Data Recovery Case File · Cameras, Drones & Cards · Names Without Lengths
Entries That Survive With Their Sizes Zeroed Have Lost the Map, Not the Pictures
Her enquiry describes a state that looks total and is not. A card of 829 photographs where, after a transfer to an external drive went wrong, "all the photos now read zero bytes" — and a local technician's software found nothing. A file listed by name with a length of zero is a directory entry that survived while its record of where the content sits did not, which is a different loss from the content being gone.
| Media | Memory card holding approximately 829 photographs — directory entries present with names intact and lengths reported as zero; content regions unassessed |
| Reported situation | Older memory card holding approximately 829 photographs · card and an external drive both connected to a laptop · transfer attempted between them · transfer not completing as expected · all photograph files subsequently reporting zero length · names still listed · consumer recovery software run by a third party without result · content required |
| Fault class | Directory entries retained with allocation records cleared — file lengths and cluster references lost while image content remains in place |
| Equipment used | Zero-length entries interpreted as lost allocation records rather than absent content · card removed from use before assessment · imaged write-blocked before any scanning · signature carving performed across the whole card independently of directory entries · surviving names reconciled against recovered images where sequence permitted |
The decode: what a zero-length entry actually means
What a directory entry contains: more than a name. It records the file's name, its dates, its length, and where on the card its content begins — several distinct pieces of information stored together.
Why they can be lost separately: the entry survived and parts of it were overwritten or cleared. A name still listed with a length of zero means the naming portion held and the sizing and location portion did not.
Why that is not the same as an empty file: the system reports what the entry says. A length of zero is the entry's claim, not a measurement of the card — and the photographs occupy exactly the regions they always did.
Why the technician's software found nothing: tools of that kind commonly work through the directory. Following an entry that reports zero length and no starting position leads nowhere, so the scan honours a broken record rather than ignoring it.
What is done instead, and it is the whole difference: the directory is disregarded entirely. Photographs are located by searching the card's raw content for their own recognisable openings, which needs no entry, no length and no starting position.
Why that approach suits this case particularly: the images are intact and only their descriptions are damaged. Carving recovers exactly the material a directory-following tool cannot reach.
What may have caused it: a transfer interrupted while the card's structures were being updated. Some transfer operations touch the source directory — updating access records or, if the operation was a move, clearing entries as files are copied — and an interruption mid-update leaves entries partly written.
Why the move question is worth settling: if the operation deleted as it went, some entries were cleared deliberately. That does not change the recovery approach and it explains the pattern.
Why the surviving names are still worth something: they list what was there. 829 names give a count and a set of dates to check a recovery against, which is a verification the recovery would otherwise lack.
What must not happen: nothing further written to the card, and no repair prompts accepted. A system offering to fix a directory full of zero-length entries would rewrite the very entries that still hold the names.
On the bench
Zero-length entries were interpreted as lost allocation records rather than absent content — a directory entry recording name, dates, length and starting position as distinct pieces, so a name listed with zero length indicates the naming portion surviving while sizing and location did not, the reported length being the entry's claim rather than a measurement. Directory-following tools honour that broken record and reach nothing. Carving was performed across the whole card independently of directory entries.
The outcome
Zero-length entries read as lost allocation records, the card imaged before any scanning, and carving performed independently of the directory. Free assessment, one fixed written figure including VAT; on cards where content has been deleted or overwritten, the figure is payable upfront. The decode: zero bytes is what the entry says, not what the card holds. The naming part of each record survived and the part recording length and position did not — which is why software that follows the directory finds nothing.
Files listed by name that all report no size
Stop writing to the card and refuse any offer to repair the directory — a repair would rewrite the very entries still holding your file names. Read zero bytes as the entry's claim rather than a measurement: a directory record stores the name, the dates, the length and the starting position as separate pieces, so names surviving with lengths zeroed means part of each record was lost while your photographs stayed exactly where they were. Software that follows the directory will find nothing, because it's honouring a broken record. Keep the list of names as a check.
Don't let anything repair it — call Manchester Data Recovery on 0161 871 0788; zero-length entries read as lost allocation records, imaged before scanning, carving performed independently of the directory.
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Our case files are drawn from genuine enquiries received by our laboratory over the past ten years, anonymised to protect client confidentiality. Each one describes the diagnostic and recovery procedure our engineers apply to that fault, using the equipment listed.