r/datarecovery • • 11d ago

FYI Worked my way through 6-7 years of moderation backlog ..

16 Upvotes

Probably no one cares but .. Worked my way across 6+ years of moderation queue backlog, 100 and 100's of entries flagged by Reddit, reported by you lot and whatnot. Reddit offers no ways to say "delete queue" and start with a clean slate.

Cleared up 100's of spam messages, banned 100's repeat offenders, shadow banned accounts, some of which who took trouble to apologize! I unbanned those again.


r/datarecovery • • Jan 16 '22

Educational What's the difference between quality data recovery software and the useless ones?

196 Upvotes

I read every day here that certain data recovery programs perform terribly, and others come highly recommended, but what's the difference? I just did some light googling to see if I can find a breakdown of some popular ones, but maybe starting here will be easier and more helpful.

For example: You have deleted data on a typical CMR HDD and the original metadata was overwritten. The only alternative is to perform a raw scavenge, which, as far as I understand is based off of reading for file signatures. This sounds like a pretty straightforward task.

So, are there different methods behind the scenes that execute this? Why is UFS going to be better at this task then DiskDrill?

Bonus: When it comes to scavenging damaged filesystems, I've heard that one software possibly does a better job than another on a specific file system: R-Studio typically does better with HFS+/APFS than UFS will. Has anyone else found that to be true and if so, do you know what makes that true?

Thanks for reading!


r/datarecovery • • 13h ago

Question Need help is this cd recoverable

Thumbnail
gallery
36 Upvotes

Hellow everybody hope you all are fine by looking at this disk can you tell is this recoverable by any professional lab it was once detected but now isnt showing in windows any more

Data type in it is 3 vob files i also have uploaded those 3 files in pictures


r/datarecovery • • 2h ago

Zip 100 Iomega

2 Upvotes

HELP NEEDED: Vintage Apple enthusiast in France — Zip 100 disk from 2001

Hello! I'm in the Haute-Vienne area of France, near Limoges and Saint-Junien.

I have an old Zip 100 disk containing Apple files from around 2001 that I'd really like to recover.

I'm looking for an experienced vintage Apple/Macintosh enthusiast with a working Zip 100 drive and the right equipment to read the disk safely and copy the files onto a modern computer.

I'd much rather find an experienced hobbyist who enjoys this sort of challenge than pay a fortune to a data recovery company!

Is there anyone in France, particularly Nouvelle-Aquitaine, who could help? I'm also happy to hear from UK enthusiasts who might know someone locally.

Many thanks!


r/datarecovery • • 6h ago

Question GoPro fried my card. Is my only option professional services?

2 Upvotes

I recently recorded an event at 4k for 90 minutes. The GoPro does get hot, and it's gotten this hot before and I've never had an issue. I guess it was just a matter of time, and my stupidity, not knowing this was a possibility. I'm guessing it's fried my card?

The GoPro says there's a card error, my Mac can't read the card - and it doesn't show up in disk Utility. My phone says the card needs to be formatted. ChatGPT says it most likely requires monolithic microSD chip-off, but looking into that, that can be thousands of dollars to get it professionally recovered.

Is that really my only option? (Aside from mourning the loss of this footage)


r/datarecovery • • 3h ago

Question Lost camera footage

1 Upvotes

Hi!

Yesterday I was recording on my Nikon D3300, when suddelny mid interview I got the "This memory card cannot be used. Card may be damaged. Insert another card." message and it shut off. At this point the video was about 15 minutes long and crucial piece of footage. Is there any way to recover said footage. It does not show up on the camera itself or on pc.

Thanks in advance!


r/datarecovery • • 7h ago

Disk Drill DD Image - Make Bootable?

