Frequently asked questions on RescuePRO® for PC:

Q: Can I find pictures on my hard drive?

A: NO - the software is for removable digital media only

 

Q: Can I find pictures on my phone?

A: Only if you can remove the media card and place it in a card reader - then if the data is on the media card it can be recovered.

 

Q: Can I find pictures in the internal memory of my camera? 

A: NO - the software is for removable digital media only.

 

Q: Can I recover my pictures by plugging my camera in and scanning that? 

A: ONLY if your camera shows as a removable drive under My Computer. It still may not be possible if the driver does not support direct device access. In either case (no drive letter or direct access), then you need to use a card reader for the recover.

 

Q: Can I plug my card into the reader slot on my printer for recovery?

A: ONLY if your reader slot shows as a removable drive under My Computer. It still may not be possible if the driver does not support direct device access. In either case (no drive letter or direct access), then you need to use a card reader for the recover.

 

Q: Can I recover pictures if I formatted the card?

A: Some cameras do a destructive format and that data is not recoverable. Some cameras do not do a destructive format and that data is recoverable. If you run the scan and no pictures come up and no errors come up, then the card has been formatted in a destructive manner and is not recoverable.

 

Q: Can I recover the original pictures if I took more after formatting?

A: Only data that has not been overwritten can be recovered. In the case where a card has been formatted and more pictures taken, then the newer data will overwrite the older data and the older data that is overwritten is not recoverable.

 

Q: My videos are showing up only as individual pictures. How can I recover all of the video?

A: Try using the Video option in the Search For list. If that does not recover the video, then the video is corrupted and not recoverable. The individual frames may be recoverable in those cases, but not the full video. In some video formats, the frames can be saved as small pictures.

 

Q: My media card is not showing up in the drive list. What is wrong?

A: Check to make sure you have the card in the reader or camera and that there is power to the reader or camera. If the media still does not show, try removing the media and restarting the system. Reinsert the media and try again. If that does not work, then the media probably has a serious error and you will need to check into manual recovery services.

 

Q: When I recover my pictures, the thumbnail looks fine, but the picture is only half there when I open it. What happened? Is that recoverable?

A:  The most likely cause of that sort of corruption is what we call back-filling on the card. Unfortunately, those are not recoverable. Below is an explanation of what back-filling is and how to prevent this kind of data loss in the future.  

 

--------

A note about backfilling and partial recovered photos:

Sometimes photos are not fully recoverable even when the thumbnail may show a complete photo. In full view, these photos show either as a blank box or just the top of the photo. In some cases there are multiple photos in one. These are all caused by backfilling. Backfilling is the term for putting new photos into the card spots where old photos were deleted.

For example, if you took 10 photos and went back and deleted number 2 and number 8, then you took more photos. The 11th photo will try to fit into the spot where #2 was. Because most photos are different sizes, some of the 11th photo may not fit so the leftover photo data will go into the next empty spot on the memory card, which is where #8 was. Now you take a 12th photo. It starts to fill the remaining spot where # 8 was and the remainder will flow to the next open spot. You can now see how easy it is to have bits and pieces of photos in many locations throughout the memory card.

Normally, you never know that the photos are broken up all over the card. The file system keeps track of all of the bits and pieces. When something goes wrong and you lose the file system through formatting or a corruption, the scattered pieces of a photo may not be recovered. Because the thumbnail is a separate small file at the beginning of the photo, it may display in good condition but still be missing part of the photo.

To increase the success of any future recovery, only delete the last photo you took. If there is a bad one farther back on the card, just leave it until you have downloaded all of the photos from that card. This keeps the files orderly and makes for a perfect recovery. It is also recommended that you format the memory card in the camera after you have downloaded and verified your photos.