SanDisk RescuePRO Deluxe Review

Quick Summary

  • Features: Photo recovery and backup for flash memory devices, including SD cards, CF cards, and USB drives. (4/5)
  • Pricing: The price for the Deluxe version is a bit high compared to competitors. (2.5/5)
  • Ease of Use: The process is straightforward and unencumbered by unnecessary menus or steps. (4/5)
  • Support: There’s an instructions document, but it’s fairly dated looking. (3/5)

SanDisk RescuePRO Deluxe is a data recovery software for flash memory devices. It won’t recover lost files from your hard drive, but it’s not intended to. Instead, it’s for getting your lost files from devices like SD cards and USB drives.

The software is particularly useful if you work with these storage devices on a regular basis. For example, you might want to get back some pictures from a corrupted memory card. The program can also make backups from these devices.

It’s not weighed down by unnecessary features. As soon as you open the program, you’re given the choice of recovering different file types or making a backup, and the process itself only takes a few clicks to get to.

Pros: Good device compatibility, ease of use, backup capability.

Cons: Limited to flash memory devices, other programs are more versatile for cheaper.

Why Trust Me for This Review

My name is Chris, and I actually fall under the demographic this software was designed for. As a photographer, I’ve done plenty of work with memory cards over the years, and I know the inconvenience that losing files can be.

I’ve also evaluated other file recovery programs in the past, so I have a good idea of where this one stands up to the competition in areas like features, price, and ease of use.

As a computer guy, too, I’m also pretty familiar with the things you’d want from a program like this on the technical side.

What is SanDisk RescuePRO?

RescuePRO software is designed and developed by LC Technology International Inc, a company based out of Florida, USA. The program actually includes two versions: RescuePRO (standard) & RescuePRO Deluxe.

Both versions can recover many types of file formats ranging from images, videos, music, and more. But the Deluxe version tends to be more powerful as it supports many more additional RAW image formats and multimedia formats; also, RescuePRO Deluxe supports card capability up to 512GB while the standard version is only up to 64GB.

Detailed Review of SanDisk RescuePRO

SanDisk RescuePRO Deluxe is a very straightforward program. Once you open the program, you’ll immediately have the choice to jump into the main features. While it does have a relatively narrow focus compared to some other file recovery programs, it’s still worth going over each feature in detail.

File Recovery

File recovery is the main feature at the heart of the program. The program is advertised as being able to recover files from a wide variety of flash media formats, including SD cards, USB drives, and CF cards.

You’re confronted with the option to dive right into file recovery as soon as you open the program. You can recover just photos and videos, audio files, or all file types. This is very simple, with no way to misunderstand what you’re doing or click the wrong option.

This works even if the storage device in question is damaged or corrupted, making the feature invaluable for photographers and others who depend on the reliability of devices like memory cards.

The main drawback here is that the software only works on flash media devices like the ones mentioned above. Unlike some of the competing programs on the market, it won’t also help you recover lost files from your hard drive.

My personal take: The program’s main file recovery feature is very straightforward to use, and gives a great deal of flexibility in recovering your files from a wide range of removable storage devices.

Format Compatibility

One of the main advantages of the Deluxe version over the regular RescuePRO software is being able to recover more file formats. The version includes compatibility with more RAW file formats, as well as the option to recover from Digital Backs.

While the non-Deluxe version can still recover plenty of formats, only Deluxe can recover fragmented videos recorded on devices like GoPros or digital cameras. It’s also compatible with more video formats in general, making it a good investment if video is your main focus.

For some users, these features will be unnecessary. If you don’t have a need for fragmented video recovery, and your files mostly have common formats, there’s a good chance this extra compatibility won’t actually help you.

In that regard, the Deluxe version of RescuePRO could be considered an enthusiast’s software, while the regular version has enough features to satisfy most typical users. Still, the extensive number of formats supported by the Deluxe version is a definite strength.

My personal take: A strength of the Deluxe version of RescuePRO is that it covers many different file types. However, not every user will need this wide-ranging support.

Backup

An interesting side feature of SanDisk RescuePRO is the ability to make copies of a removable media device and to recover your files from the backup instead of the device itself. This is mainly useful if the device is in danger of failing, and you want to avoid putting further stress on it.