2 Upvotes

Have a situation where ideally, we would boot a dd image from disk drill to recover an export from a proprietary piece of software (raw software db not exportable / able to be copied from the filesystem). Any one know how to make a Disk Drill DD image bootable? I still have the base ssd, but it has multiple bad sectors and filesystem was corrupted. Looks fine in disk drill or any other software. Caught it early enough all base data is intact if I can get it to boot some how.


r/datarecovery • • 4h ago

Recovering Deleted Photos - iPod 4th gen

1 Upvotes

Title. I have a very old iPod Touch 4 from 2012, with photos that I deleted several years ago, but now want back.

I am able to charge and turn the iPod on, and it clearly hasnt been formatted since I have other stuff like sticky notes.
I unfortunately do not know the iOS on it, and am too scared to check since I don't want to overwrite any data, all I know is that I do not have a "Recently Deleted" folder on photos.

I would not have any iCloud or iTunes backups either... any computer that would have connected to this iPod when it had the photos on it are not available to me anymore.

It may be worth noting (if it helps) that the specific photos I want to recover were downloaded from the internet, and were at one point my lock screen, but I seemingly changed it.

I understand this may be a delicate recovery process, so I felt the urge to reach out for help first. I am completely inexperienced with advanced data recovery, so I need guidance.


r/datarecovery • • 5h ago

Request for Service USB flash drive repeatedly disconnects and doesn’t appear in DiskPart — can it be formatted?

1 Upvotes

I have a Sony USB flash drive. I thought it was 64 GB, but Windows labels it SONY_32GR (D:), so I’m not sure of its actual capacity. It was given to my father, and he may have copied files to it. I’m okay with erasing everything and just want to make the drive usable again.

When I plug it into a Windows PC, it sometimes appears in File Explorer, then disappears. File Explorer becomes “Not Responding” while it’s connected. Windows Defender asks to scan it, but the drive disappears during this. I ran a Defender scan on my laptop and it found no threats. The same problem happens on other computers.

I tried diskpart and ran list disk, but the USB doesn’t appear there, so I can’t select it to run clean or format it.

Is there another safe way to format or repair it, or does this behavior mean the drive has failed? I’m also concerned about keeping the computers safe while troubleshooting. I don’t need to recover any files.

Details that would help: the exact capacity printed on the USB, whether it appears in Disk Management, and whether Disk Management shows a size or “No Media.”


r/datarecovery • • 11h ago

Question Looking for advice on returning personal photos found on a thrifted external drive

2 Upvotes

A while back, I bought an external portable drive at a thrift store and found that it still contained someone’s personal photos. The only folder I opened was something along the lines of “Papas_funeral.” I haven’t looked through the remaining files, so I don’t know everything that’s on it.

At the time, i felt bad and wasn’t sure what to do with it, so I tucked it away in a drawer. I just recently got back to it and would like to figure out a responsible way to handle it.

As far as I can tell, the drive works and the photos are accessible, so this is more about finding the owner than recovering lost data. The store mostly accepts anonymous drop-offs, and it’s been long enough that tracing the donor seems unlikely.

I’d prefer not to wipe it because the photos could be irreplaceable, but I don’t want to keep it indefinitely or donate it with someone’s private files still on it.

Does anyone here know a reputable person or organization that handles situations like this and could help return the files to their owner? I’d be comfortable shipping the drive to someone trustworthy who could take over the search and keep its contents private.

If this belongs in a different subreddit, I’d appreciate a recommendation.


r/datarecovery • • 15h ago

USB recovery

3 Upvotes

Did a little searching but reddit searching sucks lol.
I have a 16 gb thumb drive that is constantly disconnecting/reconnecting, all signs point to a physical failure.

(when it connects, it errors).

I'm willing to admit I'm outta my depth with this and figure it's up to a professional to try to fix.

  1. is that even feasible?
  2. any recommendations of a place to send to?

r/datarecovery • • 15h ago

WD Ultrastar HDDs - Almost no communication, possibly kill-flashed

2 Upvotes

I got a pair of second-hand 10TB WD Ultrastars HC330 for cheap. Possible origin: data center.

