Simple, free way to recover deleted images

[dewey]

Did I REALLY just do that.

I mean really.

I hit format button on the camera... it said are you sure?... and I thought, no actually this is the wrong card... but my thumb had already said DO IT.

"Formatting complete" my trusty Nikon said.

Facepalm. :x

Having said all of that, here is how I got my images back pretty easily, and free.

1) Download the appropriate version of PhotoRec here: PhotoRec - CGSecurity

Note this is a "command line" sort of utility. That just means it doesn't have a pretty cover on it. On the PC it runs in a DOS window and on the Mac it runs in a terminal session.

2) plug in your formatted memory card

Note, if you are trying to recover directly from the camera (not a card reader), the camera has to be set up as a mass storage device. It's pretty easy to find a how-to for your specific camera with Google.

3) Run PhotoRec - follow the instructions.

BAM!

Recovered files are extracted to your specified target folder.

AND THERE WAS MUCH REJOICING.

I've never ever made this mistake before, but thankfully it was an easy fix. Squirrel this software away for a rainy day.

 

[KmH]

Images don't actually get 'deleted', or 'erased' when a memory card is reformatted.

The File Allocation Table (FAT) on the memory card controller chip is just updated indicating those memory locations where the image files were written are again available for use.
As long as no new images are written to those memory locations the image file data is still there.

 

[runnah]

Images don't actually get 'deleted', or 'erased' when a memory card is reformatted.

The File Allocation Table (FAT) on the memory card controller chip is just updated indicating those memory locations where the image files were written are again available for use.
As long as no new images are written to those memory locations the image file data is still there.

Bingo, erasing and formatting a 8gb-32gb card on your camera would take ages.

 

[480sparky]

I have tested MjM to recover NEF files... no issues.

Now, let the card recovery spammers start in..................

 

[KmH]

Bingo, erasing and formatting a 8gb-32gb card on your camera would take ages.

Data on a memory card can only be written over.

What they call erasure just writes a 1 or a 0 to every memory location.

 

[Buckster]

I have a recovery story.

In April of 2006, I saw my daughter off to Italy with her Senior class. I equipped her with a Sony Cybershot F717, extra memory sticks and a 60 GB rechargeable battery powered portable hard drive photo storage unit complete with memory card slots, to store the photos on as she filled up the cards, so that she could re-use them. While there, she stored a couple of close friends' photos as well, so that they could re-use their memory cards. She returned with a total of 1768 photos and videos of the trip.

Upon her return, we transferred the images from the 60 Gig drive to her computer, and made backups on CD's for her. I then reformatted the 60 Gig portable drive to go back into use for my regular photographic needs in the field.

A few years later, in 2009, her hard drive crashed - REAL hard. I did everything I could to recover her data, but it was of no use. The backup CD's of the images burned 3 years earlier could not be found. The Italy trip photos and videos were GONE FOREVER. She was heartbroken and actually cried.

This past September of 2012, I was sitting here and suddenly got a crazy idea. I don't use the 60 GB drive all that much so, even though I'd fomatted it several years ago after the Italy trip, and used it a few times since, just for giggles, I pulled it out and ran Recuva on it.

Several hours later, I had all 1768 photos and videos of the Italy trip back, completely intact. I backed them up on my redundant drives, made a few DVD copies, and sent one to her.

She was so happy and excited, I thought she was gonna bust, and it made my day! :thumbup:

 

[dewey]

My goal here was to post something in an easy to understand format for people who might not be technically savvy... but as per photo forum standards let the nit picking commence.

That's a great story Buckster - awesome you got those images back.

 

[BrianV]

Thankyou for the Tip!

The fact that it runs in a DOS box kicked off a memory: DOS had an "UNFORMAT" command.

 

[kevinbadpit]

Hi dewey,

I really appreciate you for providing such useful information. I want to recover photos from my corrupted hard drive, is it possible to recover them using the software that you have used to recover your images? Please give a proper suggestion to restore corrupted hard drive because those photos are very important for me. For any help, thanks in advance.

 

[KmH]

Closed to keep the image recovery software spammers out.