Gutted

October 17th, 2014
Hi everyone. I have finally made it to my new home in Qatar and the Wifi is back (yeah) but I have shed a little tear this evening because I think the Sandisk I used to take photos over the last two weeks during the big move (yes...I'm that far behind) has corrupted. All my photos gone, my first 365 finishes in 3 weeks and not even the gin is taking the edge off the panic I'm feeling. Is there anyway to recover data from a disc or am I doomed to fill gaps with random pictures of my left foot? Please help. Thanks in advance. (BTW missed you all)
October 17th, 2014
Oh, no. Like you need that on top of all the chaos of moving houses. Try this - just looked it up quickly on Google: http://kb.sandisk.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4985/~/data-recovery-for-memory-cards-and-flash-drives

Good luck!
October 17th, 2014
No idea but I feel your panic and wish could help!
October 17th, 2014
@trishaclancy with certain sandisc you can recover.have a look on there web site
October 17th, 2014
@kass @newbank @padlock Thanks guys. I think my disc is inactive. I put it in my Mac and it doesn't appear. Darn. Not even sure where to even start looking for someone out here to fix it!
October 17th, 2014
This might be one for @abirkill and @frankhymus to help out with, they are so knowledgeable.........over to you guys :)
October 17th, 2014
That's bad. :(

Took this today because my PC user account corrupted too and I had to delete it... luckily I saved on an external drive before... it was very hard to solve and I had no idea how to but I managed somehow. Sorry I can't help you. Good luck!
October 17th, 2014
I had a similar issue, it still read in my camera so i uploaded the photos via my usb chord and then got a new card
October 18th, 2014
The first thing to check is the card reader -- in my experience, card readers fail more often than cards! Can you view the photos on the camera itself if the card is in there? If so, then the problem is likely to either be the card reader (if you're using one), or the USB cable connecting the camera to the computer, both easy fixes.

Unfortunately, if neither the camera nor a separate computer card reader will even recognise the card exists, there's going to be very little you can do. It's likely in this case that the controller chip on the card has been damaged by static electricity, or just decided to pack up. If the card is recognised by the computer but appears empty, or the computer says it needs formatting, there are some options to use recovery or undelete software, but if it doesn't get that far, then you can't resolve the issue yourself.

When this happens, the photos are almost certainly safe on the (separate) memory chip inside the card, but realistically, this doesn't help you much. A data recovery company may be able to recover the photos, but to do so would require them to unsolder the chip and install it on a new card, a time-consuming and fiddly process that will cost a lot of money (You'd probably have to pay well over $500 from most data recovery companies, and that may not include a guarantee of results).

There's a very small chance that the contacts on the card have got dirty and that's what's preventing the card from being read. If you don't have anything to lose, then I'd take a microfibre cloth, dampen a corner very very slightly in warm water or (preferably) isopropyl alcohol, and carefully clean the metal contacts on the back of the card, drying them off with a dry part of the cloth afterwards. It's very much a long shot, but it's unlikely to make things any worse.
October 18th, 2014
I used a card recovery program when I deleted my SD card on accident. Maybe it will work for you, too. Hoping it does!
October 18th, 2014
I've had this problem with two different solutions in the past four weeks. If the card reader on your computer is not recognizing your Sandisk, you might try using a USB-drive reader slot. I picked one up for about $7 and it reads my aging Sandisk while I shop for a deal on another to replace it.

The second fix has been mentioned. I found a recovery program and was able to retrieve pics I thought I had permanently deleted from a recent vacation. The program I found most highly rated and most likely NOT to corrupt my computer is a program called Pandora Recovery.

Good luck! I hope you are able to find a solution and retrieve your photos.
October 18th, 2014
@trishaclancy I have had my cards not sure in my laptop before - I have a card reader also and when I put it in there all is good - later I put it in laptop after taking photos and it is there again - keep trying - maybe try in another device
October 18th, 2014
@trishaclancy show up not sure hahahaha
October 18th, 2014
@abirkill @homeschoolmom @voiceprintz @annied Thanks everyone. My camera stills reads the card so I reckon I should be ok for the last two weeks but just my luck I have now dropped my Passport portable hard drive and Lightroom is telling me that the files are damaged or not supported. If it doesn't rain it pours. I usually slot my sandisk directly into my mac btw
October 19th, 2014
Fingers crossed! Hang in there!
October 19th, 2014
@abirkill Hi Alexis. Sorry to pester you but I know that you are an eternal font of knowledge and will give me the best advice. I've dropped my passport hard drive that I was using while we moved house. My mac recognises it and I can see the jpegs in the folders but when I go to open them with preview it says that the files are damaged. Are they retrievable do you think? Or have I just been taught a big lesson. TIA for any help!
October 19th, 2014
@trishaclancy Hi Trisha,

Is this the same computer that's showing problems with the memory card? I'm wondering if the problem is on the computer, rather than the memory card/hard disk?

Portable drives like the Passport are very fragile if they're dropped while they're plugged in and spinning, but actually surprisingly resilient if they're dropped when they're switched off.

I'm not saying it's definitely going to have come through completely unscathed, but given it is still recognised by the computer, and the files are still showing up, I'd be very surprised indeed if everything was lost. Hard disks have, as the name suggests, spinning magnetic platters inside them, with a head that flies over them and reads data. This head is 'parked' safely when the disk is powered down, and even if the drop does dislodge it, it will typically only damage a very small part of the magnetic platter. In other words, if the disk is still readable, which it sounds like it is, you have a good chance of being able to get 95%+ of the files off it, with only a few being lost.

Do you have another computer you can try it with to see if it works? If you can start to read files off it, it's a good idea to get everything off it as quickly as possible and onto another drive, just in case it has been damaged and starts to fail more. By copying all the files, you'll also get an idea of what's been damaged (some files would refuse to copy, and you'd need to skip them).

I hope that this is a computer issue and that you can get the files off both the memory card and hard disk.
October 22nd, 2014
@abirkill Hey Alexis. Thanks again for the fantastic advice. Seriously you should bottle and seek it. I think you may have hit the nail on the head. I tried the sandisk on my desktop mac and the photos uploaded no problem so I think the problem may be with my mac pro. Haven't had the courage yet to try the hard drive but I have hope at least . Thanks again :-)
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