[GUIDE] Internal Memory Data Recovery - Yes We Can!

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carl1961

carl1961

Senior Member
Dec 5, 2010
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Bokoblin said:
no it has to be in your environment path

add it to the end

Mine is this, your path will be diffrent
;C:\Users\YOUR USER NAME\AppData\Local\Android\android-sdk\tools;C:\Users\carl\AppData\Local\Android\android-sdk\platform-tools;
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

It's ok now. Added with a tiers software because didn't worked with native windows. It's normal backing up userdata partition is still unfinished at ~7 Go on a nexus 4 16go with 4.44 go free[/QUOTE]

the backup will take hours , you can see the time in the pictures I posted
 
B

Bokoblin

Senior Member
Mar 22, 2014
109
15
Bordeaux
carl1961 said:
It's ok now. Added with a tiers software because didn't worked with native windows. It's normal backing up userdata partition is still unfinished at ~7 Go on a nexus 4 16go with 4.44 go free
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

the backup will take hours , you can see the time in the pictures I posted[/QUOTE]

so after some hours and until 13 go . It suddenly go to 0byte. Well Done !! Is there any real method to extract sdcard partition and recover my files !
 
M

marcink99

Member
Aug 13, 2010
37
1
Carl wow thank you. It turns out I used wrong partition name it was mmcblk0p25 not 26
I used bellow command to find correct name of it.
find /dev/block/platform/ -name 'mmc*' -exec fdisk -l {} \;

Once again I really appreciate your help and cant thank you enough. Thank you once again.
 
Last edited:
carl1961

carl1961

Senior Member
Dec 5, 2010
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marcink99 said:
Carl wow thank you. It turns out I used wrong partition name it was mmcblk0p25 not 26
I used bellow command to find correct name of it.
find /dev/block/platform/ -name 'mmc*' -exec fdisk -l {} \;

Once again I really appreciate your help and cant thank you enough. Thank you once again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

You welcome , glad you got it going.
 
M

marcink99

Member
Aug 13, 2010
37
1
could somebody recommend me a software I could use to recover .db file for one of the application I had on my phone? I tried recuva but I does not find any .db files.
 
Sim-X

Sim-X

Senior Member
Nov 2, 2008
746
196
Minneapolis, MN
This is a great write up and thank you Carl for your very helpful post I was actually trying to recover data from a Note3. Few of the issues I ran into that hopefully can help someone else first I stuck with the 32 bit version of cygwin. Make sure you follow the instructions carefully for placing the adons in the correct place. For example ADB need to be in the bin folder inside the cygwin folder. The first go around I also forgot to download the pv and util-linux from the repo during the install so that was part of my issue. Next creating the desktop shortcut opened up the right terminal for me (I skipped that first go around and Cywin.bat wasn't working for me in the cygwin folder. Once I managed to get past that, I then ran into not being able to dump the partition even know I had the right partition name. It would just show 0 bytes. I then went on the phone into busybox and had to change the default installation folder to the alternative location. Once I got passed these hurdles the dump only took an hour to dump all of the note 3.

After running the VhdTool in the command prompt which worked no problem, for some reason I was not able to mound the .raw file (even know it let me select it in the disk manager after selecting all files) It got an error and wouldn't go any further. I transferred the .raw to a laptop with 32 bit Win7, reran VhdTool for good measure and it mounted instantly. I was able to recover thousands of files from the partition. Since most of it was all junk, you can sort by file size which helped find what I wanted. Unfortunately in my case most the photos were indeed gone and most the recover was garbage that was cached. I didn't get my hands on the device till a week after it was deleted so it might have been too late. It was for a friend but still a good learning experience for me. I also tried some of those android recovery programs which they did work they found a lot of the same stuff as this method however they took way longer and froze my machine a few times and I have a decent machine. Anyone looking to recover data I suggest dumping it this way immediately then at least you have the raw data to work with as I was not impressed with the recovery programs. Not sure why I couldn't mound it on Win 8.1 64 bit cause the exact same file mounted perfect on a 32 bit 7 machine. That's just my personal experience so if someone runs into the same issues I did, I just wanted to share how I got around them. I wish they would just let you mount it without doing all this but if you relax and not rush you can work through this. Once you have the dump complete there really isn't much to it after that. Thanks again op & carl for the write ups.
 
