling.
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Hence, we will have to run through a couple of hoops to get the VM up and running. Nothing too complicated, though. In this guide, we will cover the creation of the virtual machine both with VMware Player and VirtualBox, for Intel and AMD processors.
Hardware requirements for a Mac OS X virtual machine
It goes without saying that running any kind virtual machine demands a relatively powerful PC for a smooth experience. After all, the hardware needs to run two operating systems simultaneously.
With a powerful enough system, we can even run virtual machines one inside the other, like Russian nesting dolls.
To begin with, we must have at least 4GB of RAM, ideally 8GB or more. The speed of RAM is not of much consequence; we are just looking for lots of it.
A multi-core CPU is also important. We should have a processor with at least four cores, 3rd gen Core i5 or equivalent. The Mac OS X virtual machine might work on a two-core CPU, but the experience will probably be less than smooth.
Of course, it's a given that our CPU must support IOMMU virtualization: VT-x for Intel and AMD-V for AMD. This is not a problem for most modern CPUs, but it doesn't hurt to check. The quickest way is to run the freeware Securable app.
Another important thing is to have virtualization activated on the BIOS/UEFI. Even with a virtualization-capable CPU, if the function is not enabled, it won't do much good. The Mac OS X virtual machine will probably not start at all, with an error message.
Check out this guide to make sure you have virtualization enabled in your BIOS/UEFI.
Finally, if our VM creator of choice is VMware Workstation Player, we will also need a 64bit version of Windows 7, 8, or 10. That is because VMware has deprecated the 32bit edition of the player since a few versions back.
After all, a 32bit operating system will only recognize 4GB of RAM, which isn't the best case scenario to run a VM.
In conclusion, we need at minimum:
- 4GB of RAM (ideally 8GB or more)
- Four-core CPU with virtualization capability
- Virtualization enabled in the BIOS/UEFI
- 64bit Windows
Newest macOS version: High Sierra 10.13
On September 25th, 2017, Apple released the latest version of macOS with the code name 'High Sierra,' which replaced the older Sierra 10.12.
However, it was not a massive upgrade from the previous version. On the contrary, mac OS High Sierra is more like a simple update, with some added features.
The company focused on video streaming, a smoother gaming experience, and data management. Furthermore, with High Sierra 10.13, the OS is more stable and responsive.
Intel CPUs
Having an Intel CPU is the easiest way to run a Mac OS X virtual machine. That is because Mac computers and laptops use Intel CPUs exclusively, and therefore the virtualization is straightforward, from a technical point of view.
Download the macOS High Sierra image
So, we have to download the Intel version of the Mac OS X virtual machine. We can find the Intel version here, courtesy of the excellent fellows at Techsviewer.
Because of the size of the file, which is 5.8GB, we might hit the Google Drive bandwidth limit for the hosting account.
We can easily bypass this restriction by signing into our Google Drive account.
In case you have never used Google Drive, it's the same account you probably have for Gmail, YouTube, or any other Google service. Or you can just create a new one.
Having signed into our account, we right-click the file and select 'Make a copy.'
Then we navigate to 'My Drive,' right-click and download the copy.
Google will throw a warning that it can't scan the file for viruses. We just download anyway. Since it is a large file, this can take a while, depending on our internet connection speed.
After a successful download, it's a good idea to remove the copy from your Google Drive. If we don't, it will take up a large part of the free 15GBs of space.
Decompress the image
Now that we have it on our computer, we notice that it is a .rar compressed file, which Windows can't open and decompress with the integrated utility.
So, we will need a third-party app. Two excellent freeware apps are 7-zip and Peazip. For this guide, we used 7-zip.
With 7-zip installed, we just need to right-click at the file, and navigate the context menu to 7-Zip -> Extract Here.
This will produce a folder with all the necessary files.
The next step is to install either the VMware Workstation Player or VirtualBox. Both apps have free versions for personal use, and both are equally capable of handling the Mac OS X virtual machine.
Which one you select is a matter of personal preference. We will present the procedure for both.
VMware Workstation Player
VMware is one of the leading companies in virtualization. Their vSphere ESXi Hypervisor is an industry standard for server virtualization.
But the company also serves the needs of the regular users, with VMware Workstation Pro and the free VMware Workstation Player.
Download and install VMware Workstation Player
At the time of this writing, the latest version of VMware Workstation Player 12 is 12.5.7, available for 64-bit Windows and Linux operating systems.
There is also a later VMware Workstation Player version 14. However, as of this writing, an essential patch to allow VMware to support the Mac OS X virtual machine is not available for v.14.
Thus, we have to stick to 12 for the time being. There is no version 13, probably VMware considered it bad luck, or was afraid its customers would do so.
Installation is easy, and it won't try to install third-party software. It's essential, though, to install VMware Workstation Player at the default path C:Program Files (x86)VMwareVMware Player.
If we change the installation folder, the patch we mentioned earlier won't work.
Optionally, we can uncheck the 'Help improve VMware Workstation 12 Player'.
The first time we run the VMware Workstation Player, it will ask us whether we have a bought license key for professional use.
