Accidentally Formatted An SD Card, Need Help

ryevick said:

Thank you! Not sure if you read this but just FYI I created a virtual drive image and that seems to be the only thing that gets any response from scans even though I flashed it back onto the micro SD card using balenaEtcher.

I'm not sure what this is - I've never done that or even heard of it. But, I'm concerned now, that you've written over your SD card? I hope not.

ryevick said:

How many formats could I do and still recover original data?

One, unless you work for the NSA, CIA, FBI or some other similar acronym. LOL

ryevick said:

Also this scan result in the photo is puzzling.

It's been my experience, that scans will present the data they find in several different formats. So, you could have 800GB of data recovered from a 200GB card, because it's been recovered 4 different ways.
I will post what I've put together for you now.

@ryevick
Here is some information for you:
[Keep in mind that “scanning” your SD card is passive and won’t do any damage to it, nor erase any files.]


MiniTool Data Recovery
MiniTool Data Recovery Software for Windows & Mac
I really like MiniTool Power Data Recovery because when it finds files, it captures all the original names, and the “file tree” as well, which comes in handy. I have had the best luck with this program finding data, as compared to others. It even sometimes locates deleted partitions AND the data on them all at the same time. (But, I have a paid version...)The unfortunate part is, you can only recover up to 1GB for free. Over that, you need to buy the program. You can see if it will be successful before you buy. So, if all your data appears to be recoverable after the scan, then the question is, is your data worth $70?

7-Data Recovery Suite Free Data Recovery Software Download | Recover Files Photos Videos and more
They have selections for Android recovery and Partition recovery. I’d start with Android recovery first. (I address partition recovery later.) It’s been a couple years since I’ve used this one, so they may have changed things a bit from what I recall. Again, 1GB maximum recovery for free version.

iCare Data Recovery Pro Free
[Official] iCare Recovery - 100% Free Data Recovery Software [Official]iCare Data Recovery Pro - Free Download Professional data recovery software Free SD Memory Card Recovery - Recover data from mobile phone camera media card Again, 1GB maximum recovered in free versions.
Our member @jumanji often recommends this one, although I have never used it:

Try PhotoRec PhotoRec - CGSecurity
Guide to using PhotoRec recovery software.

And here is another he recommends, if you only have photos to recover:

Digital image recovery - ZAR

If all of these are unsuccessful, then you probably need to recover the partition before you can recover the files. If your phone deleted the partition when it formatted your card, then partition recovery may be required first. Once the partition is recovered, then the files can be recovered.

MiniTool Partition Wizard v9.1 This version, while not the latest, has all the features still available in it. Versions after this took many of the features out of the free version and made these features only available in the Pro (paid) version. One of these features is partition recovery. Version 9.1 still retains partition recovery in its free version. You can download it here:

Software informer
Download MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Edition by MiniTool

or

filepuma
MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Edition 9.1 - Download - Filepuma.com


Wayback Machine
https://web.archive.org/web/20160322221845/http://www.partitionwizard.com/free-partition-manager.html#
(This is for information only – the actual download was not captured.) You can see that v9.1 included partition recovery and works on Windows 10 (when it was released).

The MD5 Hash is
B715DFF95C7ABE6DA2A530B4FA57EDE8
Please make sure your download matches this MD5 to ensure you have a legitimate file.
Use this program to check the hash if you don’t have one.
https://raylin.wordpress.com/downloa...cksum-utility/

As an aside, I’ll also mention here: There is a bootable version of this as well, which is still available for download on the Wayback Machine. It may come in handy in the future for computer issues.
https://web.archive.org/web/20160324062016/http://www.partitionwizard.com/partition-wizard-bootable-cd.html

Once the partition is recovered, you should be able to find the files you lost. Note: I have had MiniTool Data Recovery find lost partitions and the files on those partitions all in one fell swoop, so you may be lucky and avoid the partition recovery step.

No matter what you do, always be doubly sure you are writing to another drive when you do anything, recover anything.

If, after this, you are still needing assistance, I would refer you to our recovery guru, jumanji.

Here is a link to a post in a sevenforums thread by him. He is a recovery expert. If he can’t help you, I'm afraid nobody can, short of a professional recovery service..
https://www.sevenforums.com/music-pi...ml#post3058576

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

This option from @TidySean looks promising. I have never used it, but it seems, (from their FB page), that they are actively updating their programs (their web page looks old and doesn't mention W10).