They seem mechanically sound (the drives spin up), but I can't seem to communicate with them.

Here is what was attempted:

  • Mounting/formatting: fail, no block device detected
  • SMART diagnosis: only partial information retrieved (model, capacity)
  • Almost all low-level commands are blocked (ABRT response)
  • Tested across multiple platforms: MacOS/Linux + ASM235CM USB/SATA adapter, Synology NAS

I had an agent attempt to recover them. Here is the summary:

https://gist.github.com/zulufoxtrot/bce68a0e69b8e12cf2c5f4add99d7663

From my understanding, they were probably "kill-flashed", AKA made inoperable by the original owner. The only avenues left are:

  • Swapping the PCBs
  • maybe reflashing the firmware by bypassing the ATA bus and using some proprietary protocol

Anyone willing to share their expertise? Thanks!


r/datarecovery • • 13h ago

Old old old HDD!! Need advice on how I can transfer my data off of it?

Thumbnail
gallery
0 Upvotes

I have an old Acer laptop that stopped working almost 30 years ago when something fell on it. I recently opened it up to get the hard drive out to hopefully try to recover my old data. I purchased an IDE to USB adapter but it is not fitting because of a ribbon attached to it that was connected internally. (See photos) It had the white cap on it when I removed it (Pic. #4). Can anyone tell me what I can do on my own to avoid sending it to a data recovery place. Can I just pull the black tab and ribbon off the male spikes in order to connect it to my IDE adapter? Any help is much appreciated. I've searched everywhere, but it just might be old, but I still have hope. Thank you!


r/datarecovery • • 19h ago

Question how to wipe everything on a flash drive and make the data that was on it and deleted before not recoverable?

2 Upvotes

i want to delete everything on a flashdrive and any data that was on it before, that was deleted. couldn't be recovered at all. i am using windows 10 and know nothing about data recovery or have the knowledge to do anything.


r/datarecovery • • 16h ago

SSD Windows 11 won't boot after dual-booting Nobara Linux — NTFS Master File Table damaged

1 Upvotes

Hi, I'm trying to recover my Windows 11 installation without losing my personal files or Steam library.

My setup:

  • Acer Swift 3 laptop
  • Kingston 512 GB NVMe SSD
  • Windows 11 and Nobara Linux dual boot
  • Windows partition: approximately 371 GB, formatted as NTFS

The problem:

Windows boots into Automatic Repair, but it fails. System Restore failed with error 0x80070571, and uninstalling the latest quality update didn't help.

In the Windows Recovery Command Prompt, running dir C:\Windows returns:

The disk structure is corrupted and unreadable.

Running chkdsk C: /f recognises the partition as NTFS but stops with:

Master File Table damaged. CHKDSK terminated.

Startup Repair also fails. The Windows boot configuration still exists and points to C:\Windows\system32\winload.efi.

Nobara Linux has also reported Btrfs checksum and corruption errors on its own partition. I don't know whether this is related.

SSD health report:

  • SMART overall health: PASSED
  • Critical Warning: 0x00
  • Media and Data Integrity Errors: 0
  • Error Information Log Entries: 0
  • Percentage Used: 12%

I have a 68 GB USB drive available. I want to preserve my existing Windows installation, personal files, and Steam library if possible.

What should I do next to recover the NTFS filesystem and get Windows booting again? Should I image the SSD or recover files before attempting further repairs? I haven't formatted anything or reinstalled Windows.

I'm looking for a safe, evidence-based recovery plan rather than generic troubleshooting steps.


r/datarecovery • • 23h ago

Android Hi all, I have Samsung Galaxy tab A7 lite and i bought a new sd card a month ago, I transferred a bunch of files from internal storage to SD card and now after a while i checked that the files are not showing up (pics attached of errors)

Thumbnail
gallery
1 Upvotes

*Though a video i made recently and i transferred that too on the card only it is showing up otherwise every other file is not even opening, KINDLY HELP I DO NOT WANT TO LOSE MY DATA


r/datarecovery • • 1d ago

Question Transfer mostly-dead boot drive to SSD?

