Video: What we can't repair — and where to go instead.

When repair isn't the answer

Section A — Security DVR, CCTV, and Hikvision recordings: Fixed security systems and many standalone DVRs don't save normal video files. They write footage into a proprietary format tied to that specific brand of hardware — Hikvision, Dahua, and similar. Opening one usually means disk-level recovery or the original recorder, not a single-file upload. A browser repair tool can't rebuild these, and any site that claims to is likely to disappoint you. For these, look for a data-recovery specialist that explicitly supports your DVR brand, or use the recorder's own export software.

Section B — Deleted or formatted files: If the video was deleted, or the card was formatted, this isn't a repair problem — the file isn't damaged, it's gone from the file system. Getting it back is data recovery: carving the footage off the raw storage before it's overwritten. Stop using the card immediately and use a dedicated data-recovery tool (many are made specifically for camera and SD cards). FileFix repairs files you still have; it can't bring back files that were removed.

Section C — Physically damaged cards or drives: If a card or drive is cracked, water-damaged, not detected, or making noise, the problem is the hardware, not the video file. No software can read data off media that won't mount. This is a job for a physical data-recovery service. Once the data is safely copied off, if the video file itself turns out to be corrupted, we're happy to try repairing it then.

Section D — Genuinely empty (0-byte) files: If a file is truly 0 bytes, there is no footage inside it — the camera never wrote any data. There's nothing to rebuild, and no tool can recover footage that was never recorded. If your file shows a real size but won't play, that's different and often repairable — try a repair.