How and how often do you scan your photos for corruption?

[SCC123]

I've been meaning to scan my photography portfolio for corrupt files, just in case anything was damaged in the process of backing up my photos over the years, etc. The portfolio has grown too big for me to review each image, individually, and I'm wondering how you all go about checking your photos' file integrity? What kind of software do you all use? Is this a standard/necessary practice?

 

[Warhorse]

I am just starting to learn image editing, and have never heard about this "file integrity". Will be keeping an eye on this thread.

 

[Space Face]

Never.

 

[webestang64]

I keep all my digital files on 3 separate external hard drives so if one fails I still have all my files. But unlike a hard drive fail, I have never had just a single file "fail".

 

[Original katomi]

Like post 4I have 3 external hard drives, which is just as well as I dropped one whilst it was working
Currpted the drive I had to format it and start again.
In reply to your question . I am frequently going back over old pics, looking at how I did things and how to improve
So I am regularly revisit the pics

 

[Jeff15]

The crap I delete, the ones I can work with I keep..........

 

[SCC123]

Do you go over each individual photo, or do you do a bulk scan of the drive/folders they're in? Or do you trust that the files you're transferring have not been compromised?

I guess I'm only paranoid because there was one time when a file transfer corrupted just one photo. Half of the photo was gray whenever I click it, and I only realized this months after the fact. All of the other photos were fine. I heard that if the file sizes of all my backup drives are the same, then there's no corruption. Is that true?

 

[Original katomi]

My image browsing program loads each image as a thumbnail for me to view

 

[JBPhotog]

Do you go over each individual photo, or do you do a bulk scan of the drive/folders they're in? Or do you trust that the files you're transferring have not been compromised?

I guess I'm only paranoid because there was one time when a file transfer corrupted just one photo. Half of the photo was gray whenever I click it, and I only realized this months after the fact. All of the other photos were fine. I heard that if the file sizes of all my backup drives are the same, then there's no corruption. Is that true?

After import I look at the files in DAM software, if everything is good then they made the trip from card to hard drive just fine.

I’ve never had a corrupt file during or post transfer or even residing on the hard drive for a decade or more. I do run DiskWarrior on my hard drives to restore the directory from time to time so all files get refreshed resources. Card formatting should only be done in camera, never by the computer. To me it sounds like you had a card error rather than a computer error with that one file.

There is no relation to hard drive size conformity to file corruption that I know of, of course I am on MacOS and don’t know a thing about PC OS.

 

[JasonWili]

Yes, I have been used Stellar Repair for Photo software for repair my damaged or corrupt photo files because some times photos greyed out, blurry or pixelated during editing and I forget to take backup from original files. Thanks!

 

[Nuluvius]

I store all of mine centrally on a NAS with a Btrfs filesystem that should in theory protect against corruption over time due to bit rot and the like. To augment, I also have monthly maintenance schedules, snapshots, cloud replication, cloud backup and physical backup.

 

[SCC123]

I store all of mine centrally on a NAS with a Btrfs filesystem that should in theory protect against corruption over time due to bit rot and the like. To augment, I also have monthly maintenance schedules, snapshots, cloud replication, cloud backup and physical backup.

Got it. The Btrfs file system sounds like a super promising lead. This is helpful.

 

[Nuluvius]

Got it. The Btrfs file system sounds like a super promising lead. This is helpful.

I do not want anyone to have to feel what it is like to experience data loss.

 

[Derrel]

Btrfs sounds good... I recently had an incident where my main computer died and with my older computer was not able to read HFS + formatted hard disks... and a former client called up asking for photos from 2013. My old backup tower from 2003 was unable to read the newer hard disk format.i am currently unable to access my hard drives from 2013 and forward. From 2001 to 2012.I have backups on hard disk and on cd/dvd, so that's covered and fine, but allllll that stuff on HFS+ hard drives is inaccessible until I either Repair or replace my 2011 iMac.

So the idea of Keeping the block formatting/file allocation system unchanged makes a lot of sense.