[brewmaster15]

Hi all,
I've been pretty lucky to date and have not had an issue with memory cards until now. My 64 GB Sandisk extreme pro SDHC card (95MB/s) is on the fritz now. Of course it happens on a trip and the photos are important. What happened was something went wrong when transferring files from my K3 to my laptop. The transfer locked up and then the card was no longer readable. I'm guessing the file structure got screwed up from what I have read. I have tried several cameras and computers and Os's with the card and the same thing happens... I get a message that it needs to be formatted. I shoot hi res Jpegs and Raw at the same time. I tried several recovery programs and have gotten to the point where I have been able to recover my Jpegs but for some reason the software can't seem to recover the Raw files. The three I have tried are Stellar phoenix, Zar X, and Photo-rec. Rather than continue to blindly try software I was hoping for some experienced guidance please

Any other suggestions? What do you all use for recovery software? I have access here to a win 10 laptop and I use Linux mint as my main computer OS. The problem happened on the win 10 laptop if that helps.

Thanks,
al

[MarkJerling]

Several options you can try:
Google:
Card Recovery Pro, or;
Pandora Recovery, or;
Wondershare Data Recovery, or;
Recuva.

I'd start with Recova and then move on to Card Recovery Pro, then the others. I've had good success with Recova and Card Recovery Pro. These programmes recover any type file, not just image files.

[Na Horuk]

That's too bad! I had a similar experience some months ago, but with a 16GB sandisk card. Recently I have heard quite a few complaints about Sandisk SDHC cards :/ I hope they are not losing their edge, as I trusted this brand for years before.

If you still have the packaging of the card, it contains a link and key to download their recovery software (Image rescue? Something like that. You can also check packaging of other SD cards you might have, as most of them offer some sort of rescue software and the software generally doesn't care what brand card you use it on)

You can also try
Pandora (this one helped me out some years ago)
Test Disk (this one is a little more complicated to use, but might also be more advanced)
Recuva

These are popular and free and generally work well. Hopefully they recover things for you. Also, you might want to look into professional data rescue services in your area and give them a call. Tell them about the software mentioned in this thread, and ask them if they provide anything more. A guy over here was selling data recovery, but then I talked to him and found out he just uses Recuva, which is freely available. So I decided not to pay him just so he runs the same software I already ran. A good data recovery service will have more advanced tools and higher chance of recovery. That said, it will probably cost quite a bit. As in, twice as much as the card or more (30 euro just to see what they can do, then 100 euro to actually recover the data, but it really depends on the shop. search the major cities near you)

[G and T]

I've always used Transcend's RecoveRx, it's a free download and it will recover RAW files and even some files you thought you deleted! It works not only on memory cards but also on hard drives.
Even though Sandisk have supplied a free one year subscription to their RescuePRO software with all of my Extreme Pro cards I have never used any of them and instead use Transcend's software.
The funny thing is I've never had a Transcend card fail but I've had a Sandisk card fail and the only software that would recover my files was RecoverRx.

Glenn

[rgknief60]

Easeus has a data recovery program that recovered 98% of a 250GB hard drive for me after both partitions were trashed. I copied the recovered data back to the drive, "sys'd" it, and to my amazement, it booted, and the programs worked.

[brewmaster15]

Thanks everyone I will give these suggestions a go and let you know how I make out. Appreciate the help!
Al

[brewmaster15]

Hello all,

I wanted to share a little update here... While trying various software out there to recover the files in question I had contacted SanDisk to see if they had a recovery software they offered that could be used.I thought it seemed reasonable that a Premier Mfg of high end flash cards would have something for their customers to use. I was wrong. They instead send you to a 3rd party site where you can try a demo for free and then pay for the software if the demo shows the files can be recovered.

In case anyone is in my situation, theres not much use in contacting Sandisk for guidance and software. Here was the response.

Dear Customer,

Thank you for contacting SanDisk® Global Customer Care. SanDisk warranty does NOT provide reimbursement for data recovery services. This is specifically stated in our warranty. The SanDisk warranty covers the product itself, but does NOT cover any damages due to data loss. It is recommended to make regular backups of all your data and pictures.

Also, we don't provide any data recovery services or software. The recovery software that we recommend is Rescue Pro and this software is developed by LC Technology. Its a paid software however you can download a demo version of Rescue Pro and Rescue Pro Deluxe. These demo versions will show you what files can be recovered and provide a preview of the files for some common picture file types. The demo versions will require purchase of a license key to enable the feature to save the files. This is an excellent way to see if the program will work before you purchase.

