Deleted a clip, allowed the recorder to loop over it, or had the drive go bad? The recording you need, whether for an insurance claim or for the police, will normally still be stored on the disk. We can read the strange, maker-specific formats DVRs and NVRs use when they record video, extract the video from the disk directly, and deliver it as simple timestamped video files anyone can play.
DVRs and NVRs never stop recording: they record in a circular manner, laying new video over the oldest to make room. Each hour the DVR or NVR keeps running therefore moves the clip you want closer to being destroyed for good. If you know the time frame you need, turn off the recorder immediately (or remove the hard drive), and do not allow it to keep recording or reset it. Stopping it early leaves far more to recover. And a recorder drive which has failed should not be powered up again and again. Instead, bring it to us.
Whether the clip was deleted, looped over because the recorder kept running, or lost when the recorder’s drive died, your video is usually still written on the platters. It just needs to be carved back out. These are the types of jobs that most often end up on our desk.
Whichever DVR, NVR or camera system recorded it, and whatever internal format it used to save the footage, we can typically get it out. If a recorder captured it, the odds are firmly in your favour.
Analogue or IP · DVRs, NVRs and RAID NVRs · one drive or many · fixed and dashboard cameras · SD and microSD flash.
Pulling back CCTV footage comes down to three things: understanding the recorder’s own format, never writing to its disk, and identifying the footage by camera and time. First we clone the drive, then we decode the format, and finally we recover your footage and export it as standard video files.
Please provide the make of recorder, the camera you are interested in, and the exact date and time you are looking for.
If the recorder is still running, our number one priority is cloning its drive before the ring buffer overwrites any more of what you need.
We take a full sector-level clone of the recorder’s hard drive, using a write-blocker that prevents anything being written to the disk; everything afterwards runs on that clone, even if the drive needs head or PCB work before it will read at all.
We identify and work through the file system developed by the manufacturer (Hikvision, Dahua and others), following its allocation table and block index to locate recordings by channel and time.
If the index is lost, we rebuild the H.264 or H.265 streams directly from the raw blocks, identifying the I-frame that begins each GOP, in order to extract the required channels and time ranges.
The recovered footage is written out as standard timestamped MP4 or AVI files, and we confirm that the incident you are looking for is there.
Recovered footage is returned on new media or by secure transfer, ready to use or to pass to your insurer or the police.
From DVRs and NVRs to RAID recorders, security cameras and loose SD cards, we take the footage off a read-only clone, decode the recorder’s own format and export it as standard files you can simply play back.
Tell us what happened and we’ll get back to you, usually within a working day.
We’ll be in touch shortly. If it’s urgent, call 01483 901310.
A free diagnostic and a written quote come before any work starts, so you never receive an unexpected bill and there is no pressure to go ahead.
Some examples of recent CCTV, DVR and NVR recovery jobs. Details have been removed to protect client identity, and the footage was delivered. Full write-ups: footage off a dead CCTV recorder.
We powered down the DVR, cloned its hard drive and extracted the H.265 video streams for the night that mattered. The entire incident came back.
We rebuilt the RAID array using clones of all four hard drives, decoded the recordings, and exported the specific dates our client needed for their insurance company.
We made a read-only clone of the camera card, extracted its video clips by timestamp, and recovered the footage our client wanted.
Simply send your device to us for a free diagnostic and describe briefly what happened. An engineer will review it and confirm your exact quote in writing before any work begins.
The first step to getting your data back is sending the device to us. Pack it safely, put your contact details inside the package and send it in. Once we have completed the free diagnostic, we will confirm the exact cost in writing before any work starts.
Sending it by post? We’d recommend a tracked, insured service. Dropping it in? No problem: Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm. Please package the device as described above first.
Would you like more information first? Complete the form with further details about your issue, and one of our engineers will review it and send you a tailored quote.
We’ll be in touch shortly. If it’s urgent, call 01483 901310.
The most common questions people ask before sending a recorder or card to us.
Yes, frequently. Deleting footage only removes the index; the video blocks stay intact until the recorder loops round and overwrites them. We clone the disk, decode the recorder’s file system or manually carve the H.264/H.265 streams, and recover whatever has not yet been overwritten.
Not always. The oldest footage always goes first, but data that has only recently been overwritten can often still be carved back, and anything you stopped in time recovers well. Shut off the power to the recorder now and get it to us.
Because DVRs and NVRs use their maker’s own file system (Hikvision, Dahua and plenty more) rather than NTFS or FAT, Windows sees a blank disk and offers to format it. Don’t panic: the footage is fine. We read the proprietary file system directly from a clone of your disk and export the footage as standard playable files.
Yes. When the recorder won’t boot or the disk is clicking or can’t be detected, we first make a read-only copy of the failing disk, then decode the format and extract the footage, just as we would on any dead hard drive, only for video.
Yes. Send us the recorder and tell us which camera channel was used and roughly what time frame the incident falls in, and we will target those recordings. The clips come back with their original timestamps, so you will always know exactly when each one was recorded.
We do. Multi-disk NVRs and RAID recorders are routine here. Each disk is copied read-only, the array (often embedded Linux software RAID) is rebuilt to its original configuration, and then the recorder’s file system is read across the rebuilt volume to recover the video footage.
Standard timestamped MP4 or AVI files that play in most players. You can review them, keep them, or send them directly to an insurer or the police, with no need for the recorder’s own software.
Yes. Corrupt, formatted or unreadable SD and microSD cards from standalone and IP cameras are recovered here regularly. Constant recording wears out the flash, so we make a read-only copy of the card, or read it at chip level when the card’s controller has failed, and then carve out the video.
A single-drive recorder or a camera SD card is priced at £400 + VAT. As soon as a failed drive or a multi-drive RAID box is involved, the price goes up, and we give you a firm quote once your free diagnostic is complete.
Remove the hard drive or memory card from the unit and post only that, fully insured, or bring it to our Guildford Business Park location, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm. Write down your details along with the exact date and time you need, and we will log it and get started.
A free diagnostic, then footage recovered by camera and time from your DVR, NVR or SD card, even from a failed recorder, and exported as standard files for your insurer or the police. Contact us now.