• Is Cleverfiles Legit
• Cleverfiles Disk Drill Review

Positives

• Simple, straightforward user interface
• Multiple customizable scanning options
• Additional Recovery Vault protection
• Free recovery of 500MB data
• One license for three devices
• Various discount options

Negatives

• Expensive base price
• Pay-only lifetime upgrades
• Limited customer support

When it comes to data recovery solutions, there is a clear pattern that this kind of software goes through: first comes the Windows version followed by the Mac equivalent. With Disk Drill, however, it was the other way around; while the Mac version dates back as far as 2011, Disk Drill wasn’t released for PC until 2015. Despite this, Disk Drill quickly became a market leader and is even now considered one of the best data recovery apps for very good reasons. Disk Drill’s simple and straightforward interface is one thing, but it’s a total powerhouse that crams in numerous impressive scanning and recovery functions. Disk Drill also comes with a clever Recovery Vault feature with which your most important folders receive extra protection against accidental deletion. And not only does Disk Drill have a free version – which even allows users to recover a limited amount of data – but its paid counterpart can be used on multiple computers for as long as you wish.

Features

At first the user interface of Disk Drill may seem too simple but, actually, it’s one of the main strengths of the software. So much so that despite the program coming with a short, built-in tutorial, it won’t be needed at all; Disk Drill for PC aids users in almost every aspect from the get-go.

I understand one might need to get an approval from CleverFiles, but why not then have the initial request to to CleverFiles instead of it going to Paddle first, who then has to send it back to CleveFiles. DUMB, convoluted, and makes no sense, and confuses the customer. To date - I still have not been refunded. Do you need to recover deleted files on Windows or Mac OS X, such as important work documents, photos, videos or music? Have files or whole partitions disapp.

For starters, each time the software is launched it automatically detects all drives and partitions, although in the case of the latter you will need to turn off a filter to see all elements properly. Disk Drill doesn’t waste users’ time by displaying unnecessary or rarely used functions either, instead the process is made very simple: choose between quick and deep scans or just hit the “Recover” button to start the default scanning method immediately.

Selecting Files for Scanning

Since Disk Drill focuses heavily on user-friendliness, there isn’t much available when it comes to additional settings, though more functions related to scanning and recovery are hidden behind the gear icon. This is also true for preferences, where it’s only possible to control whether the software should search for certain file types or all 286 of them at once.

Scanning

Without doubt, Disk Drill’s forte is scanning, and not just because it can be performed as many times as you want on virtually any kind of drive. The speed of initiating the scanning process on the selected drive or partition is made possible with the Recover button, but quite surprisingly Disk Drill chose to make deep scans the default setting. This may seem handy at first but since deep scans are typically very long, drawn-out processes, this could gravely slow down the recovery process for smaller drives and partitions. Thankfully, there is the option to perform quick scans from the drop-down menu, but note that this feature is only available for partitions. However, scans can be aborted, paused or saved and in fact before a scan is saved, Disk Drill properly alerts users to avoid saving it on the target drive to prevent any further data loss.

However, the actual scanning performance of Disk Drill’s PC version is quite exceptional. In our test, quick scan mode took less than 30 seconds to recall all 56 of the deleted files emptied from the Recycle Bin. Deep scan mode, on the other hand, also managed to locate the deleted files in their original location, too, albeit without their original file names.

Scan Results in Disk Drill

Data Recovery

There’s an effortlessness about Disk Drill for PC but nowhere is that more clear than with file recovery. For instance, search results can be filtered in various ways – file name, type, size, or modification date – to make finding certain items easier. The software comes with two preview modes, too: the regular one displays image files while hex preview mode reveals how damaged the file in question is. This way you’ll always be certain that the right files are recovered, because you should remember that there may be instances where Disk Drill won’t recover files with their names.

More annoying than that, however, is how the software always creates a certain number of folders and puts recovered files into them without any logic whatsoever – that is unless files were originally in a folder, because in this case the software always reconstructs the original folder structure.

The software’s attentiveness is also demonstrated in how – during the process of saving scans – the software properly warns users against saving files to the same drive that they were salvaged from. And in the case of Disk Drill Basic where users are limited to recovering 500MB of data for free, the recovery solution also records how much data has been and can be recovered before reaching the limit.

