Saving data on a corrupt card?

Ann McRae

First time ever, but the card with my aurora photos on it has turned up corrupted.

Any quick fixes or should I just let them go?

So, now what is happening is the data that I formatted off yesterday is available to be read by the computer, but yesterdays shots are not - does this make sense?

When I put the card into my camera, it reads one file, but then the rest show as "corrupt data". File numbers are duplicates of the files that the computer can read????

ann

pyry

Ann McRae wrote:

First time ever, but the card with my aurora photos on it has turned up corrupted.

Any quick fixes or should I just let them go?

So, now what is happening is the data that I formatted off yesterday is available to be read by the computer, but yesterdays shots are not - does this make sense?

When I put the card into my camera, it reads one file, but then the rest show as "corrupt data". File numbers are duplicates of the files that the computer can read????

ann

Ouch!

I suppose you could try filesystem error checking (On windows, right click the card from My Computer, select properties, go to tools and there's error checking).

If it's a Sandisk card that came with the rescue software, that could be worth a shot too.

When you're done, successful or not, don't forget to format the card in the camera and test it.

Good luck!

Ann McRae

pyry wrote:

Ouch!

I suppose you could try filesystem error checking (On windows, right click the card from My Computer, select properties, go to tools and there's error checking).

If it's a Sandisk card that came with the rescue software, that could be worth a shot too.

When you're done, successful or not, don't forget to format the card in the camera and test it.

Good luck!

Its a Sandisk Ultra II 4 gig - I don't remember software, but I'll look for it. I see it can be purchased for $40.

Dee

Are you using a Mac? Google recover programs, there's PhotoRecovery you can try for free to see what the program can recover. My SanDisk card came with RescuePRO a file recovery utility. I tried both to help a friend recover her files.

Ann McRae

Dee wrote:

Are you using a Mac? Google recover programs, there's PhotoRecovery you can try for free to see what the program can recover. My SanDisk card came with RescuePRO a file recovery utility. I tried both to help a friend recover her files.

Hi Dee

I don't have that software, and cannot find a trial. I see it can be bought - I've just sent an email to work, as there are plenty of photogs there and someone might own it.

Thanks, and wish me luck.

ann

EDIT: A coworker has the software! WooHoo!

TuttleImages

Assuming you are on a Mac - take a look at "Klix" - it is a shareware program - you can recover one file w/ the trial, $30 to buy.

-frank

Van Isle

I've used "Disk Utility" (built in to Mac's) to salvage files. If the files are there but the filing system is corrupt, disk utility can repair the setup and then things bump along all happy. If the files have been erased and/or overwritten, then you might need some higher powered stuff. I've used FileSalvage to success. It'll scan the drive to tell you what's recoverable, but won't let you recover it until you pay up! It's about $100, but a small price to pay in the grand scheme as a tool in your photog tool box.

Don't forget to ask yourself WHY the drive corrupted! Always make sure it's been "ejected" and no data is being read/written before you unplug it!

VI

i_worship_the_King

Try a linux live CD such as Knoppix or Ubuntu. If it's on there, it'll get it off. If you're the techie type you can force a bit by bit copy so you can try different recovery methods without risking further damage.

I really hope you get these back, I can't imagine how bummed I would be in this scenario.

Ann McRae

Well, I'll be moving on to plan B for resucing the files. I'll give these options a try.

ann

Ann McRae

I just tried to use Disk Utility to repair the files, and it says that there are none to repair. Should I do something further?

Last night, as I mentioned, I tried the Sandisk recovery software that a colleague lent me. It ended up in a continuous loop and recovered 3 files(2 of which should have been formatted over already), but not all of them. It also said there were over 600 files on the card - which does not seem correct. Anyway, there are now 3 files on the card that Bridge can see, and a whole bunch of icons that read ACR or JPEG and do not open - also different than previously.I have to run this on dh's PC laptop, because the disk is a mini disk and I cannot use the iMac to read it.

Anyway, anyone have other suggestions for me - not sure these photos are worth spending money on, but now that I've started I don't want to let it beat me!

As well, how this happened:
I put card into reader into USB, copied files onto hard drive.
Then got message that there were updates to download. Waited for files to be copied, ejected card but did not physically remove it, then did upgrade. Restarted computer and then looked at photos that transferred - and they were not readable. So I believe the corruption and the update are separate issues
ann

BigAl

Ann, for PC software, try this thread and the Smart Recovery I mention.

Ann McRae

BigAl wrote:

Ann, for PC software, try this thread and the Smart Recovery I mention.

Thanks, Al. I will try that.

I tried KLIX per the above recommendation. the process took several hours, recovered about 400 plus files (jpgs and CR2s, as expected rather than the TIF etc that the sandisk recovery program found) and it recovered my 'aurora' pics. So I chose one of them to open (you only get one in demo mode) and it just doesn't seem right - it is underexposed by way more than I would expect, and playing with exposure in ACR just generates a bunch of noise. So it may be that those files are garbage, that I blew the shots or that they are unrecoverable.

Any thoughts?

ann

ChrisJ

Ann McRae wrote:

Thanks, Al. I will try that.

I tried KLIX per the above recommendation. the process took several hours, recovered about 400 plus files (jpgs and CR2s, as expected rather than the TIF etc that the sandisk recovery program found) and it recovered my 'aurora' pics. So I chose one of them to open (you only get one in demo mode) and it just doesn't seem right - it is underexposed by way more than I would expect, and playing with exposure in ACR just generates a bunch of noise. So it may be that those files are garbage, that I blew the shots or that they are unrecoverable.

Any thoughts?

ann

[Responding from the other thread, too]

fsck_msdos is just a Unix program that checks a disk. Don't worry about it, since you also have PCs to work with.

Regarding Smart Recovery, it is possible that some of your pictures will be fine, and others will be corrupt. That's the problem when the FAT (File Allocation Table) gets corrupted, which is likely what happened. It's also possible that they're all trash.

Tough situation.... I would try to hand it off to one of your geek friends. The other problem is, the more you "play" with the disk, the more corrupt it can become.

David_S85

there's a free trial of PhotoRescue

http://www.datarescue.com/photorescue/download.htm