Southampton Data Recovery — Memory Card Data Recovery Specialists (UK)

25 years in business • Advanced lab workflow • Free diagnostics

If you’re searching for data recovery for SD card, data recovery sd card, micro SD card data recovery, or full-scope sd card data recovery in the UK, our engineers provide professional, forensically-sound recoveries across every memory-card brand, capacity and interface. We handle accidental deletion, formatting, controller failures, file-system corruption, liquid and electrical damage, and severe physical faults on monolith and packaged cards alike. We image first, repair on the clone, and return validated data with a clear technical report.

Top 30 Memory-Card Brands (UK market) & Best-Selling Lines

We recover from all brands below (retail and pro-video). Popular lines shown in brackets:

1. SanDisk (Extreme/Extreme Pro, Ultra, High Endurance)

2. Samsung (EVO Plus/PRO Plus, PRO Endurance)

3. Kingston (Canvas Select/Go/React/React Plus, High Endurance)

4. Lexar (Professional 1066x/1800x/2000x, High-Endurance)

5. PNY (Elite/Pro Elite, X-PRO)

6. Kioxia/Toshiba (Exceria/Exceria Pro)

7. Transcend (High Endurance, 300S/500S/700S, CFast)

8. Integral (Ultima Pro, Ultima Pro-X, High Endurance)

9. Sony (Tough-G, Tough-M; CFexpress Type A)

10. Delkin Devices (POWER/BLACK/Cinema, CFexpress)

11. ProGrade Digital (Cobalt/Gold; CFexpress & SD UHS-II)

12. Angelbird (AV PRO SD/CFexpress, Match Pack)

13. Patriot (EP/Viper)

14. Verbatim (Pro+ SD, Pro+ microSD)

15. Silicon Power (Superior/Elite)

16. TeamGroup (PRO/GO; High Endurance)

17. Corsair (legacy SD lines)

18. Apacer (Industrial & consumer SD/microSD)

19. GOODRAM (Wilk) (IRDM, Industrial)

20. Netac (Pro, High Endurance)

21. Emtec (Speedin’ series)

22. Hama (Value/Professional lines)

23. Duracell (Performance SD/microSD)

24. Polaroid (High-speed SD/microSD)

25. Kodak (Professional SD lines)

26. Hikvision (High Endurance)

27. Gigastone (Prime/Professional)

28. Kingmax (Pro/Industrial)

29. Micron/Crucial (OEM/Industrial) (Industrial microSD)

30. Greenliant (Industrial/Automotive microSD)

Memory-Card Types & Buses We Recover

SD family: SD / SDHC / SDXC / SDUC (UHS-I, UHS-II dual-row; U3, V30/V60/V90; SD Express PCIe/NVMe)
microSD family: microSD / microSDHC / microSDXC / microSDUC (UHS-I; select UHS-II)
CompactFlash (CF), CFast 2.0 (SATA), CFexpress (Type A/B/C; PCIe/NVMe), XQD (PCIe)
Memory Stick (PRO/PRO-HG Duo, M2), xD-Picture, SmartMedia, MMC/RS-MMC
Electrical modes: SPI, 1-bit/4-bit SD bus, UHS-I (DDR50/SDR50/SDR104), UHS-II (LVDS), CFast (SATA 6Gb/s), CFexpress/XQD (PCIe Gen2/3 NVMe).

Our Lab Workflow (What Happens to Your Card)

1. Write-blocked intake & non-destructive triage — Interface detection, CID/CSD read, card registers, controller ID, SMART-like telemetry (where supported), host-interface scope traces.

2. Stabilisation & Imaging First — We never operate on live media for recovery. We clone via hardware imagers/readers supporting SD/UHS-II/CFast/CFexpress/XQD with adaptive timeouts, current-limit power rails and temperature monitoring.

3. Controller-level access or Chip-level extraction

   • Packaged cards: Access vendor/tech mode when available to stabilise FTL (flash translation layer).

