Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Recovering Images post CF card formatting

A Compact Flash (CF) card is used for storing images, audios, videos, and other multimedia files safely and to make their portability easier. Formatting a card enables it to interact with the device it is being used by. It does so by setting up a file system. Sometimes, device specific information is also added to the card during formatting. After card corruption, formatting the card makes it reusable. While this resolves the problem of data inaccessibility, it erases all the data from the card. Thereafter, if there is no back-up available, one can use an Image Recovery Software to recover lost files.

An instance of this could be when you have two digital cameras, and you want to use the same card for both the cameras. You pull out the card from one camera immediately after clicking pictures and insert it into the other. You then get the following error message:

'Card is not formatted, format now?'

The images from the CF card then become inaccessible.

Cause:

There are two reasons due to which this problem occurs.
The first is that the read-write process is interrupted because the card was pulled out while the camera was on. This leads to corruption of the card, and therefore inaccessibility of the data thereon.
The second is that the card needs to be formatted in accordance with the system it is going to be used by. Most cards work fine even if the machine it is formatted on and the one it is used on are different. However in some cases, like this particular one, this mis-match gives rise to several problems.

Resolution:

After the above error message, if you select the 'no' option, your data will remain inaccessible. On the other hand if you format the card, it will erase all the data thereon. The only way to resolve the problem is to format the card in the camera (or mobile phone or any other storage device it is being used in) and then restore its data from a back-up. If there is no back-up available, use an Image Recovery Software to recover images lost from the card. Digital Image Recovery is safely performed using read-only recovery software. This ensures that the data is not altered during the recovery process.

Stellar Phoenix Photo Recovery is a read-only Image Recovery tool that can retrieve lost files after any kind of data loss situation. It supports almost all the latest file formats, such as, JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF, AVI, MOV, etc. This application has an easy-to-use Graphical User Interface (GUI) and is compatible with both Windows and Mac OS.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

How to Recover lost Digital Photographs ?

Digital photographs are becoming the standard media for photography. Our pictures are very important to us, usually because the events only happen once in a lifetime. That first baby step, a family portrait, or summer vacation pictures are all cherished events that no one wants to lose. Capturing the pictures make them so important to us, but it can be equally frustrating or traumatic if you lose those pictures.

If you are using a digital camera that is malfunctioning, don't lose all hope. There are ways to recover your digital photographs, even though you might not be aware of it. For instance, most digital cameras use smart cards to store the pictures. Many times there is an option to store on the camera itself or the smart card - always choose the smart card. Once they are on the smart card you can transfer them to your computer and then back them up on CD or DVD.

If you already have pictures on your computer, they may have been moved to the recycle bin without you realizing it. Before you click on "empty" be sure to double check exactly what is in your recycle bin. If you have pictures there, you can highlight the ones that got mistakenly sent there and click on restore to put them back to their original locations.

Sometimes you'll run into issues where the digital photos aren't so easy to recover. If the smart card has become corrupted or if the camera is having hardware issues, it may not be so easy to recover your pictures. If you have to, you can always have a professional look at the camera and see if they can recover your pictures. It's a costly option, but if all else fails it is better than losing the pictures forever.

Many services and software packages can recover almost all of the files that you have on your camera, from the individual picture files to video files. Most people will unload their camera after they have taken a group of pictures. Once those pictures are on your hard drive they can be recovered using image recovery software. If you don't transfer to your computer, you will probably have to take it to a professional, so be sure to keep your smart card clean.

Almost everyone has a digital camera today, and the quality of the photos just keeps getting better. The moment that you capture in a picture can never be replaced, so be sure to back up your pictures and data frequently, including transferring files from your smart card to your PC. Unfortunately mistakes happen, and sometimes things happen beyond your control. Fortunately, you should be able to recover all of your digital pictures with the right Image recovery software.

Stellar Phoenix Photo Recovery is a Image Recovery Software which can salvage pictures, videos and audios from formatted or corrupted file systems. The tool supports all popular file formats; JPEG, GIF, RAW, TIFF, AVI, MOV, WMV, etc. It is compatible with both Windows OS and Mac OS X and has a simple GUI so users don't need to be software experts to use it.