I have been pleased to review “Active File Recovery.”  The specific version that I reviewed was the “Active Boot Disk” version 4.1.4.  The software is delivered by download.  The process of creating the disk is well documented and straight forward.  Once the disk is created, your license code is already set up on it.

The wonderful thing about this product is that it will support data recovery for the home user that only has one computer and their operating system will no longer boot.  The disk boots a computer into a easy to use interface based on a Microsoft Windows File System.  The file system automatically mounts the file systems of attached drives as different pieces of software are launched.  Great for ease of use, bad for any forensics applications.

As for mounting external drives, to dump data or disk images to, the software performed very well with internal drives and external USB drives.  On my test machine with an e-sata drive attached, the e-sata drive was not detected.

There are actually several different useful utilities that come with the product.  I will go through each.

Active Disk Image:

This is a disk imager utility.  A disk image is just a copy of all the data contained on a drive.  This utility has the ability to copy off and restore the data in a cloning style for the average user.  It also has the ability to produce a dd style image of the drive.  Their is no option for segmenting or hashing.  I did test the validity of the image produced with X-Ways forensics.  It did produce an image whose hash checked.  (This was one test run, not extensive “forensic” testing.)

Active Data CD/DVD Burner:

This utility allows the user to burn data onto CDs or DVDs.

Active Partition Recovery:

Recovering a damaged partition is probably an area that would be pretty confusing for the average user.  Not because the programs interface is bad at all.  Just the subject of what you are doing is pretty technical.  I did go into a test drive and intentionally damage the partition structure to make the drive un-mountable.  I used the partition recovery utility to repair the partition successfully.  The utility basically provides you template partition data and the information from the partition backup.  If these items are in sync, then it recommends to write this partition information onto the primary partition information.

Active File Recovery:

This is probably the bread and butter application of the whole product.  This allows the user to mount and browse an NTFS or a FAT file system.  The application has “quick scan” and “super scan” function.

The “Quick Scan” appears to just read the file systems of any mountable partition displaying existing and deleted files.  These files can then be selected and exported to another attached device.  I tested this functionality in NTFS with existing and deleted files. The application functioned properly.  The interface is intuitive and easy to use.

The “Super Scan” function looks for lost partitions and optionally scans for file signatures.  What this means is that if you have no readable file system at all, the software will look for files based on well known file headers.  The built in file signatures support what most users request in a data recovery job.  If the file type is specialized/ unusual, the user will probably need professional help.

Active Hex Editor:

This is a basic hex editor.  It allows the user to see the raw data on the computer.  This has some use for a data recovery professional.  For the average user, the major use is probably to look and see if the software is seeing data on a drive.

Active Password Changer:

This is for the Windows user who has forgot their password.  This allows the user to clear the password.  Meaning that no password will be required to log into the account after the change.  The software doesn’t warn you though that if the Windows Encrypted File System is in use, this will destroy access to those encrypted files.  I successfully used the utility to change the password on a Windows Vista 64-bit system.

Active Kill Disk:

This application allows the user to wipe free space or to “Kill” and entire disk.  The utility will overwrite the selected areas or the entire drive.  I tested and verified its ability to successfully wipe an entire drive.

Active Partition Manager:

This application allows the user to initialize and format a drive in either NTFS or the FAT file system. The disk offers support for networking and includes a basic web browser.   There is a check box on one of the initial screens on whether you want to enable networking.   I was able to use the the browser to connect to the internet during two machine boot ups.  On other boots I could not. I have no explanation for why.  (Normally this shouldn’t matter.  In data recovery you don’t usually need to access the internet.)

I tried a couple of additional “tricks” using this bootable disk as my Windows system.  I was able to use it as the OS for my X-Ways Foresics software to run from a USB flash drive.  X-Ways gave a couple errors during different operations, but most of the primary features seemed to be working.

I also tried running a few diffrent virus clean-up tools from USB.  I was able to successfully run these.  Running application from this “known” windows enviroment will provide a great computer clean-up platform.

I have to say that I found the software to be extremly user friendly.  It performed as advertised in almost every instance.  The manual is understandable, detailed, and well written.

At $80 dollars, the product is a bit pricey.  CNW Recovery is a much better value for deleted file recovery, if you have a functional computer to use.  If you must have a bootable environment and don’t want to learn Linux, this is the way to go right now!