Recovery Force® Data Recovery Forum

What's new in version 8.14:

* Added new 'RAID Decomposition' tool ('Reverse RAID'):
- Supports virtual decomposition of any source storage;
- Supports opening of any produced virtual components;
- Decomposition of RAID0 with custom stripe size;
- Decomposition of RAID1E ('near' or 'interlaced') with custom stripe size;
- Decomposition of RAID5: custom stripe size, parity delay and rotation;
- Decomposition of RAID6: custom stripe size, parity delay, rotation and RS-math;
* Open chunks as span: added option to sort images by numeric file name extension;
* LVM/thin: added recognition of sector/byte size of LVM tree metadata chunks;
* Support of automatic reconstruction of mdadm RAID10/near layout;
* Fixed crash bug when big span (over 1024 components) is opened in RAID builder;
* Drobo BeyondRAID: added manual volume definition when InfoTable is lost or damaged;
* Disk imager: added optional splitting of image to chunks of fixed size;
* Added displaying of GPT and CoreStorage partition labels;
* Added support of named (extended) attributes on Btrfs file systems;
* Added function to mark/unmark multiple objects in Explorer (using context menu);
* Added optional function of saving symbolic links (disabled by default);
* Support opening split DD (raw) image files with FTK Imager naming convention.

What's new in version 8.15:

* Added support of HP SmartArray, DDF and ARECA RAID metadata formats;
* Support of RAID6 on 3 drives as this configuration is allowed on some controllers;
* Added separate Adaptec RAID5EE configuration to RAID builder;
* When RAID Builder tab is active and Parallel Search or Data Comparison is opened:
- Added option to copy current list of storages from RAID builder to the tool;
- Synchronization includes both list of 'valid' storages and hex viewer position.
* Enabled possibility to open multiple 'New RAID' tabs;
* Fixed bug decrypting APFS FusionDrive storages;
* Added indication of component's 'RAID properties' on storage properties sheet;
* ReFS: Support of symbolic links;
* Added option to save image files to EnCase E01 format;
* Added 'read' support of common CCTV file systems;
* Added quick detection of lost partitions at 'standard' offsets;
* Support of storages with physical sector size 1 and 2 KB.

What's new in version 8.16:

Added support of Intel IMSM NV Cache (SRT, Optane Memory) technology;
Added experimental 'read' support of AFF4 image files format;
DDF RAID50/RAID60: fixed pattern for LSI/Intel, added support for Adaptec (5805);
Support of DDF1.2 metadata for Marvell 88SE92xx;
Support of Silicon Image SATA-RAID vendor-specific metadata;
Added logging of user actions for storage scan;
Added read support of 'Mirage', 'Tango'/'G2Fdb' and 'Rsfs' CCTV file systems;
Added support of symbolic links in scan result for NTFS, EXT3/4 and XFS;
Detection and indication of DeepSpar USB Stabilizer in software GUI;
Added option to not save empty (zeroed) sectors in Disk Imager;
Disk imaging via DeepSpar USB Stabilizer:
- Added special error recovery procedure to support device power management;
- Changed default imaging procedure to 'system' to wait for device response;
Added additional logging of user actions for file copying.

What's new in version 8.17:

Added 'calculate hash' tool with support of hash verification for E01/Ex01;
Added support of saving RAID configurations with 'decomposed' components;
File system filtering now preserves structures created by "recycle.bin" recovery;
Added option to copy storages list from RAID Builder to Parity Calculator;
Microsoft Storage Spaces:
- Added support of double-parity volumes (so far, with only one missing disk);
- Support of metadata version 3;
Fixed issue with support of Adaptec 1430SA DDF2 metadata;
Fixed some compatibility issues of saved E01 files (compression, rounding);
Storage properties tab now includes hashes for E01/Ex01 format;
Disk Imager log is extended with more details (source/target properties etc.);
Fixed few issues with processing of Windows Dynamic Disks (NT LDM);
In 'advanced' copying, added filter to copy normal, deleted or both states;
ReFS support is extended with new version found on Windows Server 2022 preview;
Fixed several bugs (including crash bugs).

What's new in version 9.0:

