Corrupt memory card

[lumpy08]

Hi all,
My SIL just called and her heart is in her throat.... Her daughter was playing with her camera and she deleted "ALL" her photos. Is there anything she can do. Any recommendations would be appreciated. (thankfully I usually bring my camera to all events so I have her dance recital and communion). But the one thing she is missing... Her Disney photos... (which unfortunately I wasn't with her on her trip).

help

[Master Mason]

There are recovery programs that can be employed, but not if she uses the card before hand. Check the manufacturer site to see what they offer.... But get the card out of the camera now so no one uses it.

[dioxide45]

If the card came with any kind of mini CD it probably contained a recovery program. Sometime those are also loaded on to the chip when shipped but most people wipe that stuff off on first use when they format the chip.

As the previous poster indicated, don't use the chip. The files are still all there just the pointers to them are gone. So a recovery program will be able to find and recover them all. If the chip gets new information written to it, that information can overwrite the actual files with new data and then it will be harder to recover everything.

[lumpy08]

Thanks for the quick responses. I'll keep you posted if they are able to get them,

[MICKEY88]

try using zar (http://www.z-a-recovery.com/) it's agood recovery program and free for photo recovery

[disneyfanUSA]

I'm am looking for a memory card for my Pentax k-x. This is a 32gb class 10 how much do these usually cost? I am looking for something that will show me my pictures fast I have a class 2 right now and sometimes it takes a couple of minutes for the pictures to come up. Is this a good brand or would you recommend a different brand.

http://cgi.ebay.com/32GB-SD-Flash-Memory-Card-Secure-Digital-SDHC-Class-10-/220637787648?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Digital_Camera_Memory_Cards&hash=item335f097600

or this one

http://cgi.ebay.com/32GB-Class-10-Secure-SD-SDHC-Memory-Card-Camera-PDA-/250661672757?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Digital_Camera_Memory_Cards&hash=item3a5c999735

[Daisy14'sDH]

I'll never purchase a non name brand memory card again, they fall apart and are unreliable, but you may get lucky. I stick with Sandisk and Kingston now, they at least stand behind their warranty.

[disneyfanUSA]

How many pictures do you think would fit on an 8gb memory card for the Pentax k-x in its highest 12.4 mega pixel setting? Do you think I need the mega pixels set that high?

[Daisy14'sDH]

8gb card with camera set to RAW+ JPEG I can get 324 photos. With JPEG only I dunno 970 or so I think... been a long time since I used JPEG...

[Daisy14'sDH]

Check out Dells website for any sales, they often have good deals on for us Canadians, right now they have Kingston Class 4 8gb for $15...

[disneyfanUSA]

Thanks for the website Daisy14

Would a class 4 be fast enough to take video?

[ukcatfan]

Thanks for the website Daisy14

Would a class 4 be fast enough to take video?

No. My class 4 and my Transcend 6 will only do two minutes at a time. My Class 6 Kingston will do video just fine though. Just remember that off brands can give off results. I also would not shop for one on Ebay. They are notorious for fake memory cards. People buy el cheapo memory and then put on fake labels that say Kingston, Sandisk, Lexar, Etc. If you get a fake, it might say that it is class 10 but really be class 2. I shop for memory at Newegg, Buy.com, Adorama, and B&H.

[Daisy14'sDH]

I have only shot a couple of videos with class 6 only. I figured that I dont use a lot of video so class doesnt really matter to me that much. If I ever do I guess I'll throw in one of my class 6 cards. I got the extra card for one of the 3 other cameras we have in the house here, sorry I never considered if it could write fast enough for video...

[disneyfanUSA]

Thanks for all the help. I think I am going to order off of Adorama there prices are good!

I am just trying to decide if I should get the 8gb or the 16gb. The only time I would need a bigger card is in Disney, because I will not have laptop or computer to upload them to. I have never filled up my 4gb memory card on a trip before...but the Pentax is so easy to take multiple pictures at one time and MP is larger then my old camera and I am scared it will get filled fast. I was thinking if I got the 8gb memory card I could just set the Mega Pixels on the k-x to 6mp or 10mp while in Disney. Will using a smaller MP create any problems I know MP dose not effect the quality of the picture (right?), but just what you do with it after. I will only be ordering 4x6's. What do you think? Sorry for the long post! :goodvibes

[ukcatfan]

Thanks for all the help. I think I am going to order off of Adorama there prices are good!

