The August 2002 issue of
CWB Magazine has a feature
article about my work.
Lost & Found was offered for free before Powerquest discontinued the
program. There is still some support on the Powerquest
Support site in addition to the FAQ's listed below.
1. From what media can Lost & Found recover data?
Lost and Found recovers data from drives that have been formatted, lost partitions through accidental deletion, etc. This applies to FAT or FAT32 partitions only. If the disk is still capable of spinning, there is a chance of recovery.
2. What advantage(s) does Lost & Found have over other utilities?
Lost and Found only performs read operations on the affected hard disk. Many utilities attempt to repair the hard disk and corrupt data in the process. Since Lost and Found only performs read operations, it does not risk the integrity of the data on the disk.
3. To what media can Lost & Found restore files?
Lost and Found can restore files to any media that is assigned a drive letter under DOS. (This includes network drives, removable media, another physical hard drive, etc.) It will not restore files back to the source hard drive.
4. My hard drive is no longer detected in the BIOS. Can the data still
be recovered?
Lost and Found can generally detect the drives without the BIOS. If Lost and Found does not detect the hard disk, PowerQuest Technical Support may be able to help you.
5. My drive has been physically damaged. Will this prevent Lost &
Found from recovering the data?
The amount of data that can be recovered is dependant on the severity of the damage.
6. Can Lost and Found recover files on a 4 GB FAT partition that has 64K
clusters?
Yes.
7. Does Lost & Found need to be installed prior to the recovery of
lost or corrupted files?
No. Unlike other utilities that replace your Recycle Bin and constantly monitor your system, Lost & Found does not need to be installed before a problem occurs. This eliminates the potential for causing additional conflicts and problems. It also means the user can still benefit from Lost & Found without having taken any proactive measures beforehand.
8. Does Lost & Found alter, write to, or attempt to repair critical
sectors on the damaged disk?
No. The fact that Lost & Found does not write to the damaged disk increases the chances of a successful data recovery. The worst case scenario with Lost & Found is that the recovery fails. In no circumstance will it cause any further damage.
9. Will Lost & Found work with HPFS partitions?
No. Lost & Found will not work with HPFS or NTFS partitions.
10. Can Lost and Found recover files on a 4 GB FAT partition that has
64K clusters?
Yes.
The zip file includes the serial number and instructions. Running the Setup.exe file will make DOS startup disks with the Lost & Found program, you will need 3 blank floppies.
