r/datarecovery • u/disturbed_android • 2d ago

Drive shows as RAW or Windows says "You need to format the disk"? Read this before you click anything

6 Upvotes

Title: Drive shows as RAW or Windows says "You need to format the disk"? Read this before you click anything

r/datarecovery guide, maintained by the moderators. Updated October 2026.

TL;DR

  • Don't click Format, don't click Initialize, and don't run CHKDSK. Each of these writes to the drive and can make recovery harder or impossible.
  • "RAW" is a catch-all error. It only means Windows can't recognise the file system. It doesn't tell you why, and it doesn't mean your files are gone.
  • In most cases the data is still there. Recovery software can usually read it, as long as the drive itself is healthy.
  • First check the drive: in Disk Management it must show its correct capacity. If it doesn't, or if it clicks, disconnects or is very slow, stop and get advice. Software won't help a failing drive.
  • On an SSD, RAW is often actually good news. No operating system sends TRIM commands to a volume it can't mount, so your data is safe from TRIM, as long as you don't format it.
  • Then scan it with proper recovery software (see our recommended data recovery software) and only pay once the preview shows your files.

What does "RAW" mean?

You'll see it in different forms:

  • Windows Explorer: "You need to format the disk in drive X: before you can use it."
  • Disk Management: the partition shows as RAW instead of NTFS, exFAT or FAT32.
  • Opening the drive: "The volume does not contain a recognized file system", "The parameter is incorrect" or "Location is not available".
  • CHKDSK: "The type of the file system is RAW. CHKDSK is not available for RAW drives."

All of these say the same thing: Windows looked at the partition, couldn't make sense of the file system, and gave up. RAW is not a file system and it's not a diagnosis. It's a catch-all error. It tells you that Windows can't recognize the file system, not why.

Why does a drive show as RAW?

The cause can be anything from completely harmless to serious. The most common ones:

  • The file system is foreign to Windows. A drive formatted on a Mac (APFS, HFS+) or under Linux (ext4) is perfectly fine; Windows just can't read it. The same goes for an SD card that an Android phone set up as internal storage: it's encrypted and only readable in that phone.
  • The partition table points to the wrong place. If the partition table is damaged, Windows looks for the file system at the wrong offset and finds nothing it recognizes, while the file system itself is intact a little further on.
  • The boot sector is corrupt. The first sector of the partition holds the BPB (BIOS Parameter Block), which tells Windows things like the cluster size and where the file system's structures are. If that's damaged, Windows can't find its way in, even if everything behind it is fine.
  • Part of the file system is damaged. For example, the first 10% of the MFT (NTFS's index of all files) is wiped or unreadable. Windows gives up, but most of the file system may still be there.
  • Encryption. A BitLocker volume Windows doesn't recognize as BitLocker, or a drive taken out of a USB enclosure that encrypts in hardware (some WD and Seagate external drives do). In the second case the data is only readable through the original enclosure's board.
  • The drive is failing. On a hard drive, the file system structures sit on sectors the drive can no longer read. On an SSD, the firmware or its internal translation table can fail, often showing a wrong capacity or a strange model name. This is the case where software can make things worse, or simply can't help.

The important point: the first five are logical problems, and the data is usually fully intact. Only the last one is a hardware problem.

Windows reads a drive layer by layer. A RAW error means the chain broke somewhere above the file level, which is why your files themselves are often still intact.

My SSD shows as RAW. Is my data lost because of TRIM?

Probably not. On an SSD, a RAW drive is a blessing in disguise compared to, say, an accidental format. Both look the same to you: the drive suddenly seems empty. But a format makes Windows send TRIM for the whole volume, and the SSD erases everything within moments. A RAW volume isn't mounted, so no operating system sends TRIM to it, and the data stays where it is. That protection lasts exactly as long as you leave it RAW: the moment you click Format, you turn a recoverable situation into an unrecoverable one.

One exception: if the SSD itself is failing (its firmware or internal translation table), it can also show up as RAW. Then TRIM isn't the problem, but software won't help either. You can usually recognize this by a wrong capacity or a strange model name in Disk Management.

What should I not do?

  • Don't format. That's literally what Windows asks you to do, and it's the worst option. A quick format writes a new, empty file system over the start of the old one. A full format on Windows Vista and later overwrites the entire drive with zeros, and then the data is gone for good. On an SSD, even a quick format is fatal: Windows sends TRIM for the whole volume, and the SSD wipes everything within moments.
  • Don't run CHKDSK. On a RAW drive it usually refuses to run anyway. But if the file system is partly recognized, CHKDSK "repairs" it by discarding whatever doesn't add up, and that can be your files and folders. It's built to make a file system consistent again, not to save your data.
  • Don't click Initialize. If Windows asks to initialize the disk, that writes a new partition table.
  • Don't try partition repair tools unless you know exactly what you're doing. Tools like TestDisk write to the drive. In experienced hands they can be useful; used blindly, they can turn an easy recovery into a hard one.
  • Don't keep trying. Every reconnect, scan and repair attempt on a failing drive costs it part of its remaining life.

