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RDR / Evidence and expert work / Overwriting, and why timing decides this job

Investigations & evidence · stopping the loop before it reaches your clip

Overwritten CCTV footage in Reading. It is recording over itself right now; the wall switch stops that.

Switch it off at the wall. Ten seconds, no cost, and nothing else you do will help as much. This does not involve a deletion, and there is no bin to look in. The unit runs out of disk space, goes back to block one and starts writing new video over the existing video, and as long as the power remains on, this process continues. No one can give you an exact time span when they cannot see your system, and a firm quoting a figure over the phone has not seen it. You are the only person who can stop the clock, by disconnecting the recorder before you ring.

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 is going on inside the disk.

How the cycle worksThe recording process starts at the beginning of the disk and continues until the end of the disk is reached. Once the disk is full, it goes back to the starting point and places new video over the previously recorded video. If you keep the unit running, this cycle of replacing older recordings with newer ones continues indefinitely. No file is deleted. Nothing is sent to a bin. Therefore, there is no "undo" to reach for.
Nobody can promise you a windowNot over the telephone, and not based upon the model number alone. It depends on the disk fitted, how many cameras are sending video to that disk, the resolution, the frames per second, the codec, and whether the recorder records continuously or is triggered by motion. Anyone giving you a figure without viewing your system is making a guess.
Where the true answer liesOn the unit in front of you. Call up the playback calendar and take note of the earliest date that each camera still shows. That is your answer for today. It will keep moving forward as long as the recorder remains plugged in. Take this step before you do anything else.
What overwriting really meansA disk block can hold only one piece of information at a time. Once it is replaced by new video, everything that previously resided on the block is gone. There is no other layer underneath that can be restored. If the loop only covered part of your time frame, remnants usually remain and we go after them. However, if the loop spans the entire time frame, there is no way to get anything back, and anyone telling you differently is trying to sell you something.

Match the symptom to the fault.

Not here? Tell us what it is doing →
What you are seeingWhat is likely wrongWhat happens next
The recorder is still poweredEvery additional hour of operation costs it the oldest hour recordedCut the mains at the wall
You have probably never been told how far back the system goesCamera count, capacity and recording settings all shift itCheck the oldest date it holds
Some channels go back further than othersRecording movement only on a very static view uses very little spaceWe check each channel on its own
The unit stopped working a fortnight backIf a unit stops recording, it also stops overwritingLeave it off, get a quote, send the drive
Your desired date is no longer listedFragments usually survive past the indexYou get a yes or no from the free evaluation
No claim or enquiry has been filed yetThe paperwork involved is much slower than the disk itselfGet it copied today
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

Nothing else gets written

Before anything is read back, the recorder is shut down, its disk removed, and a sector-by-sector clone made using hardware that cannot write back. Once the clone has been created, your position stops changing; all the parts of your timeline the loop had not reached are now safely contained within the clone.

Power cut firstCopied through a write blocker
03

Which dates actually came through

This clone is then analysed for its actual contents: earliest recording date, latest recording date and every gap in between. If the loop cut into your time period, the analysis will tell you which half-hours are present and which are missing. This information is given to you in writing prior to attempting recovery. The cost of this analysis is zero. Recovery is charged at £400 + VAT, and in most cases you only pay if we recover your data.

First and last dates listedEach gap named
04

Copied out, hashed and signed over

All readable items recovered from the disk will be copied over to new media as an exhibit: native recorder files, a playable copy for viewing on any computer, MD5 and SHA-256 checksums for each, along with a dated log listing everyone who has held possession of it. An adjuster or officer investigating a claim will recognise this package and expect it to exist. There is another benefit: from that day the footage exists somewhere the recorder cannot reach, so the unit can be placed back on the wall and the loop no longer has a say in anything.

Hashed, logged and datedKept off the recorder
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

  • Hardware moves faster than paperwork: enquiries and claims can take several weeks. Get the footage copied as soon as possible, and then worry about the invoice later.
  • A broken unit is often the fortunate one: if it has been down for a fortnight, it also ceased writing data to its disk a fortnight ago. Therefore, whatever it held when it failed is still intact and unchanged since that point in time.
  • Each camera writes data to disk at a different rate: a camera on the street door and one in a back stockroom fill space at very different rates, and where recording is triggered by motion, the quiet camera will typically contain much older recordings.
  • There might be a secondary disk: many larger recorders come equipped with two or more hard drives. One of those could be designated for archiving, or it might contain a retired set of channels that pre-date anything on the live disk.

The only way to stop it is to cut off the power. There isn't a single setting or menu selection that does it, and no note left with the installer does it either. It takes the wall switch. The system has to be yours, or one you have permission to have examined, and from then on you control how quickly things move. If there's absolutely no way for the site to go dark, export the hours you need onto a USB stick in the native file format used by the recorder itself (don't convert it), and call us before anyone else goes near the drive. Simply leaving the recorder plugged in and hoping for the best is the option that fails: every hour it continues to run spends an hour you still had.

How one of these actually went.

PL · RDG-2026-2025ON FILE ✓

A Woodley trade unit, off at the wall by nine

The premises had been entered overnight. Finding the shutters up, the manager went directly to the socket, pulled power off the recorder before unlocking anything else, and called. It arrived by Tuesday and was imaged before anyone had played a single clip. The full night came through, each clip with its camera and timestamp, and the adjuster received a copy within the week. Surprisingly, very little had been held on the disk.

The clipscame off wholeHashedclip

What helps, and what makes it worse.

First things to do

  • 1. Capture the current live image with the clock visible in the shot
  • 2. Unplug the recorder's power at the wall
  • 3. Call us prior to opening the enclosure.
  • 4. Inform your insurance company in writing that it has been secured.

What makes it worse

  • Leaving it switched on
  • Holding off until someone asks
  • Raising it with the installer and then waiting for an answer
  • Plugging the drive into an office PC

What people ask before they send it.

How far back will my recorder still reach?

We cannot answer this question from here, nor can a model number resolve it. There are five variables that determine the window: disk capacity, camera count, resolution, frame rate, and whether the unit records continuously or only when motion is detected. The unit itself already knows: open the playback calendar, and the earliest date that will display is the honest answer. This answer shrinks daily.

Once something has been recorded over, is any of it left?

No. New video landing in a block ends the previous recording that was there, and no program or bench can reverse this. However, partial cases are a different story. Where the loop only covered part of the period you want, fragments frequently remain beyond the index and are worth carving back. A free check will tell you which of the two you have.

Do I cut the power to it?

Yes, if the premises can go a day or two without coverage. The only guaranteed method to break this cycle is to disconnect the mains power to the recorder, and it is free. If the cameras are required to stay on, transfer the footage for the time period you wish to save onto a USB stick first, stored in the recorder's native format, and then contact us before anybody opens the unit.

My insurer has not asked for it yet. Does that matter?

Secure it anyway. Claims and enquiries can take weeks. The recorder continues at the speed its settings dictate, and that is usually the faster of the two. Written requests may reference dates which the disk has already gone round again. Making a copy now is inexpensive and resolves the issue either way.

If this sounds like yours, start here.

Clips for insurers and police → SD, CF and CFexpress cards → USB flash sticks and pens → 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