C

crytoy

Member
Dec 11, 2014
15
1
I have created the .Raw image from my Internal memory using this tutorial successively to recover deleted files from, but the problem arises because the data recovery software are only showing the files that are already there, and I need to recover the deleted files from this ext4 partition!
I have used many recovery software that support Linux partitions such as : " Testdisk, PhotoRec, R-studio, Easeus, Geeksnerds, UFS, Active Undelete ..." but I have failed, it's only showing current available files without the deleted.

I would like to note that I have not formatted my device, and I have created the dd image directly after I deleted the files.
Waiting for reply
 
carl1961

carl1961

Senior Member
Dec 5, 2010
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crytoy said:
I have created the .Raw image from my Internal memory using this tutorial successively to recover deleted files from, but the problem arises because the data recovery software are only showing the files that are already there, and I need to recover the deleted files from this ext4 partition!
I have used many recovery software that support Linux partitions such as : " Testdisk, PhotoRec, R-studio, Easeus, Geeksnerds, UFS, Active Undelete ..." but I have failed, it's only showing current available files without the deleted.

I would like to note that I have not formatted my device, and I have created the dd image directly after I deleted the files.
Waiting for reply
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you need to convert the raw to a disk image

http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=58718411&postcount=1109
 
skyguy126

skyguy126

Senior Member
Sep 17, 2014
454
110
github.com
crytoy said:
I have created the .Raw image from my Internal memory using this tutorial successively to recover deleted files from, but the problem arises because the data recovery software are only showing the files that are already there, and I need to recover the deleted files from this ext4 partition!
I have used many recovery software that support Linux partitions such as : " Testdisk, PhotoRec, R-studio, Easeus, Geeksnerds, UFS, Active Undelete ..." but I have failed, it's only showing current available files without the deleted.

I would like to note that I have not formatted my device, and I have created the dd image directly after I deleted the files.
Waiting for reply
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Use diskdigger to scan the raw partition. Worked flawlesdly for me
 
C

canna97

New member
Nov 1, 2012
3
0
Trying to find the right partition...

iHack13 said:
also if you want to know your partition, you might have different values like I do. mine was
Code: 
su
ls -l/dev/block/platform/dw_mmc/by-name/

to get your own value type

Code: 
su
cd /dev/block/platform/
ls
it should output a folder name . the value that you are looking for .

Code: 
ls -l/dev/block/platform/(ENTER_THE_VALUE_THAT_WAS_OUTPUTTED_BY_THE_LS_CMD_BEFORE)/by-name/

And that should show you which names are assigned to which patitions (system, user ,data etc)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Hi iHack, I'm trying to find my partition following your steps but at the last step the terminal doesn't show me which names are assigned to which partitions. What can I do? Look at the photo for the details ;)
Thanks a lot,
canna97
 

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carl1961

carl1961

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Dec 5, 2010
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canna97 said:
Hi iHack, I'm trying to find my partition following your steps but at the last step the terminal doesn't show me which names are assigned to which partitions. What can I do? Look at the photo for the details ;)
Thanks a lot,
canna97
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

install attached Diskinfo (phone needs to be rooted)

touch the three dots top right /settings/ and check the box's to view other partitions
 

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crytoy

Member
Dec 11, 2014
15
1
carl1961 thanks for replying.
I have used Diskdigger pro and still not finding what I want, and I have also mounted the raw as VHD and still the recovery not showing the files that I want.
Please note that I am trying to recover files from the internal memory were stored in as the virtual sdcard
 
carl1961

carl1961

Senior Member
Dec 5, 2010
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crytoy said:
carl1961 thanks for replying.
I have used Diskdigger pro and still not finding what I want, and I have also mounted the raw as VHD and still the recovery not showing the files that I want.
Please note that I am trying to recover files from the internal memory were stored in as the virtual sdcard
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

If your phone is N9005 your userdata (internal sdcard) is diffrent than my AT&T Note 3 yours is 26

/dev/block/mmcblk0p26 and your RAW file for a 32 GB phone should be around 26GB and it should take a few hours to build ( mine took 1:23:11 ) 1 Hour 23 Minutes

datadumpCapture4.PNG


if you look at my post with all the pictures you will see the size's and time

so maybe your on wrong /dev/block/mmcblk0p??
 