What should I do?

  1. Check the capacity in Disk Management (Windows) or Disk Utility (Mac). If the drive shows its correct size, it's probably a logical problem. If it shows 0 bytes, a wrong or absurd size, or doesn't appear at all, the problem is deeper. Stop and post here.
  2. Think about where the drive came from. Was it used on a Mac, in Linux, in an Android phone, or in an external enclosure you took it out of? Then it may not be damaged at all.
  3. Check SMART with a tool like CrystalDiskInfo. Reallocated, pending or uncorrectable sectors mean the drive is degrading. Image it first, or get help.
  4. Scan it with recovery software. Good tools can find a file system at the right offset, rebuild a damaged boot sector, and reconstruct the folder tree even when part of the MFT is gone. See our recommended data recovery software.
  5. Check the preview before you pay. Open about 20 larger photos at full size. If those look right, the tool understood the file system, and most other files will be fine too.
  6. Recover to a different drive. Never to the RAW drive itself.

When should I stop and get help?

  • The drive doesn't show its correct capacity.
  • It clicks, beeps, disconnects or reads extremely slowly.
  • It's a drive from an external enclosure that encrypts in hardware.

In those cases, post your situation here before you buy anything or try anything else.

6 comments

r/datarecovery • u/disturbed_android • 6d ago

Educational Best data recovery software (2026)? Read this first – r/datarecovery's recommendations

27 Upvotes

Updated October 2026.

TL;DR

  • There is no single "best" data recovery software. Which tool works best depends on the file system, the kind of damage and the file types. The tools professional data recovery labs actually use are UFS Explorer, R-Studio and DMDE.
  • Already using EaseUS, Recuva, Stellar or another tool? If its scan shows your folders and full-size previews of your files open correctly, you're probably fine and don't need to switch. If the previews are broken, try another tool before giving up.
  • Before you scan anything: the drive must show up in Disk Management (Windows) or Disk Utility (Mac) at its correct capacity. If it doesn't, or if it clicks, disconnects or is very slow, stop. No software will help, and scanning can make it worse.
  • SSDs: deleted files on an SSD are usually gone within minutes because of TRIM. No software can bring them back.
  • Most tools let you scan and preview for free. Only pay once the preview shows your files are recoverable, and check whether you're buying a one-time license or a subscription that renews automatically.
  • Never save recovered files to the drive you're recovering from. That can overwrite files you haven't recovered yet.

Recommended data recovery software (used by pros and experts)

The tools you'll find in data recovery labs, in no particular order. Labs usually run the professional or technician editions, such as UFS Explorer Professional Recovery or R-Studio Technician. Those editions add features labs need, like RAID reconstruction, working with disk images and hardware imagers, and network recovery. The core recovery engine is largely the same as in the consumer editions. For a typical deleted-files or formatted-drive case, the standard edition gets you most of what the lab version would.

UFS Explorer

The go-to tool for many professionals, with the widest file system support and feature set of any tool here. Probably highest update frequency of them all which results in features added in a fast pace.

  • Downside: it comes in several editions. Check which one covers your case before you buy.
  • Supported OS: Windows, macOS, Linux
  • File systems: NTFS, FAT/FAT32, exFAT, ReFS, APFS, HFS+, Ext2/3/4, XFS, Btrfs, F2FS, JFS, ReiserFS, UFS/UFS2, ZFS, VMFS
  • Website: ufsexplorer.com

DMDE

Powerful and inexpensive, began life as a disk editor and it shows. Excellent with damaged file systems and lost partitions. And if you know where to look, offers manual control over about everything. A true life-time license with updates available.

  • Downside: overwhelming at first. No Bitlocker support
  • Supported OS: Windows, macOS, Linux, DOS
  • File systems: NTFS, FAT/FAT32, exFAT, ReFS, APFS, HFS+, Ext2/3/4, Btrfs
  • Free edition: recovers up to 4,000 files from the current folder at a time, unlimited times.
  • Website: dmde.com

Disk Drill

The tool to try for fragmented video from GoPro, Insta360, Sony and other cameras, thanks to its advanced camera recovery. Labs and specialists use it for this. But also offers strong generic file recovery features that checks all the "what to look for.." boxes I'll discuss later. A true life-time license with life-time updates available.

