Nikon .NEF file recovery

[Hawkmoon]

Hi, in error I deleted my pictures, (Nikon RAW .NEF files), from an xqd card prior to transferring them to my hard drive and have been trying to recover them using Recuva software, (both the free and professional, paid for versions).

The software successfully found the files and then recovered them to my hard drive.  Only some of the files are able to be displayed in various display and editing software with the majority returning an error message that 'it appears we do not support this file format'. 

There are a few files that display a red dot in the filename and list unrecoverable in the state column so i would not expect to recover these files but the ones that won't display have a green dot in the filename and list 'Excellent'  in the state column and 'No overwritten clusters detected' in the comment column and it is these files that i don't understand why they fail to display in any display and editing software, can you please enlighten or advise me as to what I am doing wrong and how I can remedy this issue.

Many thanks, Pete

[WIZARDPhoto]

Pete,

Did the "free" version find your .NEF files? I had something similar happen (the Z6 chews battery life) while downloading off the camera. Missed 90 that I didn't see and I deleted/cleared the card. I recovered the .JPEGs. Wanted to grab the .NEF also if possible.

Thanks
Buddy