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J

jassim007

Senior Member
Aug 3, 2012
221
133
I still can't recover. I tried more than 3 times even in windows 8 and windows 7. I have successfully created raw image and converted using vhd tool. Attached and formated just like it said in the tutorial. I used recuva, ZAR, Binarybiz virtual lab, and even test disk. But I see the files which is already there in the vhd thing. I have a gt-i9300 and used mmcblk0p12 to create the raw image. How I accidently deleted my photos: I did a wipe data in stock recovery. Also, I was running android 4.3 fully stock with no root. If there is any mistake or any others possible way of recovering my photos videos etc. Please suggest a solution.
 
H

HelpNeeded1

Member
Feb 20, 2015
5
0
command unknown

First of all, thanks for this topic!
BUT, I have a problem: Everything was fine till the last command:
"nc 127.0.0.1 5555 | pv -i 0.5 > mmcblk0p12.raw" (for making the raw file)
Got the message like: "command not found"
mmcblk0p12 exists or should I try thos two other ones like shown in my attached file "cygwin-terminal-4.jpg"?

What did I wrong?

If you need any further information please tell me.
I really need some help, I try to do that whole thing since more than a week! :(
Thanks a lot!
 

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C

canna97

New member
Nov 1, 2012
3
0
HelpNeeded1 said:
First of all, thanks for this topic!
BUT, I have a problem: Everything was fine till the last command:
"nc 127.0.0.1 5555 | pv -i 0.5 > mmcblk0p12.raw" (for making the raw file)
Got the message like: "command not found"
mmcblk0p12 exists or should I try thos two other ones like shown in my attached file "cygwin-terminal-4.jpg"?

What did I wrong?

If you need any further information please tell me.
I really need some help, I try to do that whole thing since more than a week! :(
Thanks a lot!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably you didn't move nc.exe (from netcat) to your bin folder of cygwyn
 
carl1961

carl1961

Senior Member
Dec 5, 2010
7,521
6,201
Tickfaw
HelpNeeded1 said:
First of all, thanks for this topic!
BUT, I have a problem: Everything was fine till the last command:
"nc 127.0.0.1 5555 | pv -i 0.5 > mmcblk0p12.raw" (for making the raw file)
Got the message like: "command not found"
mmcblk0p12 exists or should I try thos two other ones like shown in my attached file "cygwin-terminal-4.jpg"?

What did I wrong?

If you need any further information please tell me.
I really need some help, I try to do that whole thing since more than a week! :(
Thanks a lot!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

first picture is because you need to give PC permission to your phone.
you need USB debugging checked in your developer options

UrlAtYU.png


last picture is you need something like this except you need to find the correct msm_sdcc.1 folder for your phone

ls -al /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name

with a root editor (es file explorer) go to your data folder then dev then block then platform look in each folder to see which one has the by-name that folder will be your correct folder Mine is msm_sdcc.1
 
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    Wartickler
    Wartickler
    This method does not seem to work on newer phones that apply TRIM or some other type of partition clearing implementation. If anyone has recovered their data on a device newer than Android 4.3 please pm me and let me know.

    The Preamble
    Did you delete all your SDCard data? :confused:
    Are you pissed because no one told you before you unlocked your bootloader what would happen? :eek:
    Did you lose valuable pictures of cats doing wondrously funny things? :laugh:
    Well now there's a convenient new way for you to get that data back Buckaroo! :cowboy:

    The Problem
    Internal Memory doesn't mount as a drive like external memory does. External memory would allow you to use data recovery tools that scan for deleted files and return them to a usable state. These tools work because most operating systems don't go through and set all of those 1's and 0's to just 0's when you delete a file. Usually the operating system will just delete the reference pointer in the index that says that a file exists with such-and-such name and it's located at this position on the hard disk / memory location. There are destructive delete tools out there that will overwrite the spot of a deleted file multiple times to discourage recovery in just this manner. The issue is that data recovery tools need an actual mounted drive in order to dig deep and unearth those funny pictures of cats you so tragically deleted by accident. These newest batches of phones don't have external SDcards which are super easy to mount as drives. Internal memory mounts as MTP/PTP which is not treated as a mounted drive and cannot be scanned by these data recovery tools. But, cry no more cream-puff! :crying:

    The Process
    My phone is the Samsung Galaxy Nexus (toro) though I imagine this should work for ANY phone with Internal Memory. We will be using a Windows 7 machine to:
    • back up the entire internal memory partition to your computer as a single, massive .RAW file,
    • convert the .RAW file output to a VHD,
    • mount the VHD as a disk in Disk Manager,
    • scan the attached VHD volume for files that have been deleted and recover them,
    • ?
    • profit! :good:

    The Requirements
    • A rooted Android phone, (try to root with a non-destructive method as this appears to protect those who must root from wiping the device data a second time),
    • BusyBox installed on your device,
    • Cygwin installed to [c:\cygwin] with pv and util-linux from the repo. Make sure to open Cygwin once to make sure that the /bin folder is created. Also, I made a folder at [c:\cygwin\nexus] to put the exported .RAW file,
    • Netcat (download the ZIP file and extract nc.exe to [c:\cygwin\bin]),
    • ADB (make sure adb.exe is in your path),
    • USB Debugging enabled on your device,
    • VHD tool from the mighty M$. Put the VhdTool.exe file in [c:\cygwin\nexus],
    • Piriform Recuva or your favorite data recovery tool, (it appears Recuva only finds the more common file types like images, videos, etc. Those were the file types in which I was interested. If you are after more exotic file types perhaps you might share the software you used.)
    • A calm sense of peace and serenity that you will get your files back... :fingers-crossed:

    The Work
    1. *****Based on the number of people having trouble with this step it is now my recommendation that you choose to recover your entire memory block instead of just the data partition. In my phone's case that is mmcblk0. Please discover if yours is different.***** Identify which block/partition you want to recover. For our purpose here we are seeking to recover the userdata partition: /dev/block/mmcblk0p12
    2. Turn on your phone
    3. Connect the phone in ADB mode
    4. Unlock the screen.
    5. Open a Cygwin terminal and enter (This assumes your BusyBox installation is at [/system/bin/busybox]. It may be at [/system/xbin/busybox]):
      Code: 
      adb forward tcp:5555 tcp:5555
adb shell
/system/bin/busybox nc -l -p 5555 -e /system/bin/busybox dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p12
    6. Open another Cygwin terminal and enter:
      Code: 
      adb forward tcp:5555 tcp:5555
cd /nexus
nc 127.0.0.1 5555 | pv -i 0.5 > mmcblk0p12.raw
    7. Run around the house a few times. For 32GB internal memory this is going to take 3+ hours. That's a lot of running. When it's done...
    8. We need to convert the .RAW file to a virtual hard drive. VhdTool.exe basically just puts a VHD footer on the end of the .RAW file. Open a Windows command prompt, go to [c:\cygwin\nexus], and type:
      Code: 
      VhdTool.exe /convert mmcblk0p12.raw
    9. Now we need to mount the VHD in Windows. Select the Start button-->right-click Computer-->select Manage.
    10. Select Storage-->Disk Management.
    11. In the menu select Action-->Attach VHD.
    12. For Location enter [c:\cygwin\nexus\mmcblk0p12.raw] and select the OK button.
    13. Right-click on the name (e.g. "Disk 1") to the left of the Unallocated space and select Initialize Disk.
    14. Select the GPT (GUID Partition Table) radio button and select the OK button.
    15. Right-click on the Unallocated space and select New Simple Volume...
    16. In the Wizard select Next>, leave the default for the volume size, select Next>, select a drive letter (e.g. K), select Next>, MAKE SURE to select the 'Do not format this volume' radio button, select Next>, select Finish.
    17. A box will pop up asking you to format the drive. You DO NOT want to format the drive at this time.
    18. Right-click on the RAW space and select Format... MAKE SURE to change the File system to FAT32. Set the Allocation unit size dropdown to 'Default.' MAKE SURE that the Perform a quick format checkbox is CHECKED. You do not want to overwrite the entire new drive with all zeroes (0's) and destroy your data. Quick Format means that it will only attempt to destroy the index for the drive by establishing a new index. Without this box checked the Windows operating system will write zeroes (0's) across the entire volume, potentially destroying your data. Select the OK button.
    19. A box will pop up saying that Formatting this volume will erase all data on it. That would be doubly true if you actually didn't check the 'Perform a quick format' checkbox. Double check that you actually did check the box and select the OK button. (Don't worry. This essentially leaves the volume in the exact same state that your phone's internal memory is living in right now: there is data on the drive...you just can't see it. It's coming back, I promise!)
    20. Open the Piriform Recuva application. In the wizard select the 'Next >' button. Select the 'Other' radio button and select Next >. Select the 'In a specific location' radio button and enter: k:\ (assuming K is the drive letter you chose...) Select the Next > button. Select the Enable Deep Scan checkbox. This is the magical setting that finds files that have been deleted...but not really deleted. Select the Start button.
    21. The application may take about an hour to do the 'Deep Scan.' It's time for more laps around the house! Once the application has returned its results you can choose which files to recover using the checkboxes. Select the 'Recover...' button and choose the location to which you wish to output your files.
    22. ?
    23. Profit! :victory:

    The Appendix
    The following links helped me to create this modern marvel - mad props to scandiun! :

    Good luck!
    View
    31
    scandiun
    scandiun
    I forgot to mention, but run commands inside android as superuser or may fail (just after adb shell):

    Code: 
    adb forward tcp:5555 tcp:5555
adb shell
[B]su[/B]
/system/bin/busybox nc -l -p 5555 -e /system/bin/busybox dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p12

    And greetings for the guide, I didn't know of VHD Tool, congratulations!.
    View
    22
    hakneo
    hakneo
    VHD tool download

    For people who are unable to get hands on VHD tool,

    Exe: https://www.mediafire.com/?f96bmsvjz4qdvbu

    Same thing in zip: https://www.mediafire.com/?f96bmsvjz4qdvbu

    Regards
    View
    15
    V
    VieiraS
    Success! Thanks to everybody! :)

    After reading some posts I want to resume in one reply users contribution like advices or notes including my own contribution about "0 byte issue", "cygwin 64 bits vs 32 bits" and other issues of this topic.

    1) Remember that could be important DO NOT use the phone neither Internet neither app which could WRITE at inner memory. The less use, the better.

    2) Remember the possibility to download directly the APK playstore applications from your computer as busybox using an APK downloader instead of downloading directly from your device to prevent write on the inner memory.

    Therefore transfer the APK using USB cable to the external SD card to prevent write data to the inner memory.

    3) Remember that you could have busybox installed in bin, xbin or other folder applying these commands following the steps

    4) Check if ADB shell and busybox have "allow access" in the SuperSU at your phone
    5) Check if the phone is screen blocked with PIN. You need to unblocked it to allow connection between computer and your device
    6) Remember to ACCEPT the RSA fingerprint appear as a popup window on your device when you init the connection using ADB. If this does not appears try to move between USB modes as UTP and PTP till some event trigger it.
    7) It seems NO communication using nc command on cygwin64. Use ncat.exe instead.

    NOTE about "Cygwin 32 bit, instead of the 64 bit" issue: it is not mandatory to install cygwin (32 bits). Using ncat.exe (32 bits) instead of nc at cygwin 64 bits goes on.

    How to install ncat.exe into cygwin64:

    a) Download nmap-6.46-win32.zip from nmap website. Nmap contains ncat.exe application for Windows
    b) Open and extract ZIP file into a temp folder
    c) Copy ncat.exe, libeay32.dll and ssleay32.dll to the C:\cygwin64\bin folder (Assumed you installed cygwin in that path)
    d) Restart cygwin64 terminal to have the changes on.

    Then, change nc to ncat in this step:

    $nc 127.0.0.1 5555 | pv -i 0.5 > mmcblk0p12.raw
    $ncat 127.0.0.1 5555 | pv -i 0.5 > mmcblk0p12.raw

    8) It is not necessary to log as root inside cygwin. Only run cygwin as Windows Administrator.
    9) Remember to have ADB access at PATH environment var to allow cygwin execute Windows ADB without issues
    10) Remember to use su and absolute paths at first shell.
    $adb shell su /system/xbin/busybox nc -l -p 5555 -e /system/xbin/busybox dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p12

    if it shows the error "can't open permission denied" this means that the device is blocked. See steps 4), 5) and 6)

    11) You will obtain something like that after dump all data from inner memory to the raw file. It is necessary to complete with a non error process:
    ##### gywin first shell ###############

    rober@machine9873
    $ adb shell su /system/xbin/busybox nc -l -p 5555 -e /system/xbin/busybox dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p12
    24182784+0 records in
    24182784+0 records out
    12381585408 bytes (11.5GB) copied, 2836.886444 seconds, 4.2MB/s
    ###############################