  • Downside: Fairly expensive compared to the other tools, and some users find the interface confusing.
  • Supported OS: Windows, macOS
  • File systems: NTFS, FAT/FAT32, exFAT, ReFS, APFS, HFS+, Ext3/4
  • Website: cleverfiles.com

R-Studio

Widely used in labs, also because of professional hardware support. For years this tool was the benchmark. Strong file system reconstruction and good RAID support. Solid tool.

  • Downside: the interface is busy and takes some getting used to.
  • Supported OS: Windows, macOS, Linux
  • File systems: NTFS, FAT/FAT32, exFAT, ReFS, APFS, HFS/HFS+, Ext2/3/4, XFS, UFS1/UFS2
  • Website: r-studio.com

Also worth knowing

ReclaiMe

A simple interface with strong file system reconstruction.

  • Downside: Windows only. To recover a Mac drive, connect it to a Windows PC. Very resource hungry, requires internet connection while running the software (sends telemetry data to developer)
  • Supported OS: Windows
  • File systems: NTFS, FAT/FAT32, exFAT, ReFS, APFS, HFS/HFS+, Ext2/3/4, XFS, Btrfs, UFS
  • Website: reclaime.com

File Scavenger

Rarely mentioned, but worth it. Simple to use in standard cases.

  • Downside: Windows only, with a dated interface.
  • Supported OS: Windows
  • File systems: NTFS, FAT/FAT32, exFAT, ReFS, HFS+/HFSX, Ext3/4, XFS, Btrfs, UFS1/UFS2, ZFS, VMFS
  • Website: quetek.com

What's the difference between professional data recovery software and EaseUS, Recoverit or 4DDiG?

Consumer tools such as EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard, Wondershare Recoverit and Tenorshare 4DDiG can handle simple cases fine, like recently deleted files or a quick format on a healthy drive. If their preview shows your files correctly, use them. The difference shows in harder cases:

  • Getting the file system right without a shortcut. Professional tools reconstruct the file system from every trace they can find and don't depend on the boot sector or another single structure. When something is damaged, consumer tools fall back to a raw scan more quickly, and you lose filenames and folders.
  • Better raw recovery. When a raw scan is the only option, good tools understand the internal structure of each file type. Simple ones only recognize where a file starts and guess where it ends, which often gives you corrupt files.
  • Manual control. When automatic detection gets it wrong, professional tools let you set parameters such as cluster size and partition offset yourself, and inspect the raw data. Consumer tools only offer "scan" and "deep scan."
  • Unusual storage. NAS and DAS devices, hardware and software RAID, LVM, Windows Storage Spaces, encrypted volumes (BitLocker, encrypted APFS), and less common file systems such as XFS, Btrfs and ZFS.
  • Working with disk images and imaging hardware. Labs first copy a failing drive with hardware imagers such as DeepSpar Disk Imager or PC-3000, and then recover from that copy. Professional tools work with those images and can take the map of unreadable sectors into account, so they know which data is missing and which is genuinely empty.
  • Frequent updates. File systems change, and new versions of APFS and ReFS are released all the time. Professional tools follow quickly, partly because labs report the cases they run into. Some vendors even make custom builds for a difficult case.
  • No marketing. You won't find "recovers 1000+ file types" or "99% success rate" on their sites. They're built for people who need to see what's actually there.

Think of it like cameras. UFS Explorer, R-Studio and DMDE are high-end system cameras with dials for everything: ISO, shutter speed, aperture, bracketing, built-in ND filters. EaseUS and similar tools are point-and-shoots: a few settings, tucked away in menus. Recuva is a plastic snapshot camera with fixed aperture and ISO. In good light, all three take a decent photo, just as all three tools recover recently deleted files from a healthy drive.

In difficult light, the system camera wins twice over. Its better sensor and lens get more out of the scene even on full auto. And in the hands of someone who knows what they're doing, the dials make shots possible that the others can't take at all.

In short: for a simple case, a consumer tool can be enough, and the preview tells you whether it is. When it fails, that doesn't mean your data is gone; it often means a professional tool is needed.

What to look for in data recovery software

Whatever tool you're considering, check for these features:

  • Disk imaging. Ideally the tool can create a disk image, but at minimum it should be able to scan one. Then you can recover from a copy instead of the original drive, and if the drive is weak, you only have to read it once.
  • Separate quick and deep scan modes. A quick scan reads the existing file system and usually finds recently deleted files with their original names and folders. A deep scan is for when the file system itself is damaged or gone. Running a deep scan to find a few deleted files is counterproductive: it takes far longer, puts more strain on the drive, and buries your files in thousands of results, often without names.
  • Previews of common image formats. A preview of a photo is the quickest way to check that the tool worked out the file system correctly. Ideally it's generated from the actual file data, not from the small thumbnail embedded in the file (see the preview check below).
  • Custom file signatures for raw scans. No raw scanner supports every file type out there. A tool that lets you add your own signatures can still find files from uncommon cameras or software that it wouldn't recognise otherwise. How far this goes differs a lot between tools. A basic signature only identifies where a file starts, so the tool has to guess where it ends. More advanced tools let you define richer rules: an end-of-file marker, a signature at a fixed position inside the file, or a "negative" signature that rules out false matches. Even DMDE's cheapest paid edition supports rules like these.
  • Refuses to save to the source drive. A good tool won't let you save recovered files to the drive you're recovering from, because that can overwrite files you haven't recovered yet.
  • Shows SMART data. If the tool can show the drive's SMART attributes, you can see whether it's failing before you put it through a long scan.
  • Separates existing and deleted files. After a format or file system damage, you usually want the files that were there at the time, not files deleted long before, which are often partly overwritten. A tool that lets you hide deleted files saves time and gives you cleaner results.

