CF Card saying needs to be formatted..wedding pictues on card. Please help

[mikieMSU]

I got a real stickler of an issue and need some help before the new wife has my head.

Let my parents use my Kodak DX3600 camera for the wedding, I viewed a couple of the pictures before we took the CF card out of the camera and they looked just fine. Now the fun starts, when I tried to download them via a USB CF reader, the card became corrupt and nows states that it needs to be formatted. I can't read the card anymore in the camera, in my 3975 PPC, in any laptop or any CF reader I could get my hands on. What can I do? Does anyone know anyway for me to go and just grab raw data off of the card? Don't want to lose any of these pictures of my wedding for obivous reasons. Thank-you so much for your help.

Mike

[mikieMSU]

I got a real stickler of an issue and need some help before the new wife has my head.

Let my parents use my Kodak DX3600 camera for the wedding, I viewed a couple of the pictures before we took the CF card out of the camera and they looked just fine. Now the fun starts, when I tried to download them via a USB CF reader, the card became corrupt and nows states that it needs to be formatted. I can't read the card anymore in the camera, in my 3975 PPC, in any laptop or any CF reader I could get my hands on. What can I do? Does anyone know anyway for me to go and just grab raw data off of the card? Don't want to lose any of these pictures of my wedding for obivous reasons. Thank-you so much for your help.

Mike

[Jason Dunn]

I'd suggest trying a tool like this:

http://www.datarescue.com/photorescue/

If that doesn't work, I think you're out of luck - I haven't heard of cards just becoming corrupt like that - very, very odd. Best of luck!

[CESkins]

Originally Posted by Jason Dunn

I haven't heard of cards just becoming corrupt like that - very, very odd. Best of luck!

The very same thing happened quite often with my Memory Stick media when I was using Microtech's CF/MS reader. :really mad: I suspect that it may have been a driver issue but I never saw a driver update released from the company. I got so paranoid that I would transfer my pics to my computer using the camera's built-in USB connector vs. the card reader. I always locked the MS card when placing it in the reader so that it was read-only. Even this did not help in some instances. Sometimes the reader would scramble the card data corrupting pics and other times it appears to have corrupted the FAT. I always checked to make sure the card was not being written to/read from before removing. Switched to Dazzle's 6-in-1 USB 1.1 reader and have had no problems since with any of my media (CF or MS). Also no problems with the new Dazzle 8-in-1 USB 2.0 reader. It is possible that Mike's reader may have corrupted his data.

[mikieMSU]

Thanks for the help, I will give it a try tonight. I do believe that the card reader corrupted my disk, it has happened several times in the past but I have been able to still read the data in another reader before. I guess this is what I get for a $10 reader from Lexar.

Thanks again, lets hope it works.
Mike

[mikieMSU]

I just wanted to say that the datarescue program you directed me to worked so perfectly that I recovered pictures from previous formats that I forgot about. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: Thanks Jason for saving my tail. Anyone who has ever had an issue about a reader screwing up a picture card should invest the $29 and consider a very strong insurance policy.

Thanks again Jason.

Mike

[Kati Compton]

Originally Posted by mikieMSU

I just wanted to say that the datarescue program you directed me to worked so perfectly that I recovered pictures from previous formats that I forgot about. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: Thanks Jason for saving my tail. Anyone who has ever had an issue about a reader screwing up a picture card should invest the $29 and consider a very strong insurance policy.

Glad that worked out well for you! I was getting duplicate wedding pics printed and for a day or so the place couldn't find my negatives! I was NOT happy, so I understand the pain you were going through.

[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by mikieMSU

I just wanted to say that the datarescue program you directed me to worked so perfectly that I recovered pictures from previous formats that I forgot about. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: Thanks Jason for saving my tail.

<whew> I was starting to worry! There's enough divorce around the world today anyway, and it would be tragic for technology to cause a marriage to fail so quickly. :wink: That program is awesome - definitely worth the price just to have on-hand!