What to Do When Camera SD Memory Card is Corrupted?

While I was reading this awesome post by Camera Repair and camera across a user asking this question:

"Some of the photos on my SD card are corrupted. My Fujifilm camera did not have any options for formatting except to erase everything, so I tried connecting my memory card to my PC and formatting it, but it wouldn't let me, saying it 'cannot formt the drive'! I've closed all my programmes, but it won't work. Please help!" - zoey

Here's CR's Answer:
 

Wanted to make sure that the first thing that you have tried to do, is to save and back up whatever files/photos that you have on that card onto your computer. If you couldn't do it directly by attaching your camera to your computer, you should use your computer's card reader. If the card reader doesn't recognize your card, and your computer is more than a couple years old, see below about purchasing a USB card reader.

But if all of the above has been tried, then give the computer quick format one more try.

There's two possible causes that may be preventing the quick format. The first is that you may have accidentally placed the tiny write switch on the side of the SD card in the locked position. Could you first check to make sure that it's in the upward "unlocked" position (toward the terminals)?

The second thing I can think of is that the card may be a 4GB or higher SDHC card, and your computer's reader may be too old to recognize SDHC format. Have you ever been able to read this card in that reader before? If this is the first time you've tried to use that reader, and your computer is more than a few years old, chances are that it can only read standard SD cards (2GB or less). In that case, just purchase an inexpensive USB SDHC card reader (they're only a few dollars). Try an Amazon.com search for "USB SDHC card reader".

If an old card reader was the problem, SKIP formatting the card for now, and attempt to recover your photos directly using the USB card reader. After recovering the photos, then format the card in your camera to prevent this from happening again. That option is there, usually in the "Settings" menu, just below the "Reset" option. Just tell me your model, and I'll tell you exactly where you can find it.

Finally, keep in mind that some of these individual corrupted photos once recovered may only be partial photos (bottom part of photo may be cropped off). This is because the write process may have been interrupted or stopped, for whatever reason, preventing saving of the entire file. There's nothing that you can do in that case. But keep in mind that formatting the card (after you've tried to save/backup/recover the files) should prevent this from happening again.


Personal note: it seems this kind of card corruption issue still happen here or there today. Look at these GoPro SD card errors or this Nikon card error, the best tip to avoid data loss from card corruption is to prepare several smaller-size cards instead of one large-size card. Because like any other old technology, memory cards have their own lifespans. Sooner or later, you have to throw them.

Last update: August 5, 2016 

Recuva Review 2016: The Best Windows Data Recovery Freeware

Recuva is a 100% free file recovery program that makes it extremely easy to retrieve files that were accidentally removed or lost due to many reasons. It can recover files deleted from your Windows computer, Recycle Bin, digital camera memory card, MP3 player, and more. The wizard-like approach and intuitive user interface all make it very simple to use.

Note: this post is a review of Recuva. If you want to download the free data recovery utility, or learn how to use it. See these:

Recuva for Mac?

Recuva is only available for Windows XP/Vista/7/8/10, there is no Recuva for Macintosh. If you're looking for a free program to recover lost data, turn to Exif UnTrasher or check out these totally free Mac data recovery programs

Disclaimer: this Recuva review is based on the following five parts. Disclaimer: this review is purely based on my own test and using experience, I'm here to show my personal takes on the software. Due to the complex nature of data recovery, it's impossible for me to test all features. As such, please be aware that the following opinons are my own.
 

#1: General Part


Interface: it offers a wizard for general users to recover deleted files. The step by step guide makes it incredibly easy to perform data recovery on your own (no technical skills required). Advanced users can cancel the wizard to access advanced features.


Commercial Use: Allowed, you can make donations.
Download Size:
5,345 KB  (version: 1.53.1087)
Supported Languages on Interface: about 40 languages


Strength: Pretty easy to use for both general and power users. The option "Enable Deep Scan or Not" makes it easy to deal with different data loss situations (for general deleted recovery, you don’t have to use Deep Scan). You can also choose a certain file (say pictures or video files) format to scan. The scanning process is quite fast (depending on the disk volume and scan mode, it may be a little bit time intensive). Moreover, it is able to show found file state (Excellent, Poor, Unrecoverable) which let you know whether they are recoverable or not. 


Weakness: Only photos with JPG format can be previewed. Also it is said the program is not great to handle formatted recovery cases and partition reocvery (which I haven’t test).

Overall Rating: I give 8/10 for Recuva. It could have been better.


#2: Recovery Capability Part


It succeeded in finding all my deleted files. And the scanning process is quite fast. (I used "Quick Scan" mode, if you enabled "Deep Scan" then it will take a bit more time). So recovering deleted pictures, music, documents, video, compressed is no problem. The program also claims to be able to recover emails and other type of files like .js/.html/.css (part of them did found on my test). Moreover, it support folder scanning which make things more easier if you know exactly where the lost files located.   


Sub-rating: ★Excellent★

#3: Preview Effectiveness Part


Recuva is only able to preview photos in JPG format, no other picture formats or document formats. This may make it difficult to find what you need to recover particularly when you only lost just several important files such as documents but the scanning results display several hundred files. Also, some found files are corrupted.


Sub-rating: ★Average★
 

#4: Ease of Use Part


Recuva is suitable to use for any computer users with different technical levels. The guide information on the software interface is super intuitive. You should have no problem handling it at all.  

Sub-rating: ★Excellent★

#5: Help/Wizard/Documentation Part


Yes, with wizard the first time you install the program on your Windows PC. You can cancel it and don’t let it show next time (but I don’t recommend you do this). 

Sub-rating: ★Excellent★

This post was last updated on April 24, 2016. Revised outdated content and added correct download links for Recuva.