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Dead SD card

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thedoyman

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Hi. I was wondering if it's possible to revive an SD card in some way. At least, there was no pictures on it. But both cameras that I have says that the card is unreadable, because it is defective. It's a Sandisk and the warranty has expired.

Anyone knows if a special software can do the trick?

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thedoyman
P850 + Oly tcon-17 and CX6330
 
If you do an internet search for "card recovery software" or "photo recovery software" you'll turn up a bunch of options, some free and some with the capacity to restore an otherwise lifeless card.

Look for something akin to "wiping" the card. I can't tell you what I use at work (conflict of interest regulations and all) but it has a card wiping function and I've been successful in restoring a few cards that way that wouldn't format in a card reader.

Also, this type of software is great to recover lost or accidentally deleted files so it's good to have on hand anyway. I recently scanned a card this way and recovered image files I had taken 3 years ago ! The trick is that as long as the file hasn't been overwritten by another file, it's still on the card, even if you formatted it. But the wiping process restructures the memory and absolutely everything that was on it will then be gone.
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Mike O'Brien
Eastman Kodak Company
 
Hmm, thanks Mike. Well I've tried some softwares already, but my main problem is, the card is not detected by my operating system in my card reader. So the softwares didn't recognize that there was an SD card in the card reader too.

It's sad that you can't tell the name of the software that you use though, but I understand your position.
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thedoyman
P850 + Oly tcon-17 and CX6330
 
thedoyman said:
Hmm, thanks Mike. Well I've tried some softwares already, but my
main problem is, the card is not detected by my operating system in
my card reader. So the softwares didn't recognize that there was an
SD card in the card reader too.
Click to expand...
That's a bad thing. It sounds like it's truly dead. And I don't think any recovery software could get to it if it doesn't show up at all in the reader.
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Mike O'Brien
Eastman Kodak Company
 
Sounds a strong case for using cards that bears the imprimatur of the camera maker. Then in the event of trouble as described above, one can say to the maker, Oi! Mr. (insert maker's name) whatcha gonna do about this then?
 
Yod, I have 3 cams and the cards are never taken out of any of them.

I've never had any trouble.
 
Any1 have a clue about the name of the software Mike uses? If he can't say, maybe someone else can...
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thedoyman
P850 + Oly tcon-17 and CX6330
 
Yod said:
Can the card be kept in the camera while not in use,or should I
take it out everytime I turn the camera off?Thanks a lot in
advance.
Click to expand...
I do not see any reason to remove the card from the camera every time you turn it off.

BTW I use a card reader to load the pics to the computer and not the USB connection of the camera. Therefore I have to remove the card every now and then in order to upload the pics.
 
BIJ001 said:
BTW I use a card reader to load the pics to the computer and not
the USB connection of the camera. Therefore I have to remove the
card every now and then in order to upload the pics.
Click to expand...
And I think this is why my card is dead. After I tranfered my pics to my computer with my card reader, I re-inserted the card in my camera, only to have this error message, that the card was unusuable.

Maybe too much manipulation of the card . Anyway, since that incident, I only use my USB cable to transfer my pictures, so the memory card stays inside the camera at all times, in a safe place.

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thedoyman
P850 + Oly tcon-17 and CX6330
 
thedoyman said:
Maybe too much manipulation of the card . Anyway, since that
incident, I only use my USB cable to transfer my pictures, so the
memory card stays inside the camera at all times, in a safe place.
Click to expand...
I fear the camera's USB socket could become loose some time. I fear more the loss of my camera that that of a card.

My Panasonic NV-GX7 video camera can not take any card. Two cameras take the same cards without a problem, but the video camera always complains about the card. I hope it is only the contacts' having got dirty or something other rminor problem.
 
I have purchase from Frys two 150X 1G PQI SD cards and returned within a week. Each stopped working after 100 or so images.
Leo
 
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