The files are gone, the partition is RAW, or the disk is clicking. At this point the WinPE you boot matters less than the order you work in - but tool depth still decides the hardest cases.
Data recovery from a rescue USB follows one golden rule - never write to the sick disk. Boot the PE from USB, and recover everything to a different healthy drive. Both Sergei Strelec and NHV Boot carry serious recovery software, but their benches are not equal: Strelec stacks several professional suites, NHV keeps one strong tool per category and gets you to the desktop faster. Match the build to the damage, using this order.
Every second the failing disk spins and every file written to it can overwrite the data you came to save. Boot from the USB, do not install anything to the patient drive, and connect a healthy target disk with enough free space before opening any recovery program. This rule matters more than the Strelec versus NHV question combined.
Accidentally deleted files and formatted camera cards are routine work. NHV's EaseUS Data Recovery and MiniTool Power Data Recovery, and the same class of tools in Strelec, all handle it. Here NHV's faster boot and cleaner interface genuinely help - pick a file type filter, scan, recover to the target disk, verify the files open.
When the whole partition is gone or shows as RAW, you want options. Strelec carries Active Partition Recovery for rebuilding lost partitions, R-Studio for deep sector-level work, and DiskGenius which is excellent at finding lost partitions and browsing damaged file systems. If the first tool's scan disappoints, a second engine with a different approach is already on the same USB - that depth is exactly what the full comparison video highlights.
Clicking, freezing or SMART warnings mean the disk may not survive a long direct scan. Take a sector image of it first with an imaging tool - both builds carry several - then run recovery against the image file on a healthy drive. If the disk dies mid-image you still have whatever was captured, and you have not lost the patient to a heroic direct scan.
If the lost data sits behind BitLocker, stop and find the recovery key first. NHV Boot advertises BitLocker unlocking inside the PE with the password or recovery key, and Strelec also works with BitLocker volumes once unlocked - but neither, and no honest tool, recovers data from an encrypted drive without the key. Tell the client this early; it is the one sentence that saves the whole engagement.
Boot speed, tools, drivers and the final verdict - the complete Strelec vs NHV Boot comparison, step by step.
▶️ Watch Full VideoOften not, and no WinPE changes that. SSD TRIM erases deleted blocks in the background, so undelete tools find names with empty content. Recover what the scan actually previews, and set expectations honestly before you start.
Strelec, because of bench depth - Active Partition Recovery, R-Studio and DiskGenius give you three different engines on one USB. NHV handles ordinary partition loss well, but for the worst cases the extra engines matter.
Never. Recovering to the same disk overwrites the very sectors you are trying to save. Always recover to a different healthy drive, then copy back only after the original problem is fixed.