* Scan now has option to save status periodically (with predefined time period);
* Folders in scan result now display contained objects capacity;
* Explorer now highlights lager files/folders in scan result with percent bar;
* Color differentiation of existing and scanned file systems in Explorer;
* Data saving now can be scheduled as number of steps in priority order:
- Added 'Create batch copying task'/'Add to copying task' tool to context menu;
- Task can be aborted with possibility of resumption from aborted step;
- Common task copying log with logging of task step events;
- Task manager dialog to re-order, remove or configure steps (enable filters etc.);
* Added 'Quick scan (index)' tool to context menu of valid ('green') file systems;
* When empty or damaged FS is activated, there is a choice to browse or to scan it;
* Activation of partition with no file system now activates 'scan' dialog;
* Support of hard links on NTFS, APFS, HFS+, Ext, F2FS, Reiser, UFS and XFS;
* Added automatic deduplication of duplicate hard links:
- Hard link to file is restored as hard link on target storage;
- If target file system doesn't support hard links, software creates copy of file;
- Hardlinks to HFS+ folders are restored to special location and linked with target;
- Links to folders are established with hardlinks (on HFS+) or with symlinks;
- If target file system doesn't support links, software fails to process such folders.
* Added support of duplicate file/folder hard links in scan result;
* NTFS scan procedure now processes NTFS indexes and thus hard links;
- In 'quick scan' this function is disabled by default;
* APFS direct access:
- File system state is now loaded using the latest generation of stored superblock;
- Added support of file system snapshots, including 'local' and 'backup' Time Machine;
- Loading of file set is postponed until it is first used (for performance reasons);
* APFS scan:
- Indexing of APFS optionally includes snapshots (enabled by default);
- Better structure recovery and finding of lost snapshots in full scan;
- Added support of symbolic links;
* HFS+ scan: added support of hardlinks (including Time Machine);
* Changed format of SDLSP files to version 3.
* Added support of flat-sparse image files (set of chunks with missed fragments);
* Added tool for saving on-demand disk image files (imaging tasks):
- Support of imaging to flat, flat-sparse and sparse (SDLSP) disk image files;
- Support of imaging (clonning) to another disk;
- Using of built-in defect map for SDLSP and external defect map for other targets;
- Save/restore of task configuration (.uitask) files
- Support of 'imager' interface and background (asynchronous) imaging;
- Task control panel with map of defects and with activity indication;
- Map of defects can be cleared in given region (all states or only defects);
- Detailed configuration of imaging parameters (two-pass imaging, timeouts etc.)
- Quick switch of pre-configugured and customizable imaging tiers;
* Support of reading S.M.A.R.T Log pages of SATA drives;
* Added indication of file status (validity) information for scan results:
- Indication is enabled by default; it can be disabled via 'Explorer' settings;
- Verification if file start matches to data of known and valid type;
- If defects bitmap is available, optional check if file is imaged;
- Tool to enable/disable/configure file status indication in Explorer;
* Option to save 'only good files' when status indication is available and enabled;
* In Explorer, added ability to stop reading content of big folders;
* Added decryption of BitLocker and APFS encrypted volumes [UFSX Std/RAID/Net]
* Added tool to re-assign file extensions basing on content (for CHK files etc.);
* Preserving 'Hidden' and 'System' flags on copied files (Windows version);
* XFS access: fixed problem with mixed Intel/Standard short folder metadata;
* XFS scan: fixed few major bugs with structure recovery in full scan;
* NTFS access: fixed issue displaying of multiple hardlinks from the same folder;
* NTFS scan: added processing of mount points as 'folder' symbolic links;
* ReFS3 access:
- Mount points (junctions) are displayed as 'folder' symbolic links;
- In symbolic links, paths are changed to relative to support their 'export';
* Older ReFS (Windows Server 2012): fixed few bugs in scan procedure;
* ExFAT scan: support of 1MB clusters, fixed few issues;
* File removal from scan result now updates title statistics (files count/size);
* Fixed loading RAID/storage configurations when PhysicalDrive has no serial number;
* Fixed issue with long cancellation of quick scan and duplication of results;
* Fixed duplication of $LostFiles folder in scan result;
* Fixed bug in adaptive RAID5/RAID6 reconstruction;
* Fixed problem with support of ATA S.M.A.R.T via DeepSpar USB Stabilizer;

What's new in version 9.1:
* Added Drive/Bridge Security tool:
- Decryption of WD drives encrypted with JMS538E, Inic-1607E, OXUF943SE and SW6316 USB bridges;
- Support of key block detection both on storage area and in SMART Log pages;
- Support of standard AES-256 ECB mode (also AES-128/256 ECB/CBC/XTS modes, depending of chip);
- Unlocking of password-locked WD drives (no need to install and run WD Security software);
* Defects emulation by pattern recognition in 'read ahead' mode now uses cache (for speed);
* Support of macOS ".sparsebundle" disk image format (open as disk-on-disk storage);
* Microsoft Data Deduplication:
- Software now automatically asks to open and enable MSDDD when file system is opened;
- Fixed support of big (over 1GB) files deduplicated with Windows Server 2012/2012-R2;
- Fixed issue with opening files from relocated segments;
* Decryption of encrypted Apple DMG disk images (version 2/'encrcdsa' format);
* Fixed bug with data caching in hexadecimal editor;
* Recovery of lost address translation leafs in Btrfs scan (for correct deleted data recovery);
* FS with address translation (Btrfs) is now supported for 'status indication' in Explorer;
* File and Folder hardlinks deduplication is now made optional;
* Fixed few issues with disk imager (corrected number of retries, read block size etc.)

