About us
The people behind File Recovery Hero
A sole proprietorship in Karlsruhe, a purpose-built recovery engine and a deliberately narrow specialisation.
The short answer
One developer, four file systems, one clear use case.
File Recovery Hero is built at manimedia, owner Markus Nick, in Karlsruhe, Germany. The software specialises in exFAT, NTFS and FAT16/FAT32 devices and uncompressed disk images because that is exactly where camera cards, recorder media and drone storage live. That focus is a deliberate decision against a tool that does everything by halves.
01 / Origin
Why this software exists
File Recovery Hero grew out of working with camera media. Anyone who regularly handles memory cards from stills cameras, video cameras, field recorders and drones knows the moment when a folder is empty although it should not be. Existing tools treat that case either as a side note of a general-purpose program or not at all.
The goal was therefore not to cover as many file systems as possible, but to handle the cases that actually occur completely: a stable, readable exFAT card, an NTFS drive or an uncompressed image of either, from which photos, video and audio are retrieved and then verified.
The software has been updated in 2026. It is not a from-scratch rewrite but the continued development of an engine built for media files.
02 / Focus
Why exFAT, NTFS and FAT16/FAT32
exFAT is the file system SDXC and microSDXC cards ship with. Cameras, drones, action cams and audio recorders write to it. When recordings disappear, exFAT is the file system involved in the large majority of cases.
Because the specification is officially published, exFAT can be evaluated completely and verifiably: boot region and backup boot region, allocation bitmap, FAT and the directory entries with their file and stream extensions. A reconstruction does not have to guess; it can actually read structures.
NTFS was added for the same reason: it is the file system of the Windows world, and its Master File Table keeps the original name, the exact size and the occupied areas even after a file has been deleted. That makes the same result possible there as on an exFAT card — files recovered with their names, instead of nameless fragments.
The price of that decision is honesty elsewhere: APFS, HFS+, ext4 and encrypted storage are not in the direct scanning scope. What the software cannot do has a page of its own.
03 / Principles
What we hold ourselves to
- The selected source device is only ever read. There is no write path to the source.
- A candidate counts as a success only once its structure has been checked. A file name or thumbnail is not enough.
- Anything that could not be confirmed is marked .UNVERIFIED and is not quietly counted as recovered.
- Product limits are stated, even where they prevent a sale.
- All interfaces and content appear in German, English, French and Spanish.
04 / Business
How we earn money
There is exactly one product and one price: 50 euros once for the purchased major version, valid for ten calendar years from confirmed payment, usable on two of your own devices. No subscription, no automatic renewal, no in-app upselling.
The price also covers what is not in it: no advertising in the application, no upselling, no bundled third-party software and no partnership that slips a second program past you during installation. The archive contains the application and the bundled open-source verification tools with their licence notices, nothing else. The app opens an internet connection solely for licence activation; file names, scan results and usage data never leave your computer.
There is no voluntary technical support. Your statutory rights are unaffected, as is the right of withdrawal, which can be exercised through a dedicated electronic withdrawal form.
Common questions
Is File Recovery Hero a company or an individual?
The provider is manimedia, owner Markus Nick, a sole proprietorship based in Karlsruhe, Germany. The full provider identification with address, contact details and VAT identification number is in the legal notice.
Where is the software developed?
Development takes place in Germany. The recovery engine is our own work; established open-source tools are additionally used for media verification, and their licence notices ship with the application.
Why do you not support more file systems?
Because dependable reconstruction requires detailed knowledge of each file system. An extra tick in a feature list would be quick to add but worthless without real analysis. We would rather state the supported scope precisely.
Is there technical support?
There is no voluntary technical support. Statutory rights and obligations are unaffected, and withdrawal remains available through the electronic withdrawal form.
Read the limits first, then decide.
Check whether your case fits the documented scope.