I am just trying to decide if I should get the 8gb or the 16gb. The only time I would need a bigger card is in Disney, because I will not have laptop or computer to upload them to. I have never filled up my 4gb memory card on a trip before...but the Pentax is so easy to take multiple pictures at one time and MP is larger then my old camera and I am scared it will get filled fast. I was thinking if I got the 8gb memory card I could just set the Mega Pixels on the k-x to 6mp or 10mp while in Disney. Will using a smaller MP create any problems I know MP dose not effect the quality of the picture (right?), but just what you do with it after. I will only be ordering 4x6's. What do you think? Sorry for the long post! :goodvibes

At the price of memory, I would never go with anything but the best quality. I am guessing that you do not shoot RAW, so 16GB will give you a lot of pics. It holds over 600 RAW shots, so I would guess that it would be around 2K JPGs. I would however suggest getting two 8GB ones over one 16GB one. If you had a memory card failure (rare, but it happens) then you would only lose half your shots. I personally do not ever want more than 500 shots on any one card.

[Golf4food]

At the price of memory, I would never go with anything but the best quality. I am guessing that you do not shoot RAW, so 16GB will give you a lot of pics. It holds over 600 RAW shots, so I would guess that it would be around 2K JPGs. I would however suggest getting two 8GB ones over one 16GB one. If you had a memory card failure (rare, but it happens) then you would only lose half your shots. I personally do not ever want more than 500 shots on any one card.

I can fit about 500 RAW from my Pentax K-7 on a single 8GB card. JPEG would only give you that many more. I also subscribe to the more but smaller cards to prevent losing too many if one fails. I've had one fail in the past and lost those photos. I own four 8 GB and four 4GB cards. For video I would not go lower than class 6 on the Kx or K7, higher if you can afford it. I don't shoot much video on mine so I have 4s and 6s.

[CAJUNWDWFAN]

I had a question about memory cards. I'm looking at purchasing a 16GB memory card and the "ultra" is around $60 and the "Extreme" is around $100. I know the "extreme" is faster but is the cost really worth the speed and the cost? I'm an amature photographer and will not be taking professional pictures, just family and vacations, so I'm not sure if it's worth it for my use to get the faster memory card. What do you all recommed?

thanks,

[zetachi]

memory card is only as fast as your camera and card reader can read. What kind of camera? P&S DSLR ?IMHO extreme would be a waste. I have a mix of SD ULtra II and Lexar Pro on an Olympus E510 DSLR and they are fine.

[dioxide45]

I would save the $40 and go with the Ultra. You won't notice much if any difference. The camera usually writes to internal memory first and then to the removable card. This is why continuous shooting is limited and won't increase or decrease with faster or slower cards. The card probably won't make much of a difference.

[CAJUNWDWFAN]

memory card is only as fast as your camera and card reader can read. What kind of camera? P&S DSLR ?IMHO extreme would be a waste. I have a mix of SD ULtra II and Lexar Pro on an Olympus E510 DSLR and they are fine.

I'm looking at getting a Canon EOS Rebel T2i. I just didn't know if a faster card would make a difference with the HD video feature and with picture taking.

Oh and speaking of taking video on a DSLR. I plan to take HD videos with the T2i, should a prime lens such as a 50mm, be used when taking videos or could I use the zoom lens that comes with the kit? I didn't know which would be better.

[Gianna'sPapa]

I don't have video on my DSLR but I thought I read you need a class 6 card. I think the Ultra II is a class 4, so I would recommend you do some further research to ensure you take full advantage of your camera.

[AlbertZeroK]

I don't have video on my DSLR but I thought I read you need a class 6 card. I think the Ultra II is a class 4, so I would recommend you do some further research to ensure you take full advantage of your camera.

Yep, the T2i requires a Class 6 card for HD Video recording. Otherwise, a class 4 card will work. The advantage of a faster card is HD Video recording and shooting at high speeds (continuously.) I typically shoot with Class 10 cards in my T2i and love the speed for continuous shooting.

