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RDR / Evidence and expert work / Recorder drives that have stopped

Investigations & evidence · the drives inside CCTV recorders

DVR hard drive recovery in Reading. The drive has failed; what is on it usually has not.

Mains off, disk removed, a quote first, then the drive sent by post and the box retained. Black panels. A "boot loop". A menu that insists there is no disk. Live pictures that refuse to play back. Behind almost all of these symptoms is the hard drive, not the DVR. Every second that a DVR has power, it writes to its disk, and that disk is usually the lowest-cost item anyone installed in the box. As long as the DVR continues to run, the loop keeps going round, and you're losing the very video you called about. Price: £400 + VAT, diagnosis free, and payment of half the figure up front where a drive has to be opened.

Only pay if we recover your data, on most jobs Logged as an exhibit from the start The loop is recording over it now

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What really fails inside these.

The disk inside itA DVR's disk writes continuously. SkyHawk from Seagate, and Purple from Western Digital, are the types designed specifically for continuous recording. They are also extremely cheap when compared to your cameras. The continuous writing is what ultimately kills these drives.
What you see on the monitorBoot loops. Black panels. A menu that insists there is no disk. Pictures stream live as normal, but playback is either non-existent or stops a few seconds into the same hour every time.
Why a PC sees nothingMost DVRs do not use a file system recognisable to a computer. Some even write directly to the bare disk. When you connect the disk to a Windows machine, it will probably appear to be blank, offering to format it. It is not the disaster it may seem. Do not agree.
What does not come backFootage that has already been recorded over. Files which contain encrypted material but don't have a password file next to them. Anything that lies within a band the drive refuses to read at all. Where that proves to be the answer, you'll find this out early on, and in most cases you only pay if we recover your data.

Match the symptom to the fault.

Not here? Tell us what it is doing →
What you are seeingWhat is likely wrongWhat happens next
The unit restarts itself over and overThe unit is waiting on a drive that does not answerPower off, immediately
The menu reports no hard diskThe disk has fallen off the bus or the heads have failedDo not accept a format offer. Take the disk out
Live view works, playback does notThe video is still good; the problem is with the index that tells where each segment of video existsGet a quote, then send the drive
There is a clicking, or low buzzing noise coming from the boxThe heads have made contact with the platters. Each time you turn it back on, it costs moreKeep it off the mains
On a PC it looks unformattedNo PC knows how a recorder has laid out its diskExpected. Turn down the format offer
The installer has installed a new diskWhatever place it has been put, the original disk remains the evidenceGet it back unused, get a quote, then post it
Sending it to the lab: get a quote first, by phone or using the form. Send it by tracked, insured post to the Oxford intake lab, or drop it off at the Oxford intake lab (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm, no appointment needed). The return leg is at our expense. Need help packing? Call us before sealing your box and an engineer will tell you what to pack and what to leave out. All remaining details are on our packing and posting page.

What we do, in order.

How other jobs ended →
01

Logged the day it lands, and the look costs nothing Free

A case number is assigned to your device when we receive it. An engineer then finds the real fault (free) before anything else occurs; you will be advised clearly of what will be returned and what will not, along with a single written price. Charges cannot begin until you have read this and accepted.

The look costs you nothingA fixed price, in writingStill nothing to pay
02

Bring it to a halt

Turn the mains off, pull the drive out and do not plug anything into a PC. Where the disk does not respond at all, the fault is found on the bench before attempting to read: heads, motor, board, drive firmware area.

Nothing more gets writtenImaged behind a write blocker
03

Repair only as far as needed, then copy

Repair ceases at the stage when imaging can be performed, and no further. The copy is then made read-only via a write blocker, while weak ground is addressed in multiple short passes. All activity from this point forward occurs using the copy; therefore, the original disk is only ever touched once.

Board, then motor, then headsTaken off in short passes
04

Then take the video off it

When the recorder's layout came through within the copy, clips are exported sequentially by channel and time. When there is no recorder layout available in the copy, the image is searched for the byte pattern indicating a compressed video frame (H.264/H.265), and what is found plays back without labels.

