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Missing file names

Started Dec 27, 2018 | Discussions
ZBthumbnail New Member • Posts: 5
Missing file names

HI, I was wondering if any one can assist me in recovering 'file names' on picture files have mysteriously gone, leaving numbers only. 
I have in the past used Zoombrowser software with a G12.  Many thousands of photo's over many years, with file names have now suddenly been decimated, either due to some ZB software update...or perhaps windows? How could all the picture file names suddenly go missing?
Since these files need the original file names in order to make best sense of the images, it would be nice if there was an easy fix to recover the original file names.

Within the requisite folders, there exists a file called ZBthumbnail info, or something to that effect.

Thank you in advance. Any help appreciated much.

Canon PowerShot G12
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sueanne
sueanne Forum Pro • Posts: 21,078
Re: Missing file names
1

I have a G16  look in setting to see how you set up the files (settings) Did ypuir camera come with a manual?

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jshen808
jshen808 Forum Pro • Posts: 16,067
Re: Missing file names
1

ZBthumbnail wrote:

HI, I was wondering if any one can assist me in recovering 'file names' on picture files have mysteriously gone, leaving numbers only.
I have in the past used Zoombrowser software with a G12. Many thousands of photo's over many years, with file names have now suddenly been decimated, either due to some ZB software update...or perhaps windows? How could all the picture file names suddenly go missing?
Since these files need the original file names in order to make best sense of the images, it would be nice if there was an easy fix to recover the original file names.

Within the requisite folders, there exists a file called ZBthumbnail info, or something to that effect.

Thank you in advance. Any help appreciated much.

..Sorry to hear about this mishap..

..really is bad when softwares causes glitches like this..

..the only thing I can think of, is if you have backup of these pictures elsewhere..

..or.. if you have created a "Restore Point" in your Windows prior to this..

..Best wishes..

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requa
requa Contributing Member • Posts: 860
Re: Missing file names
1

I no longer have Zoom Browser installed and can't seem to find it to download, but I'm I bit puzzled here. Are you saying all of your image files are unnamed? This doesn't seem to make sense, at least from my experience with Windows, as every file within a given directory must have  a unique name. Or are the files named but no longer named as they originally were? Are you seeing this in your file manager or only in ZB?

If the file names have been corrupted, you might be able to restore them if the original information is still in the EXIF data. I would try Irfan View or similar to perform a batch rename using the original file name from the camera or (my preference) a date code derived from EXIF.

If the file names are missing in ZB but still there in your file manager, look for an option to display file names in the ZB settings.

Dan

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OP ZBthumbnail New Member • Posts: 5
Re: Missing file names
1

HI peeps - thank you all for the replies. Sorry it took so long to get back to this thread, but been very busy and had a computer crash due to trying to get the lost file names back.
Sueanne, the camera did come with a manual, but I cannot find any information that would help remedy this problem.

JShen88, I do  have a small amount of the picture files backed up elsewhere. I have also tried the 'restore point' approach, to no avail. Indeed it is so typical that this must surely be due to a software glitch.

I have a funny feeling that this disaster was caused by a forced update to Windows 10 from Windows 7. I never needed, wanted, or agreed to have the 'forced update', but alas Microsoft have become much less than decent in so forcing that update on people, no doubt for Microsofts benefit rather than consumers. In my view, Windows 95 was far better in many regards. Imagine that!!! Now, 24 years later? Windows 10 is the worst OS. WT frick.
It's also become much harder to use Google to find some information or do research due to their commercial model that seeks to profit rather than acting as a global index for the the world.

There are others who have reported similar problems with file names going missing after that Windows 10 update. Despite having tried several supposed solutions to the problem, nothing has thus far worked. As said, this is a disaster; many years of work hang in the balance.

requa/Dan, yes the files have names that have been attributed to them, numerically. So they might go something like this: img_1, img_2, img-1007 etc. Obviously that was not the way the files were originally named. It is like this in all directories and file managers including ZB. Somehow - possibly via the Windows update - the way the files are named has changed from what I named them, to numerically. It would seem odd, that this data could just disappear.
Any way...blah blah huh. Thanks again peeps. If any other idea's...please share.

