MicroSD card format in Android

[alexsmith2709]

Does Android perform a full or quick format on SD Cards? I have a customer that somehow "accidentally" formatted her card. I've looked at it using some basic data recovery software and it doesnt find any files. Is it worth pursuing further if it did only quick format?
I know that if a full format happen, data recovery has no chance.

 

[lcoughey]

While it isn't guaranteed, some data recovery professionals have recently reported that we are able to recover the files with a direct read. But, that requires scraping the surface off to expose the direct access pads, similar to this one I recovered last week.

If the card is set to be encrypted by the phone, it like is unrecoverable.

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[alexsmith2709]

Wow, that looks like delicate and expensive work! Very impressive though
I'll ask a UK data recovery lab to see what they say

 

[lcoughey]

Wow, that looks like delicate and expensive work! Very impressive though
I'll ask a UK data recovery lab to see what they say

I suggest talking to Sean at pcimage.co.uk, I know he is capable, if possible...and affordable.

 

[nlinecomputers]

While it isn't guaranteed, some data recovery professionals have recently reported that we are able to recover the files with a direct read. But, that requires scraping the surface off to expose the direct access pads, similar to this one I recovered last week.

If the card is set to be encrypted by the phone, it like is unrecoverable.

2 new items by Luke Coughey

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Android encryption is enabled by default on most phones...

 

[britechguy]

Android encryption is enabled by default on most phones...

As of what version? I'm not doubting this could have become the default, but I avoid encryption on phone devices to the maximum extent possible. It's definitely not on by default on any of the devices I currently own, but Android 9 is the most recent version on one of them and I just checked it. My older Samsung S7 definitely does not have device encryption on by default.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Google has required encryption to be on from Lollipop version 5, providing the hardware is capable. There’s not a phone made in the past couple of years that doesn’t meet that spec. If you skip setting up a pin code during the out of the box setup then it gets bypassed.

 

[britechguy]

If you skip setting up a pin code during the out of the box setup then it gets bypassed.

And that's likely why it's never been turned on on my devices or devices I set up. I never set up PINs, fingerprint recognition, etc., until after all the initial configuration grunt work is done. When it's my own device that may take days as I piddle around with it. With a client device, it would be at end of session after they're satisfied that what they're seeing is what they want.

I hate the "everything needs to be encrypted" craze with a burning passion and have seen far too much information lost to encryption gone wrong that never needed to be encrypted in the first place (even in the owner of said data's opinion, not just mine).

 

[alexsmith2709]

I suggest talking to Sean at pcimage.co.uk, I know he is capable, if possible...and affordable.

PCImage are who i've spoken with so as long as the customer agrees, that's where i'll be sending it.
I dont think this card is encrypted, i can put it in a windows computer and see all the default android folders that have been recreated after the format. I'm just hoping no important files have been overwritten by this.

 

[nlinecomputers]

I dont think this card is encrypted, i can put it in a windows computer and see all the default android folders that have been recreated after the format. I'm just hoping no important files have been overwritten by this.

That doesn’t mean anything. It just means what was written on top is not encrypted. The underlying data could be in any format. In fact a bit error could have caused the encryption to fail resulting in a card that looks blank thus prompting the request to format it. Being encrypted a single read error can result in the loss of all the data.

 

[britechguy]

Well, it should be easy enough to determine whether it was encrypted or not based on the state of encryption settings on the phone.

I would not presume that the user has changed these, and it sounds like the reformat was done intentionally even if by accident, and on that device.

If encryption is off, and was off, the content would have been unencrypted (and vice versa).

 

[nlinecomputers]

Well, it should be easy enough to determine whether it was encrypted or not based on the state of encryption settings on the phone.

I would not presume that the user has changed these, and it sounds like the reformat was done intentionally even if by accident, and on that device.

If encryption is off, and was off, the content would have been unencrypted (and vice versa).

And all of that would be blown away if the card was suddenly seen as a raw device. And on phones with separate sd cards you can choose encryption for both the phone and the card separately. You are prompted to encrypt the card when you first format it and only if you have a pin setup.

 

[alexsmith2709]

Well, it should be easy enough to determine whether it was encrypted or not based on the state of encryption settings on the phone.

I would not presume that the user has changed these, and it sounds like the reformat was done intentionally even if by accident, and on that device.

If encryption is off, and was off, the content would have been unencrypted (and vice versa).

I dont have the phone, just the SD card. I dont imagine the user turned on encryption, but neither do i imagine they would turn it off. They would just used the default settings

 

[britechguy]

And all of that would be blown away if the card was suddenly seen as a raw device.

Correct. And that's a device (card) failure, which is another kettle of fish entirely. As far as I'm concerned if/when this happens, unless someone is very desperate and willing to shell out the big bucks, that data is gone. Even if they are willing to shell out the big bucks its very likely gone.

 

[lcoughey]

Android encryption is enabled by default on most phones...

Not on the external microSD card.

 

[lcoughey]

Correct. And that's a device (card) failure, which is another kettle of fish entirely. As far as I'm concerned if/when this happens, unless someone is very desperate and willing to shell out the big bucks, that data is gone. Even if they are willing to shell out the big bucks its very likely gone.

What do you consider big bucks? And why so pessimistic about what can be done? I can't speak for other labs, but we only charge $450CAD for most flash card recoveries.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Not on the external microSD card.

That depends on the encryption state of the phone when you insert the SD card and if you take the defaults which are ON if your phone is encrypted and OFF if your phone is not. As most people skip the pin creation during the out-of-the-box setup for many this means an unencrypted phone and card. If you are like me and turn on encryption during setup the card gets encrypted as well.

 

[britechguy]

I'd consider, for your average home user (and, remember, that's my client demographic) $450 to be very big bucks indeed. That would be almost double what I paid for the last smartphone I bought (Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro) when it was new several years ago. There are lots of "non-flagship" folks out there for whom $450 is a major outlay. I'm not criticizing or questioning your fees, either, just answering your question as directly as I can.

I'm pessimistic because of what I have heard discussed, repeatedly, about recovery from SSDs and other related devices such as thumb drives, SD and microSD cards, etc. Perhaps that's changed relatively recently, but I have not been hearing much buzz about increasing levels of success with SSD and related device recoveries.

 

[alexsmith2709]

I'd consider, for your average home user (and, remember, that's my client demographic) $450 to be very big bucks indeed. That would be almost double what I paid for the last smartphone I bought (Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro) when it was new several years ago. There are lots of "non-flagship" folks out there for whom $450 is a major outlay. I'm not criticizing or questioning your fees, either, just answering your question as directly as I can.

I'm pessimistic because of what I have heard discussed, repeatedly, about recovery from SSDs and other related devices such as thumb drives, SD and microSD cards, etc. Perhaps that's changed relatively recently, but I have not been hearing much buzz about increasing levels of success with SSD and related device recoveries.

PCImage have quoted me £295 +VAT for a successful recovery and no charge if they cant. While it may be considered a lot of money, for the work involved (in my limited experience and knowledge of the data recovery industry) it is a fair price and definitely on the cheaper end of the scale.
Most end users wont pay that money, but I offer the choice. Its either that or no definitely no data back

 

[britechguy]

Most end users wont pay that money, but I offer the choice. Its either that or no definitely no data back

And I am not, for one moment, proposing that the choice not be presented nor am I questioning the cost. But the outcome generally is as you say when it's residential/home user clientele.

This brings up the need to talk with people about backing up their SD card content, too. I do every once in a while, but since the vast majority of what I have on it is music, and a lot of it that isn't is backed up in the cloud via Google, I don't do it as often as I probably should.