Recovered .MP4 files from SD card won't play

[Relyco36]

I recently recorded an interview for a project I'm working on with my phone. Before I got home the SD card got damaged, but I managed to recover the important files that I needed. Now, they won't play when I click on them. When Windows Media Players launches to play it, all it says is: "Windows Media Player cannot play the file. The Player might not support the file type or might not support the codec that was used to compress the file." I really need these files back. Is there any way I can?

 

[mike1959]

A couple of ideas, check the specification of your phone and find which format it records in.
Really worth trying a different media player such as;
MPC
https://mpc-hc.org/
or KM player
http://www.kmplayer.com/
or Zoom
http://www.inmatrix.com/files/zoomplayer_download.shtml

 

[Relyco36]

That would be an awesome solution, but I have to take the files and put them into Sony Vegas and to make a small documentary, but Vegas also won't take the file

 

[JamesandBennie]

If the files are sure not damaged, try to convert the file type to the Vegas type. What's the type right now, BTW? If no player can open it, something might be wrong with the files.

 

[mike1959]

Hi, I probably should have added, if you can get any one of those media players to play your files, then to use the 'File; save (a copy)' to make a new version, that is more likely to work in 'Vegas'.
Of course it's also possible the files are damaged and can't be repaired, but I would still try the various players, other than WMP, which I find has a fairly limited range of formats that it will work with anyway.
I use 'Media player classic' (MPC) now as my default player, instead of WMP.
I know that many Linux and Windows users like VLC player too for the range of formats it will play.
I often do conversions on video files, to get them to play on other more limited devices, such as mobile phones, and it also could be worth trying a program which will convert your files to another useable format.
http://www.winxdvd.com/video-converter/
Another option is to try the program 'Recuva' on your phone's card, see if it will recover any of your video files.

 

[Relyco36]

It wouldn't play on VLC, and when I tried to use Recuva it wanted me to format the drive before it started, but I knew I'd lose my stuff when it reformats so I didn't do it, unless there's a way to get them back after reformatting the card? Other than that I'm pretty screwed.

 

[mike1959]

One other 'trick' you might try, which has been known to work, on a copy of the video file, is to 'rename' it, in Windows, as this would rewrite the header part of the file, if that is the problem.
Of course if the file is damaged beyond that, then there may be no way out of it, but it's worth a try.
If 'Recuva' needs to reformat the card then that's useless in this situation, I have tried this other program which did work on jpgs on a camera card;
(The free version) http://www.icare-recovery.com/compare.html

 

[bazz2004]

Is there any reason that you haven't put the files back on the phone they came from and tried to play them? If they won't run on the phone you can be certain that you are wasting your time trying to resurrect them.