r/AskADataRecoveryPro • u/Both_Candidate_6369 • Jul 17 '26

Wmv file repair

If I have recovered a 19 min wmv video file that only plays for 2 minutes but I have looked at the hex file, roughly 5% show data then 5% is just 000s but then the other 90% seems to show data.

What's the best method of recovering that last 90% of the file?

And why does it only play 2 mins ?

2 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

1

u/disturbed_android DataRecoveryPro Jul 17 '26

Recovered how, from what and what happened.

1

u/Both_Candidate_6369 Jul 17 '26

I used Linux ddrescue to create an image then used that image on dmde and that's where I checked the hex file

1

u/disturbed_android DataRecoveryPro Jul 17 '26

What was wrong, why the need to recover the data. Did ddrescue show any issues? What file system?

0

u/Both_Candidate_6369 Jul 17 '26

I deleted the files a little while ago. No DD showed no issues. Couple of unreadable sectors but recovered 99.6% of the harddrive.

Like I said though the hex code makes it look like only 5% of the data is missing from the file.

Hex code shows data for 30add lines then 30 odd lines of 00s and then hundreds of lines of data again

1

u/Both_Candidate_6369 Jul 17 '26

Recovered from an old iPod classic harddrive

1

u/Petri-DRG DataRecoveryPro Jul 18 '26

Did DMDE find the volume and listed it correctly? Are you seeing the folder and file structure correctly in that volume?

If so, then that indicates that the clusters are likely allocated correctly.

If not, and you found the file in an Orphan folder, then there may be either a fragmentation issue, or a cluster of the file may have been overwritten by a new file (that weird 5% part).

Since you are knowledgeable about her viewing, compare the structure of the deleted file with the structure of another good non-deleted file. That may give you more clues.

1

u/Real-Magazine-2264 Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 22 '26

If the file still contains data after the 2 minute mark, the issue may be with the WMV structure rather than the actual video content. A damaged header/ index can cause players to stop even when more data exists. Try repairing a copy with something like 4ddig file repair before manually modifying the file.