Recovery Force® Data Recovery Forum

What's new in version 9.16:

* In disk imaging task (on demand imaging):
- All supported data protection/write-blocker adaptors are now 'recommended' type of source (storage protection from activity of running OS);
- Fixed several bugs (retries, 'source loss' condition etc.);
- Changed default configuration for Tier1 imaging (no extra retries, enabled two-pass imaging);

* Added sharing of 'file type check' information from scan result to filtered scan result;

* Added possibility to enable log file (journal) scan for quick scan of NTFS file system (default is 'off');

* EXT3/4 (In 'quick' scan/indexing): processing of journal is now made optional (default is 'off');

* Intel Optane: reworked cache mapping algorithm and added support of linear (spanned) cache zone;

* RAID50/60 support: Added reverse address translation for RAID builder GUI;

* iSCSI target (server):
- Fixed compatibility issue with open-iscsi client (iscsiadm);
- Added proper reproduction of defect blocks via iSCSI (verified with default Windows initiator and Linux open-iscsi);

* Drobo BeyondRAID: speed-up of general read/scan operations (especially for non-allocated storage space);

* Added support of hardware RAID on JMicron chips (including QNAP TR extension boxes);

* Added recognition/support of certain WiebeTech (CRU) and Tableau (Opentext) data protection bridges/adaptors;

* In the general disk imager (image at once):
- Speed optimization for EWF (E01) image file creation;
- Speed optimization for SDLSP format (especially on a LAN target);

* EXT3/4 file systems:
- Faster (optimized) processing of file system journal - by caching it to memory;
- Faster 'open' for existing big EXT3-4 volumes;

* Fixed issue with support of SATA M.2 SSD via Realtek USB-to-NVMe bridge chip;

* Added support of drives identification and SMART access on IEEE 1394 (FireWire) connection;

* In embedded viewer:
- Added several unsupported camera raw formats (and fixed couple of related bugs);
- Significantly reduced number of access attempts to storage when defect block is detected.

What's new in version 9.17:

Added basic function of volume address translation to a file system file/folder and the offset inside;
In RAID Builder: added tool to build 'a copy of RAID' - it allows to build several different configurations from the same source;
Added support of older 3Ware RAID metadata format for automatic RAID construction;
Added support of message activation in file copying message log:
- Activation of file-related event now opens container folder and selects the associated file;
- When events are automatically redirected to a file (due to log overflow), activation of redirection event record will open the log file;
In disk imager:
- Changed log format for better compatibility to forensic imaging (also included information about forensic bridge, imaging status etc.);
- Better handling and indication of image write errors;
SMART tool:
- Refresh operation is made asynchronous to prevent UI from freezing on long updates;
- Proper indication of SCSI 'not ready' status (including running FORMAT UNIT command);
Reworked file copying with replacement of 'unsafe symbols' (such as '/', '?' etc.):
- Under Windows: unsupported symbols on a source file system are changed to special Unicode symbols (macOS-style) on a target;
- Under Linux: all 'unsafe symbols', except '/' are now allowed;
- Under macOS: all 'unsafe symbols', except '/' and ':' are now allowed;
- When source file system contains macOS Unicode replacement symbols, they are changed to 'original' ones in the user interface;
Minor fix to ReFS3 file system (to support a variation of metadata format);
Fixed bug with EFS-encrypted files, recovered with full-disk scan stage;
Fixed bug scanning volumes with compressed files on NTFS;
Fixed bug processing extended attributes on XFS file system;
Legacy HFS file system: now displayed and preserved file creation/modification dates.

What's new in version 9.18:

Added support of 'data entropy' map:
- In disk imager, added possibility to save 'data entropy' map during imaging (low and high resolution);
- Added option for visualization of entropy map during imaging (with synchronization to imaging and to map of defects);
- Added possibility to visualize saved 'data entropy' map via 'Enable a block status map' tool;
In map visualization GUI:
- Added possibility to change dynamically the size of grid cells;
- Added support of statistics on 'data entropy' map;
In RAID builder:
- In context menu of selected set, added 'To a new RAID' tool to create a RAID on a subset;
- Added also comparison of selected items via 'Compare storages' context menu option;
Added support of multi-volume configurations of very old Drobo DAS devices;
In disk imager:
- Changed two-pass imaging to multi-pass imaging by adding optional one or two pre-imaging stages (with no retries on defects);
- Added optional pre-imaging stage 0 - to quickly skips slow and damaged areas for fast imaging of 'healthy' areas;
- Added one more pre-imaging stage to run on slow areas and to skip areas with defects (postpone them to the 'normal' stage);
- Added possibility to override number of retries and read timeout for the final imaging stage;
Built-in viewer now supports displaying the contents of certain archive file formats:
- Added support of Zip, TAR, GZip and BZip2 archive container formats (including .tar.gz, .tar.bz2);
- Added content decompression for Deflate, Deflate64, BZip2, LZX, LZMS, LZMA, MS XPress and plain content streams;
- Added limited support of Windows IMage (WIM) file format (only individual files in current format);
- Support of preview of contained files;
In 'file search' result: added missing color and file status indication;
Added displaying of the number of files in scan result folders;
Disabled the indication of the folder metadata size (to avoid confusion with the size of contained files);
- Added possibility to re-enable this function in the software settings;
Fixed issue displaying color progressive (one scan per component) JPEG images as greyscale;
Reworked support of ISO9660 file system.

