Recovering audio files from formatted sd card

[KLAEYZ]

Hey all,
I recently formatted an SD card which has audio wav files on it. Is there a reputable software for recovering these files? Again, the SD card was formatted, not deleted..

[j1clark@ucsd.edu]

Hey all,
I recently formatted an SD card which has audio wav files on it. Is there a reputable software for recovering these files? Again, the SD card was formatted, not deleted..

i don't deal with MS formatted file systems much any more. But there are a large number of tools to do so. If you did a 'quick' format, where only the directory structure was re-written, there may be hope to recover the file data, as the data has not been over written. If you did a 'long/deep' format, that usually writes a pattern to the entire disk/device, and in that case all data has been overwritten and lost.

[KLAEYZ]

hmm. there was only one format option on the H4n audio recorder.. and that was format. there must be a software out there for recovery, and i've found a couple but can't tell if they are legit.

[j1clark@ucsd.edu]

hmm. there was only one format option on the H4n audio recorder.. and that was format. there must be a software out there for recovery, and i've found a couple but can't tell if they are legit.

The firmware in the H4n may only do the quick rewrite of the directory structure, and not overwrite data. But I'd go to some of the more 'pc' oriented forums, unless someone here comes up with a reputable recovery program, to find one that is not laden with virus. I'm sort of presuming you're using a Windows box. But the same applies if you are on Mac OS X.

I would definitely avoid any 'free' recovery programs... or ones that do not look like they are the authorized distributor of the software.

Since I deal with Linux and Mac OS at the command line, my first 'thing' I'd do is get the device hooked up to a Linux box, and make a 'raw' archival copy. It's a little more awkward with Mac OS. And I don't deal with Windows at this level ever...

There are some recovery tools in the Linux world... but most computer users, just use Windows or Mac OS at the highest levels...

[JordanBlock]

Photorec ( http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec ) is available for pretty much all platforms you might want it on. It can recover pretty much any file type, though its not particularly user friendly if you're not comfortable in a command line interface. There's a step by step guide on the site ( http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec_Step_By_Step ) that might help.

[Noiz2]

Well the first question is Mac or Windows?

I only know Mac these days so...
File Salvage works well
Data Rescue also does a good job.

Pretty much nobody does a secure erase these days unless you work some options to do it. I would be shocked if the Zoom did. The reason is time. Rewriting the directory is very fast writing to the entire card is slow. A secure reformat will take at least as long as it would to wright the full card.

I'm sure Windows has similar utilities, I just don't know them.

It is however critical that you not wright anything to the card till you have recovered it. And recovery will take a fair amount of time, as in many hours.

[Rick R]

I've used Piriform's Recuva http://www.piriform.com/recuva/download/standard to recover files from a SDHD card re-formatted on an H2 and they were fully recoverable. You must however use the "Deep scan mode". It took a while to find the exact file the client wanted though, since the files names aren't retained. As long as the files were not old and were overwritten before the card was re-formatted, they should be intact... if the H4 uses the same formatting architecture as the H2.

[EmmaW]

Doesn't matter that you format your card or lost your data by accidental delete or format, you just need an efficient data recovery software like Kernel for FAT and NTFS memory card recovery software which can recover data in all such conditions. It recovers data instantly and gave you the preview of your lost data in scan mode, it provide the option to save all at once or some selective files to your location.