Thank you MiniTool for sending us a review code for the Personal Ultimate Edition!

While we have reviewed multiple applications from MiniTool, this is our first opportunity to check out their data recovery software. I’m sure I’m not the only person out there who has accidentally formatted a drive. As long as the data isn’t deliberately re-written, there’s a good chance that you can recover it. When I was doing computer consulting, we used GetDataBack which is $79 for the pro version but it can get expensive if you need all of its features.

You can download the Power Data Recovery software from MiniTool’s website for free. Windows Defender kept deleting my download because it thought the software was a threat. After making an exception for exe files, it let me download and install with no further interference. MiniTool can send you a full version file that does not trigger Microsoft Defender if you e-mail their support. The free version has no limits on how many PCs it can be installed on and will let you recover up to 1GB of data.

I see little use for the Personal Monthly version that’s $69/month when you can get an annual license for $20 more. For an additional $10, or $99 total, you can get lifetime updates which is the best bang for the buck. The Personal Ultimate edition can be installed on three PCs while the others are restricted to one.

The ability to make bootable media is an advertised feature and there’s a disc icon on top to launch the Bootable Media Builder, however the web installer does not have that feature built into it. The full installer gives you the option to write a bootable Win PE CD/DVD/USB drive or ISO file.

MiniTool Power Data Recovery 11.9 is pretty straight-forward and easy to use. There are two tabs, one for logical devices and one for physical ones. There also are some shortcuts to recover files from popular locations like your desktop or recycle bin too.

To test the software, I plugged in a 64 USB stick that I quickly formatted. Not only did Power Data Recovery 11.9 reveal previously deleted files available to recover, but it also showed data from multiple formats ago that could easily be restored as well. Discovering these files took about fifteen minutes to finish scanning the device. I like how the recoverable data is broken down by file types which makes locating missing files easier. Long deleted items may lose their file names, but the content within should be recoverable. Your mileage may vary and if you’re in doubt, I highly recommend checking out the demo before buying the full product.