To use the program for free, we just enter an email address. It doesn't even need to be valid; VMware won't request any confirmation.
Unlock VMware Player for the Mac OS X virtual machine
By default, VMware player cannot run a Mac OS X virtual machine on Windows. We need to patch the player to unlock this capability manually.
For that end, we will use the unlocker that the splendid fellows at InsanelyMac have created.
We will have to download the following file.
Versions of VMware player later than 12 will probably require a newer unlocker.
You will find the latest available here. You need to sign up to the InsanelyMac forum to download it.
After downloading the 'unlocker208.zip' file (or whichever newer version exists when you are reading this guide), make sure to open your 'Local Disk (C:)' drive..
..and extract the contents of the .zip file inside.
If you did it correctly, you will have an unlocker208 (or whichever newer version) folder in your C: drive, which will contain the patch files.
This is vital for the correct application of the patch. A few readers in the comments section had a problem running the unlocker from their D: drive, or from a path that contained spaces, e.g. 'C:My Downloadsunlocker.'
Having a single-named folder at the root of the primary local disk C: offers the highest possible compatibility.
Next, we need to make sure VMware Workstation Player is not running.
Finally, we right-click on the 'win-install' Windows command script inside the unlocker208 folder, and select 'Run as administrator.'
After we confirm this action, a command line window will come up and execute a series of commands to patch VMware Workstation Player to run a Mac OS X virtual machine.
Pay close attention to these commands, which will only be onscreen for a couple of seconds.
If you see any 'File not found' and 'the system cannot find the file specified' messages, it means that the patcher has failed. The reason probably is that you didn't install VMware Workstation Player in the default folder 'C:Program Files (x86)VMwareVMware Player.'
Success or fail, the command-line window will automatically close at the end of the process.
Create the MacOS High Sierra virtual machine
With the patch finished, we can open the VMware Workstation Player again. We proceed to create a new virtual machine.
On the first screen, we select 'I will install the operating system later.'
On the next screen, we select 'Apple Mac OS X,' and 'macOS 10.12' as the version. As of this writing and with the current 2.0.8 patch, there is no 10.13 option.
We choose a name for the virtual machine, and optionally change the location, in case our C: drive doesn't have enough storage capacity for the Mac OS X virtual machine.
Whether we leave the default location or select a different folder, it is imperative that we remember or write down the path. We will need to change the contents of a file there later on.
Finally, we leave the maximum disk size as is, and select 'Store virtual disk as a single file.'
On the last window, we will review our choices. If everything is in order, we click on 'Finish.'
Edit the virtual machine's settings
Back on the VMware Workstation Player interface, we select 'Edit virtual machine settings.'
First order of business, and if our system has at least 8GB RAM, we increase the VM's ram to 4GB (4096MB). This will help the Mac OS X virtual machine to run a lot smoother.
If our PC only has 4GB of total RAM, we can't give it all to the virtual machine. We must leave the default 2GB.
If we have a four-core i5, we must also leave the processors at '2'. With an i7, we can increase them to '4'.
Should we overdo it with the cores and assign more than our CPU has, we will get an error message.
Next, we select the 40GB Hard Disk (SATA) we created earlier, straight-up remove it, and then click on 'Add.'
We leave the first item selected, 'Hard Disk' and click 'Next.'
Leave the SATA (Recommended). Next.
On the third page of the wizard, we choose 'Use an existing virtual disk.' Next.
On the 'Select an Existing Disk' window, we click on 'Browse.'
We must now make a choice, where we want to have the Mac OS X virtual disk permanently saved. Because once we connect the disk to the virtual machine, if we move it we will have to go again through this whole process of removing and adding a drive.
Feel free to move it anywhere on the disk, even on a secondary drive.
After we move it to the desired location, we go back to VMware and choose the .vdmk file.
Finally, we press 'Finish.'
Last, but not least, we navigate to CD/DVD (SATA) and uncheck the 'Connect at power on' option.
There is only one final step before we start our Mac OS X virtual machine.
Edit the VMX file
Remember when we advised you to write down the path where we created the Mac OS X virtual machine? This is where we are going to need it.
The default path is in our Documents -> Virtual Machines, in a folder named like the virtual machine.
Inside we will find a VMware virtual machine configuration (.vmx) file, again with the name of the virtual machine. If you gave the VM a risqué name, you are probably regretting it by now.
We right-click the file and select 'Open with..'.
We click on 'More apps'..
..select Notepad and click OK.
At the bottom of the file, we paste the following line:
We save and close the file.
Starting the Mac OS X virtual machine on VMware
We are now ready to start the virtual machine, from the 'Play virtual machine' button.
We will get a couple of messages from the application, as we would on any first-run virtual machine.
Had everything gone well, we will soon see the familiar logo.
It might seem stuck near the end, but just give it a couple of minutes, and soon the set-up screen for macOS High Sierra will emerge.
Fun fact: we wrote this guide on Ubuntu Linux, running a Windows 10 virtual machine, running the Mac OS X virtual machine. A turducken of operating systems, if you will.
