Seagate Premium File Recovery Suite 2.5 (for Mac) - Review 2022

The $99 Seagate Premium File Recovery Suite 2.v is a information recovery utility designed for general consumers, merely equipped for enterprise clients. Of the utilities I've tested, Seagate offers one of the most straightforward approaches to data recovery, perhaps because it isn't trying to do too much. The Recovery Suite is designed to test physical difficult drives and to recover lost files. It'southward a sensible approach, particularly because that you lot can depict upon the company's prodigious resources, including an in-house data recovery lab, data recovery service plans, and a Technician version of the software. While it's not as feature-rich as some competitors, Seagate Premium File Recovery Suite 2.5 provides a uncomplicated, fast, and capable utility backed by one of the largest names in data recovery.

Options and Pricing

When you purchase the Seagate Premium File Recovery Suite 2.5, you get 1 installation of the software useful for either 24 file restorations or one year's employ, whichever comes first. To put that tally in context, I used one-third of my license restoring eight files. This makes Stellar Phoenix'due south single transferable license wait generous. That said, many people might not need 24 recoveries: later on all, deleting important files isn't a regular occurrence (hopefully). And, similar to its peers, Seagate lets you preview results earlier they purchase the utility.

Seagate stands out for its compatibility. The Mac and PC versions of the recovery suite are parallel, which simplifies whorl-outs in offices with mixed environments. The Mac version supports Apple operating systems dating dorsum to OS X x.x Yosemite.

The Testing Procedure

I tested Seagate'due south Recovery Suite alongside iv other recovery utilities using ii Macs: an early-2015 MacBook Pro and a late-2014 Mac Mini. Both systems run the same version of macOS Sierra. The MacBook Pro features a 120GB solid-state drive (SSD), whereas the Mac Mini uses a 500GB hard disk drive (HDD). To ensure uniform testing, I deleted the same files on both machines two weeks prior to testing. In the interest of testing existent world usage, I selected six common file types (DOC, XLS, PDF, JPG, MP3, and MP4).

I opted to examination both an SSD and HDD because of the challenges solid-land drives present for data recovery software (cheque out our SSD vs. HDD feature for the differences between the 2 storage mediums). The issue is a command chosen TRIM, which zeroes out the parts of the drive where deleted files are stored. By clearing sectors that are no longer in use, TRIM extends the lifespan of a SSD, but it likewise greatly reduces the efficacy of data recovery utilities. There is, however, a possibility that utilities can retrieve recently deleted files.

Information Recovery

The Recovery Suite must connect with Seagate servers to authorize the software, which made installation the most complicated function of using the software: I spent several days waiting for my software to successfully connect to the STX Server before I could proceed with testing. The silver lining was that I got to exam Seagate'due south technical support agents, who proved themselves both knowledgeable and prompt.

One time installed, Seagate exhibits 3 central features: you can test a bulldoze (Test a Device), scan a volume or device for lost files (Recover Lost Files), or securely erase a binder or volume (Erase Data). If you haven't purchased the Technician version of the software, the latter characteristic is grayed out. In dissimilarity to the many data recovery scans of competitors, such as Stellar Phoenix and Data Rescue, Seagate curates simply ii: Simple & Quick browse, which searches for recently deleted items, and Advance & Detail, which scans a volume or bulldoze byte by byte. You tin can guess which takes longer.

I began by running the nearly exhaustive scan on my SSD. Seagate was fast. The browse required less than vi minutes, twice equally fast as its quickest peer, Stellar Phoenix. The rub is that, like Stellar Phoenix, Seagate didn't find much. Rather, the utility establish one SWF file. I was unable to recover any of the files I had intentionally deleted on my SSD, though I saw better results using CleverFiles Disk Drill Pro 3 or Prosoft Data Rescue 4.

I had more success on the HDD. One time over again, Seagate was the racehorse: it completed an advanced scan of the entire difficult bulldoze in nearly iv hours, markedly faster than its closest competitor, Prosoft Information Rescue iv, which required the ameliorate part of a day to scan the desktop's heavily fragmented HDD. Moreover, because Seagate focuses on common user file types (as opposed to system files), the recovery suite seeks fewer file signatures: threescore compared to as many every bit 357, in the case of Deejay Drill. File signature back up isn't necessarily the Holy Grail. Seagate supports the most common file types, besides as others (for example, 3GP, CHM, and MPP) that I, for ane, don't regularly use. Furthermore, the utility recovered a highly-respectable 223,000 files.

You tin can filter results by file blazon, path (location), or engagement (of deletion). At that place's also an integrated search, which, unfortunately, cannot be paired with advanced filters. In contrast to the other utilities I have tested, which rely upon Mac OS X Quick Look to preview files, Seagate has its own integrated media viewer, which I prefer. Instead of overlaying a file preview, Seagate adds a right-aligned preview pane. I also appreciate that the utility identifies the integrity of recovered files. That said, given that every file I plant registered every bit "good," I'g skeptical of the descriptiveness of the classification system.

Ultimately, I was able to recover three of the files I intentionally deleted. It's possible that the utility found the others, just given that then many files didn't retain their original filenames, it was difficult to filter through tens of thousands of results.

Bonus Stuff

Alongside file recovery, Seagate's suite analyzes hardware. I was relieved to see that both my SDD and HDD passed the test. (I had my doubts most the HDD.) Less fortunate users can leverage Seagate'south in-house recovery solutions. Seagate's lab offers fixed price data recovery ($699 to recover a 4TB HDD). The visitor also sells data recovery service plans (Rescue Plans), starting at $10 annually.

As I alluded to before, Seagate offers a $299 Technician version of the software designed for It professionals. In addition to enabling the Erase Data office for zeroing out a folder or a volume, the Technician version extends file signature support to 127, which is comparable to Stellar Phoenix, and lets y'all install the utility on upwardly to five desktops.

A Practiced Choice

There's a lot to similar about the Seagate Premium File Recovery Suite. It's fast, like shooting fish in a barrel to use, and backed by one of the biggest names in the business concern. If you want to run data recovery software on more than one desktop, you might adopt the most generous licensing of Data Rescue. Deejay Drill also offers more features at less expense. Meanwhile, Editors' Choice Alsoft DiskWarrior 5 is the de facto option if your Mac desktop needs intensive directory repair. Only with in-house recovery facilities, insurance plans, and parallel Mac and PC offerings, Seagate presents a compelling data recovery utility for businesses small-scale and large.

Source: https://sea.pcmag.com/system-performance-products/15768/seagate-premium-file-recovery-suite-25-for-mac

Posted by: thompsonandesch.blogspot.com

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