Open, and looking at it costs nothing · 9am–5:30pm, Mon to Fri Ring instead, it is quicker: 0115 8220606
NDR Nottingham Data Recovery 0115 8220606 Get my quote
NDR / Claims, court and footage / Overwriting, and why the timing decides it

Investigations & evidence · halting the loop before it gets to your clip

Overwritten CCTV, Nottingham. Right now it is recording over itself; one switch on the wall stops that.

Switch it off at the socket. This will take you ten seconds, cost you nothing, and ranks higher than anything else on your list today. None of this is a delete, and no rubbish bin contains your lost clip. The disk fills, the unit returns to block one, new video goes over the old, and this will continue for as long as there is power. It's impossible to determine how much time remains from afar: if anyone quotes a number when speaking to you on the telephone, they have never seen the machine. However, stopping the clock is something you are able to do for yourself, in Nottingham or wherever else you may be, before making that first telephone call.

Only pay if we recover your data, on most jobs Treated as an exhibit from the moment it lands Every hour, the loop writes over more of it

An engineer will talk it through with you, in confidence
0115 8220606

What the recorder is doing to the disk.

What the loop actually doesThe recording keeps moving across the disk, reaches the end and returns to the beginning to record new video where the previous video was recorded. This will continue indefinitely as long as the power remains on. Nothing is ever erased, nothing is stored anywhere waiting to be recovered by you, and no "undo" option exists.
Nobody can quote you a windowYou cannot get this answer over the phone, nor can you work it out by looking up the model number. It depends on several factors: the disk that was fitted, the number of cameras writing to it, the resolutions and frame rates of those cameras, the codec (compression) employed, and whether recording is continuous or only when motion is detected. Without first seeing your system, any number given to you would be pure speculation.
The one place with the answerYou should look at the unit itself for the answer. Each camera's oldest date will appear in the playback calendar. Note those dates. They represent where you are now. Every hour that your recorder remains powered, those dates move forward. Take note of them before doing anything further.
What being written over really meansEach block on a hard drive contains only one value at any time, so once the data in that block is replaced by new video, the previous video is lost and there is no underlying layer to recover. Where the loop has passed through only a portion of your desired time range, fragments of video are often left and we go after them. However, if it has passed through the entire time range, then nothing comes back, regardless of any claims made to the contrary by any company.

What the symptom points to.

Something else? Say what it does →
What is happeningWhat usually causes itWhat that means for you
The recorder is still switched onEach hour it runs, it removes the oldest hour from the diskPull it off supply now
Nobody ever told you how far back it goesCapacity, camera count and the settings all move itLook the earliest date up
One camera goes back further than anotherA quiet camera on movement-only recording uses next to nothingEach channel gets read on its own
The unit stopped working a fortnight agoA unit that stopped writing stopped overwriting as wellLeave it off; get a quote, send the disk in
The date you want isn't in the list any morePieces often survive beyond the indexA yes or no comes out of the free check
No claim has been opened, and no enquiryThe disk moves a great deal faster than paperworkTake the copy now, not later
Getting it here: first of all you need to get a quote, either by phone (0115 8220606) or through the online form. Once you have your quote, send it to our intake lab by tracked, insured post: Manchester Data Recovery, Peter House, Oxford Street, Manchester M1 5AN. Alternatively, you can drop it in there Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm, without booking an appointment. Postage to return your data once recovered is paid for by us. If you are unsure what should go in the box and what should stay at home, contact us before sealing it and one of our engineers will walk you through exactly what needs to be sent and what can be left behind. All other details on packing and postage can be found in our packing and postage guide.

The order we work in.

More jobs like this one →
01

Booked in the day it arrives, and the first look is on us Free

Your case number is assigned when the item is received. Then an engineer works out what went wrong (no charge). At this point, you receive a basic summary of which parts are recoverable and which are not. You also receive a single written quote for the price of the recovery. Accept the quoted price or turn it down, and there is no obligation to pay anything.

The first look is freeOne fixed figure, in writingNo charge at this point
02

Not another byte goes on

The recorder is shut down (stood down) before the first playback. The disk is removed and a full clone is made of all sectors on hardware that cannot write to the disk. Now your position will never change again: all areas the loop hasn't reached are included in the image and therefore cannot be changed by what happens after this point.

Mains off before anythingImaged on hardware that cannot write
03

What the dates really show

Next, what the image holds is established: the earliest recording, the latest recording and every gap in between. If the loop has clipped off part of your period, the list will show which half hours are present or absent, and you have this in writing before anything further is attempted. This does not cost you anything. The actual work is £400 + VAT, and in most cases you only pay if we recover your data.

