Data Recovery from Camera SD Cards

Lost photos can be traumatic, especially if the photos are irreplaceable. Those photos you took of your once-in-a-lifetime vacation, the pics of your 2-year-old in her first Halloween costume, the poignant last photo you have of your mother—losing those photos isn’t just an inconvenience. It’s heartbreaking. Luckily, data recovery companies can often retrieve data from your camera or its SD card. In fact, if you have the right software, you may be able to recover the data yourself.

Digital cameras make it easy to snap memories so you can save your favorite moments to enjoy again and again. Compact digital cameras, especially entry level point and shoot cameras, often use SD cards to store your photos until you can upload them to your computer. Larger SD cards can hold dozens or even hundreds of photos, depending on the size of the card and the resolution you use. For many people, especially teens, it’s tempting to just leave your photos on your camera card, assuming you’ll always be able to access them. Unfortunately, SD cards can become corrupted, or photos accidentally deleted. Data recovery software can help you retrieve the data if it still exists on the card. Here’s what you should know about data recover options for SD camera cards.

The SD card is a data storage device. Like any other kind of disk or data storage device, it holds your photos in files that are saved on the disk according to a certain file structure. When you delete a picture, the camera doesn’t actually immediately delete the file. It changes the file name so that you can’t access it, and marks the sectors on the disk as available for new data. Even if your computer or camera can’t find your files, there’s a chance that the photos are still there, even if you format the card.

The most important thing to do if you can’t access pictures on your SD card is to remove it from your camera so that you don’t accidentally overwrite the photos that may still be on your card. Download data recovery software to your computer and install it, then insert the card into the SD slot on your PC or laptop. Start the program and follow the instructions on screen after choosing the SD card as the drive containing your data. With any luck, you’ll be able to find and restore your missing photos this way.

If that doesn’t work, though, a professional data recovery service such as Fields Data Recovery may still be able to retrieve your lost photos. Prices vary according to how hard it is to recover the photos or other files from your card, as well as from one data recovery service to another, so shop around to get the best deal possible.

Thumb Drive Data Recovery

Thumb drives have made it amazingly easy to transfer files from your work computer to home, from your home computer to the classroom, from your laptop to the printer—in short, from almost anywhere to almost anywhere else. For example, it’s not unusual for a college student to store all of the work for each of his classes on a thumb drive and simply plug it in to whichever computer is available for him to work. But when that thumb drive fails, it can mean the loss of an entire semester’s worth of work, or worse. Luckily, there are several data recovery options that can help you get your files back if your thumb drive is suddenly inaccessible. In fact, recovering data from a small, portable drive such as a USB drive or a thumb drive is easier in many ways than hard drive data recovery. As long as you have a working computer with Internet access and a free USB port, you should be able to recover the inaccessible files yourself.

First, keep in mind that these steps will only work as long as there is no physical damage to your drive. Data recovery from a damaged thumb drive is more complicated and best left to professionals such as those at Fields Data Recovery. If you can connect the thumb drive and your computer recognizes it, however, chances are that you can use data recovery software to find and access your files.

First, find and download a data recovery program onto your computer. Do not download it to the damaged thumb drive or you’ll risk overwriting the files you’re trying to recover with new data. If that happens, you’ll have lost the files for good. Even a professional won’t be able to access and recover them. There are a number of free data recovery tools available online. While they have superficial differences, most of them follow these steps.

Install the data recovery tool and open it.

Insert your thumb drive into a free USB port.

Select the thumb drive as the drive from which you want to recover data. Click OK or Start.

The program will search the drive for file folders and individual files. Depending on the size of your drive, this part of the data recovery process could take quite a while. As long as you’re working strictly with the files on your computer and not on anything located on the thumb drive, you can use your computer for other things while the program runs.

When the data recovery program indicates that it’s done finding file, open the results. You should see a list of recoverable files from the thumb drive. Tick off the files that you want to recover, indicate the folder where you want to save them—preferably to your hard drive or another thumb drive rather than on the same thumb drive—and click OK or Recover.

If the data recovery software doesn’t do the trick or if your computer doesn’t recognize the drive at all, you may need the help of a professional. Contact the data recovery specialists at Fields Associates to find out about pricing and time frame for your problem.

Data Recovery from Your iPod or Digital Audio Player

If you’ve never thought about data recovery for your personal electronics—you know, music players, ebook readers and the like, maybe you should. Because you carry them around with you, your cell phone, music player and ebook reader are more prone to data loss than your computer. And if you’re like most people, you probably don’t have a backup to restore your data from, which is short-sighted when you consider how many hours you’ve probably spent downloading and arranging your music collection so that you can easily access just the tunes you want to suit your mood.

So what do you do if you turn on your iPod, all set to listen to your favorite Angry Girl playlist, only to have it respond:

“The drive is not formatted. Do you want to format it now?”

