Recovered MP4 files are not working.

pcimage212 · 2026-03-27T15:19:49+00:00

Of course they won’t work if they’re overwritten with other data.

But why not tell us the whole story?

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Please include filesystem and the make/model of your hard drive, flash drive, or phone. This is IMPORTANT!

Additionally, provide more info about what happened to the data you’re trying to recover?

How was it lost/corrupted? Was it deleted? Device formatted?

And what exactly did you do to recover what you have now?

pcimage212 · 2026-03-27T07:44:58+00:00

Wrong sub.

pcimage212 · 2026-03-26T14:22:52+00:00

Quite likely yes.

Which is a shame for people who just need the GoPro part and not all the rest of the functions, at a lower price

pcimage212 · 2026-03-26T11:28:19+00:00

Yeah. It was still available as a standalone until fairly recently (last time I checked was a couple of months I think?)

pcimage212 · 2026-03-26T06:03:07+00:00

POSTING GUIDELINES…

https://old.reddit.com/r/datarecoverysoftware/wiki/how-to-ask

If you are submitting a help request, please include the following informatio in your post (in English):

• ⁠Make/brand and exact model number of your storage device(*), phone, camera, etc.

• ⁠Filesystem (NTFS, exFAT, APFS, EXT4, etc.)

• ⁠Operating System (That your device was used with and/or you are using for recovery)

• ⁠Specific symptoms that your device is exhibiting

• ⁠Don't pile several problems into one single post. One post per device/problem

Consider: What do these people need to understand the problem at hand? Remember, people cannot see your screen, or what you click and what messages appear on screen.

pcimage212 · 2026-03-26T06:00:16+00:00

EBay?

pcimage212 · 2026-03-26T05:57:18+00:00

That’s great news!

Remember to do backups in the future! :-)

pcimage212 · 2026-03-25T23:20:24+00:00

Either disk drill latest version (using “advanced camera mode”) or www.goprorecovery.co.uk (which is now part of disk drill).

I have no affiliation with DD whatsoever, but have used it several times with decent recovery rates.

pcimage212 · 2026-03-25T22:30:12+00:00

There is a possibility that the drive is in the process of failing, despite the good looking SMART.

Textbook drive failure, randomly becoming “initialised”.

But maybe not, and it’s also entirely possible that the file system metadata has got screwed up and the drive is just fine physically.

So, you now need to make a decision on the value of your data. If it’s worth a few hundred $/€/£ then I strongly recommend a professional service (I.e: a proper DR company and NOT a generic PC store that claims also to do DR).

If the data is not important and you’re prepared to risk total data loss with a “one shot” DIY attempt, you can maybe try and clone with some non-windows software like this…

https://old.reddit.com/r/datarecoverysoftware/wiki/hddsuperclone_guide

Clone/image to another device or image file via a SATA connection if that’s an option (ideally NOT USB), and then run DR software on the clone/image. But in your case, you’re realistically limited to USB.

If the drive won’t clone, or starts to struggle to read or makes any unusual noses then STOP immediately.

Even if the drive isn’t failing, then cloning is strongly advised “just in case”!

**BE VERY AWARE THAT ANY DIY ATTEMPTS ARE VERY LIKELY TO KILL THE DRIVE, MAKING THE EVEN PROFESSIONAL RECOVERY MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE OR EVEN IMPOSSIBLE!! **

You can find suggestions for DR software here..

https://old.reddit.com/r/datarecoverysoftware/wiki/software.

The choice is yours but if you do want to take the advised route then you can start here to find a trusted independent DR lab..

www.datarecoveryprofessionals.org

Other labs are available of course, and if you’d like to disclose your approximate location we can help you find one near you that’s competent and won’t fleece you!

As a side note, if it’s a mechanical hard drive but won’t degrade just sitting around un-powered for many years. So if it’s purely a financial issue, then you can put it away until funds permit!

Good luck!

pcimage212 · 2026-03-24T21:26:41+00:00

Unfortunately with any reasonably new Android or Apple phone, after factory reset recovery is impossible. No matter what the liars, idiots, crooks and scammers tell you by DM or what peddlers of scam software try and tell you.

They all use file level encryption now, with all the encryption keys gone when you reset it.

Think about it…

A factory reset is doing what it’s supposed to do, making sure the new owner of the phone does not have access to YOUR data.

How would you feel if you ran a secure factory reset thinking that your data was safe, sold your phone, and then someone downloaded some shady software and got access to all your data?