[CAJUNWDWFAN]

thanks for all the comments, I looked into it a little more. Looks like I might be getting the SanDisk Extreme 3 16GB SDHC. It's $100 but I guess it's an investment. Who knows it might go down in price by the time I get around to buying my camera, or maybe a sale somewhere.

[Luv2Scrap]

Yep, the T2i requires a Class 6 card for HD Video recording. Otherwise, a class 4 card will work. The advantage of a faster card is HD Video recording and shooting at high speeds (continuously.) I typically shoot with Class 10 cards in my T2i and love the speed for continuous shooting.

Ditto. I have three 8gb cards. At the maximum quality, that gives me just under 3,000 pictures. Double that if I go one step below the max.

[Pooh_Friend#1]

I recently got back from a trip and discovered that the pictures I took in the middle of my trip are missing on my SDHC card. I have the pics from the beginning and the end but that is it. Any ideas how I can look for and recover the missing pictures? TIA.

[Experiment_626]

I don't have any specific software recommendations, but I know there are utilities out there that should be able to recover "missing" files, so long as they haven't been overwritten. Google is your friend, but I'd start with the web site of the card's manufacturer.

[ssanders79]

SanDisk has a knowledge base article that recommends Rescue Pro and Rescue Pro.
http://kb.sandisk.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4985

[NateNLogansDad]

http://www.pcinspector.de/default.htm

It's worked for me a few times.......and it's free!

[atsolomon]

I had a good experience with this free utility: http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec

Good luck!

--Adam

[Pooh_Friend#1]

Thank you all so much. I can't wait to try some of them when I get home. I really appreciate the help.

[hughtopia]

Second vote for PhotoRec. It saved my bacon big time once.

[Pooh_Friend#1]

I have attempted a few sites and so far I haven't found anything. For some reason I cannot get PhotoRec on my computer, not sure what I am doing wrong.

[MICKEY88]

I have used ZAR and a few other programs in the past, I have them all on my PC, the one that worked best for me is recover my photos...http://www.recovermyphotos.com/

you can download it for free, then run it and if you see the files you are hoping to recover, then buy the license key

[MICKEY88]

are the photos you have in numerical order with no missing numbers

[AlbertZeroK]

http://www.piriform.com/recuva

free and works well for picture recovery

but if the card is bad, their may be no recovering. What brand of card is it?

[Pineapple Whip]

^^ second on recuva.

I also used a product called ZAR (Zero Assumption Recovery) for a fee. Worked very well.

[MICKEY88]

^^ second on recuva.

I also used a product called ZAR (Zero Assumption Recovery) for a fee. Worked very well.

you paid to use ZAR ???

[disneyfanUSA]

Lately I have been having problems with my Kingston 8gb class 6 memory card. Occasionaly it will say memory card full even though I know I still have room for about 800 more pictures. Then it usualy freezes up my camera (Pentax K-x) for a few seconds. I have to turn the camera off and even when I do turn it off the memory card full message or sometimes memory card error message stays up for a few seconds while off. Then when I turn the camera back on the last 2 or three pictures I have taken are gone and replacded with a black screen thats say Image error. This seems to happen when the battery life is low. Could that be the problem? What should I do? I bought the card from adorama.

[photo_chick]

How often do you reformat the card?

[disneyfanUSA]

How often do you reformat the card?

What do you mean by reformat?

[YesDear]

Reformat means you ask the camera to erase everything on the card and refomat it clean just like a hard drive. There are software programs that can do it for you, but I think the in camera function is the best. You know it is being done for your camera's liking.

You also should never delete single images from the camera and continue to take pictures. You have a good chance of corrupting the data.

[disneyfanUSA]

I do not delete all the pictures often should I? Is it a good or bad thing to reform it?

[ukcatfan]

I do not delete all the pictures often should I? Is it a good or bad thing to reform it?

I always reformat instead of erase all. If it continues to have problems, contact Kingston.

[MarkBarbieri]

I assume (maybe incorrectly) that you regularly copy all of the pictures from your camera to your computer. After you've done so, you should reformat the card in your camera. That wipes the memory card completely clean and makes it look like a new card to your camera.

