LOOSHA DATA RECOVERY · 1.0.0
Recovered files you can trust — or an honest no.
Read-only recovery of deleted and lost files from NTFS, FAT, exFAT, ext, XFS, Btrfs and ZFS, with checksum-verified results, fragment reassembly and careful imaging of failing disks.
Windows · Standalone · Freeware · Linux available upon request · Read-only by design
01 / CHECKED, NOT GUESSED
It checks what it gives back.
Many recovery tools show a long list of "found" files. Some open, and some turn out to be grey half-photos. Loosha verifies each result against the filesystem's own metadata and checksums. When a deleted file's blocks are already used by live data, Loosha refuses to export it rather than handing you the wrong content.
WIZARD · EXPERT · CLI
Five steps from disk to recovered files.
The Wizard leads you through Source, Scan, Files, Recover and Resume. Expert mode opens every tool, and the CLI repeats the same work from scripts.
- Source disks are opened read-only; output must go to a different physical disk
- Preview images, text, DOCX/XLSX/PPTX text and the first page of a PDF
- Carving of about 30 file types with validators; unchecked results are named
UNVERIFIED- - Disk imaging with ddrescue-compatible maps for failing drives
- Read-only SMART and surface checks; remap is Expert-only, with a model and serial check
MEASURED RESULTS
Numbers from our own tests, not promises.
Every figure below was measured with release 1.0.0. Results were compared byte for byte with the original files, on real disks and on images made by real Linux kernels.
HONEST LIMITS
Version 1.0 — new, and not for every case.
No ReFS, APFS or HFS+. No RAID, RAIDZ, LVM or mdadm. No macOS build. ZFS works on one device or one mirror side only, and MP4/MOV fragments are not reassembled. The binaries are not code-signed yet, so Windows SmartScreen may warn. So far the author has tested it on lab images and a few real disks. If you need those features, R-Studio, UFS Explorer or DMDE are good choices.
SEE THE COMPARISON →LOOSHA DATA RECOVERY · COMPETITOR COMPARISON
Loosha vs R-Studio, PhotoRec, EaseUS, Disk Drill, DMDE and UFS Explorer.
Loosha data comes from our own tests of release 1.0.0. Data for the other tools comes only from their official sites and documentation; we did not test them. ? = not confirmed on the official site, not listed = not named in the vendor's official list.
| Feature | Loosha 1.0.0 | R-Studio 9.x | PhotoRec 7.2 / TestDisk | EaseUS DRW 21 | Disk Drill 6 | DMDE 4.4 | UFS Explorer Std 10.23 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NTFS | yes | yes | carving only (PhotoRec ignores the FS) | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| FAT12/16/32, exFAT | yes (FAT32 deleted long names restored) | yes | carving only | yes | yes (FAT16/32, exFAT) | yes | yes |
| ext2/3/4 | yes | yes | carving only | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| XFS | yes (deleted files, v4 and v5) | yes | carving only | not listed | not listed | not listed | yes |
| Btrfs | yes (deleted files checked against the csum tree) | not listed | carving only | yes (since 19.2) | yes | yes | yes |
| ZFS | yes: one device or one mirror side; no RAIDZ | not listed | carving only | yes (added in 20.1; scope ?) | not listed | not listed | simple volumes only |
| ReFS | no | yes | carving only | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| APFS / HFS+ | no | yes / yes | carving only | HFS+ yes / APFS not listed (Windows) | yes / yes (HFS+ signature-only on Windows) | yes / yes | yes / yes |
| RAID rebuild | no (no RAID, RAIDZ, mdadm, LVM) | yes, advanced | no | yes | yes | yes (RAID-0/1/4/5/6, JBOD) | spanned volumes only (mdadm, LVM, LDM); RAID is a separate edition |
| File carving | yes, ~30 types with validators; failed checks kept as UNVERIFIED- | yes, custom types | yes, 480+ extensions | yes (RAW) | yes, 400+ signatures | yes | yes, custom IntelliRAW rules |
| Fragmented file reassembly | yes: JPEG, PNG, ZIP, DOCX/XLSX (measured, below); MP4 contiguous only | ? | limited (documented) | yes, "SSR" for FAT32/exFAT/RAW (since 20.1) | ? | ? | ? |
| SMART / surface | SMART read-only; read-only surface test; remap is Expert-only, with model/serial check | S.M.A.R.T. monitoring | no | SMART "Disk Health" | S.M.A.R.T. monitoring | ? | S.M.A.R.T. monitor |
