On Kauai now -- "memory card error" ALL photos gone -- help!
 

Hi Fodorites,

DH and I are in Kauai now. We were on the BI last week. I had about 400 photos that are irreplacable...of our 3rd anniversary, turtles we can upon sunning themselves on A-Bay, us spelling out a message in white coral on Highway 19 on the BI, and just this morning, tons of priceless photos of a monk seal on Shipwreck Beach. All of a sudden tonight, my digital camera read "memory card error", and ALL the photos are gone :( I am heartbroken to lose these memories, and have been crying all night. DH is at a loss to console me, AND it's my birthday today! Anyways, the concierge here at the Hyatt gave us some photo recs for stores that might be able to help. A couple didn't answer as it's almost 9 p.m. here, but Photo Spectrum said to bring the card in tomorrow and they'd see if they could retrieve anything. They said it's 50/50.

I'm posting for 3 reasons:
1.) Has anyone had this happen, and what was your outcome?
2.) Any more specific recs of digital camera places I could look into on Kauai?
3.) To tell you all to DOWNLOAD YOUR PHOTOS EVERYDAY IF POSSIBLE! I am sick that I didn't do this, since we have our laptop with us. I am so distraught over losing all these photos.

Anyways, any help/advice/similar experiences is much appreciated. Mahalo!

yeppers, hopefully it's the camera and not the mem card, that's the 50/50. i've gone to photo spec in lihue, they're good.

i've learned to upload pics to pc every time as soon. it's tedious but even fuji cam acts up now and then. i also bought a usb cardreader shaped like a jump drive. i keep on my keyring.

best of luck

Thanks for responding.

It's not the camera, it's definitely the memory card. I have 2 cameras with me, so I know that for a fact. Hopefully Photo Spec. can still help. I'm heartbroken over this. These photos/memories can never be replaced, even though we come to Hawaii every summer.

Thanks for the tips, too. Looks like I'll be someone who uploads every time from now on, too.

is it upload from pc and download to? whatever.

it's a sick feeling. so don't worry too much, wait to see what they say.

hope you had good time anyway...

It just happened on the camera all of a sudden when I turned it on at dinner tonight. I noticed a few of my monk seal photos were missing, and I turned it off, then back on again. More were missing, and then all of them....Now, when I turn the camera on, it just reads "memory card error" no matter what camera the memory card is in. I was hoping it was the camera, but it's definitely the card. I've never had this happen before, and I just couldn't keep from crying!

You're right, all we can do is hope that Photo Spectrum can help, and learn from this if they can't. And, yes, we've had a fabulous time on this trip. That's why it's so heartbreaking -- the thought of all these great photos from our memories being gone is just terrible. Photos aren't something that can be replaced.

Thanks again for your help!

Hi Beachgirl86;

There is software called RescuePro that should help you recover the data on the memory card. You can download a free demo at www .lc-tech.co.uk and then click on "recovery software"

Good luck -- I haven't used it myself but have heard stories of miraculous recovery of photos.

msf

Can't help you, but I wish you luck in getting the pictures back.

I had this happen with some skating competition photos. I first thought I had somehow erased them. I downloaded what was still on the card when I got home. I then used the card on a trip to FL a couple of weeks later. Everything was fine until I got an error message after about 20-30 pictures. I didn't lose anything already taken but did not use that card for the remainder of the trip. Always good to have a spare card!

A friend is a wiz at computers but we never did recover the lost skating pictures/video clips.

Good luck!

just to offer you some hope...the way the camera reads the card, it has some kind of index or table of contents that tells the camera where a picture starts on the card, and where the next one is.

There is a good chance, if the memory has been damaged, that it is the index that is messed up, and maybe some of the data but not ALL of the data. its actually pretty difficult to literally erase all the memory. There are very good software programs out there that will figure out where the pictures are on the card and recover them for you,at least most of them. so don't loose hope!

I know that you are really really upset. We lost an entire night of my niece's wedding ceremony and reception.