Free data recovery software: what's really free?

Nearly every serious tool lets you scan and preview for free, so you can see what's recoverable before you pay. DMDE's free edition can even recover up to 4,000 files from the current folder at a time. A license only buys you the ability to save the files. If the free preview doesn't show your files, paying won't change that.

How much does data recovery software cost? Comparing licenses

Prices are hard to compare because the license models differ a lot, so check what you're actually buying before you pay:

  • Subscriptions: some tools are sold as a monthly or yearly subscription that renews automatically. If you only need the tool for one recovery, cancel the renewal straight after buying, or you'll keep paying.
  • Perpetual license with limited updates: you can use the version you bought forever, but updates are usually included for only a year. That's fine for a one-off recovery.
  • Editions: many tools come in several editions, and the cheaper ones may not support every file system, RAID or network drives. Check that the edition covers your drive.
  • Number of computers: some licenses are tied to a single PC.

The cheapest price isn't always the cheapest license: a low monthly price that renews indefinitely can end up costing more than a one-time license. Compare the total cost for your use, which for most people is a single recovery.

Data recovery software for Mac and Linux

  • Runs natively on Mac: UFS Explorer, R-Studio, DMDE, Disk Drill.
  • Runs natively on Linux: UFS Explorer, R-Studio, DMDE.
  • Recovering a Mac (APFS/HFS+) drive on Windows: UFS Explorer, R-Studio, DMDE, ReclaiMe.

I already used EaseUS (or another tool). Do I need a different one?

Not necessarily. What matters is whether the tool reconstructed the file system correctly, and the preview tells you that:

  1. Open about 20 larger files, such as high-resolution photos or videos, not small ones.
  2. If you're recovering from a formatted drive, pick files that existed at the time of the format, not ones you'd deleted earlier.
  3. If those open correctly at full size, the tool got the file system layout right, and most other files will be fine too.

Watch out: many tools preview the small thumbnail embedded in a photo, not the photo itself. A sharp thumbnail doesn't prove the full file is intact. Open the full-size preview.

If the previews are corrupt, grey or cut off, your data isn't necessarily gone. It means this tool got it wrong. Try one from the list above.

Before you recover anything: never save recovered files to the drive you're recovering from. That can overwrite files you haven't recovered yet.

When won't data recovery software help?

  • The drive doesn't show up, or shows the wrong size.
  • The drive clicks, disconnects, or reads extremely slowly. It needs imaging or a professional lab, and repeated scans can finish it off.
  • Deleted files on an SSD, because of TRIM.
  • The files were overwritten.

In those cases, post your situation on r/datarecovery before buying anything.

Full list and details: r/datarecovery software wiki

Disclosure: Some links are affiliate links; that doesn’t affect which tools are listed or what’s said about them. The recommendations and analogies are my own, based on my experience in data recovery; I used AI to help write and structure the post. - u/disturbed_android

5 comments

r/datarecovery • u/Minux_Zer0 • 4h ago

Question Is testdisk safe and working for USBs? are there alternatives?

1 Upvotes

I want to use testdisk to recover data from a USB stick (after diskdrill showed me a paywall) but the virustotal scan for testdisk shows that theres a trojan in the zip file? so im quite unsure if i should run it or not. I got it off the cgsecurity website.
Are there any better ways to recover the files off my USBs? one of them asks me to reformat which i would like to avoid, while the other i cant open images stored.

3 comments

r/datarecovery • u/Important-Bid-9792 • 19h ago

recovery data from laptop ssd m2 2280 b key drive via external enclosure error issues

2 Upvotes

fair warning, I'm just geeky enough to get myself into trouble 😂

So my folks laptop died, hardware failure, got them a new laptop, but need to recover data from old laptop. I've removed the ssd m2 2280 b key driver (pm881), and a m2 sata nd m2 nvme docking reader (amz pilot model sd03). When i plug it in D: shows up, but when i click on it it gives me an error "cannot read fatal hardware error" and yet other times give error "parameter is incorrect". I pop over to disk management and it shows the disk there, with partitions, showing the main as RAW. So naturally i can't do chkdsk on raw. Any ideas???

