Might any Forum Member know the format used by Security System Disks?

[Mike Lynch]

I have an old Security System DVR with Security footage that I do not want to lose.
If I can, I'd like to be able to back it up to a PC Disk format but do not know where to start.
The hard drive from the Security DVR is a 3.5" Western Digital Purple.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[SIW2]

How to - Backup Video on you DVR - YouTube

 

[Mike Lynch]

Thank you for your reply!
The YouTube video was informative however I failed to include an important piece of information.
The DVR is dead!
Essentially, I'm hoping the video on it's Hard Drive is still in tact.
My apology for leaving out this most important piece of information.
Mike

 

[z3r010]

A lot of these systems are built using forms of linux, I would hook the drive up to the PC and see if I could access the drive with linux (a live CD should be enough).

 

[Mike Lynch]

When you say a "live CD", what does that mean?
Remember, I am old and essentially a novice.

 

[z3r010]

A "live CD" is basically a linux distro ran from CD/USB.

There is a tutorial here on running Ubuntu linux from a USB (very simple) - Try Ubuntu before you install it | Ubuntu

 

[file3456]

I'll chime in.

1) Find a blank USB drive with at least 8GB of space.

2) Download Ubuntu here.

3) Download Ventoy here. (The Windows version).

4) Extract Ventoy and run to format your USB drive. It will not be appparent anything happend inside the USB stick but it did.

5) Simply copy/paste the Ubuntu .ISO file onto the USB stick. Yes, just COPY/PASTE the .ISO Ubuntu file onto the USB stick.

6) Now you need to BOOT the USB stick like you would if you were going to install Windows from disk. See here.

you need to:

Turn on your computer and press Delete, F2, F10 or F11 (this varies by device) to enter the BIOS
Use the cursor keys to find the ‘Boot’ menu or something similar
Change the order so USB is at the top of the list as the number one boot priority

If none of those keys work to enter the BIOS, look out for a message on your monitor after pressing the computer’s power button. The message is usually at the bottom of the screen and says something like ‘Press F11 for boot options’.

Some PCs and laptops don’t show this, so you’ll have to check your manufacturer’s website to find out which key to press or even your motherboard manual.

Now once Ventoy loads its boot menu select Ubuntu. Make sure the DVR hard drive is connected to your computer before you launch Ubuntu. Take extra caution not to install Ubuntu. You're just running this in a live environment from the USB drive. If you want you can temporally disconnect your main Windows drive just to be absolutely sure you won't write to that drive with Ubuntu. This shouldn't be a problem though. But for the inexperienced it may.


Instead of Ubuntu you can try Puppy Linux.


Once in Linux you can access the connected DVR drive by going to the Home or Files.