| Imaging bad disks | yes, with ddrescue-compatible maps | yes; multi-pass and sector maps in Technician | no | yes, sector-by-sector image | yes, byte-to-byte backup (bad-sector management on Mac only) | yes; resume/multi-pass in Pro | yes, configurable, skips defects |
| Windows / Linux / macOS | yes / available upon request / no | yes / yes / yes (separate licenses) | yes / yes / yes (+DOS, BSD) | yes / via SSH only / ? | yes / no / yes | yes / yes / yes (+DOS) | yes / yes / yes |
| GUI / wizard | GUI with Wizard and Expert modes, plus CLI | GUI | text UI (QPhotoRec GUI exists) | wizard GUI | GUI | GUI | GUI |
| Preview | images, text, DOCX/XLSX/PPTX text, PDF page 1 | yes | no | yes | yes | common images | images, PDF, text |
| Read-only safety | read-only by design; output must go to a different physical disk | ? | read-only (official) | saves to a different drive by default | ? | ? | ? |
| Price, license | Freeware; closed binaries, not signed | $79.99 per OS; Corporate $179.99; T80+ from $80; Technician $899; demo saves files < 1 MB | free, GPLv2+ | $69.95/month, $99.95/year, $149.95 lifetime; free edition | free 100 MB (Windows); PRO $89/year or $149 lifetime | free: 4,000 files per folder; Express $20/year; Standard $48; Pro $95 / $133 | €59.95 personal, per OS; trial saves files < 256 KB |
Notes on fairness
- Loosha is the author's own tool. Its figures come from our tests; competitor features are as published by each vendor and were not benchmarked by us.
- R-Studio, UFS Explorer and DMDE cover far more filesystems and RAID layouts, and they have years of field use behind them.
- PhotoRec is free and open source, and it is a strong carver on any filesystem, but it gives no file names or folders.
- Prices are in USD (UFS Explorer in EUR) before tax, as shown on the check date. Vendors change prices and run promotions often.
- Competitor data checked against official sources on 14 Nov 2026.
Sources
- Loosha: our own tests of release 1.0.0 (real disks and QEMU images; see the User Guide and Manual in the package)
- R-Studio: www.r-studio.com · www.r-studio.com/Feature-History.html · www.r-studio.com/Data_Recovery_Technician.shtml · www.r-tt.com/VolumeLicensing.shtml
- PhotoRec / TestDisk: www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec · www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk
- EaseUS: www.easeus.com/support/data-recovery-for-windows/index.html · www.easeus.com/datarecoverywizard/history.htm · www.easeus.com/data-recovery-software/drw-pro.html
- Disk Drill: www.cleverfiles.com/help/disk-drill-mac-windows.html · www.cleverfiles.com/data-recovery-software.html · www.cleverfiles.com/help/what-are-the-differences-between-disk-drill-basic-pro-expert-and-enterprise
- DMDE: dmde.com · dmde.com/buy.html · dmde.com/manual/editions.html
- UFS Explorer: www.sysdevlabs.com/product.php?id=ufsxs
DOWNLOAD DETAILS
Platforms and file integrity.
Each package contains the GUI application, the command-line tool, and the User Guide and Manual in English and Russian.
Requirements
- Windows
- Windows 64-bit; administrator rights to read physical disks
- Linux
- Linux build available upon request — undefinable@yandex.com
- Output
- A different physical disk with enough free space
- License
- Freeware
Packages and SHA-256
| Package | Approx. size | SHA-256 |
|---|---|---|
| Windows GUI (LooshaDataRecovery.exe) | 26.6 MB | b576fea41a5d93feeaa624af4a85414afba5b61fbf0b3660344f43c8ca057c59 |
| Windows CLI (LooshaDataRecoveryCLI.exe) | 5.9 MB | 828f565f9a7d4a7a89f5d3568970dc281894fa0f99b6c280e6c78af849c5a185 |
| Linux GUI (loosha-data-recovery) | — | Available upon request · SHA-256 56381cbe0715142dc05357129f80598b27542c67360c88a61ea808786938331e |
| Linux CLI (loosha-data-recovery-cli) | — | Available upon request · SHA-256 2e348528df6c7ab6034b4cc182d71e4958a4a58365b5cded1396067640120313 |
The binaries are not code-signed. Check the SHA-256 before running them. Questions: undefinable@yandex.com.
BEFORE YOU START
Stop writing to the disk you want to recover.
Every new file can overwrite what you lost. Connect the disk read-only to another computer if you can. Recover to a different physical disk, and image a failing drive before scanning it.