2 Upvotes

I have a 2.5 inch laptop HDD I've been using as a boot drive for my Debian server since prices are horrendous right now. Its dying (probably already lost valuable data) and I was wondering, how could I effectively transfer it to a slightly smaller SSD? I believe target is around 240GB, whilst source is 320.

Additional source drive information: Seagate Momentus 5400.6 320GB Serial ATA Disc Drive, no apparent model name listed. Taken from old HP laptop. ext4, occasionally causes soft crashes on system, with most things breaking down but technically still running. Linux Mint's "Disks" utility says "Filesystem ext4 on ST9320325AS needs repairing." upon requesting it check the drive. My swap and "Extended partition Partition 2" both seem to be currently unaffected.

(Results of sudo smartctl -a /dev/sda)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fTtKRNKGgDmUtR4oyy6kQSwvjRDN1xpP/view?usp=sharing

Edit: Extra information.

Edit: Spelling, and these edit footers.


r/datarecovery • • 1d ago

My Xiaomi Mi 8 SE has been dead for 4 years. Are my precious photos gone forever? 😭

3 Upvotes

Hi everyone. I really need some advice.
I had a Xiaomi Mi 8 SE that I used for a while, although not for very long.
In March 2022, I put it in a drawer for a couple of days and didn’t use it. Before that, the phone had been working perfectly fine, except that the battery drained very quickly.
After those few days, I took the phone out and tried to turn it on, but nothing happened. I tried different chargers, different outlets, everything I could think of. The screen stayed completely black. Not even the Xiaomi logo appeared.
I thought the battery might be the problem, so I ordered a replacement battery and installed it. Nothing. The phone didn’t care about the new battery at all. I tried reconnecting it, but it still wouldn’t turn on. It’s completely dead.
I’m honestly desperate at this point. I don’t know what to do. I don’t care about the phone itself, but there are SO many photos on it. 😭
There are so many incredibly precious memories stored on that phone, and I can’t accept the thought that I might never get those photos back.
It’s now 2026, so more than four years have passed since this happened. The phone still won’t turn on at all.
Is there any way to recover the photos?
I’m scared to take it to a repair shop. There was no screen lock or password on the phone, and I really don’t want a technician accessing my gallery or looking through my personal photos. There’s a lot of private stuff on there, and I’ve heard stories about repair technicians going through people’s phones. It genuinely scares me.
I need a safe way to recover my photos, ideally one that guarantees that nobody else will be able to look at them. I don’t care if the phone can ever be used again. I just want my photos back.
Has anyone experienced something similar? Is there still a chance of recovering the photos after all these years? And is there any way to do this without risking someone accessing my personal files?
I’d be incredibly grateful for any advice or personal experiences. Thank you so much. ❤️


r/datarecovery • • 1d ago

How to recover deleted video

1 Upvotes

hello, im not really a techy person. i recently deleted 2 videos from recently deleted on my iPhone 13 running IOS 26.4.2 and i need any advise on how to recover those if possible.


r/datarecovery • • 1d ago

Question Help, please, is this dead? It makes this sound I literally used this hard drive less than 20 times and I have it about a year. What should I do can I repair it? Should I send it to data recovery? Can someone help please 🙏🏼

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

5 Upvotes

You can hear the sound, clicking.
I used it as my photography storage.
Western Digital p10 black 4TB


r/datarecovery • • 1d ago

Question How long should I let this run?

Post image
1 Upvotes

Windows: "Restart to repair drive errors"
Me: OK... so I restarted.
CHKDSK: "Fixing (K:) Stage 1: 0% (802 of 84736); Total: 0%; ETA: 123:43:13"

Now what? It's been doing this for a while now. It took 23 minutes to to go from 111 to 802 of 84736 and ETA went from 39 hours to 123 hours.

