Both R-Studio and R-Studio Technician by R-Toots Technology are first-class professional data recovery software. With powerful data recovery features, a file previewer, a RAID reconstruction module, and a professional hexadecimal code editor, it has everything needed built into one application. Being a cross-platform application, R-Studio works on Microsoft Windows, Apple macOS, and Linux operating systems with no separate license required. This is my favorite data recovery application and I use it everyday on a wide range of data recovery jobs.
I personally use R-Tools Technology R-Studio Technician as my primary data recovery software application. In addition, the software integrates well with DeepSpar’s hardware solutions for data recovery including Disk Imager 4, RapidSpar, and USB Stabilizer. I also regularly use the hexadecimal code editor integrated in with R-Studio and find it indispensable.
Both R-Studio and its major competitor, UFS Explorer, are on par with each other and perform a majority of the same tasks the other one does. The major advantage in using UFS Explorer over R-Studio is the support for the four Linux-based operating systems that R-Studio does not yet offer:
- Drobo BeyondRAID
- Synology Hybrid RAID
- Btrfs-RAID
- ZFS RAID-Z
Prices vary but at the time of writing this, the Standalone License for R-Studio costs $80 (USD) while the Technician Package costs $899.99. Around the holidays, R-Tools Technology sells its products 25% off, and DeepSpar sell R-Studio 50% off whenever a purchase with DeepSpar is made. In contrast, UFS Exporer Professional Recovery sells for $629.95 (USD).
If you would like to speak with a data recovery professional before attempting a data recovery of your own, please call, e-mail, or contact IT-SD. We are more than happy to speak with you.
1) File System Support
The first major advantage to R-Studio is the wide range of file systems it supports including:
Microsoft Windows
- FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, and exFAT
- NTFS and NTFS5
- ReFS/ReFS2+ and Refs for Windows Server 2019
Apple macOS
- AFPS
- HFS, HFS+, and HFSX
- FAT and exFAT
Linux and Unix
- EXT2, EXT3, and EXT4
- UFS1, UFS2, and UFS BigEndian
2) Platform Support
Secondly, R-Studio works on all computer operating systems including Microsoft Windows, Apple macOS, and Linux under one single license. Users are therefore not locked into using a single operating system or computer with their software. And since R-Studio can be used to decrypt and view files from most file systems, R-Studio on an Apple computer can be used to view NTFS file systems and R-Studio on a Windows computer can be used to view AFPS and HFS+ file systems.
3) Third-Party Hardware Connectivity
In addition to its large number of supported file systems, R-Studio Technician also connects via LAN with third-party hardware data recovery tools such as the DeepSpar Disk Imager 4, RapidSpar, and USB Stabilizer. R-Studio now controls all versions of the USB Stabilizer and retrieves the status of every sector read through the Stabilizer. This maintains a sector map and supports multi-pass imaging.
4) Hexadecimal Code Editor and Viewer
One of R-Studio’s best features is its advanced hexadecimal code viewer and editor. This tool is indispensable when performing data recoveries. It first displays the raw hexadecimal data and then also shows the data interpreted by various data patterns such as boot records, MFT, FAT32, files, etc.

5) RAID Support
Another advantage to R-Studio is its extensive RAID support, including:
- Software RAID, volume set, and stripe set support. Support for RAID 4, RAID 5, and RAID 6 layouts. Support for custom RAID layouts. Parameters like block size and order, offsets, and the number of stripe blocks can be explicitly specified. The software also saves Custom RAID configurations.
- Support for Apple software RAIDs.
- Support for Intel Software RAID.
- Hardware RAID, volume sets, and also stripe support.
- RAID consistency check (check for valid data parity values).
- Automatic RAID parameter recognition.
- Reverse RAID: A technique that decomposes real drive objects into virtual RAIDs. R-Studio processes them like real objects. Then, with the software, users view, edit, image, and copy to physical disk reverse RAID scans.

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