While RescuePRO isn’t a dedicated backup and recovery program with a full set of features in this area, making a backup is still simple enough and the option is presented right on the main menu along with the other options like photo and video recovery.

SanDisk RescuePRO Alternatives

There is an extensive list of data recovery programs available in the market, but only a handful is actually good at retrieving photos and videos from a SanDisk memory card. You can read our full review of the best photo recovery software for more options.

Final Verdict

SanDisk RescuePRO is easily a good choice if you need to get back lost photos from a corrupted or damaged storage device. To this end, it’s compatible with a good amount of removable storage devices, even ones that aren’t used as often these days, like CF cards.

The program is a bit expensive compared to other programs that can also recover from your hard drive, and the Deluxe version comes with some features that only some users will benefit from.

The main audience for this program is users who want an easy-to-use recovery option, but it’s also useful for more advanced users looking to recover files from more niche devices like Digital Backs.

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  • Marge

    Pictures on my San Disk Extreme Pro card are visible up to Oct 2nd. All pictures shot after that are only visible on my camera (Nikon D780) and not on either my laptop or my desktop.

    Is this a card issue or a camera issue?

    Reply
  • Grant Woods

    Hi Bolakunmi,

    If you have deleted data or formatted a device then writing back begins overwriting the old data, so if you filled the device again the old data is gone sadly, if you half filled it, and it was full before, you may be able to salvage the end half of the old dataset.

    Try the demo and see what is recoverable, here is an explanation of why old data can sometimes be seen but not the entire shoot, this mainly applies to photos, vidoes can be more complex, it may help:

    You buy a new card, let’s call it a 4GB Compact Flash card, and you test it by filling it completely full of pictures of that evening’s sunset. After you are done, you format the card because you don’t need those pictures. You do a quick (or “normal”) format rather than a full (or “low-level”) format, so the data for all those pictures is actually still on the card:

    Next weekend, you take some pictures of a party, and the week after that some pictures of a football game. Naturally, since you formatted the card and the camera thinks it is empty, those pictures overwrite the data still on the card from your test:

    (If you were to run our software, you would see all your party pictures, and all your football pictures, and most of the sunset pictures.)
    You save all those pictures of the party and the football safely on your computer, and format the card again. Again, the camera thinks the card is empty, so it starts filling the card from the beginning when you shoot a bowling league awards ceremony:

    Note that if anything happens to your computer, we cannot get back _any_ of the party pictures; they have all been overwritten. We have also lost half of the football pictures.
    You save the awards ceremony pictures, format the card again, and next weekend you take a lot of pictures of a wedding and reception:

    Note that if you have to do a recovery at this point, all we are going to get back is the wedding and about 1600 of that sunset that you are already sick of.
    Before you have a chance to go through the wedding stuff, you have to take pictures of a business luncheon:

    You take care of the wedding and luncheon pictures, format the card again, and take some pictures of your son’s music practice:

    But something goes wrong, and you have to do a recovery. You get all of the absolutely latest shoot (your son’s music practice), most of the wedding, all of the business luncheon, and still a bunch of the sunset pictures. You do not get anything from the party or the football. All of the data from those shoots have been overwritten by newer data.

    Best hope may be with the hard drive. Feel free to contact us for support:

    Support@LC-Tech.com

    Reply
  • Charles

    Hi have a Panasonic fz-1000. One of the cards I used was recording video when the camera ran out of battery, thus leaving a .mds/mts file behind, unreadable by all video players. That file was copied to hard drive as the rest of them (no file system corruption). What software do you recommend? I have a rescue pro version from sandisk, but this card is not sandisk I think. What would you do? Can you just repair a single file on your hard drive? Await for your recommendations.

    Reply
    • Grant Woods

      Hi Charles, you can scan any card with RescuePRO. But with an end of file issue it may require a lab recovery. Let us know if you still have the card and have not used it yet..

      Reply
  • Holly Phillips

    Hi Chris

    I did a factory reset on my alcatel pixie phone, and I removed my SanDisk micro sim first to keep images safe as recommended on website and now when I tried it in the phone it wants me to reformat. I really don’t want to lose all my family photos! Is there anything I can do? Thanks in advance. Holly

    Reply
  • Jane

    Hi Chris-

    Do you know of any good recovery software that rescues wiped photos from a Mac or PC hard drive, and not from a SanDisk card specifically?

    Thanks,
    Jane

    Reply