Later on the guide, we will see the full procedure to set up macOS High Sierra on our Mac OS X virtual machine, as well as how to install the VMware tools.
VirtualBox
The creator of VirtualBox was the German corporation Innotek GmbH, back in 2007. In 2008, Sun Microsystems acquired Innotek. In 2010 Oracle Corporation bought Sun Microsystems, and re-branded VirtualBox as 'Oracle VM VirtualBox.'
Even though it changed many hands, VirtualBox has always been a popular virtualization application, with numerous features. All in all, a worthy opponent to VMware's free solution.
So, if you are already using VirtualBox and prefer it instead of VMware Workstation Player, here's how to install a Mac OS X virtual machine when you have an Intel CPU.
Download and install VirtualBox
We will find the latest VirtualBox version here. As of this writing, the current version is 5.1.30.
The installation is dead simple, and won't try to force upon us any unwanted third-party applications. Just click on 'Next-next-next.'
Create the MacOS High Sierra virtual machine on VirtualBox
After the installation, we open the program and select 'New.'
On the pop-up window, we choose a name for the virtual machine. Just to make things easier, we went for 'macOS.' On 'Type' we choose 'Mac OS X, ' and as for the version, we have to select 'macOS 10.13 High Sierra (64-bit).'
On the next screen, if we have the RAM to spare, we allocate at least 4096MB RAM.
Finally, on the last screen, we choose the last option, to use an existing hard disk drive. We then click on the folder icon and navigate to where we extracted the Virtual Machine Disk Format (.vmdk) file, and open it.
With the right virtual disk selected, we click on 'Create.'
Edit virtual machine settings
With our new Mac OS X virtual machine selected, we click on 'Settings.'
At the 'System' section, we uncheck the Floppy drive from the boot order and make sure the Chipset is IHC9.
On the 'Processor' tab, we allocate two Processors, or more if we have a Core i7 CPU with threads to spare.
At the 'Display' section, we set the maximum Video Memory of 128MB.
On the 'Network' section, we make sure the options are as follows:
Finally, we go back to 'General' and write down the exact name we gave to the virtual machine because we are going to need it.
We save the changes with OK and close VirtualBox completely. It is vital that Virtualbox isn't running for the next part of the guide.
Adding some code
Up until now, the procedure for the Mac OS X virtual machine on VirtualBox was more or less the same as with any other type of virtual machine.
Alas, for the Mac OS X virtual machine to work, we need to add some code, which might scare people who don't have much experience with that.
Not to worry, though. The task is simple. First, we open a Windows command line, with administrator privileges. In any version of Windows, the way to do that is to search for CMD, right-click 'Command Prompt' and select 'Run as Administrator.'
Then, we just copy the following code, paste it into the command prompt, and press Enter.
We do the same with the following lines of code, one by one. Every command is in a single line.
If you gave a name different than macOS to your virtual machine on the 'General' section, you must also replace it on each of the following commands.
After we have successfully entered all the commands, without any errors, we can close the command line, open VirtualBox and start the Mac OS X virtual machine.
At first, it will show some code..
..then a gray screen for a few seconds, and finally the macOS High Sierra installation.
Later on the guide, we will see the full procedure to set up macOS High Sierra on our Mac OS X virtual machine.
AMD CPUs
As we mentioned, the fact that Apple computers exclusively use Intel CPUs makes it harder to run a Mac OS X virtual machine on an AMD CPU.
Harder, but not impossible. Although there is no High Sierra version yet, we managed to find a macOS Sierra machine on AMD-OSX.com that will work on AMD and tried it with an FX 6300 CPU.
The same method is supposed to work on the latest Ryzen CPUs, but we didn't have a sample machine to try it. As for older processors, it will only work on AMD CPUs that support SSE 4.1 or SSE 4.2 instructions.
We can check this on CPU-World, by inputting our CPU model in the search box.
On the results, we just need to check the Features. If we find SSE 4.1 or SSE 4.2, we 're golden.
To download the Sierra machine, visit this link. At the bottom of the first message, you will find a zip file and a Dropbox link. The compressed file contains a torrent, to download the machine.
Since the file is quite large (almost 7GB), we chose the torrent method, but you can pick whichever fits you best.
Once we download it, we have to decompress it in our desired location and move onto the next step.
VMware Workstation Player
This time we won't need to apply any patches to VMware Workstation Player, opposed to Intel's method we described above.
Thus, we can use VMware version 14, which is the latest. We can find it here.
If you already have version 12, you can still follow the steps below; there is no need to upgrade VMware.
Create a new virtual machine
We will start by creating a new virtual machine.
Choose 'I will install the operating system later' and press Next.
On the next screen, tick 'Other' and pick 'Other 64-bit' respectively.
Here, we can give our machine the desired name and choose a location. Hit Next once again.
Store virtual disk as a single file..
..and click on 'Customize Hardware.'
We advise you to use at least 50-65% of your available RAM and two CPU cores. For example, if you have 8GB RAM as we do, go for 4GB on the virtual machine.
In the end, we press Finish.
