Hi, and welcome to Boomerang Data Recovery Software! I'm Adam Yates, the founder and developer of Boomerang, and I've created this quick guide to help you along with my program.
Quick Links:
Boomerang Support
Your Account
Once you open Boomerang, Boomerang will begin enumerating hardware componets.
NOTE: IF YOU'RE RECOVERING DELETED FILES, DO NOT SAVE ANY DATA TO THE DISK BEING RECOVERED!
This is critical, as you can very easily overwrite the very files you're trying to recover! You've been warned...
Once this process is done, you will see the main screen:
If you're an advanced user, click on the "Advanced Options" button.
To register Boomerag, click on the "Register" button on the top. If you haven't purchased Boomerang, click on "Buy Now". If at any time you need help, click the "Help" button.
At any point, you can activate your copy of Boomerang by entering the key that was provided during purchase. A single-user license of Boomerang can only be used on one computer at a time. Once you enter your activation code, this computer will register itself with the Activation Server and be authorized to save the files. To keep dishonest people from sharing my software, and to prevent piracy, in order to use the software on another computer you'll have to de-authorize the current computer before you can save from the other. To manage your licenses, login to your account at www.boomdrs.com/account. Want to save data from multiple computers? Site licenses offer greater flexibility. Ask support for details about site licenses.
3. Drive Selection and Scan Type
Now select the disk or partition you would like to recover.
3.1 File Types Scan
On some recovery types, you will be presented with a dialog that asks if you want to perform a 'File Types' scan along with your recovery. If you are looking for deleted data, you will be performing this step and will not see this dialog. If you're asked this question, it's up to you to include deleted files as part of your recovery. Adding this will increase the amount of time it takes to complete the scan, and would be a waste of your time if you're simply recovering a lost or damaged partition. This option is very useful for finding lost and deleted files which can't be found with the traditional recovery methods above, so if you do choose a partition or volume recovery and no files are found, then you can try again, but search for file types the second time around.
If you click yes, then you will have options on what file types you would like to recover. On the File Types screen, you will see a list of pre-made file signatures. A 'signature' is a profile of a type of file. If you're looking, for example, Adobe Acrobat files then selecting that item will recover all of those types if files Boomerang found during the scan.
Chose the maximum file size to look for on a deleted file. If you have files that have been deleted that are larger than 10MB, then you must increase this setting, otherwise you can leave it as is.
Click this to add a specific file type.
Your file type is not listed? No problem. Boomerang can scan existing file types and add them for you. The pre-requisites of this are five unique files of the same type and creator. In other words, if want to recover a file made by an application that's not listed, then you'll need at least five unique (you can't copy and paste the same file over and over) files that Boomerang can use as a template in order to create that type for you.
Once that's done, you'll see your new file type in the list, and you may select it and continue. If your file is not listed, then you need to get five more of the type and try again. The reason the file is not added is that there are not enough unique characteristics about the file to make a signature. If you still can't create the signature, we may be able to make on manually. There is a fee for this, feel free to contact me at the Support center for assistance
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4. Scanning
Scanning. Please wait until it's complete. How long will this take? It's dependent upon three things:
1. The speed of your computer.
2. The amount of memory it has.
3. An error free device. Any read errors will increase the time of the scan. If you want to fix that, then get a copy of the device (copy the bad to a new), and start your scan over again. There are many hard drive copy utilities available, you can Google for them. Below you can see I'm scanning my 70gig hard drive, and it's quite fast. As the scan progresses you'll see the amount if files and folders found. You can cancel anytime and see the results of the scan, but beware, canceling early may result in some of the data on the device not being found and shown to you.
Here's the dialog you'll see if you decide to end the scan. You can end it at any time, but not all the data on the device will be listed.
5. Recovery
Alright, you're just about to saving your data! Next step is to select the data you want to recover. If it was me, I'd put a check mark next to the root device (the highest level item in the list) which selects ALL the data to save. You're certainly able to pick through the files and folders and save just what you want.
5.1 Results Filter and File Search
These controls at the top of the File Selection let you filter the results. Lost files shows deleted files and regular are files that would normally be available to the operating system. In other words, 'regular' files are what you would have seen had you not had to do a recovery, and 'lost' are what you would not have seen, such as in the case of a deleted file (once it's deleted, you can't see it any more).
You can also use the search tool to help you locate a file by name. If the list of files you have are from a Deleted File or Initialized (formatted) drive scan, then your files may or may not have the actual file names, but instead file types. In this case you won't find the search tool too useful.
5.2 Preview Options
Theres a preview option on the top if you wish you preview an image.
6. Conclusion
Now all you have to do is click 'Save Selected Files' and you're done! Be sure to have a place to save your data, and DO NOT try to save the data the same place you're recovering it from! This concludes the guide.
Thanks again, I appreciate your business!
Cheers,
Adam