Photos on xd card but cannot transfer

My sister in Cork calls me with her problems from afar ... always......!

She has taken some digital photos with her Olympus camera. She can see them on the camera but goes to upload them to her lappy and there's a file error. But the photos are there still on the card. Anybody have any ideas on what she should do?

Did the transfer ever work?
If it did then what changed between then and now?
What specific error (message)?
What specific camera, software (make/model/versions etc.)?
She could try getting an memory card reader (e.g. like this) and try reading them directly rather than syncing from the camera - but the latter really should work.

Thanks Clubman: That's the problem - I don't have too much info. I know that some of the photos on the card transfer with no bother (even after these images didn't). I have tried to interogate her (she not being too tech literate ) on the phone but would really need to have the card in hand. What info I have gleaned is as follows:

What specific camera, software (make/model/versions etc.)? Olympus D390. 128M xd card

What specific error (message)? When she tried to copy to lappy she said a message like "Cyclic Redundancy check" came up. She inserted card into printer and got "Bad Image". But there has to be files there as she can see the images on her camera.

First question I asked was "do you have a card reader". Nope

And finally Clubman - apologies I seem to have stuck this in the wrong forum.

hansov said:

What specific error (message)? When she tried to copy to lappy she said a message like "Cyclic Redundancy check" came up.

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Hmmm - could be that the card's filesystem is corrupt. Can she display/preview all pictures (including the one(s) that won't transfer) on the camera itself? Does the printer normally read the images directly and is it failing on the same one(s) that won't transfer? If the card is corrupted, cannot be repaired and the images cannot be retrieved then the only option may be to reformat the card and start anew. If the card is very old or has been heavily used then the flash memory on which it is based may be reaching the end of its useful life time (in part or full). Flash memory used in such memory cards has a finite number of rewrite/erase cycles after which it becomes flakey. A reformat may mask out bad sectors/pages that are reaching their rewrite/erase cycle limit. Alternatively there may be utilities to do more detailed analysis and formatting. If the card is proving generally unreliable then it's probably safest to buy a new one. 7DayShop (linked above) have great value in flash memory cards.

I'd agree that the file system is probably corrupt, this can easily happen if files are transferred carelessly. Software will most likely get your pics back. I'd recommend "Photo Rescue", it got me out of trouble big time! I got a copy from http://www.barkerphotographic.ie/ who are based in Ballycurreen in Cork. After retrieving your pics formatting the card should restore it to full health!

Now I'm mad . What did she go and do - she formated the disk and wiped the lot . Now we will never know. Thanks for your suggestions guys. Hopefully it won't happen again but if it does I will insist that (a) she send me the card for further analysis or (b) buy a new card. Thanks again!

It's a good idea to carry a at least one spare card just in case of such problems. They are very cheap these days.

I guess the pics weren't that percious then? Photo Rescue will recover files and pics even after reformatting the card which just deletes the file structure but not the data so you could still get them back if you want too. If you have over-written the pics with more photos then they are gone for good though!

rations4u said:

I guess the pics weren't that percious then?

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That's the problem - they were important(emphasise the 'were') to her. I'll let her know about your suggestion but knowing her she has probably been clicking away ever since. Thanks again!

An evaluation copy of the software can be downloaded here for free. http://www.datarescue.com/photorescue/index.htm Running the demo will allow you see thumbnails of any "lost" picss that are recoverable. It recovered all pics from a 512 mb xD card for me after a photolab in Amsterdam rendered the card unreadable. The pics were of a stay in the amazon jungle and I was thrilled to get them back, hence my confidence in P.R. Best of luck!

There is a great free utility on this website for recovering photo's from unreadable or formatted flash cards. http://www.artplus.hr/adapps/eng/downloads.htm

Download - Digital Photo Recovery: photorec.exe (1.2Mb)

hansov said:

My sister in Cork calls me with her problems from afar ... always......!

She has taken some digital photos with her Olympus camera. She can see them on the camera but goes to upload them to her lappy and there's a file error. But the photos are there still on the card. Anybody have any ideas on what she should do?

Click to expand...

Hi,

I took photos of my niece's Birthday. They were on the card when I looked at them in the camera, however when I tried to put them on the computer I had problems. Only the first couple appeared. Then when I tried again no photos appeared. It said the card was blank but according to the properties there was photos on it. In and out a few times more between camera and card reader..... now no photos to be seen on the camera or the card reader. I have since discoverded that there are several types of XD card and not all are compatable with my Olympus Camera. This card was a Hxd which is unsuitable for use with my camera. I thought all XD cards were the same. Maybe your sister encountered the same problem.

Kath

The only references to H xD cards that I can find suggest that they are the same as xD cards. What is your understanding of the differences?

ClubMan said:

The only references to H xD cards that I can find suggest that they are the same as xD cards. What is your understanding of the differences?

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My camera is an Olympus C 60 Zoom. I went on the Olympus site and looked up the cards. The Hxd is for High speed. There is also an M type XD Card. Neither is compatible with my camera.


[broken link removed]

KathScan said:

My camera is an Olympus C 60 Zoom. I went on the Olympus site and looked up the cards. The Hxd is for High speed. There is also an M type XD Card. Neither is compatible with my camera.


[broken link removed]

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I have the same model, and to be honest it will be a cold day in hell before I buy another Olympus. Very disappointed with it, needless to say....