Are overwritten files really, truly gone? Or could some snoop, given enough money and resources, get that data back? In my story last week, Surviving a home data disaster: How Shirley got her files ...

With that $30 price tag in my mind’s eye, I went into my PCTools File Recover hands-on thinking that it would be just anotherover-priced undelete utility. Ten minutes in, I was thinking “ByGrabthar’s ...