If you reformat it and have any trouble after that, I'd pitch it and buy a new one. Memory cards are cheap. Why risk your pictures to save a few bucks?

[photo_chick]

The main reason you want to reformat vs. deleting is because simply deleting the images leaves a lot of stray bits of data behind that can accumulate and cause problems. Reformatting normally does not have an issue with this. Also keep in mind that memory cards have a finite life span that is drastically shortened if you delete frequently, rather than reformatting all at once.

This may not be the problem at all. The card could just be bad. But in my experience reformatting fixes a lot of problems, and extraneous data can cause issues similar to what is described.

[disneyfanUSA]

Does anyone know how to reformat the memory card on the K-x?

[disneyfanUSA]

Nevermind I found it. Thanks everyone. I hope that was the problem.

[peyjax]

So we got the dreaded reformat memory card message on the canon we took with us to Disney. This camera was borrowed from inlaws and I was unfamiliar with the sd card brand. I always purchased scan disk memory cards but apparantly this is an off brand that is notorious for doing this. I am just at a lost as to how to recover them. I did find one sight that said it could recover them but was unsure. Has this happened to anyone else? Any suggestions? We have a mac so I am not sure if that makes a difference in programs we can use. TIA

[manning]

Until you try to recover the pictures DO NOT reformat the card nor take pictures!!!

[atsolomon]

Do not reformat the card (in fact, I'd write-protect it)

Here's an article about how to try to recover lost photos from a card.

Good luck!

http://www.petapixel.com/2010/10/13/how-to-recover-deleted-photos-from-a-memory-card-with-photorec/

--Adam

[NateNLogansDad]

This is some nice free software I've had good luck with

http://www.pcinspector.de/default.htm

[Dismom+two]

My daughter is having trouble with her memory card and wondering if anyone has had this same issue.
She turned on her camera and it said her card was full, which she knows it's not. But then when she goes to look at her photos it says there are No Images.

Any thoughts? She has tried to reformat it and nothing changed. Is the card toast or anything else she can do?

[ratlenhum]

I would write it off and get a new one. Last time I had that problem, after reformatting a handful of times and finally being able to take pictures, after 2 days at Sesame Place the camera wouldn't recognize the fact that there were even photos on the card. My computer even told me there were none. We had to use a recovery program and only got about half our pictures.

The memory cards are so cheap these days I wouldn't take the chance.

[AlbertZeroK]

My daughter is having trouble with her memory card and wondering if anyone has had this same issue.
She turned on her camera and it said her card was full, which she knows it's not. But then when she goes to look at her photos it says there are No Images.

Any thoughts? She has tried to reformat it and nothing changed. Is the card toast or anything else she can do?

Some cameras have INTERNAL memory. I would check to ensure the camera is set to use the memory card and not internal memory. My daugher's little Kodak camera does the same thing.

[Dismom+two]

Well...just wrote it off and bought her a new card! She is back to being a happy young lady again now that she has her camera back!!

Thanks for the input!!

[GrillMouster]

Always format the card in-camera, not with the computer. If it's an SD card, make sure the "lock" slider isn't set to lock.
If it's an old card and/or nothing else works, replace it. While you're at it, get an extra backup card. It's not uncommon for memory cards to fail, and you don't wanna be stuck at an imporant event without a backup.

[austin_mark99]

Don't be so worried about ur pictures. There are some gud photo recovery software available on internet. But first of all please stop using d card anymore to increase d chances of recovering files
Then you need rely on professional photo recovery tool. Download any one of the software from the following sites
1>RecoveryFix for Windows
2>Kernel for Digital Media
both are gud ones and follow the following steps:
1. Install the software on ur computer.
2. Connect the memory card to computer.
3. select the drive(usually G or H for memory card) , click Start. Now the scanning process will start to search the deleted files. After a while you will then get a list of recoverable files.
4. Press Recover to perform full recovery.

