Unlike film, a damaged memory card could mean the loss of years' worth of photographs.
Unlike traditional cameras, whose picture-storage capacity is confined to a roll of film, digital cameras offer users the chance to store thousands of pictures on a single memory card. Although they may be convenient, these digital memory cards come with a downside. Unlike film, a damaged memory card could mean the loss of years' worth of photographs. Luckily, this pitfall can be mitigated by software that allows for the retrieval of data from damaged memory cards.
Instructions
1. Check either the box that your memory card came in, or the memory card manufacturer's website, and find out which kind of formatting your memory card stores its data in. Data-retrieval software can only retrieve photos stored in JPG, BMP, TIFF, PNG and GIF formats.
2. Connect your digital camera to a USB port by plugging the camera's provided USB cable into the port. Make sure that the damaged memory card is placed inside the camera's memory slot.
3. Click on "My Computer" (for PC) or "Finder" (for Mac) and locate the camera's memory device. If your camera does not appear, you will need to remove the damaged card from the camera, and place it in an external USB device. These devices provide a slot for your memory card and have a USB cable to connect the card to the USB port. They are widely available and can be found at Amazon, BestBuy or Wal-Mart, among others.
4. Download data-retrieval software. There are several options, some of which are free of charge. Popular data recovery software includes CardRecovery, DiskDoctors and File Recover 8. All of these programs are either free, or offer free demos that can be used to recover your files. These files can be downloaded by clicking "Download" on their web pages, and selecting the "Run" option from the next two windows that pop up. After clicking "Run" on the second window, an installation wizard will appear. Follow the instructions of the wizard, and click "Next" after completing each prompt.
5. Click "Next" after your software is downloaded, making sure that your damaged memory card is showing up on "My Computer" or "Finder."
6. Click "Step 1" on your software. This step will be offered automatically after completing the installation process.
7. Click on the drive in which your memory card is located. If you are unsure of which drive your memory card is located in, check "Finder" or "My Computer"; the drive's letter will be shown in parentheses next to your memory card.
8. Click "Step 2" to initiate your software's scanning of your memory card. It may take several minutes. The software will then display a list of found pictures. Right-click (command + click on Mac) and select "Save As" for any pictures that you would like to salvage. Save them to the photo program of your choice.
Tags: memory card, your memory, your memory card, damaged memory, damaged memory card