What's new in version 10.0

* Archive viewer:
- Added support of MSZIP decompression schema;
- Added partial support of CAB file format;
* Fixed bug with support of LUKS2 decryption;
* Added support of decryption of Synology full volume encryption;
* Reworked design of all static HTML reports;
* Reworked menu structure for disk imaging tools;
* Added 'media manager' function:
- Optional detection of supported connected 'complicated' media devices (dedicated UI section for recognized media devices);
- Automatic assembly of mdadm RAID and LVM;
- Assisted (automatic) access to shared folders, iSCSI volumes, snapshots etc.;
- Automatic decryption of supported encrypted folders and containers;
- Support of QNAP (QTS 4.3 to 5.1), Synology (DSM 6.2 to 7.1) and Apple AirPort storages.
* Optional 'dark theme' in user interface;
- Automatic recognition of the dark/light theme of the system under Windows and macOS;
- Added the ability to independently configure the color theme of the program;
* Object properties dialog now includes explanation to custom colors of objects in UI;
* Added new scan type: 'Only the current file system' - to increase 'completion' speed and reduce memory usage;
* Fixed issue with proper recognition of DDF1 RAID10 configuratios on some controllers;
* Fixed several quality-related issues in raw recovery.

What's new in version 10.1:

* Added support of RAID0+1 configurations of HP SmartArray controllers (version 1 metadata);
* Added support of RAID0 configurations on RAID components of different sizes (dynamic adjustment of rotation);
* Added support of iSCSI file storages on ASUSTOR NAS (format of index+data, via Media Manager);
* In LUKS decrypt: added support of 'Base64 decode' transform to accept 'rkey' binary passwords of Synology NAS;
* Added support of WD MyCloud backup keys for storage decryption;
* In file viewer: added 'quick preview' for disk images and virtual disks of common formats and with most used file systems;
* In Media Manager:
- Added support of ASUSTOR NAS devices (shares, snapshots, iSCSI target files, encrypted shared folders);
- Added support of WD MyCloud NAS (OS 5: PRO, EX2 Ultra etc.) storages;
- Added support of legacy WD MyCloud Home series storages;
- For MyCloud Home storages, added proper indication of user name for 'auth' container folders;
- Fixed bug with support of GPT on Synology NAS;
* Reworked ReFS file system support module:
- Replaced 'mapping of file segments' with 'IO virtualization' to support segmentation and double indirection (optional, ReFS 3.9 and later);
- In 'access mode': added experimental support of ZSTD and LZ4 file compressions;
- In both 'access mode' and 'scan result': added support of 'redirected' file metadata (this fixes displaying of some files as 'folders');
* Removed imaging optimization for AVHDX/SDLSP files with enabled 'base' files (which are used as a 'delta');

What's new in version 10.2:

* Virtual sector size transformation: added support of conversion of 4160- and 4608-byte blocks to 4096 bytes;
* Plain (flat) disk images now have native support of extended sector sizes (defined via the 'Virtual sector size transformation' tool);
* For QNAP NAS: added support of LUKS decryption using backup key files (via 'Media Manager' GUI);
* 'Open device (advanced)' function now has setting for maximum IO block size (to support limitations of some adaptors);
* In disk imager (ATA mode) - fixed issues with read errors caused by mis-aligned buffer;
* SDLSP format now has native support of extended sector sizes (such as 520, 528, 4160 etc.);
* Saving images from SDLSP and plain files with extended sector size enable automatic conversion to standard sector size;
* In 'Media Manager': added support of TerraMaster NAS (shared folders, iSCSI, etc.);
* XFS file system: added support of 'object type in directory entry' extended feature for XFS metadata version 2;
* UFS file system: added support of sparse files;
* Increased software stack size to support much larger depth of directories nesting;
* In Explorer, introduced additional 'yellow' state for files found with 'raw recovery'.

