Recover Deleted FootageFrom an XMEye or Xiongmai DVR
Footage vanished from an XMEye recorder, or a no-name DVR running the XMEye app? The video usually sits on the drive long after the recorder stops listing it. Here is how to tell if your unit is a Xiongmai, why the disk reads as blank on a PC and the safe way to get the recordings back.
Yes, deleted footage from an XMEye or Xiongmai DVR can usually be recovered while the recorder has not yet taped over it. The recordings sit on the drive in Xiongmai's own format, which Windows cannot read, so the disk looks blank on a PC. Switch the recorder off, pull the disk and read it in read only mode with software that knows the Xiongmai layout. Move fast, because a running DVR loops back and overwrites old video.
Xiongmai is the maker whose boards and firmware run a huge share of the world's cheap DVRs, almost always through the XMEye app. Because those recorders are sold under dozens of names, many owners do not even know they have a Xiongmai unit until footage goes missing and nothing on a PC will read the drive. The recovery job is the same whatever badge is on the front.
First, is your DVR a Xiongmai?
Xiongmai almost never puts its own name on the box, so the brand on the front means little. A few signs give it away.
- It uses the XMEye app. If you set the recorder up or view it through XMEye, vMEye or vMEyeSuper, the board inside is Xiongmai.
- The menu looks generic. A plain blue or grey menu with a wizard on first boot, and little branding, is the typical Xiongmai interface.
- It is a budget or no-name unit. Many cheap recorders sold online, and badged brands such as QUESTEK and Vantech, are built on Xiongmai.
- The login is admin with a blank password. That default is standard across Xiongmai recorders.
Why does a Xiongmai drive read as blank on a PC?
Pull the disk out of a Xiongmai recorder, connect it to Windows and you get nothing useful. The drive may show as unallocated, RAW or ask to be formatted. That is not a dead disk, it is the format throwing Windows off.
A Xiongmai recorder does not store video the way a computer stores files. It writes the camera streams straight to the disk in its own closed layout, with no NTFS or FAT partition for Windows to latch onto. So Windows sees a drive it cannot map and assumes it is empty. The footage is there in full, held as raw H.264 and H.265 video, waiting for software that knows where Xiongmai puts it.
What should you not do before recovery?
A couple of wrong clicks at this stage can turn a recoverable drive into a lost one. Two rules matter most.
Do not let the recorder keep running, and do not format the drive. Every minute a Xiongmai DVR stays on, it may loop back and record over the footage you want, so power it down the moment you notice something is missing. When you connect the disk to a PC and Windows offers to format or initialise it, close that box. One click there writes over the layout and the recordings with it.
How do you recover footage from an XMEye DVR?
With the recorder off, the recovery runs off the drive itself on a Windows PC. The login never comes into it, so a forgotten password is no barrier.
- Take the drive out. Unplug the recorder, open the case, free the two cables from the disk and lift it out. Note which way the cables sat so you can put it back.
- Wire it to a PC. Attach the disk to a Windows machine with a SATA-to-USB dock. For a case that may become evidence, add a hardware write blocker so nothing can change the drive.
- Scan it read only. Point DVRXaminer at the disk. It reads the Xiongmai layout without writing to the source, finds the recordings and lists the deleted ones alongside the rest.
- Pick what you need. Browse the hits by date, time and channel, then preview a clip to confirm it is the right one before you save anything.
- Export to another drive. Save the recovered video to a different disk, never back to the source. Export it as playable files with the timestamp kept.
"On Xiongmai units the login never touches the video. We pull the disk, read it in read only mode and rebuild the clips straight from the raw .264 stream."
Rollins Duke, video forensics, RecoveryTools
Why does your footage come out as .264 files?
Recordings pulled from a Xiongmai drive are usually raw H.264 or H.265 streams, often with a .264 or .h264 name. These do not open in an ordinary media player on their own, which catches a lot of people out after a recovery.
