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General discussion

Recovery of photos from damaged Smart Media card

Oct 17, 2004 1:17AM PDT

My Smart Media memory card seems to have been damaged and now I cannot download any of the photos stored on the disk. When I turn on my camera, it just says "card error" and will not even work. I tried taking the memory card to the local photo shops to see if there machines could read the data but all of them had the same problem. Is there anyway of repairing the memory card and retrieving the photos? They were all pictures of my father's 60th birthday party!!
I think it may have happened when the card was full and I took it out to put in a empty card. Are the Smart Media cards easier to damage because of the large surface area which seems quite easy to scratch?

Discussion is locked

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Re: Recovery of photos from damaged Smart Media card
Oct 17, 2004 1:29AM PDT
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Re: Recovery of photos from damaged Smart Media card
Oct 17, 2004 1:39AM PDT

I always keep the cards covered properly and only take them out if I have to change cards if one is full. I usually take care when taking them out of the camera and putting it back in. I cannot find any damages to the surface and have no idea why it happened. I only want to know if there is anyway to recover the lost photos..

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Re: Recovery of photos from damaged Smart Media card
Oct 17, 2004 1:53AM PDT

"I only want to know if there is anyway to recover the lost photos.."

That was discussed in the supplied link.

Remember these cards are really only good for some large number of uses and are not immune to static discharge or other damage. It seems you took care of the card proper and didn't do anything more than the usual. Just putting it in and out of the slot is usually good for some 10,000 times so its doubtful you've reached that number. My bet is on static.

Bob

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Re: Recovery of photos from damaged Smart Media card
Oct 24, 2004 6:01PM PDT

If the card is damaged due to static or any other reason, can the photos still be retrieved? I've tried PC Inspector smart recovery, tried using the readers at the photoshops, but neither of them can detect the card or read the contents, just giving the message "card error". Will the manufacturer be able to do anything if I can send it back, or is it a lost cause now?

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Re: Recovery of photos from damaged Smart Media card
Oct 17, 2004 5:00AM PDT
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Re: Recovery of photos from damaged Smart Media card
Oct 20, 2004 12:54PM PDT

A completely free on that people swear by lately is Pc Inspector, use the smart recovery one for memeory cards. Someone had 200 photos on a corrupt card and got all 200 off in perfect order. This also works if you accidentally delete photos while the card is in the camera but I don't think it works if you have formatted the card in the camera.


http://www.pcinspector.de/smart_media_recovery/uk/welcome.htm

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Re: PC Inspector
Oct 25, 2004 3:21AM PDT

I downloaded PC Inspector smart recovery 4.5 and tried it out on a compact flash card I use to transfer files between my desktop and laptop.

It is really an amazing free program.

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Re: PC Inspector
Oct 26, 2004 1:35PM PDT

Yes, every one I know has had success every time they have used it on a corrupt card so I think it's a keeper.