PhotoRec is a powerful file recovery tool that works across multiple platforms, including Linux. It is designed to recover lost files from hard disks, CD-ROMs, and digital camera memory. PhotoRec ignores the file system and goes after the underlying data, making it an effective tool for recovering files from damaged or corrupted file systems.

Examples:

1. Installing PhotoRec on Linux

   To begin using PhotoRec, you'll first need to install it. PhotoRec is part of the TestDisk package, so you'll install TestDisk to get PhotoRec.

   For Debian/Ubuntu-based systems:

   sudo apt update
   sudo apt install testdisk

   For Fedora:

   sudo dnf install testdisk

   For Arch Linux:

   sudo pacman -S testdisk

2. Running PhotoRec

   Once installed, you can run PhotoRec from the terminal. You need to run it with superuser privileges to ensure it has the necessary permissions to access your drives.

   sudo photorec

3. Recovering Files with PhotoRec

   • Step 1: After launching PhotoRec, you'll see a list of available drives. Use the arrow keys to select the drive you want to recover files from and press Enter.

   • Step 2: Choose the partition type. For most Linux systems, this will be Intel/PC partition.

   • Step 3: Select the file system type. If you are unsure, select "Other" to scan the entire partition.

   • Step 4: Choose where you want to save the recovered files. It's crucial to save them on a different partition or external drive to avoid overwriting the data you are trying to recover.

   • Step 5: PhotoRec will start scanning the drive and recovering files. This process might take some time depending on the size of the drive and the amount of data.

4. Post-Recovery Steps

   After recovery, you'll find your files saved in the directory you specified. The files may not retain their original names, so you might need to go through them to find the ones you need.