missing files and photos from sd card... please help

[skatanic]

Hi, I

I am currently using a 4GB sdhc card in my Canon 450D that has been working fine more or less until yesterday. I inserted the card into my computer, but there are about 80 files missing, and apparently there are also folders that cannot be opened that were all labeled with strange characters. I came to know that there are missing files cause most of the important photos that i took was not in the card and also there is a jump of numbering in the files
i.e IMG_3038 to IMG_4014

I then tried to use my camera to view my photos on my computer, but that didn't work either.Then I tried to view my photos on just on my camera, but those photos that was didn't showed up on the computer didn't even show up on my camera. It was as if I had never taken them.

What's wrong, and is it possible that my photos are hidden away somewhere and can I retrieve them? What could have been the problem?

Please help me out

 

[Octarine]

Sounds like file system corrupted, FAT file system is "famous" for that.
1) Copy all your intact files to your computer.
2) Search the forum here for file recovery tools, it's asked quite frequently. Follow instructions given. This could solve already your issue. If it doesn't and the software doesn't show the files then you might want to try the steps below.
File recovery using chkdsk on Windows systems:
3) On your computer, open Command Prompt, run chkdsk command. If your memory card is drive G then command is 'chkdsk G: /f'
4) Recovered files are named 'FILExxx.CHK' where xxxx is a sequence number starting with 0000.
5) Copy all files to your computer, rename them into *.JPG (if you have taken them in that format). With command prompt just point to right folder and type 'ren *.CHK *.JPG'. Now you can open the files with your normal image viewer applications. Check whether the files look ok. If you see strange bandings or colour casts then the file itself is already corrupted, gone case. If it's all ok then take a deep breath, you got them save
6) Rename the first part of the file name accordingly (you can check the exif for shooting date and time to determine right order).
7) If you have a cheap card reader you better replace it, I had similar problems with an older CF card reader.
8) Format your memory card in computer with new reader, DO NOT USE the the 'Quick Format' option. This will create a fresh and empty file system and delete all remaining of previous files and file system.
Let us know what helped

 

[skatanic]

fhew..... that really gave me hope... thanks a lot... really appreciate it very much and currently i am still finding the free version cause for the past 1 hour all i found was demo and the trials verions which can recover the missing files but could not save it to my desktop...

btw any idea what may have cause this problem or how do i prevent from getting my files corrupted? all this while i have really been taking good care of camera products...

 

[diziz]

fhew..... that really gave me hope... thanks a lot... really appreciate it very much and currently i am still finding the free version cause for the past 1 hour all i found was demo and the trials verions which can recover the missing files but could not save it to my desktop...

btw any idea what may have cause this problem or how do i prevent from getting my files corrupted? all this while i have really been taking good care of camera products...

I had the same problem once with my Seagate External HDD. Most probably the corruption was caused upon unsafe ejections. Next time ALWAYS Safely Remove Hardware. Sometimes even though you've closed the Windows Explorer for the device, data might still be transmitting and that might be critical data like partitions and such.

Whatever Octarine suggests is good, try that.

Amazing thing is, when my HDD was corrupted, I sent it in for repair, instead they parceled a brand new HDD to my place. And it was 500 GB bigger(from 1TB to 1.5TB)! Haha. Seagate has great service. Btw all the best. Data loss is a pain in the..

 

[Octarine]

btw any idea what may have cause this problem or how do i prevent from getting my files corrupted? all this while i have really been taking good care of camera products...

There are many possible reasons and the FAT file system is known for such incidents. Apart from the usual precautions like Antivirus and Updates always do a proper unmounting. Also, it helps to format the card periodically with the computer (as described above) or in the camera where the "Low Level Format" option is available. More details about the background here: http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=597306.
Also check your card reader and the card itself thoroughly. Copy a large portion of data (mp3 and others) from computer to card and then copy everything back. Fill the card at least to 80%. Make checksum comparisons (e.g. using md5sum) between source and copy. Any errors here are an indicator for faulty hardware (reader or card). Try with different cards or readers to find the 'culprit'.