How to Recover Deleted CCTV Footage from DVR Hard Disk? Solved

Approved By Ashwani Tiwari

Published On April 1st, 2024

Reading Time 6 Minutes Reading

Category Data Recovery

It is unspoken universality that CCTV cameras ascertain the fear of law in criminals. It is clear that users can’t afford the loss of CCTV footage, especially when it is imperative for any critical condition. So, the user seeks answers on how to recover deleted CCTV footage when the deleted data has been found to be decisive for certain conditions. We have suggested three eminent methods to retrieve deleted CCTV footage. But experts suggest using hard drive data recovery software.

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Why CCTV Cameras Are So Important In Our Daily Lives

Before answering, can you recover the deleted CCTV footage? The question of the importance of CCTV cameras is detailed here.

It monitors real-time activities and records them for future reference.
In the case of a crime, the occurrence user has apparent evidence to snap the suspect.
It is widely used by individuals and businesses for assurance of activities
The user has peace of mind when he is aware of the visitors and employees at his residence.

Reasons That Cause the Uncertain Deletion Of CCTV Footage

So now the question arises: why is CCTV footage deleted, which leads us to how to get data from a DVR hard disk? Well, the answer is right here.

Bad sectors that can cause failure within hard drive storage
Bugs Attacks on Storage Disk
The user deletes CCTV footage accidentally
Faulty DVR hard Drive
Damaged, corrupted, and CCTV storage cards
Physical damage to DVR cameras

The user wants to know Can I retrieve CCTV image? Definitely, the user can recover the CCTV footage. But you must be aware of a few things before understanding how to how to retrieve CCTV image from DVR.

Do not use a faulty DVR hard drive
Avoid making any changes or adding or deleting any new data to the drive, as it will overwrite the data and increase the obstacles to recovering overwritten CCTV footage.
Don’t format the CCTV hard drive, which eventually causes overwriting and recovery to become more complex.

Methods to Recover Deleted CCTV Footage

In this blog, you will find three trusted and verified methods to recover permanently deleted footage from CCTV. You can choose any method at your convenience.

Can I Recover Deleted Videos from CCTV DVR?

The straightforward answer is yes if you have followed the above-mentioned steps. Use these three methods to learn how to get data from the DVR hard disk.

Method 1: Restore Deleted CCTV Footage from Backup

If you have created separate backup storage for CCTV footage, then you can simply select the required video footage from there and move it to the DVR hard drive. If the backup is not available, then we have mentioned a complete tutorial to recover the deleted CCTV footage in the upcoming section.

Note: The user is advised to always store CCTV footage on a different storage device.

Method 2: Recover Permanently Deleted CCTV Footage Using Software

This Hard Disk Recovery Wizard is a sure-shot solution to retrieve deleted CCTV footage. Following these steps for the practical execution of the utility, you will learn how to get data from a DVR hard disk. This application can also retrieve deleted PST files from hard disks.

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Also Read : How to Recover Files from A Hard Drive That Won’t Boot Windows 10?

Easy Steps to Recover Deleted CCTV Footage

1: Download and run software on your system. Select the CCTV drive to scan and recover deleted footage.

2: Select SCAN mode for scanning. Formatted Scan mode is only supposed to be used when data is formatted

Tip: Click on Refresh View in case the attached drive is not visible on the home page.

3: After the scan is complete, all the folders will display in the left panel. Explore the folders by clicking on [+]. will showcase all subfolders within that specific folder.

4: Go to filter options and select the videos folders to learn how to get data from the DVR hard disk

5: You can recover the data for a specific duration using the Date Range filter using “From” and “To” in the utility.

5: After that, you need to select the file location to export the permanently deleted data from the hard drive. Either choose the location using the navigation or create a new folder. Here, the resultant recovered deleted emails file from HDD will be saved.

7: Finally, the transfer of CCTV footage is complete, and you will get a confirmation message on your screen.

Using this method, you can surely get data from the DVR hard disk and store it at your desired location.

Method 3: Recover Deleted Footage from CCTV Using CMD

Another solution that can help recover deleted CCTV footage is practicing the cmd (Control prompt) commands

Initially, Open Command Prompt (CMD)
After that, right-click on the Start key and click on the Run option. OR Press the Windows key and the X alphabet key (Win+X) and select the Run option to open the Run prompt. Enter cmd and click Enter.
Now, in Command Prompt, type chkdsk space Drive Letter /f (the /f parameter fixes the detected errors on the disk). Wait until the command completes its actions.
Finally, use these parameters to perform the functions mentioned above to fix the errors and recover the data.
used to show the hidden attributes.
It provides the location of the bad sectors and recovers Read-only information.
It commands the system to search for the specific path location

Lacking points of Command Prompt (CMD)

Though Command Prompt does not require any other additional device to recover deleted CCTV footage, it still carries various loopholes along with it.
Command Prompt is not ideal for novice or non-tech users. It is suitable only for expert professionals.
CMD has its limitations; if the files are bug-infected, then the chances of restoring the deleted data from CCTV cameras decrease.
Recovery of permanently deleted or hard-deleted files is a complex process. Inadequate knowledge will lead to corruption or permanent loss of data.
Due to all these factors, the command prompt is not a standard universal solution for how to retrieve deleted CCTV footage.

Conclusion

If urgently required CCTV footage is found missing or deleted from the DVR drive, then the user seeks an answer for how to recover deleted CCTV footage. We have shown three methods to recover permanently deleted CCTV footage. There would be situations where the native solution could not meet the expectations of the user and lacked the ability to provide results. In that case, software is the ultimate solution to recovering the lost CCTV footage.