Software : Round up: The best free file recovery software 2016

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• Round up: The best free file recovery software 2016
• Downloads: Download of the day: StudioLine Photo Basic
• Android Pay will give you free coffee and London travel next month
• Round up: The best free WinZip alternative 2016

Round up: The best free file recovery software 2016 Posted: Download the best free recovery software The best free file recovery software File recovery can be an expensive business, which is why it's no substitute for backing up your key documents, photos and other data on a regular basis. But that's of little comfort to anyone – even those with good backup regimens – who suddenly find themselves confronted by the stomach-churning feeling of data loss. As soon as you've become aware of data loss, it's critical you stop using the drive affected immediately. Whether the drive itself is failing or you've simply deleted a file accidentally, this is the golden moment when you may be able to get your data back without an expensive purchase or trip to a data recovery specialist. We've cherry-picked five of the best free data recovery tools in the business. Just pick the one closest to your requirements and with a bit of luck (and no small measure of help from the app involved), you could yet save your files. 1. DMDE Free Edition The most effective way to recover files from a dead hard drive Our favourite free file recovery tool is often overlooked. DMDE Free Edition scores major points because it's capable of recovering data from a wide array of drives, including 2TB+ drives rescued from a fried external drive enclosure with proprietary formatting (it's a long story). DMDE may not be the simplest tool to use, but it's one of the most effective, and our step-by-step file recovery guide will help you with the basics. DMDE works by letting you select a drive and then identifies all mountable partitions, with the most obvious choices highlighted. If successful, you're then shown a File Explorer-like view to browse the drive and recover what data you need from it. There are restrictions on the way you can recover data from the free version, but there's no limit to how much you recover. If you want a simpler and faster recovery process, just upgrade to the Express or Standard edition. Read on to discover four more of our favourite tools for recovering lost data in an emergency. Have we missed a program that's saved your skin in a near-disaster? Let us know in the comments below! 2. Recuva Recover files accidentally deleted from your Recycle Bin, quickly and easily Recuva is purely concerned with helping you get accidentally deleted files back, but to this end it makes things as easy and stress-free as possible. It opens by default to a file recovery wizard, which advanced users can subsequently skip: from here, choose the type of file you're trying to recover (picture, documents, compressed, emails and all files are among those on offer) and it'll focus its search accordingly. You can target your search to a specific location or search all your drives, and you can opt to choose a quick or deep scan. The latter takes much longer, but flushes out more results. Then click 'Start' and wait for the scan to complete. Once done, your results are presented, with each recovered file given a rating depending on its condition. You can recover files direct from here or switch to Advanced Mode for a frankly better view, offering file preview, information and a peek at the file's header. Recuva is also available as a portable app - essential for any emergency toolkit. 3. PhotoRec Recover lost files from any media, with support for hundreds of file formats Don't be fooled by the name, PhotoRec recovers far more than just photos. It works with a wide range of file systems and media, from hard drives to CD/DVD, USB flash drives and memory cards, and there are builds for Mac and Linux, giving you flexibility to recover data from a different computer if necessary. It also has deep knowledge of over 200 file formats, which helps with reconstructing lost files, and comes packaged with TestDisk, which can be used to recover partitions. The main complication is the user interface – it's a command line affair, with no mouse support. At first glance this appears complicated, but the program steps you through the process via a series of menu screens, and because it mounts the target drive in read-only mode, there's no danger of data being lost if you take a wrong turn – you can't write data to the drive you're recovering from, for example. 4. MiniTool Partition Recovery Free Lost a whole partition? MiniTool's excellent recovery software can help One of the most frightening data loss experiences is when an entire drive or partition goes missing. Often this can be traced to an accidentally deleted partition or one where the partition header has corrupted. If the issue is this simple, getting the partition back can be done quickly and easily without leaving Windows using MiniTool Partition Recovery Free. Just fire it up, select the drive containing your lost partition, then choose whether to scan the entire disk or just a portion of it (say the part where your missing partition should be). Choose between full and quick scans, then sit back and let the program do its work. Don't panic if it appears to become non-responsive, just be patient and eventually it'll list all detected partitions on the drive. Select all of them – including your missing partition – and click 'Finish' to restore it. You can also double-click a partition to view its file contents – perfect for verifying it's the one you're after. 5. Paragon Rescue Kit 14 Free Edition Can't boot into Windows? All is not lost with Paragon Rescue Kit All of the recovery tools we've covered so far assume you're able to boot into Windows to use them. But what happens if Windows won't boot at all? This is where Paragon Rescue Kit comes into play. The best time to install it is now while your PC is running, otherwise you'll need to do so on a working Windows PC. Once done, you'll need a blank CD/DVD or flash drive (512MB or larger – if you're planning to recover data to this drive, go for the biggest drive you can) – the setup wizard does the hard work. Now insert the disc or flash media into your non-booting PC and restart, selecting said media from the boot menu. You'll find yourself at a menu offering a multitude of options from recovering lost partitions, fixing boot issues and – crucially – a file-transfer wizard for getting data off a target drive. If all else fails, this could be a lifesaver.

