Free RAID Data Recovery Tool

The free version of Disk Drill lets you scan RAID drives and preview recoverable files, even if the RAID array is no longer working as a whole. While Disk Drill doesn’t fully rebuild complex RAID configurations, it can automatically identify and reconstruct certain arrays, especially if RAID metadata is still intact.

You can also scan individual member drives, preview files, assess recovery chances, and even recover some lightweight files on Windows, all without a license.

Disk Drill doesn’t require you to manually mount a Linux RAID array to scan it. Instead, you can connect the individual member drives from the array to your Windows or macOS system, and Disk Drill will scan them directly, even if they use the EXT4 file system or were part of a Linux software RAID. If the RAID metadata is intact, Disk Drill may automatically detect and reconstruct the array in a limited way. If not, you can still scan each drive individually.

A deep scan on large RAID drives can take a long time, especially if the disks are large, fragmented, or in poor health. If Disk Drill is estimating hundreds of hours, here are a few things you can do:

• Check drive health first using Disk Drill’s built-in S.M.A.R.T. monitoring. If the drive is unstable or failing, it’s safer to clone it and scan the image instead.
• Create a byte-to-byte backup of the RAID member drives, then scan the backup instead of the live disks. This greatly avoids further wear.
  
• Pause and resume the scan; Disk Drill allows this, so you don’t lose progress.
  
• Use Quick Scan. It’s much faster and often effective when the file system is still intact. To run it: Right-click on the drive in Disk Drill and select Quick Scan from the menu.

If the drives are physically damaged or show signs of imminent failure (clicking noise), stop the scan and consider contacting a professional recovery service.

Disk Drill’s “rebuild mode” refers to its ability to automatically detect and virtually reconstruct RAID arrays during the scan process. When RAID metadata is still present on the drives, Disk Drill can recognize the configuration and present it as a single volume, even if the system itself no longer sees the array. This allows you to browse and preview recoverable files as if the array were still functioning.

You don’t need the original RAID controller or system to recover your data, as long as the drives are still functional. Here’s what to do:

1. Disconnect all member drives from the old system and connect them individually to a PC using SATA ports, USB adapters, or an external HDD dock.
2. Open Disk Drill; it may automatically recognize the array and attempt to rebuild it virtually.
3. If the array isn’t detected, scan each drive individually. Disk Drill can recover files based on file signatures, even without the original configuration.
4. Preview the results, recover what you need, and save it to a separate non-RAID disk.

Disk Drill can automatically detect and recover media files, like photos, videos, and audio, from RAID volumes, even if the original array is no longer operational. If the file system is too damaged to read normally, Disk Drill will fall back on its signature scan mode, which identifies and recovers files based on known patterns in the raw data. Its signature database is extensive, with support for 384 file formats, including all major media types like JPG, MP4, MOV, PNG, MP3, and many more.