What's new in version 10.3:

* Added support of couple of 'alternative' key block formats for WD MyBook DUO (under 'Drives/bridges' security tool);
* Added possibility to search for lost/damaged LVM configurations without physical volume configuration by defining a PV without known ID;
* 'Filter file system' function now uses updated UI design with different classes of properties on different tabs;
* In the 'Dynamic HTML report': fixed issue with 'Save CSV report' function and changed CSV separator to 'coma' symbol;
* In the reporting function itself: added customization of separator for CSV reports (the default one is now 'coma');
- Also fixed several UI and report format issues;
* Reworked 'Save with filter' GUI: different filters separated to 'tabs', target path was made editable;
- Also reworked 'folder exclusion' mask as a separate setting;
* Added indication of ZFS pool component properties (vdev, RAID configuration, RAID-Z member, pool ID etc.);
* New filter UI design is also applied to reporting function;
* Access to NTFS volumes: Added support of Windows Overlay Filter (WOF) compression on files (both XPRESS and LZX);
* NTFS file system scan:
- Added search and processing of WOF-compressed files in scan result;
- Removed duplicate symbolic links;
- Corrected algorithm of directory structure recovery for 'lost' files;
* ExFAT file system scan: added possibility to recover items from partially wiped folders;
* In RAW recovery: added possibility to assemble SONY cam video streams with reverse header/data order.

What's new in version 10.4:

* Disk imager: added option to save 'Host Specific' ATA log pages to SDLSP or directly to SATA physical disk clones;
* On-demand imaging:
- When target image file supports writing of ATA log pages, they are cloned automatically on first use;
- Added a tool for explicit imaging of ATA log pages to the target;
* Reworked 'Drives/Bridges security' tool to support ATA log pages from images or 'on-demand imaging task';
* Added double-click decryption of disks from WD MyBook with JMS561 bridge chip;
* Also added automatic recognition of Span/Stripe multi-disk RAID configurations on decrypted storages;
* LUKS decryption: extended allowed password length to 8K symbols, added support of null-symbols in keys/passwords;
* Fixed crash bug with in the disk imager working in ATA-mode;
* In SDLSP file format: added possibility to store 'Host Specific' ATA log pages;
* Added indication of encryption on disks from WD MyBook (DUO) with JMS561 bridge;
* Fixed issue with support of sparse files created with EXT2/3-style inodes on EXT file system;
* UFS file system: fixed a couple of bugs with processing of directory scan (after 'sparse' deletion).

What's new in version 10.5:

* Added ZFS pool builder GUI:
- Added GUI to view/edit ZFS pool configuration, including Vdevs, RAID-Z level and members etc.;
- Possibility to assign components manually (after metadata damage) and force placeholders on place of missing components;
- Added 'New ZFS pool' function under 'RAID' menu to build a pool manually;
- 'View/Edit RAID' function for ZFS pool RAIDs is replaced with this tool to view/re-configure automatically assembled pools;
* Added support of Drobo short-form metadata of latest models;
* In Drobo assistant tool: added possibility to specify data block metadata size (to support older models/firmware);
* In disk imager:
- Added option to track disk by serial number after its reconnection at different device path;
- When resuming saving image to an existing SDLSP or VHDX file, software now verifies stored serial number to match with the source;
* ZFS file system access:
- Fixed an issue with 'missing' support of Big-Endian file system (SPARC);
- Fixed an issue with path navigation when multiple datasets enclosed to each other;
* In ZFS scan procedure: fixed an issue with detection of Big-Endian ZFS (SPARC);
* In file size report: added possibility to switch between long (full) numbers and short form in KB/MB/GB/TB;
* ExFAT scan: addeed support of 'padding' directory records;
* NTFS:fixed issue with support of big files when DATA attribute is moved to ATTR_LIST but still has duplication of 'DATA tail' in main MFT record.

What's new in version 10.6:

* Virtual sector size transformation on images: added possibility to specify a custom source sector size;
* Drives/bridges security: added ATA "security unlock" support (the password must be known, including padding and transformation);
* Added support of password-based full-disk encryption on OpenBSD softraid;
* Added support of OpenBSD softraid (RAID0, RAID1, RAID5, Span);
* In disk imager: added a tool to re-image defect blocks (it resets the 'defect' status to the 'unread' status and allows to re-image the 'unread' zones);
* Microsoft Storage Spaces:
- Added basic support of multi-tier volumes with several rotation groups;
- Fixed parsing issue of 'parent link' metadata entries (version 2);
* Added a tool to open 'directory-bundled' images from a local file system:
- Added support of macOS sparsebundle/backupbundle format;
- Added support of Parallels HDD bundle virtual disks (with automatic support of snapshots);
* In media manager: added recognition of local Parallels Desktop virtual machines and possibility to access their virtual disks (under macOS);
* Disk images of Parallels Desktop software: added support of snapshots;
* Fixed scan issue that caused incorrect file system sub-trees reconstruction on Linux/Unix file systems (EXT, XFS etc.).