# CD overwritten, can I salvage data? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 14, 2006, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cd-overwritten-can-i-salvage-data/348373 "2006-03-14T22:21:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rainy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@rainy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rainy)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cd-overwritten-can-i-salvage-data/348373/1 "2006-03-14T22:21:00Z")
Alright, a friend of mine (really)has a CD of data files I burned a few years ago on a CD-R drive (long before I could afford an RW). Recently in a fit of not paying attention, he grabbed this CD, stuck in his RW drive and burned “over” the CD. My understanding is the old data is still on that CD somewhere, and that all this new session did was mark the old data as deleted in the index file of the CD. For example, the CD properties say it is completely full at just over 400 megs. Can the “old” data be recovered? If so how? Is there some shareware program which ignores the index and pulls everything off a disc? I appreaciate the help. -rainy ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cd-overwritten-can-i-salvage-data/348373/2 "2006-03-15T00:24:41Z")
Not sure you’ll find this in shareware, but data recovery is a thriving business. Some apps you could try are [BadCopy](http://www.jufsoft.com/badcopy/cdrecover.asp?rid=google&kid=gccr0205) and [RetroBurner](http://www.dtidata.com/cd_dvd_recovery.htm) Either of this can be bought for $40-50, which is really cheap in the data recovery world. I’ve not tried either - they’re just a couple that popped up on a quick search. Alternately, you can ship the CD to a recovery service. Expect to pay around $100 per disc. ---
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cd-overwritten-can-i-salvage-data/348373/3 "2006-03-15T00:38:01Z")
Assuming that the disk itself is a CD-R not a CD-RW (else how would you have been able to burn it in your non-RW drive?), the old data should still be there, and your friend’s mistake was in starting a new session _without_ importing the old one. I don’t know of any _freeware_ program that recovers old sessions, but until someone chimes in with one you might want to download [IsoBuster](http://www.isobuster.com/). The unregistered version allows you to _see_ what files are recoverable, but may not actually let you _recover_ them until you pay the $25.95 and register. AFAIK, whether or not it’s included in the free version depends on exactly what your friend did. So, it’s worth a shot anyway. Depending on how valuable and urgent the “lost” files are, it may be worth paying up (if required). If there’s no urgency in recovering them, he can at least verify that the files are there, and wait to see if someone provides the URL of a truly **free** recovery program. [On preview] As **gotpasswords** said, data recovery is a big business. However, assuming the disc was just “incorrectly multi-sessioned”, rather than damaged, you should be able to get off pretty chaply, IMHO. Give IsoBuster a try, anyway. There are other CD and DVD rescue programs [here](http://www.naltech.com/), but I’ve not tried any of these. They also seem to be of the “free-to-view, pay-to-recover” variety. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cd-overwritten-can-i-salvage-data/348373/4 "2006-03-15T02:18:55Z")
Virtually any CD-burning program will allow you to see the old sessions. So use whatever software that was used to burn the new session and import the old session and reburn. That will work unless: 1. the disc was finalized or 2. there isn’t enough room to burn the small header for the new session (or 3. you screw up again). Going to a data recovery service is a joke here. It’s like taking your car to the mechanic when it runs out of gas.