As a side note, I tried this with my ancient m2 drive and get the same errors/issues. I know my ancient drive was never damaged or hit by any viruses.

4 comments

r/datarecovery • u/DistinctPromi • 1d ago

GUYS I NEED HELP WITH .TXT FILE

6 Upvotes

i accidentaly deleted a .txt file, i cant find it in my bin, ive tried a few other solutuons but i still cant find it. if anyone knows how to help me please tell me

5 comments

r/datarecovery • u/JustPhil_YT • 21h ago

Question Can i bring my Hard Drive somehow back to life?

0 Upvotes

Hey guys,

i have had a Hard Drive Failure about 3 years ago.

This Hard Drive contains a Minecraft Server which i would really like to get back and play one more time on it. This Hard Drive failed after i updated the Ubuntu Installation on it and the PC wont start again.

I tried my best and tried to recover it. My PC recognized the Drive but i couldnt access it in any way as far as i know and it hasnt made much sound. So i did the worst thing possible. I opened it up on my Carpet to see if the Pointer (i dont know how its called im sorry) is stuck somewhere. I placed it back into its original position and closed the drive again to no avail.

I gave the Drive to my Brother which actually recovered some Files from the Drive but sadly not the Minecraft World i was looking for.

The Drive has been sitting now for 3 Years and its most likely fucked, but Hope dies last and i would like some Advice on how i could recover the Drive cheaply without needing to Hire a Professional for Hundreds of bucks.

The Recovery from my Brother also revealed Hundreds of Old Family Pictures that has now been Preserved across multiple Devices.

The Minecraft World would mean much to me due to it also having Personal Value and at that current time i had no backup for once, im getting the Drive tomorrow and would like to take a closer look on it and maybe even find more Hidden Treasures like the old Family Pictures if possible. The Drive has been wiped multiple times throughout its last Cycle, which was my Server then.

Any advice?

10 comments

r/datarecovery • u/crimson3552 • 1d ago

Request for Service HELP one drive deleted random folders in my pc

4 Upvotes

So i was updating my pc from windows 10 to 11 and it asked me to back it up with onedrive before hand i already had onedrive unlinked from everything and deleted so i go back and turn it on the update goes fine and i try to delete onedrive but it keeps all the red x's on my folders so delete everything on my onedrive and then delete the one drive and it deleted a ton like my personal folder i had on my desktop with lots of important files and it seems some other stuff in appdata i think? i had kerbal space program mods that all seem to be gone please help

5 comments

r/datarecovery • u/officialsunny23 • 2d ago

Trusted Contributors Only Dropped My Pendrive in Tea While Unplugged — Is My Data Safe?

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51 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

I accidentally dropped my pendrive into a cup of tea while it was completely unplugged. It was not connected to my laptop or any power source when this happened.

It's been around 9 hours since the incident, and I have not plugged the pendrive into anything since then.

The pendrive has a purple cap and a white body, with the USB metal connector attached to the body. It contains important data that I really don't want to lose.

I have a few questions:

1) Since the pendrive was unplugged when it fell into the tea, does that improve the chances of recovering my data?

2) Can tea permanently damage the internal memory chip and cause complete data loss?

3) Since I haven't plugged it in for 9 hours, could it be dry enough, or could moisture and tea residue still be inside?

4) Should I try connecting it to my laptop, or should I take it to a professional data recovery service first?

5) If the pendrive no longer works, is it still possible to recover the files?

I haven't formatted the pendrive or intentionally deleted any files. I'm mainly concerned about protecting my data and avoiding anything that could make recovery more difficult.

I'd appreciate advice from anyone who has experienced liquid damage to a USB drive or has professional data recovery experience.

Thanks in advance.

117 comments

r/datarecovery • u/lewisv0629 • 1d ago

Need help recovering as much as possible!!

3 Upvotes

Long story short I left a large drive connected to my PC while formatting disks and there goes all my data… The drive was on an NTFS file system which I happened so to have deleted the partition (the drive hasn’t been touched since). There is about 900gb of data on the drive but I need a very specific 400GB or so of it back.

How can this be done?

Drive: Toshiba Sata HDD 2TB
File system: NTFS
OS: Windows

5 comments

r/datarecovery • u/National_Scale_908 • 1d ago

Question Help: Can Ubuntu recover files from a lost USB stick that was briefly connected to my PC?

0 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for advice on whether there's any chance of recovering files from a USB stick that I've unfortunately lost.

The USB stick belonged to someone close to me and contained important documents that are not backed up anywhere else.

