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Installation and hardware requirements

CnW data recovery software will operate on any modern PC running, Vista or Windows 7. Minimum hardware is as follows. Most machines, including laptops, less than 5 years old will be fully compatible

1GB RAM or better (more preferred)

Processor 1.5GHz or better (2GHz preferred)

20MB disk space for program installation

Available disk space to match the capacity of the media being restored

Interface to media being restored – typically USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 Version 1 is extremely slow

USB card reader to read camera memory chips

Interface for media to be recovered

       For hard drives, an external USB case is good

       For IDE laptop drives, a 3.5" to 2.5" adaptor is required, or a USB case

       CD/DVD, a suitable RW drive, typically USB based.

When using external drives, do ensure there is always good cooling - a drive fan is an easy solution, or a case with a large built in fan.

NEVER LOAD CnW RECOVERY SOFTWARE OR ANY OTHER RECOVERY SOFTWARE ON TO HARD DRIVE THAT HAS FAILED OR BECOME CORRUPTED. IT CAN LEAD TO MAKING A RECOVERY IMPOSSIBLE, OR LOSING MORE DATA THAN NECESSARY. Please read  What to do when media has failed for more details

Vista and Windows 7, 8

With Vista and Windows 7 it is necessary to run in Administrator mode (in order to access physical drives). When the program is started, the UAC message box is displayed, and has to be accepted.

How to load the software

To load the software, run the ‘CnWIinstall.msi’ program downloaded from www.cnwrecovery.com.  The link form the download page actually downloads a small program, CnWDownload, that will then automatically download and run CnWInstall.msi. Normally the default settings will be fine. The default installation directory is

c:\Program Files\CnW Recovery\CnW

but this may be changed if required. The important files that are restored are cnw.exe and cnw.hlp.  There is also a subdirectory with sample File Selection files

If a SCSI device is to be used, then a SCSI adapter card has to be installed, and the manufacturers device drivers loaded.  CnW Recovery does not use ASPI, although the program works when ASPI has been installed

How to update CnW Recovery software

The software stored on the web site  (www.cnwrecovery.com/html/downloads.html) is always the current, most up to date version. The demo software, and production software are identical, but are controlled by the registration key. To upgrade the software to the latest version, download from the web, and install as above.

Hardware setup

The hardware setup can be quite varied.  The, most important point to note is that CnW Recovery software works by recovering files to a different drive, rather than trying to restore files to the original drive..  The next section Media detection gives details of each type of media.

Windows XP support

Support for Windows XP was stopped in March 2014.  Any downloads on an XP system after this date will have a frozen version V4.44 installed.  The reason for stopping support is to make use of Windows Media Foundation and many useful tools to assist with video recovery.  The timing also coincides with Microsoft's end of support for XP