Establish the storage model
- Collect every data, index, memo/blob, dictionary, log and configuration file.
- Identify a known engine or container before assuming a custom binary format.
- Recover schema from metadata, application code, screens, reports and controlled samples.
- Map keys, relationships, deleted-record rules, encodings and numeric/date representations.
- Implement extraction against copies and retain raw source references.
Prove the result
Reconcile counts, totals, keys and representative records; rerun the extractor from unchanged originals; document uncertain fields. If storage is encrypted, legitimate credentials or keys are required—analysis does not imply bypass.
Use binary analysis only when necessary, file-format recovery for damaged containers, CSV delivery or the database pillar.