What's new in version 9.2:
* 'Transform sector size' tool is extended with options to switch between 512/1K/2K/4K sectors;
* Added decryption of encrypted VMware VMDK virtual disks (encrypted VMs for Windows 11 etc.);
* Added decryption of compressed Apple DMG disk images encrypted with version 2/'encrcdsa' format;
* Write support for VHDX virtual disks (file creation and modification);
* In 'Imaging Task' interface:
- Added VHDX as target file format option;
- Optimized target format selection UI;
* Added VHDX as target file format option for Disk Imager;
* 'File mask' operations ('search' etc.) now all support multiple values with semicolon as delimiter;
* Raw recovery and tool for re-assigning file extensions are extended with more types;
* Fujifilm RAW photos format (RAF):
- Added extraction of file size, camera 'model name' and 'date taken' in raw recovery;
- Fixed issue with file separation to 'preview' and 'tiff' when it is detected by content;
* MacOS HFS+ file system:
- Enhanced procedure of damaged file system reconstruction and deleted data recovery;
- Fixed issue with direct access to highly fragmented file system;
* Fixed several issues with Btrfs file system scan.

What's new in version 9.3:

Added experimental support of Synology SSD write-cache:
- Recognition and indication of SSD cache partitions;
- Applying latest cached data from SSD 'as a delta' to the 'base' volume;
Added decryption of drives from WD MyBook with JMS561 bridge chip;
Fixed several issues with opening files, deduplicated using Microsoft Data Deduplication;
Under Linux, added 'unlock' function for WD drives, locked with WD Security;
File status indication in Explorer is extended with 'zeroed' (bad) state;
Source sector size is now preserved for image files, saved to VHDX and SDLSP formats;
In Linux software version:
- Added proper identification of SCSI/SAT drives to support drive serial numbers etc.;
- Added support of SMART monitoring for SCSI/SAT-attached drives;
Linux LVM2 logical volumes:
- Added indication of logical volume ID in partition properties;
- Fixed issue with recognition of 'long' (64K) binary metadata;
- Fixed issue assembling multi-segment logical volumes on 'fake' (single-component) mdadm RAID;
For manually defined partitions added recognition of known metadata at defined location;
Reworked FAT/FAT32 quick scan/indexing procedure for better support of damaged folders;
In embedded file viewer:
- Added support of HEIC/HEIF photo format (Canon R5/R6, Apple products etc.);
- Added decoding of Fujifilm 14bit 'packed' RAF format (models X-A3, X-A7 etc.);
- Added decompression of Fujifilm compressed RAF format (models X-T2, X-T3, X-E3, X-H1 etc.);
- Defined configurations for many other raw photo formats.

What's new in version 9.4:
* Added experimental support of QNAP SSD write-cache;
* Implemented integrated management of raw recovery rules:
- Reworked storage schema for custom raw recovery rules;
- Added GUI that shows full list of custom and built-in raw recovery rules;
- Implemented simplified interface to create/view/edit user-defined rules;
- Built-in editor is set as priority source of custom rules for scan;
* Added support of BitLocker decryption using external keys from BEK-files (with no TPM);
* Update to S.M.A.R.T monitoring/log pages reader tool:
- Reading of both GP log and S.M.A.R.T log (when possible);
- Fixed issue with indication of 'seek error count' when it includes seek statistics;
* Added automatic assembly of APFS Fusion drives;
* Added indication of encrypted APFS volumes and volume decryption states;
* ExFAT scan: fixed issue with recognition of previous cluster size after format;
* Implemented ZSTD compression and enabled its support for ZFS and Btrfs file systems;
* F2FS file system: added support of 'extra attributes' flag.

What's new in version 9.5:
Action for activation of partitions with no file system now can be configured;
Disk Imager:
- Rework (optimization) of configuration GUI;
- Fixed issue with attempting 'multi-sector retries' on defect blocks with 'system' read procedure;
Added setting of file system 'read policy' for storages with defect blocks:
- Enabled support of 'read policies' for FAT, FAT32, ExFAT, NTFS, ReFS, Ext, XFS, F2FS file systems;
Added Export/Import function for user-defined raw recovery file types:
- Selective export to own XML-based file format for backup or selective restore on different PC;
- Partial support of importing user-defined rules in some third-party XML formats;
Optimized 'Refresh' procedure; scan of logical drives is now made optional (by default it is 'on');
DeepSpar USB Stabilizer/Guardonix:
- Added recognition of devices with no media or when it is not powered on;
- Added power control and support of driver configuration;
ExFAT scan: added processing of CheckDisk .CHK files (when possible), fixed few more issues;
Raw recovery scan: found and fixed 'scan stuck' issue;
Update to S.M.A.R.T monitoring tool: added 'SSD life' indication and support of SCSI Log Sense;
Added indication of storage device type and rotation speed for HDD.