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The files I recovered don't open, why?
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Last Updated
27th of February, 2009

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Perhaps they are incomplete or fragmented, which has caused them to be corrupt.

Possible Causes of Corrupt Data

1. Deleted files become fragmented when the space the file occupies is not contiguous. When you delete a file, you also delete it's mapping used by the file system to locate all the fragments of the file, if that file was spread our over multiple sectors on your storage device. When recovering deleted files, Boomerang is forced to assume that the file is not fragmented, and will attempt to guess the file length and location of each file fragment. Deleted files are the most difficult files to recover intact. If you are recovering deleted files, then we suggest that you try Boomerang in demo mode and get a free activation number to recover for free some of the deleted data prior to purchase, to see what the results of your recovery will be.

2. Incorrect Recovery Method Used
Depending on the cause of data loss, one recovery method may yield better results than another. How can you know what one to use? The best way is to try them each to see what gives you the best results of data. Then, you can either get a free activation number to save for free, or, buy a small activation number, which can then be used to upgrade to a regular activation number, or refunded under our guarantee program.

3. If a RAID array..
Then you either have a bad stripe, or misconfigured array. You need to rebuild your stripe (without initializing or formatting the stripe!) and then scan again. If you've changed the drive order (perhaps you changed the cable order of drive 0 to drive 1) then you must put the array in the same order it was, or the data will be out of sequence.
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