Downloads: Download of the day: StudioLine Photo Basic Posted: Download of the day: StudioLine Photo Basic StudioLine Photo Basic is a top-quality photo viewer and editor. Its suite of picture-enhancing tools ensures your snaps look their best, and its array of sharing tools make it easy to publish and share them however you want. Upload them to an online album, make slideshows or prepare prints – the choice is yours. Why you need it StudioLine Photo Basic is packed with powerful tools to make your pictures look amazing. The presets are excellent, but you can also take manual control and adjust each filter with a simple system of sliders and live previews. Images can be cropped and rotated, and you can edit several photos together in a batch. Photo editing in StudioLine Photo Basic is non-destructive, so there's no risk of accidentally overwriting your original picture. The software keeps a log of all filters and other effects as you apply them, so you can undo or edit them at any time. Once you're satisfied with the results, you can optimize your photos for viewing in a slideshow, on TV or in print, and export them in a suitable format. StudioLine Photo Basic includes a burning tool for saving snaps to CD or DVD, and you can save your custom settings as a preset for future use. What sets StudioLine Photo Basic apart from other free photo editors is its raft of image-sharing options, which include web galleries, optimized email attachments, slideshows, print, calendars and greeting cards. It's the perfect way to get your photos off your SD cards and share them with the world. Key features Advanced non-destructive photo editing Huge array of customizable effects and filters Compatible with other photo editing software Slideshow, web gallery and print export options Works on Windows Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, 10 Price StudioLine Photo Basic – Free StudioLine Photo Classic – US$70 (about £50, AU$90) StudioLine Photo Pro – US$250 (about £190, AU$330)

Android Pay will give you free coffee and London travel next month Posted: England has some of the most expensive public transport in the world, but for four Mondays in October fares across London are free to anyone using a Mastercard through Android Pay. Simply load your Mastercard into Android Pay, then use your phone on the contactless terminals for London buses, tube, tram, DLR, TfL rail, Overground, Emirates Air Line cable car, MBNA Thames Clippers river bus services and most National Rail services in the city and Mastercard will refund the fare, up to £30.50 per day. The offer is available on October 3, 10, 17 and 24, but if you're not in London you don't have to miss out, as you can also get a free hot drink at Caffè Nero stores nationwide on those same days by using a Mastercard with Android Pay. The incentive is an obvious way to get more people using Android Pay, and it's well timed, as four more UK banks recently signed up to the contactless payment service. How to use Android Pay

