
NTFS Mechanic
Step-by-Step Tutorial
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Virtual folder «Recovered files»
The «Recovered files» virtual folder
When the scan is complete, you can also see the virtual folder called Recovered Files. Note that this folder was not there on your hard drive initially.
This folder is created by NTFS Mechanic, and contains files discovered by direct scan of the disk surface.

You can also see a virtual folder named Recovered Files that contains all files found by the direct surface scan. The folder often contains files that you can find in original folders, but without their original names.
After the file system is analyzed, the product scans your hard drive directly in order to find files that are not present in the file system. Our proprietary SmartSearch technology uses a database of file signatures to detect the beginning and end of recognizable file types such as Microsoft Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, JPEG, or TIFF pictures; as well as more than 200 different types of files. Even if your drive is completely dead and its file system is non-existent, this method will recover your data! SmartSearch will carefully scan and recover what is still left of your disk and your data.
After the search is complete, you’ll see folders with files of certain types. You can preview pictures and documents, play video and audio files before recovering them. To preview a file, click its icon, and NTFS Mechanic will display a preview on the left hand side. Click “Display Preview” for a larger preview.

Example of document preview

Choose a file or folder to recover and click Recover to launch the Export Wizard.
Contents
Virtual folder «Recovered files»