Recuva Professional Main Errors – Solution

Recuva Professional is widely trusted for recovering lost files on Windows systems, offering advanced features like virtual hard drive support and automatic updates. However, like any software interacting deeply with storage hardware, it can encounter errors caused by disk corruption, permission conflicts, or connectivity issues. This guide addresses the most frequent errors users face in 2025 and provides practical, step-by-step solutions to get your recovery back on track.

Common Errors

• Unable to determine file system type: The software cannot read the drive's structure, often due to corruption or missing drive letters.
• The device is not ready: A connectivity or power management issue preventing access to the storage media.
• Failed to scan the following drives: Often caused by insufficient permissions or trying to scan a system-reserved partition.
• Deep Scan stuck or freezes: The scan hangs at a specific percentage, usually due to bad sectors on the disk.
• Activation Failed / Invalid Key: License validation errors preventing access to Professional features.

Fix 1: Unable to Determine File System Type

This error typically appears when Recuva tries to access a drive that Windows sees as "RAW" or unformatted. Recuva needs a recognized file system (like NTFS or FAT32) to function correctly.

1. Press Win + X and select Disk Management.
2. Locate the problematic drive in the list. If it does not have a drive letter (like E: or F:), right-click it.
3. Select Change Drive Letter and Paths.
4. Click Add, choose a letter from the dropdown menu, and click OK.
5. Restart Recuva and attempt the scan again.

Fix 2: "The Device is Not Ready" Error

This error often occurs with external hard drives or USB sticks that have entered a sleep state or have loose connections.

1. Close Recuva completely.
2. Open File Explorer and navigate to the drive you want to scan. Open any folder inside it to force the drive to "wake up" and spin up.
3. If the error persists, type Edit Power Plan in the Windows search bar.
4. Go to Change advanced power settings > USB settings > USB selective suspend setting and set it to Disabled.
5. Relaunch Recuva immediately after the drive becomes responsive in Explorer.

Fix 3: Failed to Scan the Following Drives

Recuva may fail to scan if it lacks the necessary permissions to access the Master File Table (MFT) or if you are trying to scan a system partition unnecessarily.

1. Right-click the Recuva Professional icon on your desktop.
2. Select Run as administrator. This is critical for accessing system-protected areas.
3. In the Wizard, instead of selecting "All local disks," choose In a specific location.
4. Browse explicitly to the drive or folder you need (e.g., "D:" or "C:UsersDocuments").
5. Click Next to start the scan.

Fix 4: Deep Scan Stuck or Freezing

If Recuva hangs (often at 0% or 99%) during a Deep Scan, it is likely encountering bad sectors—physical damage on the disk platters.

1. Cancel the current stuck scan (you may need to use Task Manager to force close Recuva).
2. Restart Recuva and enter Advanced Mode.
3. Go to Options > Actions tab.
4. Uncheck Deep Scan initially to see if a quick scan works.
5. If you must use Deep Scan, try narrowing the search: in the Wizard, select Pictures or Documents specifically rather than "All Files" to reduce the workload on the damaged drive.

Fix 5: Activation Failed

Users upgrading to Recuva Professional often face "Invalid Key" errors due to copy-paste formatting issues.

1. Open the registration email containing your license key.
2. Copy the key precisely, ensuring you do not select any empty spaces before or after the code.
3. Paste it into a text file (Notepad) first to verify there are no hidden characters.
4. Copy it from Notepad and paste it into the Recuva activation field.
5. If it fails, type the key manually, being careful to distinguish between the number "1" and the letter "I", and "0" (zero) versus "O" (Oscar).

Prevention Tips

• Enable specific file targeting: Scanning for specific file types (like .jpg or .docx) significantly reduces error rates compared to scanning "All Files."
• Keep drives active: Connect external drives to rear USB ports (on desktops) to ensure they receive sufficient power, reducing connection drops.
• Regular disk checks: Periodically run the Windows Error Checking tool (Right-click drive > Properties > Tools > Check) to mark bad sectors before data loss occurs.

When to Contact Support

If you hear clicking or grinding noises coming from your hard drive, stop using the software immediately; this indicates physical failure that software cannot fix. Contact a professional data recovery service instead. For software-specific bugs, export the error log (if available in Advanced Mode) and have your license key ready before contacting Recuva support.