[GUIDE] Internal Memory Data Recovery

This method does not seem to work on newer phones that apply TRIM or some other type of
partition clearing implementation. If anyone has recovered their data on a device newer than
Android 4.3 please pm me and let me know.

The Preamble

Did you delete all your SDCard data?

The Problem

Internal Memory doesn't mount as a drive like external memory does. External memory would allow you to
use data recovery tools that scan for deleted files and return them to a usable state. These tools work
because most operating systems don't go through and set all of those 1's and 0's to just 0's when you delete
a file. Usually the operating system will just delete the reference pointer in the index that says that a file
exists with such-and-such name and it's located at this position on the hard disk / memory location. There
are destructive delete tools out there that will overwrite the spot of a deleted file multiple times to
discourage recovery in just this manner. The issue is that data recovery tools need an actual mounted drive
in order to dig deep and unearth those funny pictures of cats you so tragically deleted by accident. These
newest batches of phones don't have external SDcards which are super easy to mount as drives. Internal
memory mounts as MTP/PTP which is not treated as a mounted drive and cannot be scanned by these data
recovery tools.

The Process

My phone is the Samsung Galaxy Nexus (toro) though I imagine this should work for ANY phone with
Internal Memory. We will be using a Windows 7 machine to:

• back up the entire internal memory partition to your computer as a single, massive .RAW file;
• convert the .RAW file output to a VHD;
• mount the VHD as a disk in Disk Manager;
• scan the attached VHD volume for files that have been deleted and recover them.

The Requirements

• A rooted Android phone, (try to root with a non-destructive method as this appears to protect those
who must root from wiping the device data a second time);
• BusyBox installed on your device;
• Cygwin installed to [c:\cygwin] with pv and util-linux from the repo. Make sure to open Cygwin once
to make sure that the /bin folder is created. Also, I made a folder at [c:\cygwin\nexus] to put the
exported .RAW file;
• Netcat (download the ZIP file and extract nc.exe to [c:\cygwin\bin]);
• ADB (make sure adb.exe is in your path);
• USB Debugging enabled on your device;
• VHD tool from the mighty M$. Put the VhdTool.exe file in [c:\cygwin\nexus];
• Piriform Recuva or your favorite data recovery tool, (it appears Recuva only finds the more common
file types like images, videos, etc. Those were the file types in which I was interested. If you are after
more exotic file types perhaps you might share the software you used.);
 • A calm sense of peace and serenity that you will get your files back...

The Work

1. *****Based on the number of people having trouble with this step it is now my recommendation that
you choose to recover your entire memory block instead of just the data partition. In my phone's
case that is mmcblk0. Please discover if yours is different.***** Identify which block/partition you
want [http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=28115791] to recover. For our
purpose here we are seeking to recover the userdata partition: /dev/block/mmcblk0p12
2. Turn on your phone;
3. Connect the phone in ADB mode;
4. Unlock the screen;
5. Open a Cygwin terminal and enter (This assumes your BusyBox installation is at
[/system/bin/busybox]. It may be at [/system/xbin/busybox]):

adb forward tcp:5555 tcp:5555

6. Open another Cygwin terminal and enter:

adb forward tcp:5555 tcp:5555

7. Run around the house a few times. For 32GB internal memory this is going to take 3+ hours. That's a
lot of running. When it's done...
8. We need to convert the .RAW file to a virtual hard drive. VhdTool.exe basically just puts a VHD
footer on the end of the .RAW file. Open a Windows command prompt, go to [c:\cygwin\nexus], and
type:

VhdTool.exe /convert mmcblk0p12.raw

9. Now we need to mount the VHD in Windows. Select the Start button-->right-click Computer-->select
Manage.
10. Select Storage-->Disk Management.
11. In the menu select Action-->Attach VHD.
12. For Location enter [c:\cygwin\nexus\mmcblk0p12.raw] and select the OK button.
13. Right-click on the name (e.g. "Disk 1") to the left of the Unallocated space and select Initialize Disk.
14. Select the GPT (GUID Partition Table) radio button and select the OK button.
15. Right-click on the Unallocated space and select New Simple Volume...
16. In the Wizard select Next>, leave the default for the volume size, select Next>, select a drive letter
(e.g. K), select Next>, MAKE SURE to select the 'Do not format this volume' radio button, select
Next>, select Finish.
17. A box will pop up asking you to format the drive. You DO NOT want to format the drive at this time.
18. Right-click on the RAW space and select Format... MAKE SURE to change the File system to FAT32.
Set the Allocation unit size dropdown to 'Default.' MAKE SURE that the Perform a quick format
checkbox is CHECKED. You do not want to overwrite the entire new drive with all zeroes (0's) and
destroy your data. Quick Format means that it will only attempt to destroy the index for the drive by
establishing a new index. Without this box checked the Windows operating system will write zeroes
(0's) across the entire volume, potentially destroying your data. Select the OK button.
19. A box will pop up saying that Formatting this volume will erase all data on it. That would be doubly
true if you actually didn't check the 'Perform a quick format' checkbox. Double check that you
actually did check the box and select the OK button. (Don't worry. This essentially leaves the volume
 in the exact same state that your phone's internal memory is living in right now: there is data on the
drive...you just can't see it. It's coming back, I promise!)
20. Open the Piriform Recuva application. In the wizard select the 'Next >' button. Select the 'Other'
radio button and select Next >. Select the 'In a specific location' radio button and enter: k:\
(assuming K is the drive letter you chose...) Select the Next > button. Select the Enable Deep Scan
checkbox. This is the magical setting that finds files that have been deleted...but not really deleted.
Select the Start button.
21. The application may take about an hour to do the 'Deep Scan.' It's time for more laps around the
house! Once the application has returned its results you can choose which files to recover using the
checkboxes. Select the 'Recover...' button and choose the location to which you wish to output your
files.

https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-nexus/general/guide-internal-memory-data-recovery-
yes-t1994705