Note choose d location of ur PC to save d recovered data

[tazdev3225]

The title pretty much sums it up. I just came back from WDW. I went through my memory cards, took some 2000 to 3000 pics. I erased some of the really blurry ones. I was going through one card in the camera today and I got 5 or 6 file error messages in the first 100 or so pics, not bad odds but at least one was a pic I really liked the effect on. I am hoping when I go home and try to look at them on my computer, on my DD's at the moment, they reappear.

My question is two-fold. What causes the message and will I be able to retrieve them? That is assuming I can't get them to show up on the computer. I am already having problems with my 4 month old computer not allowing me to upload the pics into the computer as it is. I did format all of my cards before the trip based on advice here. That is when the computer started having problems and I have never had a file error message before I formatted the cards. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[bdkane]

Just some ideas that have worked for me - Format the card with the device it it being used in then make sure it stays paired to the device. Try not to remove the card and view the data until you are ready to download it and store it, it is safe to view it on the source it was recorded but once removed and inserted into another device it is possible to corrupt the data.

If you are willing to pay to recover your data there are services online, my business partner recently used one with success - he had a 4 MB card and it cost him $100 for them to recover the data ( im not sure how much data was on it though) Good luck! if you cannot find anyplace to recover your data shoot me a message and I will ask my partner who he used (I would send it now but hes out of the office until next week)

[AJRitz]

Just some ideas that have worked for me - Format the card with the device it it being used in then make sure it stays paired to the device. Try not to remove the card and view the data until you are ready to download it and store it, it is safe to view it on the source it was recorded but once removed and inserted into another device it is possible to corrupt the data.

If you are willing to pay to recover your data there are services online, my business partner recently used one with success - he had a 4 MB card and it cost him $100 for them to recover the data ( im not sure how much data was on it though) Good luck! if you cannot find anyplace to recover your data shoot me a message and I will ask my partner who he used (I would send it now but hes out of the office until next week)

Whatever you do, DO NOT FORMAT THESE CARDS AGAIN UNTIL YOU HAVE EXHAUSTED ALL EFFORTS TO RECOVER THE CONTENTS. (Sorry to shout, but that's REALLY important).

I recommend checking out a file recovery utility. I managed to rescue an entire card's worth of photos that had accidentally been deleted with a file recovery tool. I wish I could remember which one I used, but they're pretty much all the same. Most have a "try before you buy" option, that allows you to see what the program has been able to recover before you pay, and then will complete the actual recovery after you pay for an unlock code.

[tazdev3225]

Thanks for the advice. I put the memory card into the computer at home and all pics are viewable. I am thinking the problem is a communication error between the camera and the card. Hopefully I can reformat the card after I save the pics to a disc and won't have the problem again.

[GrillMouster]

Just so we're clear...you formatted the cards in the camera, not the computer, right?

[tazdev3225]

Just so we're clear...you formatted the cards in the camera, not the computer, right?

Yes. I made sure all of my pics were downloaded to the computer and then put on discs as an extra backup. I then formatted all of my cards in the camera. It seems that only one card is having trouble with the camera reading all of the pics on it. I can see the pics on the computer just can't upload them because the software no longer wants to cooperate. I only have the issue with the camera.

[AlbertZeroK]

I NEVER delete pictures on my card in the camera. It just leads to all kinds of nasty issues sometimes.

That being said, once you get the files off, definately format the card in windows, uncheck "quick format" and let it completely format the card, or if you camera has the option, use a Low Level format.

Of course, reformat your card in your camera when you are done doing it on a pc.

[bleeps]

Another vote in favor of NOT doing any kind of editing/deleting of photos when the card is in the camera. I always just leave all the images I've shot on the card, I upload them all to the computer, and then I delete any I don't want at that point -- deleting them from the computer, not from the card itself.

Then, after I've done the appropriate shutdown/removal of the camera from the computer, I reformat the card in the camera.

I've heard many horror stories about corrupting the card when you delete or otherwise edit the photos on the card while the card is in the camera.

[peyjax]

So on our last day of Disney the sd card on the canon t2i said the card was unreadable and needed to be reformatted. We were so upset but did nothing with the card. I have been searching for weeks trying to figure out how to fix it or where to send it to have it recovered. I am not very computer savvy but tried a free trial on line. Nothing came up. I am at a lost as this is a camera problem not a computer one and my computer friends do not know how to help. It does not help we have a mac.