MyM6II Senior Member • Posts: 2,424
Re: Missing file names
1

IMG_0001.JPG, IMG_2344.JPG is exactly how files are named in all Canon cameras. My guess is that you have never really renamed the files. You may have added a Title or a Caption in a software maybe. I am not familiar with Zoom Browser, but does it have an option to show Titles (or Captions) instead of File Names ?

(I have never seen or heard anything like this (mass rename) happen with a software update. I find it very unlikely. Most likely is a user error somehow. Sorry to say that.)

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MyM6II Senior Member • Posts: 2,424
Re: Missing file names
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Did you update from ZoomBrowser 2 or 3 to version 5 or something ?

If so download this PDF and look on page 124 (Find the title: "If You Were Using ZoomBrowser EX Version 2 or 3") and see if that can be a solution (or explanation) to your problem, maybe.

http://web.canon.jp/imaging/dcsd/zb50_144dpi-e.pdf

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IAMAI Senior Member • Posts: 1,925
Re: Missing file names
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Since the Zoombrowser is a Canon product I would say that Canon support may be the most direct approach. Sounds like the program does not work with Windows 10.

I also saw this older page about using a database converter file that is included with the software that was supposed to restore added information to the files. It may or may not be relevant to your situation but this is the page:

https://support-vn.canon-asia.com/contents/VN/EN/8000165001.html

There are many references to the Zoombrowser when asking Google.

Stephen McDonald
Stephen McDonald Forum Pro • Posts: 14,469
Re: Missing file names
1

I name and describe my photos only on those I post on Flickr. Those are the best ones and I almost always pluck them from my Flickr album to send anywhere. If I had to go through my many tens of thousands of photos on my harddrives, it would take the rest of my life to give them names.

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OP ZBthumbnail New Member • Posts: 5
Re: Missing file names

HI again Peeps...sorry to sound like a broken record, again.

MyM3 - I have never seen this happen either. I am sure I added, or changed 'file names'. One could refer to them as 'title'...I am unsure why that would make any difference, because there is no trace of any original file name, or title that I had attributed to picture files.
I have been using computers for over 40 years. It is possible I have made a mistake, but that is highly unlikely. What I suspect is that some program or other, has taken it upon itself(bad software auto updating/file names/organization) to change all the file names rather than myself having changed a setting.
What I would do, is upload the camera pictures, onto the PC, whereupon Zoombrowser would open(when it wasn't crashing). From there, I could review the photo's, delete the poor photo's, then save the good ones, with file names I had added, ie cat 1, dog 2 etc. That worked perfectly well for many many years. Only recently, have all the file names gone missing with just the numeric sequences used now.
I did not update Zoombrowser. Certainly not willfully. I will try that to see if it makes any difference.
IAMAI - I did look at the suggestions you provided, to no avail.

After trying to find a solution, I have now discovered that my backup photos have now also been 'corrupted'. This suggests some sort of software issue. I plugged in my external hard drive, and all those file names have now gone missing too. This is just another disaster after the first one. The original file names - in most instances - are critical for understanding the nature of the pictures.
Any last suggestions peeps? I have spent so many hours on this!!
Thanks...again.

OP ZBthumbnail New Member • Posts: 5
Re: Missing file names

One last thing. I started using a Samsung S5 in around 2013 to take photo's. Is it possible that the Samsung software has caused this? Or Android?

