[b&r]

I have an RCA digital voice recorder Model # RP 5020A. I made the mistake of letting it go through the airport security scanner. On my departing trip the recorder was fine but after the return flight it showed that my files were gone. THe thing about it is that it still shows that 3 hours of record time is gone but I can't find any files! RCA has no phone number that I have found that I can reach a tech support to help me. The information on this recorder is very very important... I am crazy for not backing it up in some way but now I just need some help try to recover it. Does anyone have any suggestion?

[bomb #21]

"RCA has no phone number that I have found that I can reach a tech support to help me."

In the US? Try 580-634-0151.

HTH

[b&r]

I appreciate your help but it says it is not a working number

[bomb #21]

Sorry, that's all I could find.

[ashes@work]

just contact them through here.. they should get back to you http://www.rcaaudiovideo.com/en-US/ContactUs.html

[b&r]

Thanks for all the help. I called the Geek Squad and they gave me the phone number for RCA tech support. It is 1-800-336-1900! I talked to them and they didn't seem to know how to recover the info. I know that they sell digital recovery software but I think that the memory chip is built into the device and it did not come with a USB cable. My only hope is I can take it to someone that get the memory chip out and recover it, however the memory chip is built in so it maybe a lost cause. At this point I don't care about saving the recorder I just want the files.

[starmonkey]

I have the same problem. Missing all my very important recordings and will do anything to get them back. I'm sure I didn't accidentally erase, tech support is no help, and it still shows by the remaining time available that something is still in there.

If you find any way to retrieve these files would you let me know by emailing me sweetqtdiva_@hotmail.com? I'll do the same by posting on here if I find a solution.

[econobiker]

I too have just had (10-12-07) this same problem with my RCA Digital Recorder RP 5020a dumping the files but showing the time still used. In my case I was reviewing old recordings to delete them to get more time. I came upon a recording that was duplicated under three (or four) different file numbers in a row. I was attemping to start to delete the last duplicate file in line when I pressed the "delete" button sequence to delete the file and the display freaked out -flashing a little- and then showed no recordings in that folder (A) but still shows the time remaining as if all the files were still there. It didn't seem to affect the other folder in use (B). That folder will take a new recording showing a file number but have restarted at #1 when I had about 93 files in there.

I too want to just recover my recordings- there were 1 or two that were pretty important to me.

email me at eclewis1 @ gmail.com (removed spaces around @ for reply)

[econobiker]

This is what I've gotten so far: "Please contact us at 1-800-336-1900 Monday - Friday 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. and Saturday - Sunday 10 a.m. - 7 p.m. (EST), so we may better assist you. We appreciate your interest and thank you for contacting us." RCA Customer Care <noreplysupport@rcahelp.com>

[swpetty]

Well, must have been a virus in this machine, since we all seem to have the same problem at the same time. I have over 2 hours of data stored on the machine, and it is un recoverable. Spent over an hour with tech "non" support this afternoon, and their only answer is somehow the data got corrupted. I asked how that can be possible, since it is a self contained unit, and the Philippine girl had no answer. The worst part is she refused to refer me to a supervisor, and could not physically describe the unit. Their only answer is "I do Apologize" and " lets go ahead with a reformat of the machine, that will recover your lost recording time" Wish I could find a rating website for this unit...second time I ever used it and it fails...If anyone ever has luck in recovering data from the machine..please contact me. Thanks

[NumberV]

Hope this helps someone out there!
Turn over your RCA Digital Voice Recorder... on the back there is a siver sticker above the battery compartment the says "Refer Inquiries To:Thompson Inc.
Long story short
visit web site:
http://www.thomsonnetwork.com/EN/Public/Home/Home.htm

1. Select 'View Instruction Book
2. Type in Model number in the field at the bottom of page and "vola" the instruction manual appears!
Granted, some of the features aren't represented but all I needed was general operation info!

PDF file for Model RP5022 is similar to my RP50220A version so I saved and printed it!
Tried to post the PDF copy here but file is too large!
Helped me so I'm sharing this info for other thirsty horses!

[recumbentguy]

Thank you, Thank you, Thank You!
I can now operate my RCA Voice recorder thanks to the info on Thompson Inc.
It showed no info until I left the "A" off the end of the model # then it gave me all the info for the RCA - RP 5020 'A' that I was searching for.
Great forum!
I'll be back!

[NumbersGeek]

I may have totally missed this, but when I bought my digital voice recorder, it was with the intention of transferring my voice recording to the computer. Does anyone here have any suggestions how to do this? Given all the posts about magically missing files, I have two that I want to copy to the computer ASAP. Thanks.

[Belitza24]

Has anyone figured out how to retrieve a file from the rca voice recorder when the memory says the file still exists but the folders are empty? I think is the same thing that happenned to b&r.

[JediMasterJammy]

I bought two of these RCA RP-5020 recorders. On one, I filled up folder A with 99 files. Then I started going through my files to delete some. I deleted several, then the thing started acting wierd. I found a duplicate of one file, and another file didn't play at all. I turned it off, and back on again, and suddenly it said 00/00 files in folder A. But the amount of free time remaining in HQ mode was still 6 hours 50 minutes. (Out of the 9 hours or so that was available before I started recording files.)

Then I had the exact same experience with the 2nd recorder. I filled up folder A with 99 files. Then I deleted file #87. That left 98 files. I played a few of them, everything seemed okay, and shut it off. When I turned it back on, it said 00/00 files in folder A! But the amount of free time remaining was still about 7 hours out of 9!

I tried resetting the device by removing the batteries for a few hours. The settings all returned to default, but the files were still missing, and the amount of available time remained about 7 out of 9 hours in HQ mode.

I called RCA technical help, and all they could tell me to do was reformat the device to reclaim the missing time. I said NO! I wanted my recordings back, some of which contained a departed family member. Then they told me to try to record more files and delete them, because they wanted to find out if the available time went up or down. I refused, because I didn't want to lose my old data. (Why couldn't they experiment on one of their own?) I also emailed them, and they said they couldn't help me in an email, and that I should call them. RCA's response to this problem has been downright shameful.

So I bought a third RCA RP-5020 to experiment for myself. I found that when there are less than 30 or so files in a folder, you can delete them without running into problems. But when you get into the 80's or 90's, and delete just one file, turn the device off and back on, it will say 00/00 files in that folder. But the used up time will stay used up. I repeated this process about 7 or 8 times, using folder B, C, D, A again, B again, C again, then A yet again, with the exact same result. The files kept vanishing, while the amount of available time kept decreasing.

I also monitored what happened to the available time when there were only 20 or so files in a folder, and I deleted some of them. I didn't experience the same data loss as above, and the available time went back up the equivalent of whatever size the deleted files were, as it should.

The lost data is obviously still in the flash memory, but not being detected. Possibly corrupted, but I am leaning toward the suspicion the device just can't index it anymore.

Has anyone tried a data recovery specialist? If so, I would like to hear which company you used, if they were successful, and the cost.