If you have a Dish Network digital video recorder then you know how annoying it is when it deletes your recordings especially when you had a favorite show or you had planned for a series of recordings. A lot of the time people press the wrong button and erase shows that are stored in their DVR on their Dish receivers. As much as I agree that the deleted shows do not appear in the list of recorded programs, this article will discuss on how to attempt to regain and bring back the shows in different ways.
Check the Recycle Bin
A large number of Dish Network receivers have a recycle bin or deleted folder that allows the recordings to remain on the system for a while after they are deleted. To access it, navigate to the DVR menu where you should find a symbol or a folder named Recycle Bin or Deleted Recordings. If your deleted recordings are still there then the process of recovering them should be easy. However, the Recycle Bin is often restricted in size, and the default setting is to delete the shows automatically after 24 hours of deletion to provide space for new recordings. But it’s always worth it to take a few seconds to check there if you have only recently deleted a particular file.
The possibility of recovering deleted recordings through Dish’s website is another feature.
Another wonderful feature that I like about Dish is that it offers an online service by which you can remotely manage your DVR recordings. Go to the Dish online account and enter your login details: Then click on the DVR Manager tab. This will also show the receiver, any connected external drive, and all of the recorded shows. Scan through the folders – there could be a folder here called ‘Recycle Bin’ or ‘Recently Deleted’ that retains the recordings for a limited time before the user deletes them from the receiver. Here you can select any show and return it back to your DVR. But if it has been several days, then, most likely, even the site with deleted recordings will no longer exist.
DVR Data Recovery Software
If the deleted show can no longer be found in the Receiver Recycle Bin or Dish’s website, then you may need to employ third party DVR recovery software. These programs are meant to help to search for the hard drive on your Dish Network receiver and recover lost video files. Some recommended software options that work specifically for Dish Network DVRs include:
- Disk Drill – comes with the package of 500MB data recovery for free and restore video files of any common format.
- 7-Data Recovery – Free video file recovery software which has no file size limit. Turns on the drive and look for the missing recordings.
- Stellar Phoenix – An advanced paid data recovery tool that is compatible with Dish set-top boxes. Pricier, but works excellently for video retrieval.
Ensure that you download the recovery software to a computer that is connected to the same home network as your Dish receiver. The process includes using software to look at the internal or external hard drive on your DVR, finding out which video files were deleted and can be recovered, and then offering the user the choice to bring those recording back to your computer or external hard drive. Even more, complicated software like Stellar Phoenix enables the user to input metadata so the restored recordings have their titles, descriptions, timing, etc.
It is advisable not to record any new programs into the hard drive of the DVR before using recovery software. To reiterate, any new recording could overwrite the deleted video files that you wish to restore. Therefore, the moment people realize that a show is missing, they should not program any other show until the recovery process is over.
Enable DVR Protection Settings
You are likely to come across the need to restore Dish Network DVR recordings after which you would not wish to lose other recordings again through the options on the receiver. In your receiver settings, look for options like these to turn on:
- Delete Recordings with PIN – This means that before deleting, one has to enter a password.
- Auto-Erase Protection – Prevents shows from being erased by the receiver in order to free up space for new programs.
In fact, having those types of protection settings switched on could be quite reassuring. Now your kids can’t delete recordings by mishap while playing with other buttons since they need to input the parental code to do so. And you don’t have to worry of getting home to find out that something you have been saving is no longer there just because the hard drive is full.
The process of trying to recover deleted Dish Network recordings is not guaranteed to be successful. Perhaps using the Dish website DVR manager, free data recovery software, protection options, and checking the receiver Recycle Bin will help increase your likelihoods. Try not to record new shows as a way of noting that something is missing so as to ensure that the deleted files are not overwritten. If you have misplaced those receiver DVR recordings from your Dish system, follow the steps mentioned in this guide and there is still hope.
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