Data recovery from DVR hard drives is very common in the surveillance and security market.
If, after this guide, your DVR still won’t give access to the files, see our DVR and CCTV recovery service, which starts with a free diagnosis.
That’s because DVRs, like any other computer, can develop faults, suffer physical damage, and have their data corrupted or even deleted by mistake.
What is a CCTV DVR hard drive?
A DVR (Digital Video Recorder) hard drive, also called a CCTV (Closed-Circuit Television) hard drive, is a hard drive used in surveillance and recording equipment.
Some hard drive models are designed specifically for this job, so they perform better in it than the drives found in personal computers.
While desktop and office hard drives are built for a balanced mix of reading and writing, surveillance drives are built to handle a much higher volume of writes.
That’s because they have to cope with the huge amount of data coming from security systems that record nonstop, 24 hours a day.
This difference in engineering allows DVR hard drives to spend around 90% of their time writing video, a workload an ordinary drive isn’t designed for.
What is the difference between a DVR and an NVR?
DVRs and NVRs are both used in closed-circuit television (CCTV) systems to store the footage captured by security cameras.
However, there are some differences between them.
Essentially, a DVR (Digital Video Recorder) records footage from analog cameras and digitizes it itself, while an NVR (Network Video Recorder) records footage that IP cameras send over the network already in digital form.
In other words, they are two generations of equipment that do basically the same job. Here are the main differences:
DVR – Digital Video Recorder
As we’ve seen, a Digital Video Recorder records video from analog cameras. But what does that mean?
Put simply, the DVR receives images from “dumb” (analog) cameras, which send the signal over coaxial cable and leave the job of converting it into digital data to the recorder.
So every camera in a DVR system needs its own cable to carry the video and must be physically connected to the recorder.
Because the cameras are wired directly to the recorder, DVR systems tend to be simple and stable, although image quality is usually lower than that of modern IP cameras recording to an NVR, depending on the equipment.
NVR – Network Video Recorder
NVRs, on the other hand, work with cameras that capture, encode and process the video themselves, turning it into data before sending it to the recorder.
In other words, once the footage has been converted into data, the IP camera sends it to the NVR over Ethernet cables, Wi-Fi or fiber optics.
These are “smart” cameras, each with its own IP address, that encode and transmit the data themselves.
How are DVR recordings stored?
DVR recordings are part of a system designed to keep premises secure, with nonstop recording 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The recordings are usually stored on a hard drive inside the DVR.
There are several settings you can adjust to schedule recording and make better use of storage.
For example, you can set up the system to record to the DVR’s hard drive only when motion is detected, or only at specific times and on specific days.
If the goal is to add security to premises that are only open during business hours, the DVR can be set to record only at night, when there are no employees or customers around.
In the storage settings, you can also choose the frame rate and the resolution of the footage recorded to the hard drive.
These settings, which can be adjusted on each system, also determine how many days of footage the hard drive can hold before it’s full.
When a DVR hard drive runs out of space, new footage starts being recorded over the oldest footage.
The good news is that the older footage doesn’t have to be lost: you can make an external backup to a hard drive or, even more conveniently, use cloud storage.
Causes of video loss on CCTV DVRs
As we’ve seen, DVRs work with cameras wired to the recorder, and much of this equipment has been running for years. Several factors can cause video loss on these devices. Here are the main ones:
Mechanical failure of the CCTV DVR hard drive
One of the main causes of video loss on DVR hard drives is mechanical failure.
These failures can have many causes, from knocks and drops to simple wear and tear over time.
In these cases, if you need to recover data from a DVR hard drive, the best solution is to turn to a company specializing in hard drive data recovery, such as Bot Data Recovery.
Hard drive firmware damage
Firmware is a set of operating instructions programmed directly into the hardware of an electronic device.
It is a specific kind of software that contains the startup information a device needs to work properly.
Firmware problems on DVR hard drives are one of the most common causes of video loss on this equipment, and the best way to deal with them is to have the drive recovered by a company like Bot Data Recovery.
DVR hard drive runs out of space
Another common cause of video loss on DVRs is lack of storage space.
Just like computer hard drives, DVR drives will sooner or later fill up and have no room left for new data.
