accidently reformatted CF card

[Duder]

okay, thinking I'd already uploaded the RAW files I'd taken yesterday, I reformatted the CF card (Sandisk 1gb ultra II), then I realised I hadn't uploaded them at all! :shock:

anyone know what the chances are of recovering the files?

[robertwgross]

It depends on what image file recovery software you use, and how badly you want the files. With most of those programs, if you simply delete a file and then need to recover it, you stand a very high chance, unless the deleted file had been written over. With a format, it is still possible, but there is more user work necessary. Even then, your chances are mixed.

---Bob Gross---

[lancea]

It's highly likely you can get them back (unless you've overwritten the shots with new ones). Just as with computer discs a normal format or deletion just makes it look as though there's nothing there. Recovery programs ignore that misinformation and seek-out the files.

Just for fun I formatted the card I downloaded today, then put it back in my card reader and ran Image Rescue (http://www.lexar.com/software/image_rescue.html. It took a while, but recovered all of today's files and many others. Image Rescue came with my Lexar cards, but you can also buy it (follow the links from that page). There is other software that does the same thing.

The only extra work is renaming the files (almost certainly the original filenames will have been lost). And depending on the recovery software, you will probably have to correct the file-type to .CR2 or .JPG.

[Bob_A]

okay, thinking I'd already uploaded the RAW files I'd taken yesterday, I reformatted the CF card (Sandisk 1gb ultra II), then I realised I hadn't uploaded them at all! :shock:

anyone know what the chances are of recovering the files?


If you erased them I'd say that you had a good chance of recovering your images. However, I'm not sure if it is possible to recover them if you have reformatted your card. There are a few recovery programs out there (my Sandisk card came with RescuePRO) ... Good luck, I really hope you can get them back!


Regards,

Bob

[lancea]

... However, I'm not sure if it is possible to recover them if you have reformatted your card. Not sure if you read my previous post, but CF cards (and other types) use very well established techniques to deal with files. It's only when you do something destructive that the data on the card is actually destroyed. For example, if you create more files on the card they will overwrite earlier information, or if you do a "secure erase" which writes a random pattern of data across the whole card. You'll notice that when you format a card through the camera menu that it is a fast operation. That's because it is only changing indexing information.

There's a lot of software utilities for use on computer discs (the most well known is Norton Utilities) that exploit this to recover "lost" files, including formatted discs. The "card rescue" software uses the same techniques to recover images.

[Bob_A]

lancea,

I realized that if the CF card was reformatted under Windows that you could recover the files, but wasn't sure if this were the case if reformatted in the camera. From your post it looks like RescuePRO or other software should work just fine in getting Duder's files back as long as nothing was written to the card after it was reformatted.

Bob

[kenyc]

Try one one of the recovery programs and see what happens. A format in the camera does not delete or write over the images, it just "zeros" the directory. If you haven't used it for new pics there's a good chance you can recover them.

KAC

[Bob_A]

I just did an experiment with RescuePRO. Formatted a card with RAW images then ran RescuePro to get them back. It looked like everything worked (saw all of the file names under RescuePRO), but the image folder doesn't have any filenames when I view it using Windows or EOS Viewer Utility.

This is the first time I tried this software out, so maybe I have something set incorrectly ... or maybe RescuePRO isn't the best recovery software, and another would have worked better.


Bob

[lancea]

Hi Bob. That's odd. By default, Image Rescue called my recovered files RAW_xxx.TIF which I just changed to a CR2 extension so they could be viewed. I've deleted the folder now, but I think the JPG files were given an extension of .THM. Incorrect extensions would explain why they weren't visible in RescuePRO. If you can't see them in Explorer, perhaps they are hidden (I can't think why). If that's the case, then you need to go into the Tools menu of Explorer, select Folder Options, then the View tab. In the list of Advanced Settings make sure that "Show hidden files and folders" is selected.

Sorry if this is all basic stuff to you, but I can't think of anything else off the top of my head.

I wonder if Duder has got his shots back. It's a good thing that he made us try it as it could come in handy one day :) I wouldn't be surprised if there are some cameras that can format the card in a way that stops it being recovered. It's an option in Image Rescue. Handy for those shots you don't want anyone to ever recover (not that I've taken any like that!).

[tim]

Try this (http://home.arcor.de/a.niggemann/dir.zip), it's an old free version of image recovery software that's now commercial.

[Duder]

I appreciate all the replies. Once I realised my mistake I removed the CF card from the camera to ensure nothing was overwritten. I haven't had a chance to test any rescue software yet, but I'll heed the above advice carefully and see what happens. I'll let you know how it goes, and hopefully post up a rescued photo.

[CyberPet]

The application that comes with the Sandisk cards (at least it did at one point, on a very tiny CD) is working very well! I had a 512 MB card and found images (that i hadn't overwritten) from months earlier at "the end of the card". Give it a whirl, it'll surprise you in a positive way.

[tim]

None of my Sandisk Ultra II cards came with rescue software, I checked the last couple before I formatted them, and nothing :( The one I linked to earlier works perfectly though :)

[CyberPet]

Tim, odd. Well, when I think about it... it might have been some deal Sandisk had, cuz when I bought my first 256 MB Ultra II, I didn't get a disk, but when I bought the 512 MB last year I got one. Now when I bought the new camera I also did order a 1 GB Sandisk Ultra II and didn't get a disk either. So it had to be one of those "one time only" things. Only problem I had with the disk was that it's so small so that I can't use it in my slot-loading Mac. I had to burn a copy on a "real" CD. :D

[Duder]

success! :D didn't take too long either. The first link I tried was the one tim posted and it worked perfectly. not only did it recover the 111 photos I took yesterday, it pulled up about 25 older photos that were still on the card. :)

thanks for the link tim, and everyone else for replying. much appreciated.

[tim]

No problem dude, glad I could help :)

[lancea]

Great stuff Duder! Now I'm sure everone will be careful not to loan their cards in case there's any embarrassing shots remaining! :)

[Bob_A]

Great stuff Duder! Now I'm sure everone will be careful not to loan their cards in case there's any embarrassing shots remaining! :)

Har!

[Duder]

here's a couple of retrieved shots I thought I'd never see again.

[Mike K]

okay, thinking I'd already uploaded the RAW files I'd taken yesterday, I reformatted the CF card (Sandisk 1gb ultra II), then I realised I hadn't uploaded them at all! :shock:

anyone know what the chances are of recovering the files?

I had a similar problem; when installing a new (third) HD I accidently reformatted my old hd which had 200gb of photos wiped out! I tried several programs, this one finally worked and I recovered nearly everything, any lost files were due to oversights on my part:
File Scavenger 3.0
http://www.quetek.com/
Since the CF card is seen as another HD by the computer it should work fine. File Scavenger, like most of these programs one can download and try the program for free. If it can identify the files you want, you then pay for the liscense then go and complete the recovery step.
Mike K