    ##### gywin second shell ############

    $ ncat 127.0.0.1 5555 | pv -i 0.5 > mmcblk0p12.raw
    close: No error [4,21MiB/s] [ <=> ]
    11,5GiB 0:47:17 [4,16MiB/s] [ <=>

    ###############################

    12) Remember to rename mmcblk0p12.raw to mmcblk0p12.vhd AFTER applying vhdtool /convert. Better for recognize VHD files on Windows Disk Management.
    13) AFTER Initialize Disk it is not mandatory create any volume neither quick format the disk although for piriform recuva could be necessary. However some other software as PhotoRec or Diskinternals Partition Recovery are able to READ the Initialized disk and unallocated space to recover files directly. The less manipulation on the VHD, the better.

    14) Remember that the recover utilities have file type defined. But, how about if you want to recover a special file type? In PhotoRec you can define custom file extension to be recovered. More info at cgsecurity.org.

    15) Keep calm and enjoy the process!

    _______________________
    #Computer
    Computer OS Windows 7 64 bits
    CPU Intel Core 2 Duo E6600@2.40GHz

    #Device
    Model GT-I9300
    Android 4.3
    Baseband I9300XXUGNA8
    Kernel 3.0.31-2429075
    dpi@HP20 #1
    Thu Jan 16 23:47:54 KST 2014
    Build JSS15J.I9300XXUGNA5

    Rooted CF-Auto-Root-m0-m0xx-gti9300.zip
    SuperSU 1.93
    Busybox 1.22.1
    View
    13
    iHack13
    iHack13
    alright. I think I found the solution for the 0 Byte issue.
    I tried everything now and it finally worked.
    The culprit for me was the whole 64 bit thing. Just go 32bit. (Only thing that is 64 bit on my setup is JDK 8 right now.)

    I also want to note that I am on Windows 8 Pro (64bit)

    I quickly want to summarize the important steps where a lot of people seem to make mistakes or oversee something:

    1) get Cygwin 32 bit and NOT 64 bit
    http://cygwin.com/install.html ->> setup x86.exe

    Install it. when Installing click next until you get to the packages window. See screenshot for that . Scroll down to Utils
    add the packages pv and util-linux (by clicking on skip and checking both boxes)
    then complete your installation.

    you should now have a bin folder now.

    2) go grab the adb (adt bundle) from google.
    unzip it and copy the whole content from \adt-bundle-windows-x86_64-20140321\sdk\platform-tools
    to your C:\cygwin\bin folder

    3) grab netcat zip from http://www.daemon.de/Netcat
    and follow their instructions. its only the nc file (nc.exe to be precise) that you want to copy to your cygwin\bin folder

    thats basically it. these are the most important steps where you could have made mistakes.
    for me personally the 64 bit was the only culprit. Everything works fine with the 32 bit cygwin for me. but the 64 bit one still says 0 Bytes.. so scr*w it :)

    also if you want to know your partition, you might have different values like I do. mine was
    Code: 
    su
ls -l/dev/block/platform/dw_mmc/by-name/

    to get your own value type

    Code: 
    su
cd /dev/block/platform/
ls
    it should output a folder name . the value that you are looking for .

    Code: 
    ls -l/dev/block/platform/(ENTER_THE_VALUE_THAT_WAS_OUTPUTTED_BY_THE_LS_CMD_BEFORE)/by-name/

    And that should show you which names are assigned to which patitions (system, user ,data etc)


    And last but not least. I am just an average guy with few skills but I try to punch myself through stuff by learning and trying to do my best.
    I am not trying to brag or convince anybody and I know that there are nerds who might want to bash me. I dont care. I had the 0 byte problem myself and read through the forums and the problem was never really solved.
    Now that I solved it for myself I could ve left without sharing my success in solving this problem (for my case at least but I hope its a general one)
    But I took my time to share it with the guys in need.

    I hope it will help you and many of you have precious data that needs to be restored. I would be happy if I can contribute something to save your pics from family etc and other cases that were mentioned a few times in this thread.

    Also Thanks to the Topic Starter , but I dont recommend the recovery software that he recommend. I'd go for testdisk / photorec personally.
    There was another software that was recommended somewhere in this thread . you might want to test that one maybe if testdisk is too hard for you.

    one last request: I think my post is going to be long. so PLEASE dont quote all of it if you answer :D
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