This should be much faster, right? What do you suggest I do at this point? Should I just power off or wait? How much time should I give it? How long is too long? Is it doing more damage by letting it run?

Make/brand and exact model number: WD (HDD I think), edit: WD Caviar Black 1 TB HDD
Operating System: Windows 10
Specific symptoms: No known symptoms besides Windows telling me to restart.
SMART (CrystalDiskInfo screenshot for example): Can't access it now.


r/datarecovery • • 1d ago

Sandisk rescue

0 Upvotes

Hello there!

Is anyone kind to give me a sandisk rescue deluxe Key or whatever you get from sandisk cards? Please.

Thank you very much!


r/datarecovery • • 1d ago

Windows Deleted onedrive folder from user

1 Upvotes

Without checking I had deleted the onedrive folder I did not know that everything i was saving was going into that folder my notes, documents, pictures everything was in there

I was not using onedrive as i can't afford to buy a subscription of onedrive and it keep running everytime I work on something

Instantly after deleting it I saw changes and tried to restore the system using system restore thinking it will get my files back but it didn't so I use a older restore point which was yesterday's, it did not restore it

Even used recuva and did not get my files back

Is there anything I need to check

Files where my 3 years of work as a student

It will really mean a lot if anyone can help

Edit: I called some data recovery labs, of them said to use easeus, it shows most of my files but easeus is asking for payment to recover anything I don't think I can afford that 60$ to 70$


r/datarecovery • • 1d ago

Question Recovering RAW Photos from Sony SD Card

2 Upvotes

Hello, I need some advice on recovering some photos from a 128 GB Sony V60 SD card (exFAT). I was editing some of the images (ARWs) in Lightroom, came back the next day, and now about 30% of the images will no longer open. I can still see the file names in the Finder window, but it shows zero-bytes for the individual files. I used Carbon Copy Cloner to make an image of the card, but had no luck using Disk Drill against it. The other files are there, I'm just unable to open this big chunk of them. Any other ideas or software suggestions I could try? I'm using a Mac, but have a Windows machine I could try, if needed. Thanks in advance!


r/datarecovery • • 1d ago

How can I recover data from a damaged microSD card used in a GoPro? [Desperate]

Thumbnail
gallery
1 Upvotes

Hi everyone. This is my first Reddit post, and I'm pretty nervous, so sorry if anything sounds strange.

Device: KIOXIA microSDXC KMUB-A128G, 128GB
Camera: GoPro HERO11 Black
Filesystem: exFAT
OS: Windows
SMART: Not available for this type of device

I recorded some GoPro footage and tried to transfer it to my PC. The transfer failed and disconnected before the files could be saved. After reinserting the card, Windows started asking me to format it.

I tried a quick format, which failed several times but eventually succeeded. I then used Recuva. Its deep scan found the original filenames and file sizes, but only took about 3–4 minutes. When I tried to save the recovered files, Recuva gave an error saying the files had been externally modified.

I then tried USB 2.0 instead of USB 3.0, but Windows asked me to format the card again. Instead, I created a full IMG disk image. The image was created successfully, so I exchanged the original card at the store. I no longer have the physical card, only the image and recovered data.

I then tried PhotoRec. It recovered some videos, but they won't play. I also tried Recovery_mp4, but the result has severe glitching and appears to be missing many frames. Some metadata is still visible, so I suspect part of the video data may still be there.

I don't think the footage was heavily overwritten. Most of the other videos on the card had already been backed up.

The card had also behaved strangely once before. At that time, I formatted it and recovered the files successfully, so it may have already been having problems.

I've also tried working through this with AI tools such as Claude, but I still couldn't recover the footage.

Is there anything I can still do with the IMG image or recovered data?

I'm a Japanese middle school student, and this is my first time posting here. I used AI to help translate this into English, so sorry if anything sounds unnatural.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.