Many free data recovery programs exist that can help recover your accidentally deleted files. These file recovery programs can help you recover, or "undelete" files on your computer.
1. Recuva
Recuva will undelete files in Windows 8 & 8.1, 7, Vista, XP, Server 2008/2003, and older Windows versions like 2000, NT, ME and 98. 64-bit Windows versions are also supported. There is also a 64-bit version Recuva available.
Piriform provides both an installable and a portable version of Recuva. I tested file recovery with Recuva v1.51.1036 using their portable version in Windows 8.1.
Undeleting a file with Recuva is as easy as deleting one! I highly recommend that you try Recuva first if you need to recover a file.
2. Glary Undelete
Glary Undelete is an excellent free file recovery program. It's very easy to use and has one of the better user interfaces that I've seen.
The biggest advantages in Glary Undelete include the easy "Folders" view, a Windows Explorer-style view of recoverable files, and a prominent "State" indication for each file, suggesting how likely a successful file recovery will be.
One disadvantage of Glary Undelete is that installation is required before you can use it and it asks you to install a toolbar, which you can of course decline. Aside from those facts, Glary Undelete is top notch.
Glary Undelete can recover files from hard drives and any removable media you might have including memory cards, USB drives, etc.
Glary Undelete is said to work in Windows 7, Vista, and XP, but it probably works fine in Windows 8 and versions older than Windows XP. I tested Glary Undelete v2.4 in Windows 7.