Add the hard drive
Now it's time to add our virtual drive. Click on 'Edit virtual machine settings.'
Remove the Hard Disk (IDE) and add a new drive.
Choose 'Hard Disk > SATA > Use an existing virtual disk.'
Next, hit Browse and locate the file you downloaded from amd-osx.com. You should move the file to your desired location before you pick it. If you decide to move it afterward, you'll have to add it again on the virtual machine.
Then, press Finish.
If we have VMware 14, the program will ask to convert the image to the newest format. We press Convert, except if we want it to be compatible with older versions of VMware.
Finally, we press OK.
We can now start the engine. We will be greeted by a black screen, where we need to press any button to continue.
On the next screen, we hit Enter.
We'll see another black screen with some running code for a few minutes.
No matter how long it takes, we wait patiently. Even if it appears to be stuck, give it at least 10 minutes before you try to restart the machine.
At the end of this process, macOS Sierra will eventually show up. We can now move on to the first time set up.
Setting up macOS High Sierra
The hard part is long gone. At this point, no matter which way we chose to create the Mac OS X virtual machine, we should be on the Welcome screen.
We select our country and click on 'Continue.' If we can't find our country, we can check the 'Show All' checkbox.
We can also choose a different keyboard layout, or leave the default US.
Given that we went through all this trouble to create a Mac OS X virtual machine, it's a safe guess that we don't have another Mac device to transfer information.
We can sign in with our Apple ID if we have one and feel like it, but we can always skip this step and continue.
After reading the Software License Agreement, in its entirety of course, if we agree, we proceed.
We select a name and an account name. If we didn't use our Apple ID, we need to create a password as well.
We choose our time zone..
..and continue with the express set up.
We can optionally choose the Customize Settings, to tweak the location and diagnostic options. We might want to uncheck the options to send information to Apple. After all, working on a Mac OS X virtual machine, we are far from the typical macOS user.
That's it. Our Mac OS X virtual machine with macOS is ready.
Install VMware tools for Mac OS X
Everything seems perfect on the Mac OS X virtual machine, but even on a powerful computer, the mouse pointer might seem 'heavy' to drag. This is easy to fix, by installing VMware tools.
First, we must download this file as a ZIP, and extract its contents.
From the VMware Workstation Player menu we select Player > Removable Devices > CD/DVD (SATA) > Settings..
On the next window, we choose 'Use ISO image file' and click on Browse.
We navigate to All Tool (new) folder that we downloaded, pick the VM Tool.iso and click Open.
Check the 'Connected' box.
Now, double click on VMware Tools disk on the upper right corner.
Double-click on Install VMware Tools.
Press Continue..
..and Install.
The installation will ask for our account's password.
We confirm our request.
Finally, the VMware Tools installation is over, and we need to restart our PC.
Now, the Mac OS X Virtual machine will run much smoother.
Troubleshooting
Running a Mac OS X virtual machine is not free of problems, and we may encounter one or more of the following.
Mac OS X option missing in VMware
If we can't find the 'Apple Mac OS X' option when creating a virtual machine..
..it means that we didn't install the patch correctly. We need to rerun the patcher, always as an administrator, and pay attention for any error messages.
Free Software Installation Tool
Error message: Mac OS X is not supported with binary translation
If when starting the Mac OS X virtual machine we get the message 'Mac OS X is not supported with binary translation'..
..we need to activate the virtualization in our BIOS/UEFI.
Unrecoverable error on VMware
If we get a 'VMware Player unrecoverable error: (vcpu-0)' error..
..then we didn't edit the VMX file correctly, adding..
..at the bottom of it, or we failed to save the file after adding the line.
Endless code lines on VirtualBox
If VirtualBox doesn't seem to move on the first boot, then we might have failed to enter the commands correctly.
Repeat the command line part of the guide and try again.
Did you like the Mac OS X virtual machine?
A virtual machine might not be the real thing - it is, after all, an operating system running on top of our operating system. But, on a powerful computer, it can be pretty close.
Did you like your new Mac OS X virtual machine? Did it work well on your PC and were you able to run the Mac OS X exclusive software you always wanted? Leave us a comment.
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Many free data recovery programs exist that can help recover your accidentally deleted files. These file recovery programs can help you recover, or 'undelete' files on your computer.
Files you have deleted are often still present on your hard drive (or USB drive, media card, smartphone, etc.) and can be recovered using free data recovery software.
Data recovery software is just one way to go. See How to Recover Deleted Files for a complete tutorial, including how to avoid common pitfalls during the file recovery process.
Undelete files you thought were gone forever with any one of these freeware data recovery tools including document, video, images, video, music/audio files, and more.
of 20
Recuva
What We Like
- Portable option is available
- Lots of advanced options
- A wizard walkthrough makes it easy to use
- Works on most Windows operating systems
Recuva is the very best free data recovery software tool available, hands down. It's very easy to use but has many optional advanced features as well.
Recuva can recover files from hard drives, external drives (USB drives, etc.), BD/DVD/CD discs, and memory cards. Recuva can even undelete files from your iPod!
