DVR data recovery software for Windows. It returns deleted CCTV footage from a DVR hard drive as MP4 or AVI. Scan free, licence from $99.
A BitRecover product · Version 26.8 · Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 7 and Windows Server
Deleted clips stay on the platters until a recorder writes over them. Scanning finds whatever has not been reused yet.
Brand coverage
A free scan reports how much deleted video remains on any disk attached, whatever the badge on the unit.
Recovery workflow
Version 26.8, walked through in recovery order. Every screen below runs in the free trial.
Confidence score on every volume
Source & Detect reads a physical drive or an image and reports what state it is in. Detection names vendor, signature and index type, then states whether accessible, deleted or frame-level material remains.
Status against every result
Every recovered clip appears here with its times, duration, location and a status. Detection separates accessible material from deleted and frame-level material, so what is recoverable is clear before payment.
Skip empty hours after recovery
Motion Scan runs across recovered clips and returns only stretches where something moved, scored by peak activity. A long recovery reduces to minutes worth reviewing.
Live units keep recording over evidence
A running recorder overwrites its oldest video continuously. Remote Device Acquisition pulls what remains over RTSP while a disk scan is arranged, so retention destroys nothing further.
Multi terabyte disks take hours
A full scan of a multi terabyte disk runs for hours. Progress shows per channel with elapsed and remaining time, and cancelling keeps everything already recovered.
DVR recovery software reports how much deleted video survives before payment. First 25 clips of each case save free.
Run the Free DemoFive steps from a formatted or emptied disk to playable files
Switch that unit off and take its drive out. While it keeps recording, it writes over the deleted video. Connect the drive to a PC with a USB caddy or a spare SATA port.
It names the vendor, the signature and which recovery classes remain. A disk that Windows calls formatted or raw still shows its original layout.
Scanning works from the disk itself rather than a channel map. Clips the map no longer lists come back at frame level, rebuilt from whatever survives.
Each result carries a status. Play any clip to check picture quality before spending anything.
Choose MP4 or AVI and a folder, then save. Channel and original timestamp go with every clip. Nothing is written to the source disk.
A multi terabyte disk takes hours rather than minutes. Scan overnight, review in the morning, then licence once results justify it.
A recorder marks old clips reusable rather than erasing them. Video stays on the platters until fresh recording lands on those exact blocks, which is why a disk pulled early gives back far more.
Marked reusable
Not actually erased
Deleting a clip clears its entry from a channel map. Video blocks stay untouched until a recorder needs that space again.
Overwrite queue
Oldest blocks first
Recorders reuse their oldest region first. A clip deleted yesterday usually survives longer than one deleted a month ago.
Orphan fragments
Rebuilt at frame level
Partly overwritten clips still leave readable video. Frame-level recovery returns playable H.264, H.265 or MJPEG from what remains, and a free scan shows how much survived.
Until a recorder writes over those blocks. Disk size and channel count decide how long that takes.
A sixteen channel unit on a 2 TB disk commonly cycles in two to four weeks, less at higher resolution. Deleted footage inside that window is usually intact. Past it, blocks have been reused and frame-level recovery returns partial clips at best. Pulling a disk early is worth more than any software setting.
What happens after deletion
Leaving it recording
Retention keeps cycling and deleted blocks get reused. Every hour reduces what survives.
Powering down now
An overwrite queue stops immediately. Whatever remains on those platters holds until a scan reads it, and a first scan is free.
Full input and output specification for DVR Recovery Software version 26.8.
What it scans
What it returns
Nothing here depends on a working recorder or a readable channel map. Every capability listed is testable in the free trial before a $99 or $299 licence.
The trial exports 25 clips per case. A licence removes the cap.
Personal costs $99 one time and covers a single recovery. Technician costs $299 one time and suits anyone running DVR recovery as routine work. Both ship as DVRXtractor with 30 day money back.
Buy Personal $99 Technician $299
Everything described here reflects DVR Recovery Software version 26.8. BitRecover has been building data recovery and format conversion tools since 2011.
Scanning never writes to source media. Run a free scan and see what comes back before choosing a licence.
Open a Disk FreeRecovery odds, scan times, trial limits and editions
Often, yes. Deleting a clip removes it from the recorder's index but leaves the video itself in place. It stays readable until the unit records over that space. A free scan shows how much is still there before you pay anything.
Until the unit records over them. Sixteen cameras on a 2 TB disk usually fill it in two to four weeks, sooner at higher resolution. Every day the drive stays in, less comes back.
Rarely. A format writes a fresh volume across the front of a disk and leaves video regions untouched. Scanning reads the disk directly and returns clips a format made invisible.
Yes. Everything happens on a PC, not through the recorder. A unit that will not switch on makes no difference, because the video is on the disk. Where a unit does still run, DVR video acquisition can pull footage over the network before retention takes more.
It works from the disk directly rather than a channel map. Where a clip is only partly intact, recovery runs at frame level and returns what remains as playable video.
Often, yes. Frame-level recovery returns what survives, though a clip may come back shorter than recorded. Status against each result shows what condition it is in.
Yes, and working from an image is good practice. Once a drive is an exhibit, or too fragile to spin up repeatedly, run everything against the copy instead.
A Hikvision disk carries WFS. A Dahua disk carries DHFS. Other makers each use structures of their own. Coverage above lists the families handled. Firmware updates change these between models, so a free scan on your own disk answers it faster than any list.
No. Scanning only reads, so the disk is left write-blocked and byte for byte unchanged. Run it twice and the results match.
Disk state, file system and a full list of what can be recovered, with a condition against each clip. The first 25 saves in a case are free, then a licence applies.
One job needs Personal at $99. Regular casework, which covers most installers, investigators and examiners, needs Technician at $299. Neither renews and both carry 30 day money back.
Hours on a multi terabyte disk. Scans run in the background with progress per channel and cancel cleanly, keeping whatever was recovered.
Courts decide that, and rules vary by country. What the software gives you is a clean chain of custody. The disk is never written to, every recovered clip keeps its channel and recorded time, and a second scan gives the same result. Image the drive first if a challenge looks likely.
No. That password only protects the front panel and the browser login. Scanning reads the disk directly, so a forgotten admin password makes no difference.
Recovery software needs a disk the machine can still see. A disk that has stopped spinning, clicks or never appears needs an engineer. That work is handled by our data services team.
MP4 or AVI, chosen when saving. Neither needs extra software, so a clip forwards straight to a loss adjuster, a lawyer or an investigating officer.
Download DVR Recovery Software, attach your disk and see what survives. First 25 clips of each case save at no cost. Personal $99, Technician $299, both one time with 30 day money back.
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Version 26.8 · Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 7 and Windows Server · 30 day money back
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