Problem with Sandisk CF

Hello David,

I had the same problem with a 1Gb Lexar professional 80x some years ago. I recovered the data using lexar’s (or sandisk’s) repair program. Although, the problem kept happening again and again and it only ended up when I changed the card by another one at Lexar. These cards have a lifetime warranty.

In your case, and as a last option, I recommend that you format the card in camera and then try to fix it in the computer. Formatting the card may let your computer recognize it (and then fix it). And about the formatted data, they will remain on card until you record new files over the older ones. Repair programs will be able to recover these formatted files.

Luck!

anderson

Thanks for the advice Anderson. Has anyone had experience sending disks back to Sandisk to see if they can recover the files? Also, can others confirm that if I format the disk but don’t shoot over it I should be able to recover the images with the repair program?

David

Hi David,

I had a similar problem with an Apacer CF-card. When I asked what the company could do for me, they only offered a new card (so my photo’s would be lost). You can contact data recovery companies, who will open the card in a lab and try to recover the photo’s. They will charge around $ 700 (depending on how much work has to be done).

I would be really cautious with formatting, since your card seems not to make any contact with your computer!

Good luck!

Michiel

Michiel,

Thanks for the advice. Can anyone recommend a good data recovery company in the US?

David

Try Photo rescue, http://www.datarescue.com/photorescue/

Good luck, Alexander

My stupid experience matches Anderson’s as well as that of others:

http://www.lightstalkers.org/picture_recovery_and_san_disk

Because CF cards are solid state, info written on them will stay on them until it is written over. Formatting the card only removes the card’s file directory—not the files themselves – so all the info stays put until you record new info.

Format the card. Pick one of the recovery products mentioned in the thread I posted. Let ‘er rip. It’s take a VERY long time, but the software will bring up ALL the images on the card, even ones you forgot you ever made. The stupid part is that you’ll lose the image numbers, so the images will not be in order. Utilizing software such as Photo Mechanic which can read the time and date when the image was made may put the images back in order, if your camera records this data and if you had the time and date correctly set.

If you don’t trust what we said, get the recovery software and run it on a freshly formatted card whose contents you already backed up, so your fears can be put to rest.

While I have yet to recover my files , I’m posting the following as a reference for anyone who needs it in the future.

Sandisk Customer Service: 1-866-726-3475 Sandisk has a lifetime guarantee on their cards. If you don’t care about data recovery you can send it back to them and they will send you a new one. If you care about data recovery Sandisk recommends you call:

LC Technology
www.lc-tech.com
1-866-603-2195
They were very helpful and seemed to know what they were talking about. They charge a flat fee for recovery depending on size of CF card. $75 for less than 1GB and $150 for anything over 1GB. They also have a 24 hour turnaround time. They recover the data and send you a CD/DVD with the recovered files as well as the old CF card(which you can then return to Sandisk for a new one)