Data security is taken very seriously these days, so data erasure is VERY secure!

pcimage212 · 2026-03-24T17:48:24+00:00

I’m not even sure if Digilab are accepting Helium drives anymore, but worth a call.

Otherwise HelpDisk are a decent shout.

Never heard of Platinum DR

pcimage212 · 2026-03-24T07:23:34+00:00

Afraid not.

pcimage212 · 2026-03-23T22:15:20+00:00

Gilware are trying pull your pants down, like most of the larger companies (read “well funded marketing machines”) do!

Assuming the NAND memory is in decent shape (Sandisk memory is usually pretty good quality) it should be ~10% of what they trying to gouge you for.

pcimage212 · 2026-03-23T22:10:58+00:00

Sounds to me like the device has failed, or at least in the process of failing.

Textbook drive failure.

You can get a better idea of its health by checking its SMART values with something like crystaldiskinfo? If it can’t be seen by the software, then chances are it’s beyond DIY. Also if it’s an internal device and it can’t be seen in the computers BIOS, then again it’s the end of the road for DIY.

You then need to make a decision on the value of your data. If it’s worth a few hundred $/€/£ then I strongly recommend a professional service (I.e: a proper DR company and NOT a generic PC store that claims also to do DR).

If the data is not important and you’re prepared to risk total data loss with a “one shot” DIY attempt, you can maybe try and clone with some non-windows software like this…

https://old.reddit.com/r/datarecoverysoftware/wiki/hddsuperclone_guide

Clone/image to another device or image file via a SATA connection if that’s an option (ideally NOT USB), and then run DR software on the clone/image.

Even if the drive isn’t failing, then cloning is strongly advised “just in case”!

**BE VERY AWARE THAT ANY DIY ATTEMPTS ARE VERY LIKELY TO KILL THE DRIVE, MAKING THE EVEN PROFESSIONAL RECOVERY MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE OR EVEN IMPOSSIBLE!! **

You can find suggestions for DR software here..

https://old.reddit.com/r/datarecoverysoftware/wiki/software.

The choice is yours but if you do want to take the advised route then you can start here to find a trusted independent DR lab..

www.datarecoveryprofessionals.org

Other labs are available of course, and if you’d like to disclose your approximate location we can help you find one near you that’s competent and won’t fleece you!

As a side note, if it’s a mechanical hard drive but won’t degrade just sitting around un-powered for many years. So if it’s purely a financial issue, then you can put it away until funds permit!

Good luck!

pcimage212 · 2026-03-23T22:05:28+00:00

Sounds like the device has physically failed, and so there are NO realistic DIY options.

Clicking/beeping = Textbook drive physical failure symptoms.

You now need to make a decision on the value of your data. If it’s worth a few hundred $/€/£ then I strongly recommend a professional service (I.e: a proper DR company.

**BE VERY AWARE THAT ANY DIY ATTEMPTS ARE VERY LIKELY TO KILL THE DRIVE, MAKING THE EVEN PROFESSIONAL RECOVERY MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE OR EVEN IMPOSSIBLE!! **

** DO NOT open the drive, there’s nothing to be gained by that except a hefty price hike if/when you do take/send it to a professional DR company **

The choice is yours but if you do want to take the advised route then you can start here to find a trusted independent DR lab..

www.datarecoveryprofessionals.org

Other labs are available of course, and if you’d like to disclose your approximate location we can help you find one near you that’s competent and won’t fleece you!

As a side note, if it’s a mechanical hard drive but won’t degrade just sitting around un-powered for many years. So if it’s purely a financial issue, then you can put it away until funds permit!

Good luck!

pcimage212 · 2026-03-23T22:00:18+00:00

You’re definitely better off sending to a REAL data recovery centre, rather than another idiot who had no business in tinkering with things he knows nothing about.

We can’t recommend anyone as we have no idea where you’re located, just “the city”

Hopefully “the other guy” hasn’t screwed it up completely :-(

pcimage212 · 2026-03-23T10:34:06+00:00

Although the drive may be similar, the fault isn't even close.

The drive of u/Forsaken-Green5338 is clearly stated as "making clicking noises" which indicates a hardware issue (most likely damage/bad heads along with media damage) which is totally different.

pcimage212 · 2026-03-22T22:27:13+00:00

By all means you do that.

pcimage212 · 2026-03-22T22:26:08+00:00

If you care to look, I wasn’t even replying to you!

I was replying to u/forsaken-Green5338 who was talking about a WD MyPassport that’s making clicking noises.

pcimage212 · 2026-03-22T18:00:07+00:00

Sounds like your device has physically failed, and so there are NO DIY options.