Filtering Results by File Type

Destination Folder Warning

Utilities

Although the number of utilities provided by Disk Drill for PC is quite limited, they are still worth talking about. Firstly, there is a button appropriately named “Extras” that hides the option to create an image file of a drive or partition, perfect for those who want to ensure they can recover their lost files without the fear of overwriting them. Then there is the option to perform a special kind of deep search, which is perfect for finding all partitions – lost or simply hidden – on a drive.

Still, the most interesting utility function by far is the Recovery Vault. Despite working for partitions only, when this feature is activated any folders within this vault gain added protection from Disk Drill. Simply put, when a folder featured in this vault is accidentally deleted, all you have to do is click on “Undelete protected data” in the drop-down menu next to the “Recover” button and that folder will be restored exactly as it was in an instant, no matter when it was deleted.

The Recovery Vault Feature

Pricing

Despite the lack of a free trial or a money-back guarantee, the deals offered by developer CleverFiles are actually quite fair. For starters, the free version Basic contains all available features without any limitations and even allows users to recover up to 500MB of data without upgrading. Unlimited recovery is only available in PRO, the default paid product of the company available for $89, but for this price one license can be used on three PCs.

Note that even though the license itself is for life, it’s only by adding lifetime upgrades for an extra $29 will you receive updates to the software beyond the version purchased. This is included alongside unlimited users and installations as part of Disk Drill Enterprise by default, but this version comes at a jaw-dropping $399 price.

• 1 user, 1 PC
• Unlimited scans
• Lost partition finder
• Recovery Vault with advanced file protection
• Recovery of 500MB of data
• —

• 1 user, 3 PCs
• Unlimited scans
• Lost partition finder
• Recovery Vault with advanced file protection
• Unlimited recovery
• +$29 lifetime upgrades
• —

• Unlimited users and PCs
• Unlimited scans
• Lost partition finder
• Recovery Vault with advanced file protection
• Unlimited recovery
• Free lifetime upgrades
• Priority support

Thankfully, there are plenty of discount options offered by CleverFiles. Users can upgrade from an older version to the latest version of Disk Drill for 50% off, and this discount is available to those who want to use the software on a Mac, too. Disk Drill can also be had for half price if you decide to switch from a competing paid data recovery product, too.

Customer Support

Unfortunately, the versatility of customer support provided for Disk Drill users is subpar, especially for those who opt for the software’s Windows version. For instance, the company’s help center – which serves as a blog, a knowledge base, and a coupons page – mostly focuses on Disk Drill for Mac. Granted, many of the articles describe general issues that could pop up in any version of the software, but newcomers might still assume that CleverFiles is neglecting Disk Drill for Windows users in favor of Mac enthusiasts. And the fact that the company’s YouTube channel is full of tutorials for Disk Drill for Mac only compounds the problem, too.

The Email Enquiry Form

Thankfully, however, Windows users aren’t actually neglected at all, since any user can contact live support via email, an inquiry form, or live chat. While these aren’t available 24/7, the company’s staff is prepared to answer any kind of question in a prompt and courteous manner.

Bottom Line

Disk Drill is often considered to be one of the best data recovery solutions and we can only confirm this. Although there are certain issues with the software – such as putting recovered files into random folders – these are dwarfed by everything else about the solution. Its scanning and recovery functions are impressive alone, and not just because of how effectively they do their jobs but their versatility, too.

And not only does Disk Drill come with clever features like the Recovery Vault, but all of its functions are created in such a way that even the least tech-savvy users can recover lost files with ease. With the added bonus of the fact that a paid license can also be used on multiple devices, it’s safe to say that Disk Drill for PC is a must-have for anyone looking for a simple and reliable data recovery solution.

It’s no secret that I am not a fan of Wondershare’s RecoverIt. I think it’s a very poor, over hyped tool. And yet you see it pop up it’s ugly face everywhere, despite the fact you can get get superior software for less money.

Now, in my opinion there is nothing wrong with affiliation programs. In fact I am affiliated with most vendors of data recovery tools. I am affiliated with ReclaiMe, R-Studio, Easeus, you name it. So the fact I am a ReclaiMe fan has not much to do with me being affiliated to them, but all the more because I have objective reasons to love their product.

There is also nothing wrong with trying to get some attention for your product. I take time to browse the web and see if there’s any websites that might be interested in mentioning my tools. For example, I dropped geckoandfly.com a mail when I saw they listed several JPEG repair tools, and I am glad they now list JPEG-Repair there too. But I am a one-man-show and don’t have much time to dedicate to such activities.

