Best Choice for ReFS Data Recovery (Detailed Guide)

Overview - What Is ReFS File System Format

The Resilient File System (ReFS), also known as "Protogon," is a modern file system developed by Microsoft and introduced in September 2012. Designed to address the limitations of the NTFS file system, ReFS aims to provide enhanced data accessibility and meet growing demands for data storage.

Created using NTFS code, ReFS enhances reliability, particularly for older drives or in scenarios where abrupt shutdowns occur. The key improvements, such as the way file metadata is stored and updated, contribute significantly to this increased dependability. Additionally, Windows now supports ReFS and ReFS data recovery.

Advantages of ReFS

• Resiliency: ReFS ensures data integrity by checking files during read and write operations to prevent data corruption without relying on chkdsk. Its data integrity scanning program regularly checks and fixes corrupted files, offering higher data integrity and availability.
• Scalability: ReFS supports vast amounts of data with a theoretical maximum capacity of 262,144 EB. By default, it allows up to 32,768 characters in file names and paths.
• Performance: The mirror-accelerated parity feature of ReFS allocates data across two tiers on the drive, boosting performance and storage efficiency. Data is written quickly in the mirror tier for faster read/write times and then transferred to the parity tier for efficient disk space use.

Disadvantages of ReFS

• Windows Boot: ReFS cannot be used to boot Windows, which requires NTFS.
• Resource Consumption: Compared to NTFS, ReFS consumes more system resources. Larger disk arrays increase RAM and IOPS usage for file integrity.
• Data Conversion: NTFS data cannot be converted to ReFS.
• Features: ReFS lacks certain features available in NTFS, such as file system compression and encryption, hard links, extended attributes, data deduplication, and disk quotas.

Despite all precautions, data loss issues like converting raw to NTFS or ReFS partitions can still occur. This guide offers a reliable method for ReFS parition recovery.

How to Get Data Back from ReFS Disk

You might think that the advantages of the ReFS file system make it harder to recover data from ReFS partitions. However, modern ReFS hard disk recovery software is designed to simplify this process. Professional data recovery applications can efficiently recover ReFS data- MyRecover.

Key Features of Professional ReFS Data Recovery Tools:

• Restore Data Integrity: Capable of restoring the original filename, path, and format.
• Two Scanning Modes: Quick Scan and Deep Scan can detect all deleted and lost files from HDD/SSD.
• Wide Compatibility: Supports data recovery from SSD/HDD and file systems including FAT32, NTFS, exFAT, and ReFS in Windows.
• Versatile File Recovery: Can restore various types of files, such as PPT, Word, Excel, photos, videos, audios, and Zip files.

Based on extensive research and experience, MyRecover stands out as a professional tool for recovering data from ReFS volumes. If the ReFS partition itself is intact, you can use MyRecover to retrieve the data. Follow these steps to recover data from a ReFS/NTFS/FAT32 hard drive partition.

Follow these steps to recover lost data from a ReFS partition using MyRecover:

Step 1: Select the drive and Click Scan

Launch MyRecover: Open the MyRecover software on your Windows PC.

Scan the ReFS drive: Hover your mouse over the drive and click the "Scan" button.

Step 2: Scan the ReFS drive

Quick and Deep Scan: MyRecover will perform both a Quick Scan and a Deep Scan to find every recoverable file on your selected ReFS drive.

Use the Filter Feature: To quickly locate the deleted or lost files you want, use the Filter feature and preview them before recovery.

Tip: After the scan completes, use the Filter or Search feature to find your deleted or lost files quickly by "Type," "Date modified," or "Size":

• Type: Choose the file type (Documents, Images, Videos, Audios, Emails, Webpages, Compressed files, etc.).
• Date Modified: Set the date range (today, yesterday, last 7/30 days, etc.).
• Size: Filter by file size (<128KB, 128KB~1MB, 1MB~ 512MB,512MB and above).

Step 3: Click Recover to Get Deleted Data Back

Select Files: Choose the files you want to recover.

Click Recover: Click the "Recover X Files" button.

Save Recovered Data: Ensure you save the recovered data to a different location to avoid overwriting any existing files.

How to Restore Data When ReFS Volume Shows as RAW

If your ReFS volume appears as RAW, use Command Prompt to fix RAW external hard drive without formatting. Here’s how:

1. Connect External Disk: Attach an external hard disk to your computer.

2. Open Run Dialog: Press Win+R.

3. Open Command Prompt: Type cmd or wt and press Shift+Enter.

4. Run Check Disk: Type the command below, replacing E: with your drive letter: chkdsk E: /f /r /x

This command will check and fix errors on the RAW ReFS volume. Use MyRecover for further data recovery if needed.

Conclusion

After recovering your files, you can format your ReFS drives to make them usable again. If this guide was helpful, please share it with others.

As the best data recovery software for Windows, MyRecover provides reliable solutions whenever you encounter difficulties, including data loss on a ReFS partition. Remember, it's crucial to back up your data regularly to ensure its safety.