There are plenty of questions online about similar things, but none which are specifically about the lost file names. Certainly none in which a solution could not be found. I tried many.

requa
requa Contributing Member • Posts: 860
Re: Missing file names
1

I'm sorry to hear you're still struggling with this. One thing I've never been clear on from your prior posts might help the rest of us understand and help. Can you confirm whether, prior to the recent loss of file names, you were able to see the expected file names in programs other than Zoom Browser? In other words, if a photo previously showed in ZB as Cat1.jpg (or whatever), did it also appear as Cat1.jpg in Windows Explorer or equivalent, or if you sought a photo to attach to an email? I'm just trying to distinguish between a system-based file name, which ZB may well have generated, and a descriptive tag of some sort.

Dan

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OP ZBthumbnail New Member • Posts: 5
Re: Missing file names

Yes I could see the file names via Explorer or Zoombrowser prior to this peculiar happening. The file names were 'fine' for a over a decade. Only in the last year has this happened.

What is odd, is that picture files saved(and named by me) to an external hard drive have also been similarly afflicted, ie original file names gone, and replaced with numeric sequences.

Among the photo's on the external HD, are about a dozen which retain the file names I gave them. Very strange given every other file(many thousands) has been corrupted as described.

Another unusual thing is that if I had 'saved' the picture files to a folder I had created on the desk top(to post to social media or for emails), then the file names I gave them are still intact, ie cat 1, dog 3 , sunset 6, and so forth.

It's been many hours I've spent on this to no avail. I'd still suspect this is based on some operating system bug or poor OS design which has produced this disaster. Probably some Windows update or Android via Samsung S5 that has changed some settings I cannot remedy thus far. Over a decade of work, corrupted.

Thanks again for your help. Perhaps, against the odds, there may be an easy fix as yet unidentified. If any one has any more suggestions, please share. 
Have a nice day peeps.

benjilafouine Veteran Member • Posts: 3,871
Re: Missing file names
1

At this point, I would remove the main hard drive from the computer, put a new hard drive and reformat then try to recover the files from the first hard drive as a secondary hard drive. There are plenty of recovery software utilities out there but this process is not simple to say the least.

Maybe you should seek help from a professional IT technician if your photos are very important to you because I feel you are now on the verge of losing them all.

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Regards,
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Benji

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Stephen McDonald
Stephen McDonald Forum Pro • Posts: 14,469
Re: Missing file names
2

About 18 years ago, I paid $250. for an external Zip drive, which could be operated as a standalone or plugged into a computer. I thought it would be a good solution to storing images from my new digital camera. The disks cost about $10. for 250 MB, no bargain at all. Then without warning, about 2/3 of them quit working and several hundred photos were not recoverable. I learned a hard lesson about the need for multiple types of backup, from that. The many 75kb photos I put on 25 cent floppy disks had no problems and are still playable today. I've transferred a couple thousand of the best ones to my five big external harddrives.

Here's one from a 75kb floppy drive image, that originated as a 640 X 480 analog vid-cap from an ED-Beta tape:

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benjilafouine Veteran Member • Posts: 3,871
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It was called the click of death. ZIP drives had a flaw. You can read here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Click_of_death

My own take on that is (but expensive):

- I have two computers in two different buildings (one in the house and one in the garage). Both buildings are linked by a network cable.

- Every day, a copy of photos is made. You can use free robocopy tool in Windows, it is a great tool and it can make a "differential" copy (meaning that it synchronizes both backup folders instead of copying the whole thing again).

- Also every night, an external image backup is made on each PC with a USB drive providing with several weeks if not months of past backups.

- For my most precious data, I even have a "VPN tunnel" to my mom's house, copying the same files every night on a third computer (now this is the very expensive stuff).

In the end, the moral of the story is as you said: have backups on multiple machines and multiple media at all times. Some people have learned the hard way. I know, I have been in that business for 30 years... And there is even worse: a crypto virus could encrypt all your files at once. A USB drive with a simple file copy will not save you; only an image backup will save you... or just pay the ransom...

I still have my 1988 data.

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Regards,
Why make it simple when it can be complicated?
Benji

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