Did my database get overwritten because I removed a file?
A lightweight and easy-to-use password manager
Brought to you by:
dreichl
Menu
▾
▴
Hello
My database is corrupted and I have no backups nor I can repair it...
I opened the .kdbx file and here is what I found:
........ąő˘(.....™ę´mJŇ.;...G.:.\.H.e.r.e. .W.e. .G.o. .A.g.a.i.n.\.L.i.b.r.a.r.y.\.M.o.v.i.e.s.\.2. .F.a.s.t. .2. .F.u.r.i.o.u.s. .(.2.0.0.3.)................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................These are hex offsets from 0000 0000 to 0000 01F0 (next one is 0000 0200, which is where database data begins).
Is there no hope for me?
The file was deleted on 29th november 2016, 19:23:29.
The databse was modified on same day, but 09:38:40.
You have file corruption because that is not the contents of a KeePass database - you should see apparently random data, not stuff you can read.
You can try to un-erase the file using one of the free un-erase programs.
cheers, Paul
It was only first 20 bytes there were readable, rest wasn't but I didn't paste them.
Here is some good stuff though: I used Photorec program and made it scan the whole drive. It has support for kdbx file type. After 4 hours it found a file and it was 4 GB big!
KeePass couldn't read it but my password worked, so I figured I'm close to success. I used the import function with repair mode and I recovered it all successfully.
It would be cool if KeePass had built-in function for backing up databases but since today I am going to make it a habit and possibly once per month print it all on paper and keep it safe in my night stand.
Last edit: MyLifeInHeader 2016-12-02
Congrats!
I backup every day to a second internal hard drive and regularly to an external drive - you can't be too careful.
There are backup plug-ins you can use or a trigger if you are feeling like playing with some advanced functions.
cheers, Paul
For the benefit of anyone who may read this thread in the future looking to solve a similar problem, it should be said that it is far more likely that the "unreadable" portion of the file was the portion needing to be recovered. This is the point of KeePass; your data is stored in a format that is unreadable without it first being processed using your Master Key.