Advice with a1GB SD memory card (sorry if this is off topic)

[cobra jet]

I was hoping to get some suggestions about how to get pictures off of a 1GB SD memory card. A few days ago I received a letter from my niece along with a memory card. In the letter, my niece explained that this card has over a 1000 pictures on it many of when her son was first born. Apparently the camera counter was telling her she had she had five pictures left. When she took one more picture, it now said it was full and she is unable to even review the pictures. The camera is telling her that the card needs to be formatted. I put it in three different computers (2 PC’s 1 Mac) and all ask me if I want to format the card. At this point, I was thinking about bringing it down to my local photo kiosk, to see if the card can be accessed or down to an electronic store to see if a camera can read it. I am a bit nervous because I do not know what brand or model camera took the pictures.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Mark

[nic2k4]

Try a file recovery program like Recuva. You might have to set the options for deep analysis.

[cobra jet]

I tried Recuva including the option for deep analysis and it comes back and said "Unable to read boot sector".
Any idea what might have happend to the card?

Thanks

[Bjs]

Problem is systems vs application ... some arent capable.

Try more than one recovery application.

1:PC Inspector File Recovery
2:PhotoRec

As for the error try but only if unsuccessful with the above ... using such programs incorrectly can render further recovery action futile.

TestDisk

[MJA]

same thing happend with my sister last year

https://forum.videohelp.com/topic356276.html

[nic2k4]

That was just an example, it's true that you should try more than one program, take your pick here: http://fileforum.betanews.com/search?s=file+recovery

You should also check with the experts at the dpreview forum.

[cobra jet]

MJA, the program DIR worked great. I was able to recover close to 900 of the approximately 1000 pictures on that card. A few were blank, and some had just about ½ of a picture. All and all, I think the results were better than I expected. I emailed my niece about the outcome, but I have not received a reply yet. I think she should erect a statue in my honor

Should she throw away that card, or just reformat it? I’m not sure if she will trust it again after that.

Thank you
Mark

[MJA]

just keep it ,and get a new one.sd cards are dirt cheap.you/she can get a 4gb kingston for less than $9

1000 pix on a 1gb card?was she
taking thumb size pix lol

[cobra jet]

It was strange. Her pictures ranged in size from 16KB to 9MB. She even had a couple that were 30MB. I’m not sure if her camera will even take a 2GB card. Besides, if she got a bigger card she would just procrastinate off loading the pictures to her computer anyway

[MJA]

i think the 30 mb is video clip and the 16kb is a thumb pix for the video clip