Memory card error

[stormer]

Just got home last night and now all of a sudden when I turn on my camera (Cannon PowerShot SX200) it says "memory card error" I can't take a picture or view my pictures that I took on the trip. Anyone know if I can do anything to fix this or are all my pictures lost?

 

[seashoreCM]

Things to try.

1. Is the camera's battery pack charged up?

2. Turn the camera off. Take the memory chip out and put it back in again. (This cleans the contacts).

3. Does your computer have a slot you can put the chip in and download it as an alternative to connecting the camera via a cable?

4. Some printers have such slots which are worth trying even if your computer has a slot and it did not work. Usually you can access the chip from your computer even if the chip is plugged into the printer.

Digital camera hints: http://www.cockam.com/digicam.htm

 

[stormer]

I tried putting the card into my printer and got the same error message. I'll take a look at my computer and see if it has a slot for it. I'll try anything! Thanks

 

[seashoreCM]

There are some professional computer folks who can extract pictures from a corrupted card. But it is usually not easy. If the card has been used a lot without periodically having everything uploaded and then being reformatted, some of the pictures may be in fragments that have to be reassembled. It is like going through the broken gate of a parking lot to find that your car has the body in one space, the wheels in another space, the seats in a third space, etc. and figuring out which space has whose car's wheels, etc.

 

[NateNLogansDad]

#1 DO NOT try to write to the card.
#2 DO NOT try to write to the card.
#3 Do NOT format it.

If you can't get the pictures back send me a private message. I'm at work now but I'll be home after midnight and may be able to point you in the right direction.

 

[MICKEY88]

try using a card reader... walmart has them for around 15 bucks or less

 

[NateNLogansDad]

Try this out and let me know if it helps.

 

[stormer]

#1 DO NOT try to write to the card.
#2 DO NOT try to write to the card.
#3 Do NOT format it.

If you can't get the pictures back send me a private message. I'm at work now but I'll be home after midnight and may be able to point you in the right direction.

My husbands friend works in a camera store. He took it to work with him today to see what he can do with it. If he doesn't have any luck I'll let you know. Thanks for your help. My fingers are crossed that my pictures can be saved!

 

[NateNLogansDad]

My husbands friend works in a camera store. He took it to work with him today to see what he can do with it. If he doesn't have any luck I'll let you know. Thanks for your help. My fingers are crossed that my pictures can be saved!

There's a pretty good chance they can be recovered. Don't worry too much just yet. If worse comes to worse I have some special software here if you want to mail it.
I have no problem helping out whenever I can and I'll mail it back as soon as I get your files off (and no, I don't charge.) It's just an idea to keep in the back of your mind. I'm just outside of Philly, let me know and I'll PM you my address. The link I sent you is one I recommended to several other members on here and has had a good track record so far.

 

[safetymom]

There are many good programs out there you can download to recover the images. Some of them are even free.

 

[MICKEY88]

ZAR is an awesome program for photo recovery, it's free

I recoveroed over 10,000 photos from a hard drive that had been reformatted..

 

[NateNLogansDad]

any luck?

 

[stormer]

any luck?

Thank you so much for your offer to help. That was so nice of you. My Dh's friend actually called last night that he was able to recover my pictures. I am so excited! I was so worried when I got the error message. I am a picture freak - I take tons on vacation - but don't know what to do when something goes wrong.

Thanks again!

 

[seobaina]

Excuse me hi-jacking this thread but I have a similar problem. We toured California in Sept. My friend, near the end of the holiday, ran out of space on her memory cards so she bought a new one out there. It seemed to work fine but when we got home we found a fault. If I connect her camera to my computer and open up file manager it shows the photo details (ie, date taken, file size, etc). BUT if I try to take them off there (copy and paste) OR try to view the files as thumbnails it says 'error'. I tried taking it to a local camera shop and they had it for 3 days then so 'no joy, you'll have to reformat it and start again'. I didn't want to do this cause I didn't want to give up home. besides, they are more of a traditional camera shop than a digital one. I was wondering if we should try a computer expert instead. Can anyone offer advice? I really don't wanna give up on the photos unless I have too!

 

[NateNLogansDad]

seobaina-

Sent ya a PM. There was a link in one of my posts but it got deleted.

 

[disneymarie]

There's a pretty good chance they can be recovered. Don't worry too much just yet. If worse comes to worse I have some special software here if you want to mail it.
I have no problem helping out whenever I can and I'll mail it back as soon as I get your files off (and no, I don't charge.) It's just an idea to keep in the back of your mind. I'm just outside of Philly, let me know and I'll PM you my address. The link I sent you is one I recommended to several other members on here and has had a good track record so far.

If the card is broke is there any luck to recover. My son was carrying a computer with the card reader. The card reader did something to the SD card, he dropped the reader from the laptop, It is not a SDHD. I lost the Disny pics from this spring and some others,
di

 

[MICKEY88]

If the card is broke is there any luck to recover. My son was carrying a computer with the card reader. The card reader did something to the SD card, he dropped the reader from the laptop, It is not a SDHD. I lost the Disny pics from this spring and some others,
di

is the card physically broken/cracked..

 

[NateNLogansDad]

is the card physically broken/cracked..

That makes a big difference......

 

[disneymarie]

is the card physically broken/cracked..

Yes, when it was in the reader and hit the floor it cracked, we tried to read it in the computer slot and it did not recognize it. DS said he could have it read from the internal part.....

Nothing was ever done with it. I know he felt guilty about it and is under a lot of stress to bring it up to him.
I just wrote it off as a loss. After seeing this thread I wondered if he was right that it still could go to a device to recover the information.

 

[MICKEY88]

what type of card,, did it just crack, did it come apart... could you post a pic of it