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DPChallenge Forums >> Hardware and Software >> Photos disappearing from memory card!!!
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Showing posts 1 - 17 of 17, (reverse)
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 08/29/2014 01:45:38 PM · #1
Heeelllppppp... Photos disappear from memory card when I put it in a card reader to copy files to tablet or laptop... Any explanation??? If I manage to recover the photos with a recovery program, will they be valid to submit them to challenges??
 08/29/2014 03:31:43 PM · #2
When you put the memory card into the tablet or laptop, what program is opening? (Are photos going into a program like Lightroom?) You don't have something checked that photos automatically get transferred from the card to the computer? If you have a corrupt memory card, there may be software associated with the card to help you get the images back. Has this happened just once? (I'm far from a computer expert, so this is what I would try - but I'm generally not in danger of needing validated pictures, so I would survive if I messed up a card further. But I would try to see if card would take more pictures, and then see if those new photos also got transferred off the card - maybe the card got accidentally reformatted?)

As long as the original file wasn't changed by the program on the computer that you transferred it into, you should be okay. But I know there are a few programs that make a change to the file. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable than me will chime in on that aspect. (If the file wasn't changed, you could just make a duplicate of that unchanged file before you do any processing, then you should still have that original file available for validation if needed.)

Sorry for your troubles. Hopefully folks with more knowledge or experience will respond.
 08/29/2014 03:49:14 PM · #3
Thank you Jules1x for your propmt reply... It happened with me with several memory cards... Can anybody guess the reason for this??? Thanks a lot for your help...
 08/29/2014 03:50:46 PM · #4
How frustrating is that!!

I have had that a few times and there is a free download called Pandora recovery it will recover any lost photos on your card as long as you did not reformat the card..

hope you get your pictures back!!
 08/29/2014 03:59:08 PM · #5
Originally posted by Wessam:
Thank you Jules1x for your propmt reply... It happened with me with several memory cards... Can anybody guess the reason for this??? Thanks a lot for your help...

That sounds like a bad connection somewhere in the card-reader-computer series, especially if the cards were working in the camera.

I would lock the cards (at least for the moment) and replace the cable if the reader uses one, and or try a different reader.

I also recommend that you do not use any software to copy the images -- drag-and-drop them using the device's operating system.
 08/29/2014 04:18:15 PM · #6
Actually I used 2 different cards readers. Do you think it is better to use a USB cable to copy photos from camera to laptop?
 08/29/2014 04:37:16 PM · #7
I think it's MUCH more likely that the card reader is automatically transferring the images to a location on the drive that Wessam is unaware of; I've had that happen to me, with Lightroom. In a case like this, if you actually know what one of the filenames should be, just plug that into a windows system search and see if the file is hiding somewhere.

And no, transferring with card readers is MUCH safer than transferring direct from camera, where bad things happen if the camera's battery gets how, and where the itty-bitty cable connector can easily be jostled.

Message edited by author 2014-08-29 16:37:52.
 08/29/2014 05:06:08 PM · #8
Wessam - does any photo software, like Lightroom or Photoshop, open when you put in the memory card?
 08/29/2014 07:24:19 PM · #9
Originally posted by Jules1x:
Wessam - does any photo software, like Lightroom or Photoshop, open when you put in the memory card?


No...
 08/29/2014 07:34:44 PM · #10
Do you have another computer to try and transfer your files too?
 08/29/2014 07:57:19 PM · #11
Originally posted by Enlightened:
Do you have another computer to try and transfer your files too?


I can use my sister's laptop..

Does anybody know why this happens in order to avoid it? If I use a recovery program, will photo be valid for challenges, or they won't be original anymore?
 08/29/2014 08:01:34 PM · #12
Do you have Picasa? That is really good at finding photos which are anywhere on your computer, even when you can't find them yourself. Only problem is it doesn't tell you where to find them.
 08/29/2014 08:11:27 PM · #13
Originally posted by Wessam:
Originally posted by Enlightened:
Do you have another computer to try and transfer your files too?


I can use my sister's laptop..

Does anybody know why this happens in order to avoid it? If I use a recovery program, will photo be valid for challenges, or they won't be original anymore?


Try that. At least you will find out if it's your computer or not. Eliminate one source at a time and hopefully this can be figured out. My fingers are crossed for you.
 08/29/2014 10:25:03 PM · #14
Originally posted by Wessam:
If I use a recovery program, will photo be valid for challenges, or they won't be original anymore?

We have validated "recovered" files in the past. I can't promise they'll be OK, but it is certainly possible. Be sure to TELL us it's a recovered file if you have to submit for validation.
 08/30/2014 04:02:57 PM · #15
Originally posted by Wessam:
...Do you think it is better to use a USB cable to copy photos from camera to laptop?


Yes, especially when the copy process is done fully automatic. Is makes life so easy!
 08/30/2014 11:53:10 PM · #16
I always download direct into piccassa, which also adds it to my pictures file, I find this the easiest and simple process
 08/31/2014 12:11:36 AM · #17
Originally posted by GeneralE:


I would lock the cards (at least for the moment)
I also recommend that you do not use any software to copy the images -- drag-and-drop them using the device's operating system.


Good advice. If you lock the SD cards with the little slide lock located on the edge of the card before you stick it in the reader, your computer can read, but can not alter anything on the card. Just be careful because it's pretty easy to pop the little slider tab completely out of the card.
I keep a monthly computer file for card downloads, and use drag & drop to copy the image files from the card. I then remove the camera card, then copy the images to my editing program from the monthly file.

Many of the programs that edit, organize, or work with photos alter the original files, especially if the program software is used to transfer the images from the camera cards to the computer.
There have been a few discussions in the forums about that happening, and more than a few DQ's over not keeping the original files intact, although the alteration was not on purpose.
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