Oldest and newest dates set outEvery gap listed
04

Exported, hashed and handed across

Any legible footage is duplicated onto new media and handed over as an exhibit: the original recorder files, a copy that can play on any computer, MD5 and SHA-256 against both, and a dated log of every person who has had custody of the footage. Adjusters and investigating officers know about this package and expect to be given it. There's another benefit too. As the footage now exists somewhere the recorder cannot reach, the unit can be turned back on, and the loop no longer gets a vote.

Hash values, an index and a dateKept where the recorder cannot reach
05

The file list comes before the bill

A complete file list will be provided before any invoicing. Simply say "yes" or "no" to what we found: yes means it is billed, no means it is not, and in most cases you only pay if we recover your data. What we find is posted to you on media purchased specifically for your case, at no additional cost to you. We consider the process complete once you have opened those files yourself on your own computer.

Nothing is charged until you agree the figureNew media, bought in for your jobWe pay to send it home

What turns up on recorder disks

  • Hardware outpaces paperwork: claims and enquiries can take several weeks. Copy the footage first, and argue about the invoice later.
  • A unit that has failed is often the lucky one: a box that stopped two weeks ago also stopped overwriting two weeks ago, so it still holds everything it held then.
  • Each camera uses the disk at a different rate: a camera over the street door and one watching a back stockroom fill space at very different rates, and on movement-driven recording the quieter camera will be holding much older footage.
  • Look for another disk: bigger recorders take two or more. One may be an archive; another may hold a retired set of channels going back further than anything on the live disk.

Only one thing stops it: removing the power. There is no setting to change, no box to tick and no note to leave with the installer; it is simply the switch on the wall. It must be your system, or one you are entitled to have examined. After that, you decide the pace. If your site really cannot go without its cameras, put the hours you need onto a USB stick in the recorder's own native format rather than a conversion, and contact us before anyone else touches the drive. Leaving it on and hoping is the option that fails: every hour it runs spends an hour you had.

One of these, from start to finish.

NG · NTG-2026-2025ON THE LOG ✓

A Lincoln trade unit, unplugged by nine

There had been a break-in overnight. The manager found the shutter up, went straight to unplug the recorder before unlocking anything else, and then called us. The disk arrived here on the Tuesday and we imaged it before a single clip was played back. The whole night came back, with camera and timestamp on every clip, and a copy was with the adjuster within the week. The only surprise was how little the disk had been holding.

The video came back completeHash-checked export supplied

What helps, and what does damage.

Worth doing first

  • 1. Take a photo of the live view with the clock showing
  • 2. Unplug the recorder at the wall socket
  • 3. Ring us before anybody opens the case
  • 4. Tell your insurer in writing that it is safe

What makes it harder

  • Leaving the power on
  • Waiting until somebody asks
  • Raising it with the installer, then waiting
  • Plugging the disk into an office PC

What gets asked before posting.

How far back does my recorder still go?

Nobody can say from here, and the model number won't settle it. Five variables decide the window: disk capacity, how many cameras record to it, their resolution and frame rate, and whether they record continuously or only on motion. The recorder itself has the answer. Its playback calendar shows an oldest date for each camera, and that is the honest figure for today. Tomorrow it will be a day later.

Once something has been recorded over, is anything left?

None of it. New video recorded in a block ends the recording that was there, and neither software nor a technician can change that. Part-covered is a different case: where the loop has taken some but not all of what you want, fragments often survive outside the index and are worth going after. A free check tells you which one you have.

Should I cut the power to it?

Yes, if the site can go without its cameras for a day or two. Nothing else reliably halts the loop, and turning off the power costs nothing. If the cameras need to stay live, export the hours you want to a USB stick before doing anything else, in the recorder's native format and not a conversion, and contact us before the unit is opened.

The insurer has not asked for it. Does that matter?

Secure it regardless. A claim or enquiry can take weeks to move; the recorder runs at whatever speed its settings give it, which is nearly always faster. Requests come in writing listing dates that have already gone round the loop again. A copy made today is inexpensive and settles the matter either way.

Start here if the same thing is happening to yours.

Copies insurers and police accept → When a card reads blank → Sticks and pen drives → Jobs that end up in court →

Power the recorder down before the loop reaches your clip.

Remove power from the DVR before you do anything else: as long as it is powered, it keeps writing, and the oldest footage goes first. Then get a quote and post the disk in. The first look is free. CCTV and DVR work is £400 + VAT, quoted in writing before any work starts, and anything recovered from the disk goes no further than our bench.

0115 8220606

Get my quote Posting it to Manchester