Corrupt .cr2 files

Hi everyone, today I was looking at some photos I saved in an external hard drive one year ago. They were fine the last time I saw them but it seems that something happened. This is how they look now:

I've seen some software called CR2 repair (see http://www.cr2repair.c​om/) recommended but I personally have never used it. I'd check the site, there may be a demo version that you can initially attempt to use prior to making a purchase. There is also some software at http://www.crwrepair.c​om/.

I would also make a copy of the damaged files and work off the copy first. If you use Windows, use the Xcopy command as it may make a better copy including the fault structure. That statement is a throwback to DOS days and may no longer be applicable but it won't do any harm.

By the way can you read the EXIF data from any damaged image? If you can read the EXIF, then supposedly the command line exiftool -b file.cr2 > file.jpg in conjunction with EXIFTOOL will extract the jpg image. Exiftool is available (free) at https://sourceforge.ne​t/projects/exiftool/.

John from PA wrote in post #18151427
I've seen some software called CR2 repair (see http://www.cr2repair.c​om/) recommended but I personally have never used it. I'd check the site, there may be a demo version that you can initially attempt to use prior to making a purchase. There is also some software at http://www.crwrepair.c​om/.

I would also make a copy of the damaged files and work off the copy first. If you use Windows, use the Xcopy command as it may make a better copy including the fault structure. That statement is a throwback to DOS days and may no longer be applicable but it won't do any harm.

By the way can you read the EXIF data from any damaged image? If you can read the EXIF, then supposedly the command line exiftool -b file.cr2 > file.jpg in conjunction with EXIFTOOL will extract the jpg image. Exiftool is available (free) at https://sourceforge.ne​t/projects/exiftool/.

Thanks for your help . I read about the CR2 Repair but I didn't find any review, that's why I didn't try that software :S.

Yes, I can read the EXIF data from the damaged images:

Restore from your backup. Important data should be in two locations.

tim wrote in post #18152775
Restore from your backup. Important data should be in two locations.

Don't you think the OP would have done that if a backup existed?

tim wrote in post #18152775
Restore from your backup. Important data should be in two locations.

My "backup" was my external hard drive :S.

I have had some corrupt CR2 files as well, or it seemed as though they were. I found they were actually OK if I copied them to another location and then used software other than adobe (bridge in my case) to look at them. I used DXO Opticspro or Irfanview. Seems if I touched the copies I created with adobe the same files would corrupt again. My suggestion would be to copy (all) files from original location to a new location on a separate hard drive and use another program to test integrity. If intact make a TIFF copy effected files. In my case I burned them to a Blu-Ray once I realized what was going on. Adobe had done an update on my programs and it only effected a few CR2's from a small batch of files and I am still not sure what actually happened to these files.
Hope this work around helps and solves your problem!

Shaymus wrote in post #18160124
I have had some corrupt CR2 files as well, or it seemed as though they were. I found they were actually OK if I copied them to another location and then used software other than adobe (bridge in my case) to look at them. I used DXO Opticspro or Irfanview. Seems if I touched the copies I created with adobe the same files would corrupt again. My suggestion would be to copy (all) files from original location to a new location on a separate hard drive and use another program to test integrity. If intact make a TIFF copy effected files. In my case I burned them to a Blu-Ray once I realized what was going on. Adobe had done an update on my programs and it only effected a few CR2's from a small batch of files and I am still not sure what actually happened to these files.
Hope this work around helps and solves your problem!

I believe Irfanview accesses the embedded JPG and not the raw data in the CR2 file.

Which leads me to wonder, is the OP's embedded JPG screwed, or the raw data? Or both?

Archibald wrote in post #18160136
I believe Irfanview accesses the embedded JPG and not the raw data in the CR2 file.

Which leads me to wonder, is the OP's embedded JPG screwed, or the raw data? Or both?

Usually it's just the raw data and usually it's even less than that. It's the table used to decode the raw data that gets smashed. A one or two bit error can really screw things up but I'll venture a guess that the raw data itself is ok.

Thanks! I'll let you all know this weekend.

I'll be very happy even if I recover only the jpg files.

Any word on if you recovered anything????

I haven't had time because these are my last two weeks of my 6th semester and I have a lot to do :S. I'll try all in two weeks I guess.