****** Programming opportunity ??? *******

[wp4054]

I've spent a good while looking and i cannot find a file recovery/raw disk access program that's available for mobile devices, could be a nice opportunity for someone!!!


I'd do it myself if i'd got the time lol

[levenum]

No offence but form the title it looks almost like your offering a paying job. Maybe something a little less flashy next time? :)

Any way have you checked out an app called pocket mechanic?
http://www.pocketgear.com/software_detail.asp?id=12178&associateid=373
It comes pretty close to what you want.

The problem with file recovery is the fact that these devices use RAM or FLASH memory and not hard disks. If it's RAM (WM2002 / 2003) there is no way to recover the file once it has been deleted.
With flash, from what I understand it still might be possible but a lot trickier than with HD.

[wp4054]

No not quite offering a paid job to someone lol

Hmm as for the recovery option obviously i need to learn a lot more about the management of storage on these devices, i'd assumed they followed the usual method of FAT/NTFS rules regarding storage and deletion ?

So once a file is deleted the system automatically defragements the allocated space to reclaim it?

Could use a lot more input on this, as i assumed it was just going to be a case of dumping the content on the device onto a card or via usb to comp using a basic read from location xxxxx write to location yyyyy

Any others care to comment ?

oh and device in question is an 02 XDA Mini-S !

[TheBrit]

So once a file is deleted the system automatically defragements the allocated space to reclaim it?
No, because flash "wears out". M$ have written WM5 to spread out the reading/writing randomly (kind of) across the whole of the memory to minimize "wear" and maximize the life of the flash. Defragmenting would negate this by concentrating read/writes to specific areas and because flash is solid state defraging is not needed anyway.

[wp4054]

Right now i'm starting to understand, so i guess my question should be when something is deleted can it be recovered?

How long before the data is 'nuked' ?

The device in question has not been used since the deletion occured but i would still like to try and dump the contents of the internal 'drive' to see what if anything remains, is this feasible?

Thanks for all your assistance guys i'm on a learning curve here!

[levenum]

First, you have to tell us exactly what device it is and what OS it is currently running.
Like I said before, if it is a WM2003 device your data was probably in RAM and is lost forever.

[wp4054]

Apologies i did state in my previous post that it an 02 XDA Mini-s or magician as it's known on here running windows mobile 5

Ideally all i want to do is read all the raw data from the machine either onto PC or onto a card so that it can then be analysed using a full screen hex editor/ data recoverer, i suspect the messages/data are still there but just with truncated headers/file markers

[levenum]

Actually, I should be the one to apologize, I missed that line.
Unfortunately, as I stated in previous posts, since your device has the WM 2003 OS and its main memory is RAM if the file was in the main memory, once it was deleted it is gone for good.
I think itsme has some tool for dumping memory (check the WiKi for itsutils or look for his posts) but I doubt they will help you.
Sorry.

[wp4054]

Thanks will try using those as a start, i suspect that all may not be lost but i won't know till i can dump the affected memory/storage. The unit has not been powered down or used since and i'm hoping that the information i seek is still lurking there somewhere lol

Made me get me C++ hat back on anyway if nothing else !

Daresay i will be needing a lot more help on this one yet, i suspect the SMS raw data is still about somwehere and i'm gonna try find it lol

Moral of the story?
Don't lend your PDA to a friend that hasn't got a clue what they're doing!! (even if they are desperate!!)

[vijay555]

wp4054 - investigate Buzz's grabit program on here. This may not be grabbing the memory you need, but it'll give you a good headstart on how to use the memory read/write functions.

You probably want to be reading other partitions, but the idea should still hold.

Frankly, it's likely to be a lot of work for a very small chance of success.
If the memory works like standard FAT, and they were files, it wouldn't be so bad. But the SMS data is stored in a database that is likely to be shuffled around quite a lot for efficiency, and so unlikely to be highly recoverable.

But let us know how you get on.

V

[TheBrit]

Apologies i did state in my previous post that it an 02 XDA Mini-s or magician as it's known on here running windows mobile 5
That's not a Magician, it's a Wizard.

O2 XDA Mini = Magician - runs WM2003SE
O2 XDA Mini S = Wizard - runs WM5

[wp4054]

Cheers Vijay i guess i won't know till i try!

I was just thinking that the memory behaved like a disk in that storage was not reallocated immediatley, will let all know what if anything my findings are, i wouldn't normally be bothererd if it was just the odd message but it was everything that was deleted, read messages which i wanted /needed to keep not just the ones in the deleted folder!

Thanks for the help it's appreciated :-)

Glenn (who just realised he's not put a name to any of his previous posts! , oops)

[wp4054]

That's not a Magician, it's a Wizard.

O2 XDA Mini = Magician - runs WM2003SE
O2 XDA Mini S = Wizard - runs WM5

So does that mean i have a better chance of data recovery on this device??