Undeleting a file with Recuva is as easy as deleting one! I highly recommend that you try Recuva first if you need to recover a file.
Recuva will undelete files in Windows 10, Windows 8 & 8.1, 7, Vista, XP, Server 2008/2003, and older Windows versions like 2000, NT, ME and 98. 64-bit Windows versions are also supported. There is also a 64-bit version Recuva available.
Piriform provides both an installable and a portable version of Recuva. I tested file recovery with Recuva v1.53.1087 using their portable version on Windows 8.1.
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Puran File Recovery
What We Like
- Two ways to view the list of deleted files
- Supports running as a portable version
- Scans NTFS and FAT12/16/32 file systems
- It's easy to see whether the file can be recovered well
What We Don't Like
- Free for home use only, not commercial/business
- Hasn't been updated since 2016
Puran File Recovery is one of the better free data recovery programs I've seen. It's very easy to use, will scan any drive that Windows sees, and has a lot of advanced options if you need them.
One particular thing to note is that Puran File Recovery identified more files on my test machine than most other tools, so be sure to give this one a shot in addition to Recuva if it didn't find what you were looking for.
Puran File Recovery will even recover lost partitions if they haven't been overwritten yet.
Puran File Recovery works with Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP. It's also available in a portable form for both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows, so it doesn't require installation.
of 20
Disk Drill
What We Like
- Organizes deleted files by category for easier viewing
- Lets you filter the results by size and/or date
- Supports a quick scan and a deep scan mode
- Works with several different file systems
What We Don't Like
- Lets you recover only 500 MB of data
- Has to be installed to the HDD (no portable version)
- You can't see how recoverable a file is before restoration
Disk Drill is an excellent free data recovery program not only because of its features but also due to the very simple design, making it almost impossible to get confused.
According to their website, Disk Drill can recover data (up to 500 MB) from 'virtually any storage device,' such as internal and external hard drives, USB devices, memory cards, and iPods.
Disk Drill can also preview files before recovering them, pause scans and resume them later, perform partition recovery, back up an entire drive, filter files by date or size, run a quick scan versus a full scan for faster results, and save scan results so you can easily import them again to recovery deleted files at a later time.
Disk Drill works with Windows 10, 8, and 7, as well as macOS 10.10 and newer.
Pandora Recovery was another file recovery program but it now exists as Disk Drill. If you're looking for that program, you can find the last released version on Softpedia.
of 20
Glary Undelete
What We Like
- Explains very clearly whether the file will recover fully
- The download file is small
- Viewing the list of deleted files is easy and user friendly
What We Don't Like
- The program hasn't updated in a long time
- Can't be used portably, so you have to install it
- Setup attempts to install another program with Glary Undelete
Glary Undelete is an excellent free file recovery program. It's very easy to use and has one of the better user interfaces that I've seen.
The biggest advantages in Glary Undelete include the easy 'Folders' view, a Explorer-style view of recoverable files, and a prominent 'State' indication for each file, suggesting how likely a successful file recovery will be.
One disadvantage of Glary Undelete is that installation is required before you can use it. Another is that you're asked to install a toolbar, but you can, of course, decline if you don't want it. Aside from those facts, Glary Undelete is top notch.
Benchmark tool & machine inc. Glary Undelete can recover files from hard drives and any removable media you might have including memory cards, USB drives, etc.
Glary Undelete is said to work in Windows 7, Vista, and XP, but it also works fine in Windows 10, Windows 8, and versions older than Windows XP. I tested Glary Undelete v5.0 in Windows 7.
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SoftPerfect File Recovery
What We Like
- It's really easy to use
- Works from any portable location like a flash drive
- You can search for deleted files by file extension and file name
- Lets you restore more than one file simultaneously
What We Don't Like
- Supports only two file systems (however, they are the most popular)
- You can't preview an image file before restoring it
- Unlike most file recovery tools, this one doesn't let you see how successful the file recovery will be
SoftPerfect File Recovery is another superb file undelete program. It's very easy to search for recoverable files. Anyone should be able to use this program with very little trouble.
SoftPerfect File Recovery will undelete files from hard drives, memory cards, etc. Any device on your PC that stores data (except for your CD/DVD drive) should be supported.
SoftPerfect File Recovery is a small, 500 KB, standalone file, making the program very portable. Feel free to run File Recovery from a USB drive or floppy disk. Scroll down a bit on the download page to find it.
Windows 8, 7, Vista, XP, Server 2008 & 2003, 2000, NT, ME, 98, and 95 are all supported. According to SoftPerfect, 64-bit versions of Windows operating systems are also supported.
I tested SoftPerfect File Recovery v1.2 in Windows 10 without any issues.
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EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard
What We Like
- You can back up the scan results to restore files later without having to rescan the whole drive
- Works on Windows and macOS
- Lets you sort files by file type, date it was removed, and name
- File recovery is easy because you can browse the folders like you would in Explorer
- Supports previewing files prior to restoration
What We Don't Like
- Only 500 MB of data can be recovered
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard is another great file undelete program. Recovering files is very easy to do with just a few clicks.
