I'm trying to retrieve footage off a CCTV unit (IQCCTV HD960H IQR960D4) for a friend, but there's a couple off problems.

Firstly, I tried accessing it though it's own software, by plugging it into a monitor. When trying to access any footage, the unit said "no hdd". I checked the connectors (which were actually glued in to the hdd), and all seemed fine, so tried again, and nothing.

Next step was to try the HDD in the pc. Couldn't access it due to unknown file system. At this point, I checked if it was backing up anywhere else. It used to be viewable using an app, until they had an issue with their ethernet cable (which may have been chewed by a dog). So it's quite safe to assume that it wasn't being backed up.

Crunch time, and I decided to give it a quick format to ntfs and do a data retrieval after. There are 6 flv files, ranging from 150mb to over 3gb (from what I understand the unit was recording on a ten day loop...but those files seem a bit small). I restored them to the pc and tried to view them. 3 work, 3 don't. Of the working ones, 2 show some footage of the same day, and 1 is from another day (both in the last week).

With those files safe on my pc, I try the hdd back in the unit. "No hdd" again. I get the unit to format it itself into whatever file structure it uses..."no hdd". At this point, I'm wondering if the unit is an issue (it's a little over a year old - the hdd is showing no errors on my pc).

Now I'm doing a deeper retrieval of the files, and will see what that throws up. My guess though is going to be "not much". If I can't get anything this afternoon, it can go to a security company who have already volunteered to do it, where I'm guessing they'll have some professional software to hopefully get the job done.

In the meantime, is there any software that may prove useful in viewing the flv's? Or any particular files I should be looking for on the retrieval?