Installation

Installation

ByteRescue currently targets Windows and needs Python 3.11+.

Easiest: double-click ByteRescue.bat

ByteRescue.bat is a thin shim that hands off to ByteRescue.ps1, which:

1. Requests Administrator privileges via a UAC prompt (physical-drive scanning needs them) — a new, elevated console window opens; you can close the first one once it says so.
2. Checks for a working Python 3.11+, and if none is found, installs it automatically via winget (Windows' built-in package manager) and retries — no manual download needed on most modern Windows 10/11 systems. If winget isn't available, it prints a direct link to the python.org installer instead.
3. Launches the app.

Manual install

If you already have Python 3.11+ set up:

python -m pip install -e .
python -m byterescue

Or after installing the package:

byterescue

The GUI should open in a desktop window titled ByteRescue — Storage Analysis & Data Recovery.

Why Administrator?

Physical-drive scanning (Deep / Raw Scan mode, or choosing "Physical Drive" as a recovery source) opens the raw device path (\\.\PhysicalDriveN) directly, which Windows only allows for elevated processes. Everything else (folder analysis, file analysis, hex viewing, recovering from a file/disk image) works without elevation, but the launcher requests it up front so the Recovery Center's drive-based modes work out of the box.

Troubleshooting a failed install

See Troubleshooting for common installation and startup problems.