My favorite aspect of EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard is that the user interface is structured much like Windows Explorer. While that may not be everyone's ideal way to display files, it's a very familiar interface that most people are comfortable with.
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard will undelete files from hard drives, optical drives, memory cards, iOS devices, and pretty much anything else that Windows sees as a storage device. It also does partition recovery!
Please know that Data Recovery Wizard will only recover a total of 500 MB of data before you'll need to upgrade (or up to 2 GB if you use the share button in the program to post about the software on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+).
I almost didn't include this program because of that limitation but since most situations call for undeleting much less than that, I'll let it slide.
Data Recovery Wizard supports Mac and Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP, as well as Windows Server 2012, 2008, and 2003.
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Wise Data Recovery
What We Like
- Scans for deleted files quickly
- Colored circles make it easy to quickly see whether a file will have a good or poor chance at recovering fully
- There's a portable option
- Works with Windows 10 through XP
What We Don't Like
- When undeleting files, the original folder structure is not retained
- Doesn't work on Mac or Linux
Wise Data Recovery is a free undelete program that's really simple to use.
The program installed very quickly and scanned my PC in record time. Wise Data Recovery can scan various USB devices like memory cards and other removal devices.
An instant search function makes it really quick and easy to search for deleted files that Wise Data Recovery has found. A Recoverability column shows the likelihood of a file being recovered with Good, Poor, Very Poor, or Lost. Just right-click to restore a file.
Wise Data Recovery works with Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP. There's also a portable version available.
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Restoration
What We Like
- Really easy to use
- Portable program
- Several ways to sort the results
- Can search for empty deleted files
- Lets you overwrite the deleted data
What We Don't Like
- Supports up to Windows XP (officially; but still works on some newer OSs)
- Doesn't work in Windows 8
- Can't restore a whole folder at once, just single files
- Doesn't say how recoverable the file is before you restore it
The Restoration data recovery program is similar to the other free undelete apps on this list.
The thing I like most about Restoration is how incredibly simple it is to recover files. There are no cryptic buttons or complicated file recovery procedures — everything you need is on one, easy to understand program window.
Restoration can recover files from hard drives, memory cards, USB drives, and other external drives.
Like some of the other popular data recovery tools on this list, Restoration is small and does not need to be installed, giving it the flexibility to be run from a floppy disk or USB drive.
Restoration is said to support Windows Vista, XP, 2000, NT, ME, 98, and 95. I successfully tested it with Windows 10 and Windows 7, and didn't run into any problems. However, v3.2.13 didn't work for me in Windows 8.
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FreeUndelete
What We Like
- Can undelete files from a variety of storage devices
- Simple user interface that isn't hard to understand
- There's a portable option
- Helpful filtering and sorting options
- Restores entire folders at once, as well as single or multiple files
- Lets you know how successful the recovery will be before starting
What We Don't Like
- Works for home users only, not business/commercial settings
FreeUndelete is self-explanatory — it's free and it undeletes files! It's very similar to other undelete utilities around this rank on our list.
The major advantage of FreeUndelete is it's easy to use interface and 'folder drill down' functionality (i.e. files available for recovery are not shown in a big, unmanageable listing).
FreeUndelete will recover files from hard drives, memory cards, and other similar storage devices in, or connected to, your PC.
FreeUndelete works on Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP.
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ADRC Data Recovery Tools
What We Like
- Extremely small file size
- Works from any portable location (doesn't need to be installed)
- Really simple user interface that's easy to grasp
What We Don't Like
- Doesn't work in Windows 10 or Windows 8
- Hasn't been updated since 2008
ADRC Data Recovery Tools is another great, free file recovery program. File recovery with this program is uncomplicated and could probably be accomplished by the average computer user without any kind of documentation.
ADRC Data Recovery Tools should be able to undelete files from any non-CD/DVD storage device like memory cards and USB drives, as well as hard drives, of course.
ADRC Data Recovery Tools is a standalone, 132 KB program making it a very portable data recovery tool that will easily fit on any removable media you might have.
Data Recovery Tools officially supports Windows XP, 2000, and 95 but I successfully tested data recovery with this program on Windows Vista and Windows 7.
I also tested ADRC Data Recovery Tools v1.1 in Windows 8 and 10 but was unable to get it to work.
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CD Recovery Toolbox
What We Like
- Designed specifically to undelete files from discs
- Program is simple to use
- Supports several Windows operating systems
What We Don't Like
- Won't recover files from hard drives (because it isn't built for that purpose)
CD Recovery Toolbox is a completely free and very unique file recovery program. CD Recovery Toolbox is designed to recover files from damaged or corrupted optical drive discs — CD, DVD, Blu-Ray, HD DVD, etc.
According to the publisher, CD Recovery Toolbox should help recover files from discs that have been scratched, chipped, or have surface spotting.
One obvious con is the inability of CD Recovery Toolbox to recover files from hard drives or portable media drives. However, the program isn't designed to do that so I haven't held that fact against it.
