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Bad Data on DVD-R

I backed-up almost 4.4GB of data on to a DVD-R with Nero Express 6. I can see all my files including their name, type, size and date attributes. But when I try to open more than half of them, the corresponding program can not recognize the file type (each generating varying error messages). The files at the beginning of the disc all open without problem, but of course my most important data is at the other end. File types vary (.xls, .doc, .jpg, .wma, .htm, .fla), and files types that open on one part of the disc don't open on another.

I've tried copying the files from the DVD, using a different computer, and using different drives (DVD ROM and DVD-RW) without any success. I downloaded and tried over a dozen different DVD and file repair softwares, but they all "recover" the file in the same state as I can access them through Windows XP explorer. Most of these programs do detect errors on the disc when analyzed.

I'm not just looking for software suggestions, since I've been googling for over 3 days. I'm looking for someone who has had the same problem and found a solution, or is an expert on data recovery.

cstejerean

If the data you backed up is corrup the chances of being able to fix them is pretty close to 0. Do you have any of the orginal files? Check to see if the file size matches the size of the orginal files or at least looks reasonable. For the .htm files at least you can open then in Notepad or Wordpad and see what they contain. You should be able to analyze the HTML document to see what is missing or if it looks like an HTML document at all. If you need to recover the orginial data from the hard drive I can help with that, but if the data was never written properly to the DVD you are out of luck.

Cosmin

SavageIT

ASKER

I have a few of the files and yes the file sizes are very comparable. The html files open in notepad without an error, but no data is displayed. In WordPad I get a single line of box characters. It's like all the data is there (based on the file size), but all the header (guessing) information is missing. Every corresponding file and program behaves in a similar manner, displaying no data and/or some sort of file format error.

I had all these files in the root of my C drive for about a year. I decided to organize them, so I backed them up to the DVD-R, moved them to my desktop and organized them all. I was about to copy them to a new location, when I got side tracked. Later, I rebooted my computer and my roaming profile decided to delete all of the files dated before the last synchronization. I'm pretty sure the "move" is were I went wrong, I should have copied them to my desktop so that they would have new dates. But that's what my DVD-R backup was for right?

Anyways, after windows logon deleted the data from my hard drive, I downloaded 3 or so different undelete programs to try and recover the files. The only files these programs could recover were my internet cache files. Since then, I have installed and uninstalled about 20+ little apps. So if you think these files might be still be recoverable from my HD, I would like to know more.

cstejerean

I have had very good experiences with R-Studio (the lite version is r-undelete at http://www.r-undelete.com/) and OnTrack EasyRecovery. These programs should let you recover your deleted files. Which undelete utilties did you try to use?

Can you upload one of these HTML files (one of the corrupt ones) that you think does not contain any sensitive information as well as one of the original files? I want to check if the problem in indeed with the header as that can be fixed. What utilities did you try to recover the deleted files?

nobus

try isobuster :

http://www.smart-projects.net/isobuster/

and more :

http://www.google.be/search?hl=nl&q=dvd+recovery&meta=

cstejerean

One of the links in the query posted by nobus (http://diskinternals.com/cd-dvd-recovery/features.shtml) looks promising. Might be worth giving it a try.

Cosmin

SavageIT

ASKER

Sorry guys, I've tried everything you've suggested and I was not able to access the data on my DVD. All of the programs mentioned above "recovered" my data in the same state as on the DVD; inaccessible. Regarding fixing file headers, I've even tried some programs that are suppose to "fix" file headers with no success. I can't even open a simple text file from the disc.

I think the DVD was bad (I can actually see weird spots on the data side) and Nero simply didn't return an error when creating the disc. I thank you all for your suggestions. I am requesting that the question be deleted due to no solution.

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