Help needed recovering Raw images from DVD!

Hi there, I recently returned from touring around Australia by motorcycle. During this time I took many photos and backed these up on my laptop, I sent these disks home for safe keeping. Having recently returned home I went through all these disks to make sure nothing had been damaged or lost. All were fine but for one! The software used to burn the data was Nero and I backed images up on a DVD-R. The format the photos are in RAW .cr2 files. Also on this particular disk I included some Jpegs that I had edited.

When looking at the contents on the disk I can see the RAW folders and Jpeg folders I had originally intended to backup. When exploring the properties of a photo they are of a size I would expect to see or around 7MB (using a 20D here) When trying to open a RAW image in Photoshop says "Could not complete your request because it is not the right kind of document" when I try to view a Jpeg using Windows Photo Gallery it says "Photo Gallery can't open this picture or video. This file format is not supported, or you don't have the latest updates to Photo Gallery".

I have investigated software on the internet but so far I have had no luck retrieving any data. This maybe due to user error. I currently have ISOBuster installed but have had no success restoring the data but I am not to sure if I am using it correctly.

It would be much appreciated if anybody could recommend any software which may be suitable to retrieving the data on the disk and a quick explanation of how to use it! I would also consider using a service and sending the disk away which may be able to retrieve the photos, so if anybody has any experience of any they recomend it would be great to hear from you.

Many Thanks!
Haydn

ISOBuster doesn't sound like the tool for the job. Take a look at applications like File Scavenger (my favorite), Image Recall, or Image Rescue.

No luck with Image Recall as yet, I will try your other suggestions thanks!

Hi all, still no luck. Would anybody with expertise be willing to attempt to recover these files if I sent them the disk and all materials to copy onto and return the disk to me. I will cover all costs and add a bit for a few beers by paypal! UK only please! If anybody is interested PM me...

Regards
Haydn

I'm assuming you can normally open your 20D Raw files in your version of Photoshop? I'm just making sure that you have a compatible version of Adobe Camera Raw installed.

Have you tried opening the Raw files using Canon's Digital Photo Professional software?

Currently I am using CS2, normally I have no problems opening the files from my 20D in photoshop. I have tried converting the .CR2 files using DNG Convertor to Raw and I have recently tried to update the Adobe Camera Raw to 3.1 but I'm still not having any luck. I havent tried to open the files using Canon's Digital Photo Professional software yet as I haven't got the Canon software required on this computer so it couldn't be installed correctly.

Install Canon camera software without CD.

Also: You mention "laptop" and "backup on DvD".
You don't have the images on your laptop any longer?

Can you copy the files off the CD? If so can you see the jpeg files? When you use the Canon software can you see the raw files with DPP?

Sorry to say it but DVDs as a sole medium of storage isn't clever. I stopped using them and switched to a multiple hard drive system.

Basically the only photos I have of the RAW photos are on DVD, I deleted the Raw files off my computer as I thought I had backed them up and to save space. It is the Raw files on the DVD I would like to try to recover. On my laptop I dont have the Canon software installed as I just used Bridge and Photoshop to work with the photos. I have a desktop which has the canon software on it but I havent set this computer up yet. I do have the Canon disk it's just a matter of finding it after I packed everything up in boxes before I went away on my travels! I will try and locate the disk to see if it makes any difference.

However I think it is a problem with the DVD as one programme I tried using to recover the data suggested that the dvd had bad sectors at the beginning and end of the data.

Tim I can copy the files off the dvd and when looking at the properties eveythings looks as it should be size wise. However I can't view the JPEG's. I will get back to you when I have attempted to use the Canon software. Yes backing up on DVD's was purely because I was travelling, going to look into several methods now! When I try to open one of the JPEGs in photoshop it says "Could not complete your request because a JPEG marker segment length is too short (the file may be truncated or incomplete)."

I'd be tempted to try to recover the deleted files from the hard drive too. The more you use the computer the less likely you are to be able to do that.

It sounds like the files were corrupted on the DVD, or copying them off the DVD. Try another computer before you do anything else, it could just be a problem reading the files on that one DVD drive. It could also be it was burned incorrectly.