Here's what happened: - I plugged the USB stick into my PC running Ubuntu Linux. - I opened it in the file manager and could see the files on it. - I then safely removed it (or simply unplugged it) and later lost the USB stick. - I did not intentionally copy any files to my computer, and I don't remember opening any individual documents.

My question is: Could Ubuntu have automatically cached or stored any of the actual file contents on my computer just because I browsed the USB stick in the file manager?

Thanks in advance for any advice. This is really important to me.

11 comments

r/datarecovery • u/PKSubban • 1d ago

Question Data recovery cost?

1 Upvotes

My 1TB Kingston SSD for my work computer suddenly died yesterday (I was working as usual and then poof, everything stopped) on reboot I had a message “2100 Detection error on storage advice M.2”

I brought it to our usual IT firm and after some tests they weren’t able to do anything and recommended me a data recovery firm.

Now they weren’t able to give me a price but an approximate of $200-$1,000 if not more. They also said it may not be recoverable. This price is fine.

Most of our critical data is cloud-backed up, but I have a small number of files on my desktop which I would like to recover.

I searched the internet a bit and I came across $10k estimates. That would be steep!

7 comments

r/datarecovery • u/That_Dig_5960 • 1d ago

Windows Accidntally overwrote custom texture file via launcher-any hope for recovery?

2 Upvotes

Hey guys, I need some brutal honesty here because I am losing my mind.

I spent hours editing a custom pixel art cloud texture (clouds. png) using Paint 3D. I saved multiple changes as I went along. While I was in the Nostalgia Launcher, I accidentally clicked on the texture pack tab. The launcher automatically refreshed/synchronized the files and replaced my custom clouds. png with the pack's default cloud image.

I tried Ctrl+Z immediately but obviously, that doesn't undo file system replacements. Windows File History is NOT turned on for this drive.

I managed to find a partial 40% automatic checkpoint version in the Paint 3D LocalState cache

(%localappdata%\Packages\Microsoft.MSPain t... ), but the remaining 60% of my finished work is missing from that cache.

Right now, I am running a Recuva Deep Scan targeted strictly at the folder directory: C:\Users\jeckd\.nostalgialauncher\version s\0.7.6\assets\environment.

Since the launcher replaced the file with one of the exact same name, did it execute a hard physical overwrite (meaning the data blocks are permanently gone), or is there a genuine shot that Recuva can pull the 100% version out of unallocated space if it was a "delete-then- replace" action?

Has anyone successfully recovered a launcher- overwritten texture before, or should I just accept defeat and rebuild using my 40% fragment? Thanks.

1 comment

r/datarecovery • u/MrCatinator • 2d ago

Question Is this recoverable?

Post image
84 Upvotes

Any chance of data recovery?

36 comments

r/datarecovery • u/Pleasant-Annual-5251 • 2d ago

Sony DSC-HX90V SD card — I ran Image Database Repair twice, and now my recent MP4 videos are missing. Can they be recovered?

2 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to recover missing travel and concert videos from a 128GB SanDisk SD card used in my Sony DSC-HX90V (quiet old one). I'm wondering whether the missing videos are still recoverable.

At some point, the camera prompted me about recovering or repairing the image database. I selected "Yes" twice to run the Image Database Repair/Recovery function. I'm concerned that this may have affected the missing videos, although I don't know whether it actually caused any damage.

Afterward, I connected the card to my Windows PC, which indicated that the card needed to be repaired. I stopped using the card and created a full disk image so I could attempt recovery without working directly on the original.

The videos I'm looking for are recent travel and concert recordings. Recovery software has found some older footage, but not the missing videos.

Device and system information

  • Camera: Sony DSC-HX90V
  • SD card: SanDisk, 128GB
  • Filesystem: exFAT
  • Recovery OS: Windows 11
  • Disk image: Approximately 119GB, created with HDD Raw Copy Tool v2.6
  • Imaging result: Completed without reported read errors

Recovery attempts

  • R-Studio Data Recovery 9.5: Scanned the disk image, including known video file types. It found older MTS footage and other candidates, but not the missing videos.
  • Recovery Angel: Produced broadly similar results.
  • Klennet Carver: Has been analyzing the image for approximately one week. MP4 analysis is currently at 1.6%, with 173 files found. Two MP4 candidates are marked as "Damaged" and are only about 1.85MB and 2.11MB. Neither has a usable preview or thumbnail. Other 171 files are not the one I'm trying to recover.

Klennet is still using nearly all of my CPU's logical processors, so it appears to be doing work, but progress is extremely slow. My PC has 16 CPU cores, 32 logical processors, and approximately 54GB of RAM.

Here's my questions.