Good recovery software wraps the stream into a normal MP4 as it exports, so you get a file that plays anywhere. If you end up with a raw stream instead, our guide on what a .264 file is covers how to open and convert it. For the full picture of DVR formats, see the CCTV file format reference.
What decides whether recovery works?
Recovery is not a certainty, and a few things tip the odds.
- How soon you stopped the recorder. The sooner the DVR is off, the less chance the footage was taped over. This is the single biggest factor.
- How much the drive kept recording. A small drive on a busy camera loops faster, so older footage goes sooner than on a large, quiet one.
- The health of the disk. Bad sectors or a failing drive can cost you parts of otherwise recoverable video.
- Whether anyone formatted it. A quick format on a PC is often still recoverable. A full format or a fresh recording session is far harder.
What if you cannot even log in?
Losing the password and losing the footage often go together, but they are separate problems. Reading the drive on a PC sidesteps the login entirely, so you do not need the password to recover the video.
If you do want back into the live recorder as well, our guide on resetting an XMEye password covers the key code and QR routes. For a unit that has failed or will not boot at all, the drive read is the only way to the footage, which the DVR data recovery page explains.
Which situations can you recover from?
What you get back depends on the state of the drive. Here is how the common cases compare.
| Situation | Can you recover it? |
|---|---|
| Clip deleted, recorder still running | Yes, if the unit has not taped over it yet |
| Drive quick formatted | Often yes, the clips are still on the platter |
| Footage already overwritten by new recording | No, the old data is gone |
| Recorder dead or will not boot | Yes, pull the drive and read it on a PC |
| Password lost | Yes, reading the drive does not need the login |
In short
- Deleted XMEye footage stays on the drive until the recorder tapes over it.
- Windows shows the Xiongmai drive as blank, so do not let it format the disk.
- Power the recorder off fast, then read the drive read only on a PC.
- The login is not needed, so a lost password is no barrier to recovery.
Common questions
Can you recover deleted footage from an XMEye DVR?
Usually yes, as long as the recorder has not taped over it. A deleted clip stays on the Xiongmai drive until new recording replaces it. Powering the DVR down and reading the disk on a PC with software that knows the Xiongmai format rebuilds the footage the recorder no longer lists.
Why does my XMEye hard drive show as empty on a PC?
Xiongmai recorders write video in their own closed layout with no NTFS or FAT partition, so Windows cannot map the drive and reports it as empty, RAW or unformatted. The footage is still there as raw H.264 and H.265 video. Do not format or initialise the drive, since that overwrites it.
Is my no-name DVR actually a Xiongmai?
Most likely, if it uses the XMEye, vMEye or vMEyeSuper app, boots into a plain setup wizard and logs in as admin with a blank password. Xiongmai supplies boards to many budget and badged brands, including QUESTEK and Vantech, so the name on the front rarely tells you.
Do I need the XMEye password to recover footage?
No. Reading the drive directly on a PC does not use the recorder's login at all, so a forgotten or unknown password is no barrier. This also means footage can be recovered from a unit that is locked, has failed or will not boot.
Why will my recovered XMEye footage not play?
Recovered Xiongmai clips are often raw H.264 or H.265 streams, sometimes named .264 or .h264, which an ordinary player cannot open on its own. Export them as MP4, or wrap the raw stream into a container, and they play normally. Our .264 file guide covers the conversion.
How long can XMEye footage be recovered after deletion?
There is no fixed window. It depends on how fast the recorder loops, which comes down to the drive size, the number of cameras and the recording settings. A clip survives until new video lands on the same space, so acting fast and powering the unit down is what matters.
Get your XMEye footage back
DVRXaminer reads the Xiongmai drive in its own format, recovers the deleted or lost recordings and saves them as playable video, with no login needed. Run the free trial to see what is still on the drive.
Sources
- DVRXaminer checks on Xiongmai-based recorders and re-badged XMEye units
- Xiongmai DVR storage format and H.264 and H.265 stream references, 2026
- Forensic guidance on preserving surveillance evidence