Devices · SD and camera cards
When cards go bad, they almost always do so when you least expect it: halfway through your holiday or halfway through the duplicate which was supposed to be the backup. Cards are among the most frequently sent items to us for recovery from Hull and the East Riding. If a card appears to be blank, locked or empty, then usually the card's images can still be recovered. However, the catch is that this only holds if no-one has attempted to reformat the card yet.
An engineer will take the details
0800 6890668
| What you see | What the fault is | What to try |
|---|---|---|
| Memory card error on a Canon, or Cannot access the memory card | The camera cannot recognise the file system on the card. | Eject the card and stop using it immediately. |
| Card cannot be accessed, then Reinsert/change the card (Canon DSLR) | Contacts that need a clean, or a failed controller. | Do not allow yourself to be talked into reformatting the card. |
| Nikon body: Card may be damaged. Insert another card | Card damaged physically, or card is completely unrecognised. | You should not attempt to format the card within the body of your camera. |
| Card locked / Card is write-protected | The tiny slider located on the edge of your memory card, or a controller locked shut. | If the slider is working correctly, then the problem lies with the memory card. |
| Format the disk before you can use it | Instead of showing a normal file system in Windows, it shows 'RAW' and the frames remain intact. | Do not agree to this option. |
| No memory card, with a card plainly in the slot | Dead controller, or contacts that are failing. | This is a chip-level issue. |
Every piece of gear that shows up receives a case number on the very same day it arrives. An engineer examines it and determines what is really wrong with it and there is no charge for this. We give you straight language about which files we will be able to copy from the disk and which ones we won't be able to. Then we provide you with a single price quote, in writing, based upon these findings. We don't begin working on anything until you agree to the quoted price.
The initial task is to create a complete exact replica. Afterwards, the original card returns to its protective jacket and anything we subsequently run will be running off the replica.
Any fix will be applied to that duplicate. When possible, the file tables are restored and your folder names come back with them. However, if the file tables are lost, images are brought in based upon their header bytes alone, and RAW is no harder than JPEG.
The number of files retrieved is irrelevant. Each individual image of the recovered shoot must display fully at its original capture size.
You will not be charged while you think about this. First, you receive a list of everything that was recovered from the drive. Once you have seen the list and given us the go-ahead, the bill comes next. Files are returned to you on media purchased specifically for this job and we cover the return postage as well. Your job is kept open by us until you can view them on your personal computer.
The number no one has: there is not enough reliable data to provide an accurate count of how many fake cards are being sold. Labs and manufacturers agree that the problem of counterfeits is widespread and fakes land on this bench regularly. Each hard percentage you see in print was a guess, and the true figure changes nothing about the rule: whatever was written past a fake card's real capacity is beyond any lab.
The wedding had been shot the evening before; by morning, the 512GB SanDisk showed as empty. The card was cloned before anything else was attempted. Then the file system came back out of that clone, and a deep carve collected the fragments that were left without an address. Every frame was still there, so the photographer kept the client.
No. A format places fresh file tables over the same records that hold your folder and file names. Leave the card alone and more of it returns with the names still attached.
Yes, RAW too. A carve matches file signatures, and CR3, NEF, ARW, DNG and RAF all have them. Video containers work the same way. A lot of what ends up on this bench belongs to working photographers.
Often not. Because a monolithic memory card stores data on a single die, if the damage did not affect the die containing the data, we can still attempt to read the data at a chip level. Regardless of whether it works or not, the damaged memory card is essentially useless.
Memory cards are the quickest work we do, and are usually completed within two or three working days. We typically complete projects even quicker when a time constraint exists. Please tell us the date you would like the project completed by, and we will plan our schedule accordingly.
Leave it off. There are only a few start attempts left in your failing drive and each attempt uses up a little more of what remains. Our complimentary diagnosis will determine what files are readable.