CD Recovery Toolbox works in Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, XP, Server 2003, 2000, NT, ME and 98. I tested CD Recovery Toolbox successfully in Windows 7.
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UndeleteMyFiles Pro
What We Like
- Walks you through a short wizard to undelete files
- Includes a unique feature that lets you restore deleted files from a system backup
- Lets you browse the deleted files in two view modes
- The search tool supports searching for deleted files by attribute, size, etc.
- Also lets you delete files permanently
What We Don't Like
- Doesn't work as advertised in Windows 10
- The recoverability state of the file isn't shown, so you don't know whether it will be usable upon recovery
UndeleteMyFiles Pro is another free file recovery program. Don't let the name fool you — it's entirely free even though it says 'Pro.'
Tree View and Detailed View are the two viewing perspectives you can choose from. You can also preview files, which sounds nice, but all it does is restores the data to a temporary folder and then opens it.
Emergency Disk Image is one of the included tools in UndeleteMyFiles Pro. This tool takes a snapshot of your entire computer, places all the data in one file, and then lets you work through that file to find deleted data that you want to restore. This is very handy because after the image file has been made, you don't need to worry that new data written to your hard drive will replace any important deleted files.
There's a nice search option in UndeleteMyFiles Pro that lets you search by file location, type, size, and attributes.
Something I really didn't like about UndeleteMyFiles Pro is that the recovery process doesn't tell you if a file is in a good state of being recoverable like most of the other software in this list.
I tested UndeleteMyFiles Pro in Windows 8 and XP, and it worked as advertised, so it should also work in other versions of Windows. However, I also tested v3.1 in Windows 10 and found that it didn't work as it should.
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MiniTool Power Data Recovery
What We Like
- Has a clean, modern interface
- Undeletes files from several types of storage devices
- Scans for deleted files quickly
- You can recover multiple folders simultaneously
- The scan for deleted files can be paused midway
What We Don't Like
- No portable option
- Recovers no more than 1 GB for free
Unlike some of the other file recovery programs from this list, Power Data Recovery needs to be installed to your computer before you're able to use it. This isn't the best way to work with this type of software because the install may overwrite your deleted files and make them less likely to be recoverable.
Another downside to Power Data Recovery is that you can only recover 1 GB of data before you have to upgrade to a paid version.
However, I do like the fact that the program finds deleted files quickly and that you can recover files from both internal drives and USB devices. Also, Power Data Recovery lets you search among the deleted data, recover more than one folder or file at once, export the list of deleted files to a text file, pause or stop the scan when you find what you need, and filter the files by name, extension, size, and/or date.
Power Data Recovery works in Windows 10, 8, 7, and older versions all all the way through Windows 95, plus Windows Server 2008 and 2003. I tested this version of Power Data Recovery in Windows 10.
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TOKIWA DataRecovery
What We Like
- The program is really simple to use
- Recovers data from several storage mediums
- Portable, with a tiny file size
What We Don't Like
- The program interface isn't the most attractive
- Doesn't officially support Windows 10 or Windows 8 (though it works in both)
TOKIWA DataRecovery is an effective data recovery program and is very similar to many others on my list.
The best thing TOKIWA DataRecovery has going for it is its ease of use. It has a single program window where you can scan for files to recover, sort the files, and undelete them. There are no complicated procedures at all.
TOKIWA DataRecovery can recover files from hard drives, memory cards, USB drives, and other external drives.
TOKIWA DataRecovery is a standalone, 412 KB file, making it a completely portable tool suitable for a USB drive or floppy disk.
DataRecovery officially supports Windows 7, Vista, XP, 2003, 2000, NT, ME, 98, and 95. However, I tested TOKIWA DataRecovery with Windows 10 and Windows 8, too, and it works just as advertised.
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PC Inspector File Recovery
What We Like
- Works for most storage drives and file systems
- Several sorting options to fine-tune the results
- Includes a 'special recovery function' to undelete files other programs can't
What We Don't Like
- Takes a while to complete a scan
- The program isn't as easy to use as similar software
- Has troubles running in Windows 10
PC Inspector File Recovery is another good free file recovery program with an arguably 'deeper' search for deleted files than other similar undelete programs.
PC Inspector File Recovery can recover files from most hard drives, external drives, and memory cards.
I'd recommend trying PC Inspector File Recovery only if another, higher rated data recovery program didn't do the job for you. The not-so-easy-to-use interface and long hard drive scan times keep this file recovery app out of the Top 10.
PC Inspector File Recovery officially supports Windows XP, 2000, NT, ME, and 98. However, I tested PC Inspector File Recovery in Windows 8 and it ran as advertised. I also tested v4 in Windows 10 but it didn't work correctly.
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iBoysoft Data Recovery Free
What We Like
- Installs quickly
- Walks you through a short wizard to restore files
- Very minimal design
- Lets you recover the file to any folder of your choosing
- Supports a quick scan and a deep scan mode
- Results of a scan can be saved to an SR file
What We Don't Like
- Limits data recovery to 1 GB
- Must be installed to the drive (no portable option)
- Doesn't show the health of the file before you restore it
Another free data recovery program is available from iBoysoft. This one is severely limited in that it can recover only 1 GB of data, but if you need to undelete just a few files, or even a video or collection of music, you're probably fine being limited to 1 GB.
iBoysoft Data Recovery Free starts off by having you select the hard drive to scan, and then shows all the deleted files in a regular folder structure like you see above. You can browse through them much like you can in Explorer, and easily select the files you want to restore.
