IsoBuster 5.5

Overview

I am sure many of you have dealt with a lot of CDs and DVDs that once put in the CD-RW or DVD-RW; their contents couldn’t be read. Scratches and dust are the main causes of the corruption that CD and DVDs suffer from, and this is why a competent tool for dealing with such problems is very much required. IsoBuster is an award-winning utility that belongs in this category. It promises its users that their data, such as important pictures, files videos and documents will be recovered. Of course, you must keep in mind the fact that success varies with the problems, but as long as the disc is readable you have a fair chance of obtaining your precious files. 

IsoBuster offers a lot of features and supports a multitude of formats and common file systems. What is more, a big plus of this utility is the fact that it communicates directly with your optical drives. Thus, it has an advantage of Windows in the data interpretation department. Let’s analyze the features of IsoBuster in this quick article and decide if it is truly the right tool for users of all levels.

Installation

In order to install IsoBuster on your PC, first you need to make sure you have a compatible Windows version. In this regard, you should be happy to find out that, as long as you aren’t still stuck in the 90s, you shouldn’t have any problems at all. IsoBuster supports every Windows system from Win2000 to Win 7. The installation process is simple and fast due to the small size of the setup kit. The utility doesn’t contain any adware/spyware and it doesn’t cause any thread when installed. After you follow the instruction of the setup wizard, you will be quickly greeted by the tool’s interface.

Interface

From a design point of view, the interface of IsoBuster isn’t anything to go crazy about, but then as we already know, this is not the tool’s main purpose, right? The spartan looking interface that lacks bells and whistles is coupled with a functionality that is very hard to beat. Once you start up the program, you must insert a disc, and then IsoBuster will show all the tracks and sessions located on the media, together with all the file systems that are present. It does have a slight learning curve but the Windows Explorer style of the displayed files and folders makes it instantly familiar to anyone. Moreover, the placement of the buttons and the overall design allows for a very smooth navigation.

Pros

The main purpose of IsoBuster is recovering damaged discs, whether they’re CDs, DVDs, HD DVDs, or BDs. The tool reads from the disc and the affected sectors are skipped, thus allowing for the recovering of your data. IsoBuster supports a variety of CD and DVD formats and these include, VCD, CD-I, CD-ROM XA, CD-R, DVD-RAM, DVD-R, DVD-RW and a whole lot more. The ability to support file formats that Windows doesn’t have a clue about is one of the best features of IsoBuster. As a result, file lists based on file signatures are built by the utility and manages to cope with a broad range of issues. FAT 12, ISO9660, Joliet, Rock Ridge Romeo, UDF 1.02 up to 2.6, HF are just a few of the supported file systems.

Another useful feature of IsoBuster is the fact that data from a large number of image formats can be read and extracted. By images, the tool refers to contents of entire partitions or discs written to a single file. Formats from big vendors such as Nero are supported (.nrg) as well as Mac .dmg files. For a full list of the supported formats, just check the official website of IsoBuster.

It is safe to say that by using IsoBuster you will get the best out of your discs.

Cons

Depending on seriousness of the recovery situation, IsoBuster could implement some pop-up instructions that would describe the best course for action for the user.

Alternatives

Alternatives to IsoBuster include the following tools: PowerISO, CD Recovery Toolbox, Recover Disc and a few more. In spite of these options, IsoBuster seems to be on top of everyone’s list.

Conclusion

All in all, you simply can’t go wrong with IsoBuster. It is fair to say that the functionality and features it provides make it one of the best recovery tools for optical discs on the market.