Now, the fact you see certain tools pop up literally everywhere is not s much a testimony to their quality and effectiveness, but all the more a matter of money. The Stellar’s the DiskDrill’s and the RecoverIt’s are all over the place because they invest money into their marketing. Again, there’s not anything per se wrong with that, but it is good to be aware of that. Where it becomes absolutely dubious of course is paying money to influence ‘editorial’ content.

I am glad I am not the only one noticing this and see others hinting at these practices too. The gentleman in the video is an expert on flash memory data recovery:

I don’t want put words in his mouth, he’s not accusing RecoverIt of anything, I think. It’s more matter of reading between the lines. And IMO it illustrates the problem of RecoverIt encouraging people without any expertise to ‘review’ their software and make false claims.

Why, oh why would anyone buy RecoverIt?

Why would anyone buy RecoverIt? Or DiskDrill? Or Stellar Data Recovery? Because it’s in their face! I think it can only be explained by one thing: effective ‘marketing’. And by that I mean buying your way into places and content people are likely to visit. I think, 9 out of 10 of the positive reviews you see on the web are either paid for, or the reviewer get’s a cut form each copy purchased via his website. The remaining 1 out of 10 is a review done by a person who doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

But never the less, these effectively marketed tools are every where. They’re not hard to find, in fact it will be often the first data recovery tools you will find.

Today in Twitter I saw an interesting tweet from the maintainer of the website www.majorgeeks.com.

Is Cleverfiles Legit

It’s an illustration of a couple of things.

1. Majorgeeks.com shows integrity.
2. An example of Wondershare buying it’s way into editorial content. This is their m.o..

This is the entire mail

Confession time

Wondershare

I have received similar offerings from Wondershare.

And more recently:

Unlike Tim, I confess that don’t give them no for an answer. I instead quote them a price, and make it absolutely clear to them that this will be a thorough and honest review. I refer them to a video I made on their photo recovery tool in the past, which wasn’t very favorable. I never heard from them again.

Stellar

And here we have Stellar making a similar proposition via LinkedIn:

Cleverfiles Disk Drill Review

He kept pushing me to review their latest version of Photo Recovery, sent me a license to test with. As this is a kind of a hobby of mine (because I love data recovery software) I ran it against a batch of memory cards and card images. Real world cases, not some made up scenario by a ‘reviewer’. Those cases that typically end up at my desk because people already tried all the usual suspects. As expected the new version of Stellar failed spectacularly. Not missing a few files, no not detecting any files on cards I did actually manage to recover all data from. I relayed my results back to Mr. Yadav, and asked if I could have technical support to resolve these issues, to never hear from him again up to this day.

CleverFiles (DiskDrill)

Another example. CleverFiles is the maker of DiskDrill. I did a review on their data recovery product and of course they’re not very happy with that. I put a lot of effort into it. Not only into testing but I even edited their annoying mascot so it had a sad face and was wearing dark glasses to suggest it was blind. The article is one of my Google success pages.

The previous marketing manager of CleverFiles responded b deactivating my affiliate account. But of course this doesn’t make the blog post go away. The other week I received an email from the new PR manager.

It appears she took the time to glance over my website, commenting on my dog. Now again. I have nothing against her contacting me. She is not asking me to do anything illegal or immoral. She’s not offering bribes, she’s simply asking for a second chance. But what it does illustrate in my opinion is that these companies have the funds to dedicate people to follow up on this type of content that may hurt their product’s reputation.

Shilling

Although it’s hard to prove, it is very likely there’s another type of very dishonest marketing taking place. It often goes like this: User a reports he has lost data in an online forum. Very quickly user B pops up. Often User B is a fresh member of the community and reports excellent results with product X in a similar situation. Often it goes beyond just recommending product X; He supplies download links and some times even a detailed procedure on using product X, specially on platforms such as Quora.

It is my impression these Samaritans are in fact sponsored by the vendor of the products being pushed, so shills.

Now if you’d tell me that I am being paranoid now, I might agree with you if it weren’t for the fact that I am not the only one who sees this.

Conclusion

So, IMO the conclusion must be that people buy RecoverIt, Stellar Data Recovery and DiskDrill because they’re effectively marketed, and as a result are hard to miss. And again IMHO it illustrates that the tools are easiest to find are not because of them being the best solutions, but because they’re backed up by companies that are able and willing to, to push their products.