Until 6 months ago, these things really upset me and freaked me out. I had a serious cancer scare and thank goodness everything was benign and I am healthy. I don't know if this will make you feel any better but you still have your memories burned in your brain. Yes, you will not be able to physically share this experience with your friends and family. You will be able to verbally describe this incredible adventure to them.

I am not religious and usually I do not preach. IMHO do not let it ruin your vacation especially what is left of it. Try to focus on the positive and what is really important. I am generally a very negative person. But think about this as one event in this in scope of your life.

I will understand if you tell me to go to h=ll.

Debsnj, just curious but what does having a cancer scare have to do with losing photos ?

Seriously, Rusty ----

PERSPECTIVE on how to view one of life's bumps in the road.

Oh beachgirl, that is so awful!! :(

I have lost photos, too. On my last trip, part of my My Pictures folder got corrupted with an entire day's worth of irreplaceable photos; luckily someone was able to recover them for me...

After that, I started doubly backing them up: downloaded them to the PC, then burned them onto DVD or CD! You could also join a photo site like Flickr and upload them there for backup. (You can make them private if you don't want the photo-sharing aspect.)

I also ended up purchasing an external hard drive. (I was in China and it wasn't expensive.) I found one that both connects to the computer via USB, and has slots to download memory cards directly to it without needing the computer - very handy when you don't want to lug the laptop around! (I have to say, though, since the external hard drive doesn't have a way to review files stored on it, I was rather nervous that somehow the copying would be messed up, but it was fine.)

The device I purchased isn't available for purchase in the US. But for explanation's sake, this one is very similar: http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digita.../dp/B0001EQN6A
Look for reviews of storage devices on sites like dpreview.com.

Now I prefer having the external hard drive to those really large memory cards. The more photos they store, the more we're capable of losing! :(

GOOD LUCK with your photos!!! Please let us know how it goes...

Just keep in mind - hard drives get corrupted and die, too, so upload the photos to an internet-based photo-sharing site. There are many, and most are free (at least for a certain amount of storage).

goodluck at the photo store!

Happy Birthday to your husband!

Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions...I greatly appreciate it!

We are headed to the Photo Spectrum now, so I will let you know how it all turns out. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

(And iamq -- it was my birthday yesterday when it happened at The Beach House, not DH's! What a crappy night it was for me...)

so what did they say?

Oh, bless your heart; I hope they are able to recover them for you. That would have made me so mad. I love my photos and preserving all the memories. Best of luck - let us know how it goes.

Oops. I thought I read that it was your husband's birthday. Sorry. Hope it all worked out okay.

Sure hope they were able to help you at Photo Spectrum.

Happy Belated Birthday!!

And, here's hoping today is much much better than yesterday.

Hi Beach girl This is an issue that I deal with virtually daily in my job at a large photo store.
China cat is correct regarding the directory to the images is more than likely all that is corrupted. The images themselves are probably o.k. When we do image recovery better than 70% of the time the pictures are recovered.
If you can find a service that is local and reputable by all means take it there. If you can’t find one don’t worry. Unless the card got wet or damaged in some way the issue is not time critical. You can wait until you get home.
So why does this happen so often? There are a least 2 reasons.
1.memory cards are often used in many devices. They get used in the camera, then downloaded to a pc, then taken to 1 or more stores to make prints etc, then back to the camera. Often times when they are removed from the device they are simply yanked out. You MUST remove them correctly. You must remove them in the correct manner depending on the device. The camera must be off, the pc has a remove card or stop device function, the photo kiosks have a method too. If you simply remove the card you are asking for data corruption.

2.With the falling price of memory everyone seems to want to get into the memory card business.
Don’t just buy the cheapest card you can find. We see more data loss with no name cards than the big names. If you stick with Lexar and Sandisk (preferably the Pro versions) you will be much better off.

