updated july 2017
How to loose some of your precious videos.
The following happened with my Sony Xperia X Compact (OS= android 7.1.1).
(On my phone, the pictures and videos are set to be saved on the SD card.)
The phone was connected to a W10 PC with USB cable in "transfer files" mode.
I was making some folders in the phone's SD card, and moving pictures to those.
They are found in \Xperia X Compact\SD Card\DCIM\100ANDRO\
That went fine until I did the same with a bunch of videos.
Suddenly the two most recent folders were empty and many important videos gone.
How to get them back.
I searched the internet for some tools to recover my files, but some software works and some not and some is freeware and others ask for money after you already used 1 hour in installing and scanning.
So here I want to share my experience:
This works:
PhotoRec http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec
My experience:
install w64 version on PC (TestDisk & PhotoRec 7.1-WIP, Data Recovery) > place sd card in PC cardreader > the program is controlled with a command window and only the Keyboard arrows and Enter> step by step manual
Select disk > select types of file to scan for mov (mp4, avi, 3gp etc) > choose folder for recovered results > scan card> after scanning for only 5 minutes it finds 68 video files that can be recovered > click OK> then it has created a folder called recup_dir.1 with all the recovered stuff > quit.
Works fine.
It is totally free and open source.
Credits to Reddit (That was the only place where honest software could be found). reddit search link
This is waste of time and money:
Dr.Fone https://www.androidphonesoft.com/android-data-recovery.html
My experience:
1) Install free version (v 5.6.1) on PC> set phone debug mode on> plug in phone (Sony Xperia X Compact)> scan > takes nearly 1 hour , with at least 6 reboots where you have to enter your phone pincode> in the end it says that phone rooting failed and you have to root you phone manually.
2) Install free version (v 5.6.1) on PC > place sd card in PC cardreader> scan card> after scanning for at least 30 minutes it finds all the stuff that can be recovered> it shows thumbnails and you can tick which one to recover> click OK> then it says you have to pay $50 to buy the full version because the free version cannot recover.
Minitool mobile recovery for android free http://www.minitool.com/android-recovery/recover-deleted-android-sd-card-files.html
My experience:
Install free version (r1593) on PC > place sd card in PC cardreader> scan card> after scanning for at least 30 minutes it finds many files> it shows a non-usable list of what types of files it found but only e.g. “Pictures (1800/1800), Multimedia (345/345)”>
It is only possible to tick e.g. “multimedia” but not which file and if it needs to be recovered or is fine already > click RECOVER> then it says you have to upgrade and pay $39 because the free version can only recover 1 file of the same type.
Mobisaver_android_free https://www.easeus.com/download/data-recovery-software.html
My experience:
Install free version (emsa_free) on PC > It can scan phone memory and phone sd card but not sd card alone in pc card reader.
The phone has to be rooted in order to scan it.
I don't know if you have to upgrade after you scanned in order to actually recover anything.
Datarecoverywizard_free https://www.easeus.com/download/data-recovery-software.html
My experience:
Install free version (drw_free) on PC > This should be able to scan your SD card in a PC card reader.
Not tried.