   • Monolith cards: Expose pads; pinout discovery (continuity, RF coupling, micro-probe). ISP or micro-wire to DAT/CMD/CLK/VCC/VSS lines; then direct NAND dump.

4. Flash Analysis — ONFI/Toggle parameters, die/channel count, plane layout, page + spare (OOB) structure; ECC, XOR/scramble, interleave, block rotation, bad-block tables, translator reconstruction.

5. File-System/Container Rebuild — FAT32/exFAT, NTFS, HFS+, APFS, EXT4, proprietary camera indices (GoPro/Blackmagic/Sony/Canon/Nikon). Rebuild directories, fix allocation tables, and carve fragmented media (MP4/MOV/JPEG/RAW: CR2/CR3/NEF/ARW/RW2, DNG) with structure-aware validators (moov/mdat atoms, TIFF/EXIF headers).

6. Validation & Reporting — Hash sets, spot-checks, playable video verification, RAW viewer checks; clear list of any damaged frames/files.

This advanced approach underpins our data recovery for sd card, micro sd card data recovery and broader sd card data recovery services.

Top 30 Memory-Card Recovery Faults — With Detailed Lab Resolution

Each item includes a short summary and a technical resolution describing what we actually do in the lab.

1. Accidental Deletion
   Summary: Files deleted in-camera or on a computer; entries removed from FAT/exFAT directory.
   Resolution: Immediate read-only image. Parse FS metadata (FAT chains, exFAT allocation bitmap). Rebuild directory entries and timestamps. Carving for fragmented MP4/MOV with header/atom reconstruction; RAW photos rebuilt using TIFF IFD chains. Avoid areas flagged TRIM by some controllers (rare on cards but present on CFexpress).

2. Accidental Formatting (Quick Format)
   Summary: Volume reformatted, metadata reset.
   Resolution: Recover boot sectors, FAT/exFAT VBR, and previous allocation map from residual copies; determine cluster size; rebuild directory tree; carve unallocated space with camera-specific validators (e.g., CR3 box layout, moov relocation).

3. File System Corruption (exFAT/FAT32)
   Summary: Power loss during write -> inconsistent FAT/bitmap.
   Resolution: On the clone, compare primary/backup boot sectors, fix FSInfo, reconcile FAT vs exFAT bitmap. Directory entry coherency checks; journal-like heuristics; controlled carving for partially updated clusters.

4. Card Not Recognised / “Please format”
   Summary: Host can’t mount; CID/CSD may read, LBA I/O fails.
   Resolution: Scope bus lines to confirm command response. If controller unstable: enter vendor mode to stabilise L2P/FTL; else monolith ISP to dump NAND. Reconstruct XOR/ECC; rebuild translator; then FS.

5. Read/Write Errors / I/O Timeouts
   Summary: Intermittent failures due to weak cells or marginal bus.
   Resolution: Adaptive imaging: reduced clock, toggled drive strength, CRC retry windows. On NAND dumps, apply soft-read level shifts where supported; ECC decode and parity rescue per page.

6. Controller Failure (Phison/SMI/Alcor/Skymedi/etc.)
   Summary: Card enumerates inconsistently or as the wrong size.
   Resolution: Try tech-mode to export a raw image. If not possible: chip-off/monolith dump, then solve interleave and XOR pattern; reconstruct FTL mapping by analysing translation markers in spare (OOB) area; assemble logical image.

7. Bad Sectors / Wear-out
   Summary: Repeated errors at specific LBAs; end-of-life NAND blocks.
   Resolution: Prioritised imaging of directory/metadata regions; ECC-aware remap; multiple pass strategy (quick-to-slow); block retirement in virtual image; rebuild FS from best-quality pass.