Also once your images are saved on your computer and another medium like CD or DVD format the card. It is a safer way to clear out any corrupted data. Doing an Erase All does not clear out bad sectors or directories.

keith

Keith, thanks for the tip about formatting the card! It makes a lot of sense, but I never bothered to do so. Now I know why my more professionally photographic friends make it part of their routine! :)

good tip keith, thanks

Thank you SO much, everyone, for all your help and support! We picked up the memory card today, and the gentleman at Photo Spectrum was about to recover about 1/2 of the photos, which was a huge relief. He said the formatting thing is huge, and people MUST do that. In fact, there were photos he recovered of our July trip to Paris mixed in, and I had erased those! So that was very weird. Keith, thank you for the tips. I appreciate it very much. I'm sad to have lost some and had others corrupted, but I am thrilled and relieved to have a good portion of them back. Thanks to everyone who responded :)

Good advice above...and yes...format your card often after xfering your pics.

A word about CDs or DVDs...they do not last forever, and the polymer does come off. Getting a CD/DVD wet can ruin it in time. All magnetic data storage such as disks, tape etc has a life span...what you save on it today, may not be accessible 5 years from now depending on environmental conditions....and sometimes TECHNOLOGY change.

For example, try finding a 5" floppy drive these days if you want to xfer data from that on to your present day PC!

The switch to electronic media has left a lot of people without memories, so plan a long term strategy. If you print your pics, make sure it is on paper that will last and not fade over time. Various papers have archival ratings.

Uploading pics is not always a good solution, security/privacy, loss of resolution in some cases, vendor closing down etc.

Here is what I do....print the ones that are special to me, keep my laptop and home computer synchronized with the latest photos. I then do monthly backups to an 8 gig jump drive and store it that away. Solid state is always better then magnetic media.

BUY NAME BRAND!!!

Every so often or when I have taken enough pictures that I am fearful of loss, I burn the entire photo directory to DVDs and send it to work with my wife where she keeps it in her desk.

Remember...all your backups are only as good as where they are stored.....fire....flood...theft of your computer......say goodbye!

Am I paranoid...yes I guess so!

Final note....if you have pictures that are still not recovered, there are a number of data recovery services that could probably recover most of your data. It might cost you several hundred dollars, but if they are very special pictures it might be worth it.

As a precaution, before doing any diagnostics on a card, flick the write switch to the off position (if it has one) on the card to prevent accidental changes.

Final note......backup card data through traditional methods before testing new devices such as purchased card readers...especially no name brands.

I have seen many a card reader corrupt data on the card, even name brands.

Congratulations on getting 1/2 of your pictures back.

I always take my laptop with me when I travel and download my pictures every night (then again, I'm a photographer). I usually burn a CD or DVD of the highlight pictures in case my laptop hard drive crashes as well, which is very possible. The best philosophy is definitely to have two copies at least of any important files.

Memory cards, even name brands, can flakeout on you. In this case, it sounds like it may have been not a bad memory card but a corrupted file system. That's why, yes, it's an excellent idea to reformat your memory card before each new use, assuming you downloaded the photos on there already.

For our trip to africa we bought an Epson viewer. Every night we downloaded the photos from the card to the viewer, set the viewer on the little stand, and got a nice slide show at dinner. Every night people would crowd around our table to look at the 'show'. Fun. And less cumbersome than a laptop, especially when you have a 22 pound luggage restriction per person.

I agree with the previous tips, especially the advice on backing up all your files, and I'll add one of my own.

When you upload photos from the camera to the computer, most, if not all, photo handling software has either a setting or question to determine if you want the software to delete your files (photos) after uploading. ALWAYS answer "No". It does not happen often but you could have a problem after that upload selecting and manipulating one or more of the photos. If you allowed the software to delete, you may lose the photos completely.

My practice is to upload the photos, grab each of them, do whatever enhancements I'm going to do to them, and save them with a meaningful file name. Only then do I reformat the data disc. For important photos, I also burn the originals to a CD before processing them. I then do weekly backups of my entire system, including my photos. As another poster suggested, once a month I place a set of the backup DVD's in my bank safety deposit box in case my home is destroyed.