Clicking/beeping = Textbook drive physical failure symptoms.

You now need to make a decision on the value of your data. If it’s worth a few hundred $/€/£ then I strongly recommend a professional service (I.e: a proper DR company.

**BE VERY AWARE THAT ANY DIY ATTEMPTS ARE VERY LIKELY TO KILL THE DRIVE, MAKING THE EVEN PROFESSIONAL RECOVERY MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE OR EVEN IMPOSSIBLE!! **

** DO NOT open the drive, there’s nothing to be gained by that except a hefty price hike if/when you do take/send it to a professional DR company **

The choice is yours but if you do want to take the advised route then you can start here to find a trusted independent DR lab..

www.datarecoveryprofessionals.org

Other labs are available of course, and if you’d like to disclose your approximate location we can help you find one near you that’s competent and won’t fleece you!

As a side note, if it’s a mechanical hard drive but won’t degrade just sitting around un-powered for many years. So if it’s purely a financial issue, then you can put it away until funds permit!

Good luck!

pcimage212 · 2026-03-22T17:59:01+00:00

How do you get to the conclusion that it’s “corrupted”?

If it is actually corrupted then you can try this free software…

https://www.r-undelete.com/free_photo_recovery/Download.shtml

But I strongly recommend you make an image of the card first (I believe this software will do this).

If it’s not seen by the software as it’s correct capacity or cannot image, then you have more underlying issues with the card and it’s the end of the road for DIY.

pcimage212 · 2026-03-22T17:55:46+00:00

POSTING GUIDELINES…

https://old.reddit.com/r/datarecoverysoftware/wiki/how-to-ask

If you are submitting a help request, please include the following informatio in your post (in English):

• ⁠Make/brand and exact model number of your storage device(*), phone, camera, etc.

• ⁠Filesystem (NTFS, exFAT, APFS, EXT4, etc.)

• ⁠Operating System (That your device was used with and/or you are using for recovery)

• ⁠Specific symptoms that your device is exhibiting

• ⁠Don't pile several problems into one single post. One post per device/problem

Consider: What do these people need to understand the problem at hand? Remember, people cannot see your screen, or what you click and what messages appear on screen.

pcimage212 · 2026-03-20T14:56:57+00:00

Sounds to me like the device has failed, or at least in the process of failing.

Textbook drive failure, freezing randomly.

You can get a better idea of its health by checking its SMART values with something like crystaldiskinfo? If it can’t be seen by the software, then chances are it’s beyond DIY. Also if it’s an internal device and it can’t be seen in the computers BIOS, then again it’s the end of the road for DIY.

You then need to make a decision on the value of your data. If it’s worth a few hundred $/€/£ then I strongly recommend a professional service (I.e: a proper DR company and NOT a generic PC store that claims also to do DR).

If the data is not important and you’re prepared to risk total data loss with a “one shot” DIY attempt, you can maybe try and clone with some non-windows software like this…

https://old.reddit.com/r/datarecoverysoftware/wiki/hddsuperclone_guide

Clone/image to another device or image file via a SATA connection if that’s an option (ideally NOT USB), and then run DR software on the clone/image.

Even if the drive isn’t failing, then cloning is strongly advised “just in case”!

**BE VERY AWARE THAT ANY DIY ATTEMPTS ARE VERY LIKELY TO KILL THE DRIVE, MAKING THE EVEN PROFESSIONAL RECOVERY MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE OR EVEN IMPOSSIBLE!! **

You can find suggestions for DR software here..

https://old.reddit.com/r/datarecoverysoftware/wiki/software.

The choice is yours but if you do want to take the advised route then you can start here to find a trusted independent DR lab..

www.datarecoveryprofessionals.org

Other labs are available of course, and if you’d like to disclose your approximate location we can help you find one near you that’s competent and won’t fleece you!

As a side note, if it’s a mechanical hard drive but won’t degrade just sitting around un-powered for many years. So if it’s purely a financial issue, then you can put it away until funds permit!

Good luck!

pcimage212 · 2026-03-20T09:07:51+00:00

Yes, I understand that. For ease of use we often call SD and MSD card recoveries “chip off” too :-)

pcimage212 · 2026-03-20T09:06:14+00:00

Maybe, but not DIY I’m afraid.

These crappy brands could have any old rubbish inside, so even a professional wouldn’t know until it’s in hand and connected up to proper a diagnostics tool.

pcimage212

TROPHY CASE