  1. Could running Image Database Repair/Recovery twice on the Sony DSC-HX90V have modified or damaged the video files themselves, or does it mainly rebuild the camera's database/index?
  2. If the repair function changed the card's filesystem or metadata, is it still possible to recover the underlying video data?
  3. Is Klennet Carver's extremely slow MP4 analysis normal for a 128GB disk image?
  4. Are the small, damaged MP4 candidates meaningful, or are they likely to be false positives?
  5. Would a professional recovery service have a better chance of reconstructing fragmented MP4 videos than consumer recovery software?

I've preserved the original SD card and am working from a disk image. I haven't intentionally recorded new footage or saved new files to the card after discovering the problem.

I'm particularly interested in hearing from anyone familiar with Sony's Image Database Repair function or recovering fragmented videos from camera SD cards. Or just anything I could try at this point.

Thanks a lot!

3 comments

r/datarecovery • u/disturbed_android • 2d ago

Spamming, shilling ..

3 Upvotes

What are the odds of two different reditors sharing exact same text .. Just some differences in capitalization.

18 comments

r/datarecovery • u/itzKairos • 2d ago

Request for Service Literally just moved my wedding photos to this portable HDD yesterday. Seagate mobile 2TB HDD NTFS

45 Upvotes

Happened across this sub while looking into the issues I’m encountering with this drive. This drive lives in my main pc and last night I heard a weird clicking sound, wasn’t sure what it was and eventually shut off the pc and went to sleep. Woke up this morning tried booting up steam but nothing was working and come to find out the drive letter was missing.

I’ve had some pretty frequent crashes recently but this drive only holds downloads, installs, steam, personal docs and most recently my wedding photos. This isn’t my OS it isn’t even my game drive it’s really just a drive I use to keep application downloads and installations separate from my OS and game drive in case I do a clean wipe on either of those devices so I don’t have to go scour the web to install all the apps I use for my setup.

It’s not showing in bios, disk management or the device manager. I’ve moved it out of the pc and found the usb adapter shown in the video and tried seeing if the drive was reachable from another device, no luck.

Looking for advice to potentially get this data back or what I can do going forward.

15 comments

r/datarecovery • u/Jaded-Implement6971 • 2d ago

Title: How can I recover a corrupted PDF file for free?

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3 Upvotes

Hi eryone,

I have a corrupted PDF file named BACHE KIDS that I’m trying to recover. The original file was in my Downloads folder, but I haven't been able to open it properly.

I tried recovering the file, but the recovered version also seems to be completely corrupted. The recovery software I tried is asking for a lot of money to repair it.

The recovered file is approximately 5,969 bytes, and I don't have another copy of the original file.

Is there any way to repair or recover this PDF for free? Are there any reliable tools or methods I can try?

I would really appreciate step-by-step instructions because I’m not very experienced with file recovery.

7 comments

r/datarecovery • u/WormwithRabies • 2d ago

3TB HDD Help

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7 Upvotes

For context, this is a WDmycloud NASware 3TB HDD that I extracted from an old WDmycloud shell case, I then recovered the data using the Linux reader tool thing on windows. I proceeded to then remove the partitions, making everything one big unallocated partition, but then Disk Management wouldn’t let me change the partitions to NTFS or whatever the hell Windows uses. And now when I plug into my pc, Test-disk and Task Manager recognize it (and lsblk in Linux too), but File Explorer, Disk Management, etc, just crashes or hangs.

But also, please keep in mind, I did store a .img file of a backup of a failing HDD from a Compaq Presario v2000 onto this 3TB HDD whilst the partitions were unallocated. So I would like to recover that before repartitioning anything first.

I’ll take advice from anyone, I have Windows, Linux, and MacOS incase if some tools require one or the other. Please help so I can recover the data I put on the drive while all partitions were combined as unallocated and help me to re format to a windows friendly format so that I can use this as an external HDD. Thanks.

EDIT: I used DDrescue on Linux to make the .img file on the drive while the space was unallocated.

And another thing, I did this a long time ago, so I am still trying to remember what i did, I’m asking Reddit as a last resort because Gemini and Youtube arent really good help.

I’ve tried disk drill, it crashes unless i power off the drive, which then only after i power off the drive does it show my other drives.

Also I forgot the command I used but in windows terminal I used some kind of command to read all of the Disks currently connected, it showed my WDmycloud drive on there, but instead of saying OK it said unknown. The only thing that said OK was the Xintop SATA to USB cable I was using. I WILL put the command on here once I find it if it rings a bell for anyone.

2ND EDIT: Just to make things clear. The reason why I used ddrescue to recover the .img file of the failing Compaq drive to the 3TB drive while the partitions were unallocated was because GEMINI said that even if the drive was all unallocated space, i could still “retrieve the data”. But now look in the situation I’m in.

17 comments

r/datarecovery • u/seiko1918 • 2d ago

Android Is there a way to recover photos from my Samsung Galaxy S8 if I’ve forgotten the password?

