_MSTBKFS folder

[jtb1982]

Greetings everyone, and a joyful new year to you all!

I recently received an old WD external drive from a client, encountering a few challenges along the way. I've managed to initiate the cloning process, successfully copying the drive despite encountering minimal bad sectors. Upon further investigation, it seems the client had formatted the drive. After conducting several scans, I discovered a FAT32 partition containing a folder named "_MSTBKFS." Inside this folder, there are numerous files with the ".BUK" extension, each bearing sequential names like MST00001.BUK, MST00002.BUK, MST00003.BUK, and so forth.

Despite my efforts to find similar cases on the internet, my search has only led me to a handful of forum threads, none of which provide a concrete solution to this specific issue.

Have any of you encountered a similar case? As I need to present the data to the client, I'm eager to explore alternative solutions and would appreciate any assistance or insights you may have.

Your help would be immensely appreciated. Thank you in advance!

[Arch Stanton]

I find several cases and the _MSTBKFS. folder and BUK files seem related to USB HDDs that were used on TV sets to save recorded video.

[jtb1982]

I find several cases and the _MSTBKFS. folder and BUK files seem related to USB HDDs that were used on TV sets to save recorded video.

And what did you do to extract the information?
Did you connect it to a TV?
Did you use any program?
And what program did you use?

Thanks to answer my question

[Arch Stanton]

I didn't do anything, I googled it. Likely these BUK files are of zero value, but at some point someone used to the drive to record something from TV and in the process overwrote whatever was on that drive originally. This seems to be the most common issue people have with this.

You should be talking to client and ask him what he's looking for.

[fzabkar]

Could these .BUK files be recorded as an MPEG Transport Stream? If so, I have found that VLC can play them, at least when they have an .mts extension.

BTW, some TVs appear to format any attached USB device without prompting the user, or at least that's what I've seen in various storage forums. That could account for the FAT32 volume.

My research suggests that there should also be .EPG and .IDX files in the same folder (EPG = Electronic Program Guide).