Recovering Images From Memory Cards

[beauh44]

This is a very commonly-asked question on Photonet, so when I read

this article in PC Magazine, I thought it would be useful to share it.

 

Recovering Images from Memory Cards by Bill Howard - PC Magazine

August 23rd, 2005 Issue:

 

"If you fear something is wrong with your flash card, stop using it

at once. Suspect a problem if the card can't be read in your camera

or PC, if you know the card holds 50 pictures but the camera

indicates none shot and 38 left, if photos you wanted seem to have

been erased, or if images on your LCD appear distorted.

 

Why Windows Can't help

 

Windows lets you read and erase photos on a flash card, but the

operating system can't recover images, because of differences between

your PC's hard drive and removable flash cards. Flash cards do

contain many structures common to storage devices: a file allocation

table (FAT), a root directory, subdirectories, a data area, and a

boot sector with a master boot record and a partition table, but they

are formatted using a non-PC device - a camera - that has its own

operating system. They also have a CIS (card information system) that

holds data about the manufacturer, camera, and photos.

 

Even when the data area of the card (which holds your photos) is

intact, problems with other parts of the card can render it

inaccessible. The most common ways to lose images are removing a card

while the image is being saved, accidentally reformatting the card,

and erasing the wrong images. In such cases, it is often not the

image files themselves that have been deleted or damaged, but the FAT

that indicates the files' start and end points, so the images are

usually recoverable. Unfortunately, some cameras format media cards

by overwriting each byte with a zero rather than simply removing the

FAT pointers. In those cases, your images are gone. Also, photos in

the built-in memory in Casio and Kodak EasyShare cameras cannot be

recovered.

 

If the boot sector becomes corrupted, you may get messages that the

card is unreadable or not formatted. If the root directory is

corrupted or if the boot sector doesn't point to it, you may lose

access to subdirectories and image files, which are usually located

in \DCIM\[camera name]. Odd filenames or extreme file sizes suggest

such corruption. But if you stopped using the card on realizing there

was a problem, the actual image file probably still exists and is

recognizable by its EXIF data. Windows can't read EXIF headers, but

most recovery tools can.

 

Recovery Tools

 

To retrieve lost photos, you'll need image recovery software. We

reviewed several such products in our recent Utility Guide

(go.pcmag.com/recovery). Nearly all let you recover from the most

common situations of erasure and data corruption for JPEGs. Two good

tools are ImageRecall, our Editors' Choice (FlashFixers, $39.95

direct, www.flashfixers.com), and PhotoRescue ($29 direct, DataRescue

sa/nv, www.datarescue.com)

 

Download and install a recovery tool, select the location or drive

letter of the flash card and run a scan. You may be offered a

standard or a deep scan. For accidentally deleted files, standard may

be enough. It will list files, or show thumbnails of potentially

recoverable files. Pick the ones you want to recover - "All" is the

best choice - and a hard-drive location where they should go.. Your

odds of success are best with deleted files and second best with

corrupted disks. They are worst with an image that was being written

when the card was removed or power lost. If you're lucky, you may be

able to save part of the image.

 

As a last resort, you can bring the card to a recovery facility.

Lexar's free service for its Pro series cards extends to

disassembling a physically damaged card when warranted.

 

If you can recover your images, reformat the card in the camera, take

some test shots, transfer them to your PC (make sure that they really

were moved), and reformat the card. If all goes well, keep using the

card.

 

DON'T DO THIS!

 

*Yank the card out of the camera just after taking the picture, while

the activity LED is still lit

* Power down just after taking a picture.

* Take pictures with a nearly dead battery.

*Swap image cards in your PC while the card's folder is open

*Accidentally reformat the card.

*Format the card on a PC or on a camera other than the one you shoot

with

*Continue taking pictures using a problematic card

*Sit down with a thin SmartMedia card in your back pocket (Likely

only a problem if you have an older camera) Crunch!"

 

 

[lex_jenkins]

Another solution: Sometimes a card that your/my/her camera won't read any more can still be read by another model camera of that particular brand.

 

One of my Sandisk Extreme III CF 1 GB cards recently went whacko and couldn't be read by or used in my D2H. I could recover images easily using Sandisk's utility program provided with the card, tho'. Just out of curiosity, I tried the card in a local shop's D70 - it read and recorded on the card just fine.

 

My other Sandisk and Lexar cards are fine in the D2H. Go figure.

[yu_heng]

Hello,

 

<a href=http://www.easeus.com>EASEUS DataRecoveryWizard</a> utility can help. Speaking about me, it was

easily able to restore deleted, lost file and unformat drive,

so I think you will also find it quite useful. Really recommended

tool, give it a try.