Anyone with any detailed help or recommend a place to send it to? Please tell me that I have not lost all my vacation pictures!?

[MICKEY88]

first, you were smart by doing nothing with the card,


http://z-a-recovery.com/

is a good recovery program. you can download it and use it for free to recover photos, for recovery of other files types, you must pay for a key to unlock it

I also have this program which is excellent but costs9.95

http://www.recovermyphotos.com/smart-media-data-recovery-software-buynow.php .

[LoodlesNoodles]

Wondering about this too, all my parents holiday pictures suddenly disappeared from their memory card. Mums very upset about this as had some pictures of her late father.
Took it to a camera repair shop who said the pictures are still on there somewhere. Just can't get to them and we'd need special software - though he didn't say what this software was. Any ideas?

[ssanders79]

I've used a free program called recuvia with great success. It is also a good habbit to backup your images and reformat your cards in your camera. I keep warning my parents as they keep all thier keeps on the card and just spot delete. Every once in a while it is good to do a lillte preventative maintenance.

[karen7]

I use Pandora Recovery. Good program and free. I ahve used it several times for myself and friends. Good luck

[austin_mark99]

Don't be so worried about ur pictures. There are some gud photo recovery software available on internet. But first of all please stop using d card anymore to increase d chances of recovering files. There are some free softwares available u can search them on google but I do not believe in free software as it will end up messing my computer with virus and spywares and whether it recovers your data intact or not is not guaranteed there are chances that u end up loosing your precious data. So I look for cheap and good software. For recovery software, I bought one before called Kernel for FAT and NTFS, good thing is that it's one time payment and then it allows me to use forever. Take a look if you do not mind paying to get back your data, Using trial version u can preview d data recovered but to save it u hav to purchase the software. Now follow the following steps
1. Install the software on ur computer.
2. Connect the memory card to computer.
3. select the drive(usually G or H for memory card) , click Start. Now the scanning process will start to search the deleted files. After a while you will then get a list of recoverable files.
4. Press Recover to perform full recovery.

[atsolomon]

What a nightmare! But you've done the right thing by not formatting the card.

Here's a tutorial on one recovery tool (which I've used successfully).

http://www.petapixel.com/2010/10/13/how-to-recover-deleted-photos-from-a-memory-card-with-photorec/ (http://www.petapixel.com/2010/10/13/how-to-recover-deleted-photos-from-a-memory-card-with-photorec/)

Good luck and let us know how it works.

--Adam

[hereyago]

Hello,
I don't frequent this board much but I need your help please.


I know this will sound crazy, but I took pictures at WDW a couple weeks ago. Now: I can see the pictures on my camera screen, however, I go to download the pictures to my computer and other pictures (the card was used before but I deleted (or at least thought I did) will show up on the computer.

I even tried it with our Wii, same thing, it shows maybe 2 pictures that I took at WDW and the rest are old ones.

Can it be fixed or what? TIA

[Gianna'sPapa]

My first question would be, what type of camera are you using? Does it have an internal memory? If so, could the photos be there instead of the memory card. Remember, until you resolve the issue do nothing to the card. Do not reformat it.

[hereyago]

My first question would be, what type of camera are you using? Does it have an internal memory? If so, could the photos be there instead of the memory card. Remember, until you resolve the issue do nothing to the card. Do not reformat it.

It's a Nikon Coolpix 3700. I went to Walgreen's last night to see if the pictures I took would show up on their picture maker and the didn't. But I can have that memory card in the camera and it will show the pictures that I took. So guess it's still on the internal memory, how or can I get my pictures?

Ironically, we took DD's cellphone that has a camera and I was taking pictures with my camera in case her phone camera messed up. But they weren't duplicate of everything.

[MarkBarbieri]

Take the memory card out of the camera and attach the camera to your computer. If you can still see the pictures, that proves that they are in the camera's internal memory.

[MICKEY88]

with my camera,it starts a new folder each day, so if I'm shooting an event that runs past midnight there will be 2 folders of pictures.. , perhaps get a card reader to connect to your pc, then check for multiple folders..