2 Upvotes

Hi all,

Is there a way to recover photos from a Samsung Galaxy S8 if I’ve forgotten the password? I only have two attempts left before the phone automatically wipes its data. I haven’t used this phone in over 7 year. It has a lot of family photos and photos from my youth which I want to recover. I have tried to see if it was connected to samsung cloud and it was not. Any recommendations?

4 comments

r/datarecovery • u/historyshome2024 • 2d ago

Question Need advice

1 Upvotes

So i have been doing work with my camera ( research) got photos on my SD card now i could see it on my dongle no problem at all and then i tried to put my dongle on my samsung fold 7 to view them and it asked if i wanted to allow this USB and i hit yes. Then it came up external hardrive on my phone. I then took it out and put my dongle back in my mac book and it wouldnt register the dongle.

I then took my sd card and put it in the camera and was like format sd card i was like FECK !

Chat gpt recommended disk drill which worked and once it done its full check said it was very high per file and i can see the thumbnail.

It said it could recover them but my Mac book disk was too full.

Any idea if its actually gonna work. This is 2 solid days of work in london ( im from scotland).

I sent for a new SD card reader ? Its a San Disk 128gb and the dongle is an ATTLOOQ

6 comments

r/datarecovery • u/Whole_Revenue157 • 2d ago

HDD/SDD Recovery

2 Upvotes

Hello brothers, I really need your help.

I had a corrupted HDD drive but my friend "fixed" the corrupted partitions I guess and it went back to working instead of the system asking me to format it. Later on I transferred a backup of my phone to my computer (Internal SSD) then Cut it to said hard drive (HDD).

A day later the HDD got corrupted again and in a way worse way. Now the laptop doesn't even recognize it sometimes and some other times it does recognize it but my pc freezes up and everything becomes extremely slow. One time it opened up and i saw the data inside but couldn't open it.

I tried DMDE with said HDD but it kept giving me errors about the partitions. I tried scanning my Internal SSD with DMDE but I can't see the folder that was deleted even though I saw it a month ago but i couldn't do it since i didn't have any other drives back then but I just got a new SSD, now that I did I can't see the folder.

Is there anything I can do? Please and thanks in advance.

2 comments

r/datarecovery • u/Trrrrrnt • 2d ago

Recommendation for scored platters

3 Upvotes

Hey all, I don't have extensive knowledge on data recovery, but an extremely important hard drive of mine is damaged and I'm trying to recover it. I sent it to Files Savers and they weren't able to (I'll copy their message below).

Are there any places that specialize or have higher success with scored platters that I can try for a second opinion? I know the odds are not in my favor, but I'm trying to do whatever I can before I'm ready to accept that its completely unrecoverable. Any help is appreciated.

(Message from File Savers) Our engineers have done everything possible to overcome the failure of the drive, but unfortunately the electromagnetic platters, where the data is contained, have too much damage to pull anything off the drive. There is significant scoring that has occurred from the read/write head making contact with the platter surface and there is nothing left to attempt in order to retrieve any data.

4 comments

r/datarecovery • u/rnsjt13 • 2d ago

Question Is recovering data from SD card just running a program?

4 Upvotes

Im traveling in Barcelona and accidentally reformatted my sd card. Every place i’ve been to had said it’s impossible to recover because the hardware is too small. But the whole internet keeps telling me it’s just about downloading some programs for it.

Is there any way I can do this myself on a public computer or something?

10 comments

r/datarecovery • u/Apprehensive-Spare11 • 3d ago

Question I have a problem with an old USB drive

2 Upvotes

hello everyone today my father gave me an old USB pen drive with old drawings I did as a kid on my old window 7 family computer, I inserted the drive in my new pc and the drive (while it shows with the files inside and the capacity) makes resource explorer crash if I try to open anything on it, I tried to open the CDM but nothing I can't do anything while I have the drive plugged in, I've tried to plug the drive while using linux ubuntu, nothin, plugged it in another computer, nothing, is there a way I can recover the data? It would be cool to check out my old self drawings (sorry for the bad english it's not my first lenguage and thank you in advance)

2 comments

r/datarecovery • u/Dangerous_Alps889 • 3d ago

Please help devastated. Lost all iPhone data

2 Upvotes

I stupidly forgot my passcode to my iPhone and locked myself out permanently and then even more stupidly couldn’t remember the password to my iCloud account so now my iPhone is sitting in recovery and I’m waiting to even be able to reset my password and hopefully recover some contacts and photos from my old phone. It’s looking doubtful because I’m not sure how much was backed up. Is there anything I can do? all of my photos of loved ones were on there as well as everything else important as you can imagine

Please don’t shame me I know I’m stupid I’m desperate I’ll do anything to get these back.

7 comments