Photo's on memory card vanished ......

[katekoala]

Hi
I have had a lovely weekend away, where I have taken lots of photos - some very sentimental (as my boyf proposed) but when I have tried to view them on the camera or computer ... there is nothing there. I'm very confused, as I definitely took the photos... and at the time checked a few ... when I right click on the 'removeable disk F' (the card) it says 671mb is being used ... but within the 2 folders on this card - there is nothing ... please help
thank you

[sunny-dave]

Firstly - if it is an SD card - slide the little 'lock' switch on the side to make sure that you can't do any more accidental damage.

Then install something like Undelete 360 on your PC - I'll find a reliable link in a minute or two - this will allow you to inspect the card and find virtually anything on there that is still usable.

... back with a link in 2 ticks ...

[sunny-dave]

The download link is about halfway down this page - good instructions on the website too :

http://www.undelete360.com/

[katekoala]

thank you very much - tried this, but it didn't work. Its brought up all the photo's that I have deleted back to Sept 2011... is there anything else that might work? Like I said, I really dont understand it as the card still says (even after deleting everything) that there is 671mb being used ... but i cant locate anything on it that is taking up this space

[Old_Geezer]

It sounds as if the photos were not saved to that card. daft question but; you are sure you are looking at the right card ? Although hearing the "used" portion maybe there is some kind of card corruption, or saved to a hiddden area on the card ? Beginning to wonder if you don't need a more powerful salvage software scan. Might prove more costly than it's worth.

[katekoala]

I have redone a search for 'files' rather than photos .. this seems to have brought up some items for the right dates....but won't let me open them, and brings up an error message saying maybe they are corrupted ... any ideas on where to go from here?
thank you for any help you can give :)

[sunny-dave]

Hmmm - not good if you can find older stuff but not those from this weekend.

If you post the full camera name & card type I'll have a look around some of my favourite photo tech sites for any ideas.

[sunny-dave]

Copy a few of the files onto your PC and try renaming them as xxx1.jpg xxx2.jpg xxx3.jpg etc - this may then persuade the PC to open them.

You haven't accidentally changed the camera setting so that it's been recording RAW files instead of JPGs have you ?

[katekoala]

thank you so much Sunny-Dave ... as per last post - after a 'file' search its brought up some items ... but cannot open them ..
SD 2gb memory card - camera Fuji Finepix T200 14mp

[katekoala]

no idea how to change the settings to 'RAW' data or what that means :(

[sunny-dave]

OK - the RAW thing doesn't apply - your camera doesn't do that ..

Did you try copying and renaming a few of the files?

[katekoala]

it wont let me right click and copy .. or drag to the desktop. any ideas on how i can copy the file?

[sunny-dave]

Ouch - I think we need the heavy brigade here - I'll see if I can get chuck to read the thread & help.

dave

[ChuckFickens]

I've used recuva several times to recover photos that have been deleted (or when the cards been formatted..)

http://www.piriform.com/recuva

But, if the card has become corrupted in some way no file recovery software is going to work....

You could try right clicking on the card icon on the computer, selecting properties, then click on the tools tab and running a disk check on the card (tick all options)

[larrymacuk]

Has the camera got its own memory Try connecting the camera to your PC

[katekoala]

No - nothing seems to work. Never mind - thank you so much for all your help.. normally wouldn't be so bothered, but it was a bit sentimental ... never mind. not the end of the world ...

On the flip side of this --- if there is 671mb being used ... but no files or anything to this effect, how do I get this 671mb back??

[ChuckFickens]

Format the card......

And to be honest, formatting it may help with the file recovery, format the card on your computer making sure you only quick format it, then try running one of the file recovery programs on it, such as recuva.

[sunny-dave]

If you are sure that you've given up, then put the card in the camera and find the menu option that says 'format' - this should return the card to an empty state.

If it doesn't then try a full format on the PC (not a 'quick format') - if that doesn't clear it then come back & I'll give you a link to buy a good/cheap replacement.

Cheers

dave x

[sunny-dave]

Aha - but try what chuck says before you finally give up ...

[katekoala]

Done the format --- nothing else recovered, and memory card now blank. Thanks for all your help in trying to get the stuff back