From Glee to Glum: a home video story
September 25, 2010 9:24 AM Subscribe
SaveMyWeddingVideoFilter: Recorded my wedding perfectly 1 week ago on a Sony DCR-SX44 video camera. Unbeknownst to me, I recorded the wedding and half of the honeymoon on the hard drive of the camera. This is where things go bad.
Without realizing that I had recorded it all to the hard drive of the camera, I reformated the drive. It was wiped clean.
Is there any way at all to recover this data from the hard drive? I'm certainly willing to drop cash down if it means salvaging what was literally one of the pinnacle moments of my and my wife's life.
Any help, appreciated! Thank you all.
Without realizing that I had recorded it all to the hard drive of the camera, I reformated the drive. It was wiped clean.
Is there any way at all to recover this data from the hard drive? I'm certainly willing to drop cash down if it means salvaging what was literally one of the pinnacle moments of my and my wife's life.
Any help, appreciated! Thank you all.
There are companies that can do this, but last time that I checked, it was $13k+
posted by k8t at 9:33 AM on September 25, 2010
posted by k8t at 9:33 AM on September 25, 2010
Response by poster: I haven't called Sony due to being overseas, but plan to do so when I return in 48 hrs.
Unfortunately, I haven't $13k+ to spend (literally - don't have it). Anyone know of any less expensive options?
posted by Atreides at 9:47 AM on September 25, 2010
Unfortunately, I haven't $13k+ to spend (literally - don't have it). Anyone know of any less expensive options?
posted by Atreides at 9:47 AM on September 25, 2010
Try this? http://www.digitalmedia-recovery.com/recover-video-from-handycam.html
posted by A189Nut at 9:57 AM on September 25, 2010
posted by A189Nut at 9:57 AM on September 25, 2010
Response by poster: Mrs. Atreides here: Thanks to all who have replied. As soon as we get back to the States, we will try A189Nut's suggestion. If anyone else has any ideas or suggestions, please let us know or Mefi mail us. I want to make Mr. Atreides feel better more than anything. Thanks again.
posted by Atreides at 10:23 AM on September 25, 2010
posted by Atreides at 10:23 AM on September 25, 2010
Best answer: I have used Flashback Data several times on behalf of my clients, as well as personally. The worst case I've run across involved a physical failure that required "clean room" work where a tech dismantled the drive and re-attached the storage components to new electronics. They were able to recover all of the data and the cost was just over $1,200. In situations where they have recovered data from a formatted (not damaged) drive, it has cost about $300.
They will assess a drive and provide you with a quote before doing any work. If you decide not to follow through after getting the quote, you don't owe them anything. They've always been very helpful and personable over the phone and via email. In short, I recommend them highly and that's the option I would use if I were in your shoes.
Regardless of what approach you take, I hope you get the video back. Best of luck and congratulations on your marriage.
posted by ElDiabloConQueso at 10:23 AM on September 25, 2010 [4 favorites]
They will assess a drive and provide you with a quote before doing any work. If you decide not to follow through after getting the quote, you don't owe them anything. They've always been very helpful and personable over the phone and via email. In short, I recommend them highly and that's the option I would use if I were in your shoes.
Regardless of what approach you take, I hope you get the video back. Best of luck and congratulations on your marriage.
posted by ElDiabloConQueso at 10:23 AM on September 25, 2010 [4 favorites]
Try this free, open source tool called PhotoRec:
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec
Many people swear by it and I've had success with it in the past. There is a step-by-step guide further down the the page.
Best of luck.
posted by pants tent at 4:23 PM on September 25, 2010
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec
Many people swear by it and I've had success with it in the past. There is a step-by-step guide further down the the page.
Best of luck.
posted by pants tent at 4:23 PM on September 25, 2010
I love that there have been some great suggestions of open-source/evaluation software for doing this kind of thing. I've used them myself in the past.
Having said that, if there was data that I absolutely, positively had to get back off a drive, I'd send it out for recovery. Every time you touch a drive again (attach to the computer, power up, etc.) you have the potential to cause more data loss or damage. If it's that important, contact a professional, and get the data back the right way.
posted by liquado at 11:38 PM on September 25, 2010
Having said that, if there was data that I absolutely, positively had to get back off a drive, I'd send it out for recovery. Every time you touch a drive again (attach to the computer, power up, etc.) you have the potential to cause more data loss or damage. If it's that important, contact a professional, and get the data back the right way.
posted by liquado at 11:38 PM on September 25, 2010
Response by poster: Follow up. Incidentally, the automatic email requesting a follow up arrived on the very day I had news worth following up on.
We decided to avoid any do it yourself attempts at salvaging the data due to the precious nature of the video involved and no experience of doing so before. Instead, we opted to go with Flashback. I'm exceedingly happy to say that Flashback was able to restore all the video files that I deleted while formating the flash drive of our handycam. The process was swift and pretty painless. The staff that I dealt with were all friendly and easy to work with.
Within a day of receiving the memory, Flashback got into the guts, and pulled out the files. This was Thursday, the data was mailed Friday, and we received the files today.
The price was low enough for us at $160, plus shipping via UPS.
In the end, we've got irreplaceable footage returned to us and I've gone back to glee from glum. I've learned my lesson, but I'd recommend Flashback in the future. Thanks for the suggestion!
posted by Atreides at 12:24 PM on October 25, 2010
We decided to avoid any do it yourself attempts at salvaging the data due to the precious nature of the video involved and no experience of doing so before. Instead, we opted to go with Flashback. I'm exceedingly happy to say that Flashback was able to restore all the video files that I deleted while formating the flash drive of our handycam. The process was swift and pretty painless. The staff that I dealt with were all friendly and easy to work with.
Within a day of receiving the memory, Flashback got into the guts, and pulled out the files. This was Thursday, the data was mailed Friday, and we received the files today.
The price was low enough for us at $160, plus shipping via UPS.
In the end, we've got irreplaceable footage returned to us and I've gone back to glee from glum. I've learned my lesson, but I'd recommend Flashback in the future. Thanks for the suggestion!
posted by Atreides at 12:24 PM on October 25, 2010
So glad to hear it! I'll be sure to use your experience as an anecdotal recommendation in the future.
posted by ElDiabloConQueso at 8:50 PM on October 26, 2010
posted by ElDiabloConQueso at 8:50 PM on October 26, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
Have you contacted Sony directly? I know there are ways to recover deleted data from computer hard drives, but I don't know anything about recovering data from video cameras. I'm sure this question has come up before. Perhaps someone in tech support or customer service could help? It may help to request to speak with a manager if the first person you reach doesn't have any ideas. Good luck.
posted by pecanpies at 9:31 AM on September 25, 2010