TB4 Loc: TX

Upon returning from our vacation to the Rockies my wife discovered that she could not download any photos from her SD card. Neither did they show up in the camera with the card inserted. She tried an extraction program from the internet and these plus many other photos show up as being on the card but there was a hefty fee. Are you familiar with a free program (for Mac) that you would recommend to get the photos?

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

There is an electronic contact cleaner called Stabilant, that I was using at the dawn of the computer age to clean contacts on recalcitrant RAM chips.

http://www.amazon.com/Stabilant-5ml-Kit-Makes-30ml/dp/B001E50GQS

mas24 Loc: Southern CA

SD cards take a beating, from washing machine water with detergent, or found outside in frozen tundra, and it still works. You can clean the contacts mildly with clear rubbing alcohol with a Q-tip. Don't soak the contacts. Complete dryness is necessary. Good luck.

LFingar Loc: Claverack, NY

Google the program "Recuva". There is a free version that many people have used with good results.

sb Loc: Florida's East Coast

I have used Recuva on both corrupt cards and a card from which my daughter accidentally deleted her photos. In the later case we recovered about 90% of her images. Physically these cards can be tough, but electronically - not so much! I have found something that will almost always corrupt memory cards... They don't seem to handle file changes as robustly as do USB drives. If I put a memory card into a card reader and review the images with MS Photo Viewer, it will not automatically display vertical photos in a vertical format. I can rotate them - but then when I am done it asks if I want to save that image after I have rotated it. If I say "Yes", the card get corrupted. So - I have learned to always transfer the images to a temporary or archive folder before even reviewing the images.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Let us know if your wife recovers any images. Good luck!

mas24 Loc: Southern CA

I never heard of Recuva until now. I'll keep them in mind, just in case I have a need. Hopefully not. Thanks for the mention from two prior threads.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Recuva is free, so give it a shot.

TB4 Loc: TX

Excellent! We will try Recuva today and let you know the results. As much as I talk about UHH my wife immediately suggested I ask you for help. BTW, cleaning the contacts with alcohol did not work...

mas24 Loc: Southern CA

mas24 Loc: Southern CA

LFingar Loc: Claverack, NY

Make sure you download the Mac version!

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

First, is this a new memory card or one that you've used before without problems? If new, was it formatted in your camera before using it? (Formatting is also a good idea to do occasionally, but don't do it now because it will "erase" the images currently on the card.)

Next, are you using a card reader to transfer photos from the memory card? If so, maybe the card reader has gone bad. Have you got other memory cards that work okay in it?

Also, if it's an external card reader (as opposed to one built into the computer), it might be a connectivity problem. Cables can get loosened or even go bad too. But more often it's something you changed... another external device added, etc., that conflicts with the connection.

Also, a card reader often needs some firmware on the computer. Have you done any updates or made any other changes to your computer that might have effected the card reader?

Have you got a cable to connect the camera to the computer, so you can download images directly from it instead of using a card reader? Since you can view the images on the camera, this should work. (Just be sure the camera battery is charged up, so that it doesn't shut down in mid-download. That can cause file corruption.)

The Recuva software mentioned might work, too. But, if it doesn't I have some extra licenses for Lexar's Image Rescue, which came as a free bonus with memory cards I bought. With Image Rescue you can use the software to recover many memory cards. I've used it a few times over the years with pretty good success. I think Image Rescue is available for both PC and Mac (I happen to use it on a PC). Send me a private message if you'd like to give it a try, and I'll send you one of the license activation codes. You'll need to download the software from the Lexar website.

TB4 Loc: TX

I appreciate the kindness and helpfulness of all of you. Unfortunately my wife has spent the day being frustrated by the computer. Rucuva did not work. She is out for a walk right now to work out some frustration. I will continue to pass along your ideas though.

mas24 Loc: Southern CA

What is the name brand and type of your SD card? Just curious.