The layout read from the imageCarving where nothing is left
05

The list first, then the bill, then the files

You look at the file list first and make a decision about what to do. We will never invoice anything until you have said yes, and in most cases you only pay if we recover your data. All of the information that we recover will be put on new media purchased by us specifically for this job, and our company pays the cost of postage back to you. The case stays open on the bench until you tell us the files open on your own machine.

Nothing billed until you say yesNew media, bought for the jobPostage home is on us

What we keep finding on recorders

  • Surveillance disks are never idle: a surveillance disk records continuously throughout its working life, and it is typically also the least expensive piece of hardware in a recording system. The duty cycle ultimately destroys the disk.
  • A PC will tell you it is empty: recorders create their own layouts, and some write data directly onto the bare storage device; therefore, Windows finds no recognisable content and recommends formatting. Do not format. The content exists beneath.
  • Everything is done from a copy: a write blocker is placed on the hard drive and an image is made before opening even one file. This method allows a failing disk to receive only one cautious pass instead of 50, because any pass may be the last time that data can be pulled from the disk.
  • There are three factors that set the limit, in this order: the loop reached it before you did; the area of the disk that holds your hour of video will not read; or the recorder ran continuously for a week after. None of these are about skill, and you will know which one applies before we accept any money.

Get a quote, then send the drive alone to us: recorders are heavy and they get damaged in transit. We have no use for them here. The quote is by phone or with our form. Remove the disk from the recorder, note the bay number where it came from, and then post the drive alone to the Oxford intake lab, packed so the disk cannot move. If you have a multi-disk NVR, the video is spread across all of the disks, so all of them must be sent, each labelled by bay. Call before you pack the disks. Return postage is paid for by us.

How one of these actually went.

PL · RDG-2026-2019ON FILE ✓

A failed gate recorder at a haulage yard at Colthrop

Playback had failed on the night gate camera weeks earlier, but nobody followed up on it. Then a load disappeared. One head on the drive was bad; the repair went only as far as imaging required, and short passes were used to take the surface off. Times remained intact and four of the eight channels returned. There was a band running across the middle of the platter that refused to read at all, and whatever sat in that location stayed there. Partial, and written up as such.

4 of the 8 channels returned with time information72bench hours

What helps, and what makes it worse.

First things to do

  • Get it off the mains, now
  • Record the make, model and the date you need
  • Get a quote first, and when you post the drive, hold onto the recorder
  • Let us know who owns the equipment and who can authorise the work

What makes it worse

  • Running the unit hoping that it will settle
  • Reformatting the disk to get the unit booting
  • Placing the hard disk into a PC for a quick view
  • Allowing a replacement in while the original gets taken away from site

What people ask before they send it.

The recorder says there is no hard disk. Has the video gone?

Not on the strength of that message, no. It simply means the recorder has lost communication with the disk; the footage will remain on the platters. Take out the mains power cord first, though, as every hour a failing disk spends writing costs you something.

Windows asked to format the drive. Have I wrecked it?

No, but decline the offer. Video recorders store files in layouts Windows cannot interpret, and therefore a drive full of video appears empty when viewed on a PC. Decline, unplug it, and notify us if a format has been run already, which would alter where we look.

Do you want the recorder as well, or just the drive?

Just the hard drive. Video recorders are heavy, subject to damage during transport, and we don't require them here. The one exception is multi-disk NVR systems, as the video data is distributed among multiple drives. Ring us for a quote before you pack, so we can tell you what to send, then send us all the disks, labelling each with its bay.

Can the installer fit a replacement disk?

Only where the original leaves the recorder for good. Once placed into any unit, it begins to be overwritten again. Request it in an unpowered state, packaged in an anti-static bag, and store it safely until you decide whether you wish to recover the content on it.

If this sounds like yours, start here.

Video the recorder kept → Clips for insurers and police → Deleted files, and what is left → Casework for court and claims →

Stop the loop before it reaches your clip.

It’s still recording, and every time it loops around it takes another piece of the information you require. Pull its power now, get a quote first, either by phone or with our form, and send us the disk. Your initial assessment is free, followed by a written price, and none of this information will go anywhere else.

0800 6890668

Get it quoted Posting it to Oxford