Round up: The best free WinZip alternative 2016 Posted: The best free file compression software The best free WinZip alternative First released in 1991, WinZip is the best-known software for creating and opening compressed file archives. It's a great tool, but at £31.14 (US$35.94, AU$47.94) it's rather expensive - especially when there are so many excellent free alternatives. Windows (from XP onwards) has a built-in compression tool, accessed by right-clicking one or more folders/files, and selecting 'Send to > Compressed (zipped) folder'. This is fine for very occasional use, but is very limited. It can only read and create ZIP files (there are dozens of other formats), it doesn't let you create multiple volumes of a particular size, can't repair damaged archives, and doesn't support encryption. In fact, if you use it to compress an encrypted file, it will be decrypted when extracted. It's therefore a good idea to have a different WinZip alternative on hand for compressing and opening file archives, and we've picked out the best. Have we missed your preferred tool? Let us know in the comments below. 1. 7-Zip The ultimate lightweight compression tool - no frills and no strings attached 7-Zip is open source, meaning it's completely free, even for commercial use. It's only 1MB in size, and is available as a portable version that can be run directly from a USB stick. 7-Zip isn't the most attractive WinZip alternative around, but it's so well designed that you won't miss the slick interfaces of its paid-for equivalents. You can locate files to be archived using a simple Windows Explorer-style file tree, or drag and drop them into the main window. It can pack and unpack 7z, XZ, BZIP2, GZIP, TAR, ZIP and WIM archives, and unpack AR, ARJ, CAB, CHM, CPIO, CramFS, DMG, EXT, FAT, GPT, HFS, IHEX, ISO, LZH, LZMA, MBR, MSI, NSIS, NTFS, QCOW2, RAR, RPM, SquashFS, UDF, UEFI, VDI, VHD, VMDK, WIM, XAR and Z. Its own 7z format is designed for high compression, and is supported by almost all file achiving tools - both paid-for and free - making it an ideal choice for sharing. You can apply password protection to packaged archives and split them into volumes, which is handy for sharing particularly large archives. The only key feature it's missing is the ability to repair damaged archives - other than that, it's a truly exceptional program. 2. PeaZip Another excellent open source archiver. Larger than 7-Zip, but with more features PeaZip is another open source WinZip alternative, but with a few more features in a considerably larger package (around 10MB compared to 7-Zip's 1MB). PeaZip's standard installation will make file associations and add context menu options automatically, which you might not want if you're trying it for the first time. Select 'Custom' if you want to make your own choices. Alternatively, you can use the 1.8MB portable version, which runs without being installed and won't make changes to your PC. PeaZip can pack and unpack to 7z, ARC/WRC, SFX, BZ2, GZ, PAQ/LPAQ/ZPAQ, PEA, QUAD/BALZ/BCM, SPLIT, TAR, UPX, WIM and ZIP. It can also unpack ACE, ARJ, CAB, CHM, compound files (eg MSI, DOC, PPT, XLS), CPIO, DEB, EAR, ISO, JAR, LZMA, LZH, NSIS installers, OpenOffice's OpenDocument, PET/PUP, PAK/PK3/PK4, RAR, RPM, SMZIP, U3P, WAR, XPI, Z and ZIPX. PEA, its own format, prioritises security over compression, with optional integrity check and authenticated encryption. Unlike 7-Zip, it can repair damaged archives. Its handy extra features include the ability to convert archive formats and test archives for errors. It can't batch compress or watermark images as some of the other tools here can, but can rotate and crop them for you. A portable version of PeaZip is also available. 3. Zipware Incredibly user-friendly. An excellent choice if you're new to file compression WinZip alternative Zipware is wonderfully simple to use - simply choose 'New' or 'Open', choose your source file or archive, tweak a few optional settings and you're done. It's free to use, but if you decide to stick with it, the website invites you to make a donation to support its development. The software itself doesn't nag you for money though. Its standout feature is integrated virus-scanning: if an archive is under 32GB, you can check it for threats with VirusTotal. This is unlikely to be of interest to power users, but is a helpful addition for anyone who's unsure about extracting downloaded archives (or who knows someone with a tendency to accidentally open such things). Zipware can read ZIP, ZIPX, 7Z, RAR, RAR5, ISO, VHD, MSI, GZIP, BZIP2, TAR, CPIO, DEB, DMG, LZH, LZMA, LZMA2, PPMd, NSIS, RPM, UDF, WIM, XAR, XPI, CBR, CBZ, XZ and Z archives. It can create ZIP, 7Z and EXE archives. 4. Ashampoo Zip Free Optimized for touch, but promotion of paid-for features can be overbearing Before you can install Ashampoo Zip Free (or any of the company's software), you must register for a free account using your email address. You'll be sent a free activation key, then prompted to create a profile including your name and date of birth, but you can skip this step. Watch out for potentially unwanted programs when running the installer; we ended up with an unwanted price comparison tool on our test PC, which wasn't picked up by Unchecky. Ashampoo Zip Free's main features are presented as Windows-style tiles, but here the free program's limitations start to show, with paid-for features like encryption and archive format conversion (which are included with open source tools) locked out until you open your wallet. This free WinZip alternative redeems itself with a very clear interface, which has an optional touch mode with larger, tap-friendly icons. All of the key features are immediately obvious rather than hidden behind ribbons and menus. Interestingly, it also gives previews of files before you extract an archive. This happens automatically, so don't be alarmed if a music file begins playing on mouseover. You aren't given many choices when creating archives; most of the interesting features come into play when you're unpacking and sharing. 5. WinRAR (trial) The only way to create RAR archives, WinRAR is designed for power users WinRAR is another premium tool with a history extending back to the early 90s, making it a useful point of comparison for today's free alternatives. After the 40-day free trial period, a single-user WinRAR licence costs €29.95 (about £23.24, US$33.54, AU$46.52). The proprietary RAR format can only be created using WinRAR, but can be extracted by almost any other WinZip alternative. As with 7z, this makes it a good choice for file-sharing. RAR archives are also typically smaller than their ZIP equivalents. WInRAR can unpack CAB, ARJ, LZH, TAR, GZ/TAR.GZ, BZ2/TAR.BZ2, ACE, UUE, JAR, ISO, 7Z, XZ and Z archives, and compress in RAR and ZIP formats. WinRAR's appearance has remained largely unchanged over the years, with command line and simple graphical interfaces (custom themes are available, with an equally old-school feel). That doesn't matter though; this is a tool designed for power users. Its efficiency is particularly apparent when faced with larger tasks, which it handles with aplomb. You can even set it to turn off your PC once it's finished creating mammoth archives (or dozens of smaller ones).

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