8. Overwritten Data (Partial)
   Summary: New footage written after deletion/format.
   Resolution: Analyse allocation sequences and fragmentation; recover intact extents; deep carve for fragmented MP4 with mdat continuity checks, rebuild moov atoms from secondary indices and camera sidecar files (THM/LRV for GoPro).

9. Virus/Malware Infection
   Summary: Hidden/renamed files, autorun, encrypted headers.
   Resolution: Offline image; remove malicious MBR/VBR changes on the clone; restore attributes and directory links; for encryption strains, recover pre-infection remnants and carve non-touched sectors.

10. File Transfer Interrupted
    Summary: USB removal mid-write → corrupt directory/FAT.
    Resolution: Rebuild FAT chain continuity; validate long-filename entries; reconcile exFAT bitmap. Partial files: salvage playable video by stitching mdat fragments, reconstruct moov/index.

11. Water / Liquid Damage (fresh)
    Summary: No power, shorts/corrosion.
    Resolution: De-energise, rinse deionised water, dry, flux-clean with IPA. Inspect pads; re-tin contacts; if controller unstable, monolith ISP and NAND dump; continue with ECC/XOR/FTL rebuild.

12. Saltwater / Contaminants
    Summary: Corrosive residue under lacquer.
    Resolution: Controlled rinse + ultrasonic in electronics-safe solution, full dry; continuity checks to pads; ISP extraction. Post-process ECC to mitigate marginal reads.

13. Bent or Broken Pins (CF, UHS-II, CFast)
    Summary: Mechanical connector damage.
    Resolution: Connector replacement on a sacrificial reader; if internal trace/pad damage, wire-jumper to test points; else chip-level dump.

14. Physical Crack in Monolith
    Summary: Substrate fracture, severed internal traces.
    Resolution: Micro-sanding to expose buried pads; high-magnification mapping; bond wires to CMD/CLK/DAT/VCC; NAND dump via custom pinout; rebuild.

15. Overheating / Thermal Throttling
    Summary: Long writes cause controller to stall.
    Resolution: Low-temp imaging, duty-cycle control; reduce bus clock; intermittent power cycles to refresh controller state.

16. Electrical Damage / Overvoltage
    Summary: VCC overshoot, ESD events.
    Resolution: Replace transient suppressors on a donor reader; if card controller is blown, chip-off/ISP; then NAND analysis + FTL regen.

17. Unsupported File System on Host
    Summary: exFAT card inserted into legacy host expecting FAT32.
    Resolution: Mount on clone with correct FS drivers; rebuild boot region and BPB; convert allocation expectations; ensure camera metadata paths are restored.

18. Partition Table Corruption (MBR/GPT)
    Summary: Partition entry wiped or invalid.
    Resolution: Recreate from FS headers (exFAT boot sector, FAT32 BPB); align to correct cluster boundaries; verify directory root; carve if mismatch.

19. Formatting in an Unsupported Device
    Summary: Drone formats card with non-standard cluster; camera can’t read.
    Resolution: Identify formatter signature (DJI, Blackmagic); rebuild FS with the correct sectors/cluster; salvage existing files via carve and index reconstruction.

20. Wear and Tear / Endurance Exceeded
    Summary: High TBW writes (CCTV/dashcam) → retention loss.
    Resolution: Adjust read thresholds (if vendor supports), multi-read majority voting; ECC decode with soft-read; re-assemble scattered pages to reconstruct large MOV/TS segments.

21. Controller Firmware Corruption
    Summary: Card enumerates as 0MB or unknown.
    Resolution: Enter vendor boot; reload firmware modules if available; otherwise chip-off/ISP and reconstruct translator from markers in OOB.

22. CFexpress/XQD Metadata Loss
    Summary: NVMe namespace or FAT/exFAT metadata corrupt.
    Resolution: NVMe-aware imager; rebuild namespace and GPT; then exFAT; recover fragmented MXF/MP4 by parsing frame indexes.