If you’re facing this dilemma right now, click no and back out. If you’ve unfortunately already decided that formatting if your only solution, you may still be able to recover the data on your media player’s hard drive using data recovery software. If that fails, a professional data recovery service like Fields Data Recovery may be able to get to files you can’t retrieve using other methods.

Software Data Recovery

As far as your computer is concerned, your media player is just another storage device. There are many software solutions available to attempt data recovery, and some of them will preserve the data structure so that you’ll have little rebuilding to do once you’ve got your files back. There are also a few programs available online, both free and low-cost, which are specifically designed to recover data from your media player or MP3 player. While the specifics vary from program to program, in general, these instructions apply.

Download the software to your PC or laptop.

Plug your MP3 player into the USB port on your computer.

Start the data recovery program and follow the onscreen prompts to choose the device from which you want to recover the files.

If the files show up in the interface, follow the onscreen instructions to select the files you want to restore and undelete them.

Unfortunately, it’s notoriously difficult to recover files from small hard drives, such as those in MP3 players and media players. If your attempt to recover the data doesn’t work on the first try, don’t try again. Instead, find a data recovery service, such as Fields Data Recovery, that regularly works with small hard drives such as those in your cell phone, camera, media player or music player.

Data Recovery Options for an External Hard Drive

External hard drives have become a more popular method of handling data backups, both for businesses and for home use. For many families, an external hard drive serves as a file storage for the entire family’s needs – photographs, music files, financial plans, school papers and work files from everyone’s computers, all stored on a central external hard drive which everyone can access. So when that hard drive fails, it can be a major problem, not just for one person, but for the entire network that relies on it for backups and for network storage. If you’ve tried to access your external hard drive and found that it’s not available, these steps can help you recover the data from your drive, or protect it so that a professional data recovery service, such as Fields Data Recovery, can retrieve as much of it as possible.

First, determine whether your hard drive is in good mechanical working order. To do this, connect the hard drive directly to your computer and try to access it through your operating system. Listen for the drive spinning up or for any unusual sounds. If it makes any unusual sounds, including clicking or grinding, detach the hard drive from your computer and consult a professional data recovery service. Running your hard drive when there is a mechanical problem that’s causing scraping or grinding can obliterate data from it by physically damaging sectors on the drive.

If your computer doesn’t recognize the drive and/or it doesn’t spin up, remove the hard drive from its case and manually attach the drive to your PC. Try again to open the hard drive from your operating system. If the computer recognizes the drive this way, and your data appears to be intact, the problem is probably in the hard drive’s power supply. If that’s the case, you should find it fairly easy to transfer the files to another hard drive or to your computer.

Software Data Recovery

If your drive spins up, but the data is inaccessible, you may be able to retrieve the data from it with a software solution, either a purchased one or a free data recovery solution available online. If you choose to attempt your own data recovery, be sure that you follow the software instructions exactly to avoid losing more data. If you’re not confident in your ability to recover the data, outsource the data recovery to a professional data recovery service such as Fields Data Recovery.

If the drive is completely dead, do not attempt to recover the data yourself. A professional data recovery company has the facilities to open your hard drive safely and retrieve the data, so turn to the pros.

The Difference Between Data Recovery and Data Backup

Data recovery and data backup are not the same thing, but forgetting one can require that you acquire the other.  Data backup is the process of making copies of your important information such as emails, files, documents, pictures, music, spreadsheets, contact information, in short, any kind of data that you need, preferably in a form that can be easily restored to your computer or another computer in the event that something makes your data inaccessible. This can happen if your drive is damaged, or if a CD or DVD is badly scratched, or if you drop your cell phone in the toilet when you stand up. There are so many ways that you can lose access to your important files that it’s a wonder it doesn’t happen more often.

Most experts recommend that individual users back up their data at least once a week. When you back up your data, you should back it up to somewhere that is not on your computer. The safest backups are stored “off site” usually somewhere outside your place of business or your home. These days, you can easily back up your entire hard drive automatically to an online media locker at intervals that you determine. This can be one of the safest options for your data.

Data recovery is the process of retrieving files, music, emails, spreadsheets, documents and the rest in the event that you forgot to back it all up and then dropped your phone in the toilet or contracted a virus that rendered your hard drive inaccessible or ran over your camera when you backed out of your driveway or any of the other million ways that you might damage the media that holds your important data. Depending on how difficult it is for a company to recover the data, it can be expensive because it requires specialized software, equipment to repair and rebuild your drive and a facility with a clean room where your drive can be safely opened if needed. Prices to recover lost data can range into the thousands of dollars, and even then, there’s seldom a guarantee that the experts will be able to retrieve all of your lost files.

If you do end up needing the services of a data recovery company such as Fields Data Recovery, you should follow certain precautions to make sure that you don’t cause further damage to your drive or device when you send it for service.