Besides being able to filter the results by file extension and search by file name, the only other thing you can do before recovering a file is preview it, but only if it's smaller than 5 MB.
When you exit the results screen, you have the opportunity to save the results to an SR file that you can later reopen in iBoysoft Data Recovery Free to work out of the same list of deleted files. This is great so that you don't have to rescan the drive to continue sifting through the results.
This program works on Windows 10 and older versions of Windows, and it's also available for Mac computers.
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Orion File Recovery Software
What We Like
- Shows a file's 'recovery potential' to know whether the undelete will be successful
- Lets you run a scan for specific file types or all types
- Scans many types of storage devices
- Also deletes data permanently
What We Don't Like
- Setup might try to install unrelated programs
Orion File Recovery Software is a free file recovery program from NCH Software that's basically the same as most of the other programs in this list.
A nice wizard prompts you to scan for specific file types at the launch of the program, like documents, images, videos, music, or a custom file type. You can also scan the entire drive to search for all file types.
Orion File Recovery Software can scan any attached hard drive, whether internal or external, flash drives, and memory cards for deleted data. Then you can search through the files with an instant search function, while easily identifying the recovery potential of each file.
A nice addition to Orion File Recovery Software also functions as a data destruction program, so you can scrub all the files it finds to make them unrecoverable for future scans.
Orion File Recovery Software works with Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP.
The setup tool might try to install other NCH Software programs along with the file undelete tool, but just deselect those options if you wish not to install them.
Install Mac Software On Windows
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BPlan Data Recovery
What We Like
- Recovers files from regular hard drives and cameras
- Walks you through a wizard to recover deleted files
What We Don't Like
Software Installing Tool For Mac Stuck
- Outdated, unappealing interface
- Not as easy to use as other data recovery tools
- Might not install correctly
- Supports a limited number of file formats
BPlan Data Recovery is a file recovery program like the others in this list. It may not look as nice as similar software, but it can recover many different types of deleted files.
I found BPlan Data Recovery to be a bit difficult to navigate around. It was hard to know what I was doing because of the layout of the results. That said, it still managed to find and recover images, documents, videos, and other file types.
I tested BPlan Data Recovery in Windows XP but it also works in Windows 10, 8, 7, and Vista.
While testing this program, the desktop shortcut the installer created was incorrect, and therefore didn't open BPlan Data Recovery. You might need to open bplan.exe in this folder to make it work: 'C:Program Files (x86)BPlan data recovery.'
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Stellar Data Recovery Free Edition
What We Like
- Steps you through a wizard
- Lets you choose where to restore the data
- Installs quickly
- Preview documents and images before recovery
What We Don't Like
- Limits recovery to just 1 GB total
- Can't undelete any file over 25 MB (unless you pay)
- Poorly designed search tool
- No portable option
- Must restore files to a separate hard drive
This free data recovery tool from Stellar is easy to use because it walks you through a simple wizard where you select what and where to search for deleted files.
A unique feature in this program is the preview option you have while the scan is taking place. You can watch, in real time, which files the program finds before the scan completes.
Something else we like about Stellar's free file recovery program is that when you exit the results screen, you're given the option to save the list of deleted files so that you can resume recovering them later.
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PhotoRec
Automated Software Installation Tool
What We Like
- Undeletes files from all types of storage devices
- Works on Windows, Linux, and macOS
What We Don't Like
- Too easy to recover files you don't want to undelete
- No graphical user interface
The free PhotoRec file recovery tool does the job but it isn't nearly as easy to use as other programs in this list.
PhotoRec is limited by its command-line interface and multiple step recovery process. However, my greatest problem with PhotoRec is that it's very difficult to avoid recovering all deleted files at once, not just the one or two you're after.
PhotoRec can recover files from hard drives, optical drives, and memory cards. PhotoRec should be able to undelete files from any storage device on your PC.
If another data recovery program hasn't worked, give PhotoRec a try. I just don't recommend making it your first pick.
PhotoRec officially supports Windows 7, Vista, XP, Server 2008, 2003, 2000, NT, ME, 98, and 95, as well as macOS and Linux. I tested PhotoRec in Windows 7.
PhotoRec is downloaded as part of the TestDisk software, but you'll want to still open the file called photorec_win (on Windows) to run it.
Best Software Installation Tool
'Why have you only included 20 free data recovery programs?'
True, there are many more file recovery programs than those listed above, but I've only included true freeware file recovery programs that also undelete wide ranges of files. I didn't include file recovery programs that are shareware/free trials, nor ones that won't undelete reasonably sized files.
How To Download Mac Software
If you still need help with a file recovery issue, see my Get More Help page. I'm also happy to hear your thoughts on additions or changes to this list.