That’s why you should regularly check how much space is left and export any important footage before it’s lost. Most DVRs overwrite the oldest recordings automatically once the drive is full, so whatever you haven’t saved elsewhere will eventually be recorded over.
Formatting or file system corruption
The DVR’s hard drive can be formatted by accident or because of a drive problem.
The same can happen when the file system becomes corrupted, making all the recorded footage inaccessible.
In that case, you can count on Bot, which specializes in data recovery, to try to recover the lost video files.
Accidental deletion of footage
While managing the files on your DVR, it’s easy to delete important footage by mistake.
One way to get this footage back is with the help of Bot, which specializes in hard drive data recovery.
Environmental hazards such as fire, humidity, dust or chemicals
Another common cause of data loss is exposure to environmental hazards such as fire, humidity, dust or chemicals.
Any of these can damage the DVR’s hard drive and corrupt the files stored on it.
This is another situation where Bot can help you recover your data.
Power outages
Finally, power outages where the system is installed can also cause video files stored on a DVR to be lost.
How can you recover data from a DVR hard drive safely?
Here are the two main ways to recover DVR footage safely:
Method 1. Go to a company that specializes in CCTV DVR hard drive recovery
CCTV DVR hard drives often use proprietary or even encrypted file systems.
The CCTV DVR recovery software available to consumers is basic and incomplete, and in most cases it doesn’t recover the videos correctly. In our experience, it either fails to find the videos or finds them with the wrong dates and durations.
That’s why the safest option is to go to a professional CCTV DVR hard drive recovery company for the best chance of success, especially if the videos were deleted or the DVR’s hard drive has a fault.
Method 2. Restore the DVR hard drive backup
Another way to get back lost videos from a DVR is to restore them from a hard drive backup. Here’s how:
Step 1
First, find the folder where the video was backed up.
Step 2
Then find the exact video you want to recover, or the one you deleted by mistake.
Step 3
Finally, copy the video back to your drive or SD card, and that’s it: your video is back.
How to back up CCTV videos and files
Most modern CCTV equipment also has ports for communication, audio and video output.
Besides HDMI, RCA and VGA outputs, these devices usually have ports for backups, such as USB and local network (Ethernet) ports.
Although they let you back up footage to external hard drives, a backup kept on site can be stolen or damaged at the same time as the recorder.
That’s why the best way to back up CCTV videos and files is over the network to a remote server.
The footage is preserved even if the main system is completely destroyed, which makes this the most effective way to keep a safe copy.
Using a network storage server with FTP is one of the best ways to back up and store footage from several DVRs over a single internet connection.
The downside of this solution is that backups don’t happen in real time: the data is only updated as often as each system’s settings allow.
For example, if the equipment is set to back up every day at 9 p.m. and the system fails or is damaged at 8 p.m., your storage server will only have the footage up to the night before.
Some devices let you schedule backups at shorter intervals, which reduces the risk of losing footage. Still, when it comes to backups, the old saying holds true: one is none, and two is one.
Hire a company that specializes in DVR hard drive data recovery
Even when you take every precaution, losing DVR footage is very common and happens more often than most people think.
In these cases, the best solution is to hire a specialized company like Bot to help you recover the data.
Is it possible to recover deleted data from a DVR?
Often, yes, but these are very complex file systems, so it’s best to bring (or send) the CCTV DVR hard drive to Bot Data Recovery.
With our help, it’s often possible to recover deleted data from your DVR, even when your backup has failed.
Can overwritten CCTV recordings be recovered?
When a video is overwritten, new data has been written over the space it occupied on the drive.
In other words, the old information has been replaced by the new.
When this happens, the chances of recovering the overwritten DVR or CCTV footage are slim.
Recovery is only possible for footage that hasn’t been completely overwritten.
Either way, send us the hard drive with the overwritten DVR or CCTV footage! We’ll analyze your case and do everything we can to recover as much as possible.
Recover your data with us!
As we’ve seen, there are several ways to recover data from a CCTV DVR hard drive, but if important data is at stake, the best option is to contact a company that specializes in data recovery, like Bot!
We offer turnaround options of up to 48 h, 24 h or 12 h, a free standard diagnosis and free pickup (islands not included), with the highest level of privacy and security for our customers. Start the process now by filling out our form.