If the product is non functional, SanDisk stand behind its product. We would replace it provided the product is still under warranty.

Please reply to this email should you require further assistance. We are glad to help!

Best regards,
Ronel S.
SanDisk® Global Customer Care


I get the not covering cost of data recovery, but I have to say I think the not offering software to help their customers recover files seems very short sighted, and the bit about the "It is recommended to make regular backups of all your data and pictures." adds insult to injury. Not much of a recommendation if the Card fails when you try to transfer the card contents to the computer.

Oh well, at this point I am still trying various softare out, the CardRecovery Pro was able to find all files including Raw, but wants $39.95 to recovery them. I may have to go that route. I will try a few more options mentioned here now that I know that at least the files are there thankfully.

al

---

Last edited by brewmaster15; 08-25-2016 at 04:58 AM.

[Na Horuk]

Are you sure? Because on the packaging of the SD card, on the little cardboard, there is a link inside and a code for the full version of some software, not just a limited preview thing. I'm not saying its the best software, but I tried it and it was full version. Got it with a gold label Sandisk Extreme 16GB card. My Lexar card also had a link to another, but very similar, software. Again, with a key that unlocks the full version.
Well, I hope one of the software works out for you. And do report back. My broken Sandisk actually had a problem with writing, so even though the photos were recovered, they were still broken. Something to do with the chip, as modern sd cards have complex stuff inside. Or so I was told by the recovery firm.

[brewmaster15]

I've always used Transcend's RecoveRx, it's a free download and it will recover RAW files and even some files you thought you deleted! It works not only on memory cards but also on hard drives.
Even though Sandisk have supplied a free one year subscription to their RescuePRO software with all of my Extreme Pro cards I have never used any of them and instead use Transcend's software.
The funny thing is I've never had a Transcend card fail but I've had a Sandisk card fail and the only software that would recover my files was RecoverRx.

Glenn

Hi Glenn,
I gave it a try unfortunately I ran into issues.. For some reason it didn't find my .jpg Files at all... It found my Raw, but doesn't support .DNG? (not listed), though it lists .PEF so it converted them to .Tiff Files? I think . Hard to tell as when I open one..Its tiny even though it has 30MB of data. I had other software I tried do this as well. The software does list Cannon,Nikon,Olympus,Panasonic, and contax Raw, but no .DNG , and just lumps .PEF in which a bunch of others that it calls Tiffs.

Back to the trials.

al

[Na Horuk]

Maybe you are only opening the preview jpeg thumbnails of the tiff and not reading the actual raw data. Which software do you use to open the file, after it was recovered? You can also try running a recovered file through the Adobe dng converter, free utility. Sometimes this converter can make pef and other raw formats more easier to read by standard software.

But yes, even dng is not listed by all recovery software, and pef even less often.

[brewmaster15]

Maybe you are only opening the preview jpeg thumbnails of the tiff and not reading the actual raw data. Which software do you use to open the file, after it was recovered? You can also try running a recovered file through the Adobe dng converter, free utility. Sometimes this converter can make pef and other raw formats more easier to read by standard software.

But yes, even dng is not listed by all recovery software, and pef even less often.

Thanks, I just tried the Adobe DNG Converter, and unfortunately it doesn't open the mystery .tiff files ,doesn't even see them. They maybe just what you suggested.. Preview images...or maybe they get merged with the Raw .DNG. ( 30 mbs seems high for a preview alone)

I tried another software .. EaseUs Data Recovery as suggested . Its free to try but only recovers 500 Mb, you can get another 1.5 Gb if you share it on social media. It does work great. I had it scan the Flash card and it found everything.. I recovered a few files as a test....both jpg,DNG, and even a vid clip worked. To recover the whole flash card is $69.95....sigh.

I guess the free software isn't going to work out. I may try one or two more but looks like I need paid for recovery.

al

[MarkJerling]

Have you tried Recova?

[G and T]

Hi Glenn, I gave it a try unfortunately I ran into issues.. For some reason it didn't find my .jpg Files at all... It found my Raw, but doesn't support .DNG? (not listed), though it lists .PEF so it converted them to .Tiff Files? I think . Hard to tell as when I open one..Its tiny even though it has 30MB of data. I had other software I tried do this as well. The software does list Cannon,Nikon,Olympus,Panasonic, and contax Raw, but no .DNG , and just lumps .PEF in which a bunch of others that it calls Tiffs.

Transcend's RecoveRx supports all file types, it does however rename your DNGs as TSxxxxx.dng instead of the usual INGxxxxx.DNG or IMGxxxxx.DNG, I use Lightroom and it still reads these files.

Glenn