23. CFast 2.0 (SATA) Mapping Errors
    Summary: Translator inconsistencies after power loss.
    Resolution: SATA imager with conservative timeouts; if controller panics, desolder NAND and read per channel; reconstruct mapping table; build logical image.

24. CompactFlash (PATA) Wear
    Summary: Legacy CF with failing blocks.
    Resolution: Force PIO modes; CRC retry windows; if controller non-cooperative, TSOP NAND dump; rebuild interleave and ECC.

25. xD-Picture / SmartMedia Legacy Failures
    Summary: Obsolete media with bad-block growth.
    Resolution: Direct NAND read; ECC with legacy BCH/Hamming; vendor-specific XOR; FAT12/16 rebuild; carve TIFF/JPEG.

26. Memory Stick PRO/PRO-HG Directory Errors
    Summary: Index damaged after improper eject.
    Resolution: Reader that exposes raw LBA; reconstruct index; MS-specific attribute tables; carve stream.

27. “Card Full / Cannot Access” Camera Error
    Summary: FS says full due to bitmap inconsistency.
    Resolution: Reconcile exFAT bitmap vs allocation; correct dirty flags; restore directory entries; salvage partial recordings.

28. Damaged Write-Protect Switch (SD)
    Summary: Host treats card as read-only / refuses writes.
    Resolution: Bypass mechanical WP sensing in reader; clone; repair FS; if switch track cracked, micro-bridge on sacrificial adapter (not the original card).

29. Monolith Delamination After Heat
    Summary: Layers separate; intermittent contact.
    Resolution: Stabilise with epoxy frame; expose pads; ISP extraction; ECC-heavy post-processing to counter marginal cells.

30. Manufacturing Defects / Counterfeit Cards
    Summary: Relabelled capacity; fake controllers.
    Resolution: Capacity test patterns on image; determine real LBA span; recover only valid extents; rebuild FS truncated to real capacity; educate client regarding replacement.

These are only the most common cases. In practice, we handle mixed faults (e.g., controller failure + exFAT corruption) by sequencing tasks: stabilise → image/dump → translate → rebuild FS → validate.

What Makes Our SD / microSD Workflows Effective

• Monolith ISP & Chip-off capability (micro-probing, custom pinout discovery, high-precision soldering).

• Flash analysis suites: PC-3000 Flash, Soft-Center, Flash Extractor, in-house decoders for ECC/XOR/scramble and interleave.

• Video/RAW-aware carving: MP4/MOV (moov/mdat repair), ProRes/CinemaDNG, MXF, and RAW photo formats (CR2/CR3, NEF, ARW, RW2, DNG) with integrity checks.

• Industrial & high-endurance support: logs from dashcam/CCTV workloads; retention-loss mitigation via soft-read and majority voting.

These capabilities are why photographers, videographers, and drone operators choose us for data recovery for sd card, micro sd card data recovery, and broader sd card data recovery.

Advanced Tools & Parts Inventory

• Programmable UHS-II readers, NVMe CFexpress/XQD imagers, SATA CFast rigs.

• Precision microscopes, micro-soldering stations, hot-air BGA rework, micro-sanding for monolith pad exposure.

• Donor connectors/adapters (UHS-II second-row, CF pin beds), custom interposers, power-safe harnesses with over-current/ESD protection.

• Flash-specific software stacks for ECC decode (BCH/LDPC), XOR/scramble removal, die/plane/channel merge, and FTL translator reconstruction.

Contact Southampton Data Recovery — Free Diagnostics

We’ve delivered successful memory-card recoveries for 25 years. If your card shows errors, becomes unrecognised, or you’ve deleted/formatted by mistake, stop using it immediately and get a read-only diagnostic.
Contact Southampton Data Recovery for a free diagnostics today. Contact our engineers today for a free diagnostics.

We’ll stabilise the card, acquire a safe image, rebuild the translation and file system, and return validated photos and videos—clearly explaining what was recovered and why.