Archiving Images
Nov 10, 2019 14:22:57 #
Wondering if anyone else has run into this. I store my images on WD External Hard Drives.This mostly works well. But recently, when I have tried to open some-but-not-all of the images in whatever folder on the HD, the error message says that the file format is not supported, even though it is an regular jpg. Re-booting does not help. I can sometimes open the file in a different editor. But then if I save it and try to open the updated file, I get the same message. Any ideas?
Nov 10, 2019 15:04:24 #
Sounds to me like the hard drive may be starting to fail. I use the WD 1TB external and have never run into that issue.
Nov 10, 2019 18:13:59 #
out4life2016 wrote:
Sounds to me like the hard drive may be starting to fail. I use the WD 1TB external and have never run into that issue.
That is the drive I was referring to.
Nov 10, 2019 19:37:22 #
Have you tried copying or moving some of those files to a different drive before opening, or saving them back to a different drive after opening them?
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Nov 11, 2019 08:25:41 #
Had that happen maybe 11 years ago with both a Seagate and a WD. Fortunately, was just getting started with photography and didn't lose many. Bought a Buffalo which lasted 9 years - didn't fail but both a Buffalo tech and the tech I use for computer issues told me I was skating on thin ice. So, I bought another one in replacement. These have multiple hard disks in a case, configured with a RAID - so, if one disk goes bad, replace it and the remaining disk replaces the files the one gone bad had. Buffalo makes both a wireless model as well as a hard-wired one.
Nov 11, 2019 10:53:19 #
cameraf4 wrote:
Wondering if anyone else has run into this. I store my images on WD External Hard Drives.This mostly works well. But recently, when I have tried to open some-but-not-all of the images in whatever folder on the HD, the error message says that the file format is not supported, even though it is an regular jpg. Re-booting does not help. I can sometimes open the file in a different editor. But then if I save it and try to open the updated file, I get the same message. Any ideas?
Two words: cloud backup. Hard drives are not enough.
Nov 11, 2019 13:35:28 #
out4life2016 wrote:
Sounds to me like the hard drive may be starting to fail. I use the WD 1TB external and have never run into that issue.
I agree it sounds like it is on the verge of complete failure.
Nov 11, 2019 14:15:18 #
Storage is so cheap now that if one of my externals so much as hick-ups I replace it. I use two 4TB externals and cloud storage, my life is on those disks
Nov 11, 2019 17:06:14 #
cameraf4 wrote:
Wondering if anyone else has run into this. I store my images on WD External Hard Drives.This mostly works well. But recently, when I have tried to open some-but-not-all of the images in whatever folder on the HD, the error message says that the file format is not supported, even though it is an regular jpg. Re-booting does not help. I can sometimes open the file in a different editor. But then if I save it and try to open the updated file, I get the same message. Any ideas?
Interesting, I am considering an external HDD for my Chromebook Laptop, not familiar how they work exactly, as far as File retrieving etc. It might be a "Trial by Fire" learning process, maybe I will hope to hear how your situation is solved before I do anything. Please let us know how you progress with this External HD situation, I will look forward to hearing results.
Nov 11, 2019 17:27:56 #
Silverrails wrote:
Interesting, I am considering an external HDD for my Chromebook Laptop, not familiar how they work exactly, as far as File retrieving etc. It might be a "Trial by Fire" learning process, maybe I will hope to hear how your situation is solved before I do anything. Please let us know how you progress with this External HD situation, I will look forward to hearing results.
They work exactly like an internal hard drive. You plug it in, your computer recognizes it and assigns it a drive letter and from then on you add and/or remove files just like you do on the internal drive. My suggestion is to get an SSD drive of at least 2TB. They are so much faster than HDD drives and not that much more expensive.
Nov 11, 2019 17:47:59 #
rick_n_wv
Loc: Charleston WV
Curmudgeon wrote:
Storage is so cheap now that if one of my externals so much as hick-ups I replace it. I use two 4TB externals and cloud storage, my life is on those disks
The chance of two going bad at the same time is kind of remote. I am still using HDD but am starting to go ssd with next purchase. I agree with another poster as well. Use cloud storage too. If anything happens (robbery, fire, flood etc) you can get you images back.
Nov 11, 2019 17:55:46 #
cameraf4 wrote:
Wondering if anyone else has run into this. I store my images on WD External Hard Drives.This mostly works well. But recently, when I have tried to open some-but-not-all of the images in whatever folder on the HD, the error message says that the file format is not supported, even though it is an regular jpg. Re-booting does not help. I can sometimes open the file in a different editor. But then if I save it and try to open the updated file, I get the same message. Any ideas?
What information have you not provided?
Before trashing perfectly fine equipment or buying still more alternative technology, consider more about what is happening.
When you say 'editor', what did you mean by using that word? Are you viewing JPG images or doing something else?
What is the default viewer for your JPG files? Check the file properties to confirm and update, if needed.
Are these actually JPEG images, with extension JPG, or are they some other file type / extension?
If the problem was the external equipment, what happens when you find a 'problem' file and copy back onto the internal disk of the computer?
Nov 11, 2019 20:28:44 #
You might want to do a complete backup of your system, like yesterday. I agree that this sounds like a hard drive failing. I use backblaze, it is an off site backup service and affordable. The first backup will take a bit of time, there after it will only take new data and marry it up with the older files. Good luck, the other suggestions are good, however, if it is truly a hard drive failing, time is of the essence.
Nov 11, 2019 21:58:05 #
I usually download all my pics into my labtop, make a CD or dvd cppy of the pics ,and then place them into my harddrive so I have them in 3 places.
Nov 12, 2019 04:26:33 #
I have heard a few examples of external hard drives failing. I currently have one external drive and am planning to get a second. However, forgive my ignorance, but I leave my current HD on all the time. Should I be switching it off between use?
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