I’m usually quite diligent with my memory cards; copying (not moving) the images from the card to the computer, doing a backup and then formatting the memory card back in the camera. I’ve really had no problems, until last night.
I was busy creating some blog postings and also working on a newsletter for my wife (she does a quarterly newsletter for a not-for-profit and I do the layout). There I was happily multi-tasking when she came into my office and wanted to add another picture to the newsletter.
She handed her camera to me and I put the memory card in a card reader, opened freeCommander (a dual-panel file manager) and started to copy the files to a folder on my computer, when freeCommander froze!
I tried everything I knew but couldn't get control back. So, using Windows Task manager, I aborted freeCommander and opened an Explore window. All the files were gone; nothing, nada, vapor. Politely, I told my wife to find something to do, while I worked to get the images back.
I started with Google and looked for an application to rescue her images. Three, that I downloaded and tried, found absolutely nothing on the memory card; no folders, no files. All of these programs were free and absolutely useless. Fearing downloading and trying any more would do more harm than good, I quit looking for any more free utilities.
I had known about PhotoRescue for a number of years, but didn’t really want to spend the $29.00. Furthermore, I didn’t want to risk the possibility that PhotoRescue wouldn’t be able to find and resurrect the lost images. However, PhotoRescue had a trial version I could use to see if it would work.
I downloaded the trial and started it up. PhotoRescue took some time to read through the sectors as I watched its green thermometer slowly move towards the right. Instead of sitting anxiously, I went upstairs and relaxed while my lovely wife asked if I found her pictures yet? What if they are really missing? Are you sure they are all gone? … and so forth. Maybe I was better off sitting at my desk watching PhotoRescue work. At least it would be quiet.
The trial version eventually completed, showing me it had, in fact, recovered the entire memory card’s volume of folders and images. A dialog popped up to let me know that if I paid for a license and entered the registration number, I could save the images. Since the other three programs didn’t find anything, I thought it prudent to spend the $29.00.
I went to PhotoRescue's web site and purchased a license. What I got back was an email letting me know where I could download a registered version of PhotoRescue (this version uses no registration numbers; it’s good to go when you install it).
This was somewhat annoying, as I had the trial version still opened on my desktop, waiting for the registration to be entered and save my images. Now, I had to download and install a registered version and start the entire process all over again; then wait for it to complete reading the memory card’s sectors (and continue to answer my wife’s worried questions).
I can report that PhotoRescue found and saved every image on that SD card and saved it in its original size and quality. It reconstructed the SD memory card folders and all and I could choose to save the image on my hard drive, which I did. After backing up the images, I formatted the SD card in the camera for its next use.
PhotoRescue has a good refund policy. Use the trial version first. If it can’t recover the images, the paid version won’t either. If the trial shows that it can recover your images, but the paid version won’t, PhotoRescue will issue a refund.
There is no doubt PhotoRescue is worth the $29.00. Sooner or later you will run into problems with a memory card and, if you are like me, with four people using digital cameras in the house…
As I said previously, the trial version suggests it can save your images to disk once you enter a registration code. There is no registration code. You have to download the registered version and start the process from scratch. Other than time lost, not a real problem; just annoying.
My advice to anyone using a digital camera … get a copy of PhotoRescue, put it in a safe place.
$29.00 is a small price for image recovery and peace of mind.
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