This backup system proved its worth. A year or so ago, my computer died without any warning. It would have been much more expensive to repair it or even to have a tech capture the data on the disc. I simply purchased a new computer and restored my files from my backup DVD's and I was back in business in less than an hour, having lost none of my files or photos.

BeachGirl-I am so relieved for you that you got at least half of your pictures back. I was so heartbroken for you. We just got back from Hawaii ourselves, and I was so worried something was going to go wrong because we bought a new camera right before we left.

When I went to India with my dad for the 1st time, it was pre-digital camera (at least for me) and I was devastated when I accidentally opened my camera thinking the film had rewound properly. I lost many great pictures from that trip. It just doesn't have the same effect to see the Taj Mahal blocked by a huge black spot! :)

Love the tips from everyone else. I will have to look into this Epson viewer contraption-sounds cool!

Great advice all around. Whenever you get a new digital camera and/ memory card, it's great advice to format that card to the camera it will be used in and fairly often thereafter. Some of the older digital cameras can not use the newer large format memory cards (over one GB) Good to check your specific camera before buying memory cards. 'Cheap' is never a good idea for memory cards but 'bargain' is OK if it's a good name brand.

it is the Epson P-2000
Multimedia storage viewer

Thanks again, everyone, for all your tips and well wishes!

I went through the CD that Photo Spectrum burned for me, and there are still lots of good photos, thankfully. And luckily, the ones I was most worried about losing (our anniversary, the turtles, the monk seal, and our "message" on the BI's Highway 19) were all there. Very lucky! I will be using everyone's tips after this experience!

Also -- we fly home tomorrow (heading out for our last dinner at Roy's now) so I promise a trip report next week!

that's great news. have a safe flight home bg86

Beachgirl,

Glad you got half of the pics back! I clicked on your name because I was searching on the Orchid vs the Marriott Waikoloa and saw your post saying you would be going in August. I am trying to make the same decision for a trip next month and I was hoping you may have returned and posted a trip report. I look forward to the report and finding out about your decision!

Mary: We just got home today from the BI and Kauai. I will be posting a TR sometime in the next week. The Marriott on the BI was GREAT! Very nice now that it's all renovated. We really liked it a lot. And we only paid $199/night, which was a GREAT deal. We had dinner at the Fairmont for our anniversary, and the grounds were very nice there as well. They are both lovely in their own way. I was worried I would see the Fairmont and wished I stayed there instead, but that wasn't the case at all. It was very pretty, and the setting was beautiful, but we enjoyed every moment at the Marriott on A-Bay and didn't feel "jealous" of the Fairmont at all!

Thanks Beachgirl!

I am lucky enough to have a ton of AMEX points as well as Marriott points to spend and I can burn everthing at do the Fairmont or be thrifty and use my Marriott points. We stay in Marriotts all of the time and have only stayed at the Fairmont Kea Lani before which was great, even in the "cheap" rooms. The Kea Lani is more like a suite but the Orchid looks like a regular room. I think I will got to the Marriott and save my points! I look forward to your trip report and I hope you adjust to reality with no Aloha withdrawls!

Mark99,
You have provided very useful information on memory cards but do you mind clarifying a few things for those like me who do not know even basics. You said "to format cards often after xfering your pics." What does this mean? How do you do that?

Then you mention that you burn photos to DVDs. I know how to burn photo CDs, not DVDs. Is there any difference?

Next you told to "backup card data through traditional methods before testing new devices such as purchased card readers". How do you actually back it up?

Iam asking it since I ran into the same problem as the author of the thread. All my pictures from a Disneyland trip are gone, were accidently deleted from the card when it was in the camera. All we were trying to do was to change the resolution for a higher one and while trying to figure out how to do it we accidently deleted the pictures. It was stupid not to take the card out first.
Thank you for your expertise.

I have seen many a card reader corrupt data on the card, even name brands.