First, remove the drive or device carefully from your computer, and then place it inside an anti-static plastic bag. Next, wrap the drive in bubble wrap, and place it in a box slightly larger than the drive. Pack the box with packing peanuts or wrapping paper to provide more cushioning. Finally, mark the package FRAGILE and ship it via UPS or FedEx to the data recovery facility.

Common Data Recovery Emergencies and What to Do About Them

You’re not the only one who’s ever accidentally emptied the Recycle Bin without checking to make sure that nothing in there was vital to your computer. You’re not the first person to drop your digital camera into the pool. And you’re certainly not the only one spilled a cup of coffee into your laptop. The fact is that no matter how dumb you feel about the way you lost your pictures or files, there are some very common scenarios that data retrieval companies like Fields Data Recovery see nearly every day. In some of these cases, you may be able to get that lost data back yourself.

Ack! Coffee! And Now My Laptop Won’t Boot Up!

Your first reaction when you spill coffee into a laptop can limit or completely prevent problems. Immediately turn your laptop off, remove the battery and turn it upside down to drain as much liquid from it as you can. You can carefully use the corner of a folded paper towel to try to wick out any liquid that hasn’t dripped through the keyboard and into the innards of your machine. Let it dry out completely before attempting to turn it on again.  Sometimes, that’s all it takes, especially if you drink your coffee black with no sugar. If your computer still won’t start up after you’re sure that it’s completely dry, you can still recover the data from the hard drive. Follow the instructions in the computer’s service manual to remove the hard drive from the laptop. Insert it into a USB drive enclosure, which will allow you to access it via another working computer. As long as the hard drive isn’t actually damaged, you should be able to transfer all of your files to the other computer, a flash drive or other removable media. If you can’t access the drive that way, you may need to send the drive off to a professional data retrieval company.

Oh, No! No! I Didn’t Mean To Hit Delete!

Windows throws so many “do you really want to do that?” screens at you that it’s easy to accidentally hit “Yes” when you mean “oops!” This is one of the easiest data mishaps to fix. Stop using your computer immediately. When you first delete a file, your computer doesn’t actually destroy the data. It just marks the sector so that you can’t access the data and the computer knows that it can overwrite it. The longer you continue to use your computer, the greater the risk that you’ll overwrite the data and make it unrecoverable. Use another computer to download a freeware undelete program. Install it on a USB drive and run it from that drive to find your deleted files and restore them using the program’s undelete option.

My Camera’s Memory Card Is Corrupt!

First, do not format your card. While it may be possible to recover images from a formatted card, it’s much harder and you’ll have some data loss. Try to recover the lost data using a freeware program called Smart Recovery, which is designed to recover data from memory cards.

If all of your attempts fail, all is not lost. In nearly all cases, a professional data recovery company can access and retrieve nearly all of your lost data files.

Tips for Choosing the Right Data Recovery Company

Losing access to the data on your hard drive, camera or other data storage media ranks high on the list of life’s most stressful events, especially if that data is mission critical. Choosing the right data recovery company can make a difference in whether you’ll get your important files and information back, as well as how long it will take and what condition it will be in when you get a new disk that contains the data. Finding a company that does data retrieval is easy—a simple web search will turn up hundreds. Finding one that does it right can be a bit more difficult.

Choose a Company With the Technology and Resources to Meet Many Data Loss Challenges

The software, hardware and facilities needed to safely recover data from damaged or inaccessible drives change rapidly, but the more experience a company has the more likely it is that they’ll be able to handle your data problem. When you contact a data retrieval service, ask how long they’ve been in business and what facilities they have to deal with recovery jobs. Look for a provider that has clean-rooms so that they can safely open your data devices for repair and recovery. Ask any questions that are specific to your particular situation as well.  For instance, whether they can handle recovery from proprietary file systems, or from your specific device.

Ask About All the Services the Company Provides for Data Solutions

Some providers offer a range of options that include do-it-yourself recovery with software options. Others may provide emergency or expedited service to get you up and running faster, or offer onsite data retrieval services. Find out how long the company will retain the data they recover, and if you’ll be able to access it again for a period of time.

Look for Data Recovery Companies That Provide Accountability and Transparency

Only do business with a company that will provide you with an evaluation that lists recoverable files, a time frame and a quoted price range before you commit to the work. Accountability and transparency will help you avoid fly-by-night operators and scam artists.

Check the Quality of the Company’s Customer Service

In today’s world, there’s no excuse for any major company to provide anything less than 24/7/365 customer support and service. You should be able to call a toll-free number or get instant answers online, as well as tech support personnel to help you prepare your device before recovery and to help you reinstall your data after service. Many of the best companies also have online portals so that you can track the progress of your data recovery.

Select a Company You Can Trust

Look out for sales gimmicks that sound too good to be true and guarantees that no one can make. Choose a company, such as Fields Data Recovery, that offers full transparency about their capabilities and their pricing.