Memory card nightmare

I sat down at our home computer, excited to print off one of the photos from our family vacation, only to discover the SD card on the floor. The plastic casing was pierced with half a dozen little holes. Our puppy somehow got to the memory card and explored the foreign object with his sharp baby teeth. My heart raced as I tried to load the photos onto the computer. Instead of watching the thumbnail images reveal on the screen, I saw the stark words appear on the monitor: “No images found.” My stomach dropped and I started to feel sweaty.Want to control when a RFID tag is active or readable? There’s no way these photos could all be gone! We had hundreds of pictures on the card from our recent trip overseas to visit relatives. This trip was years in the planning — and now every shot, posed and spontaneous, was lost.

Carrying the SD card like a fragile ornament, I took it to a number of photography stores around the city. Each time my hopes rose that someone could somehow find the images in there. No such luck. Disappointment struck again and again.

Then I got Kevin’s name and phone number. His friend insisted I try taking my card to this Kevin guy because he’s “good at recovering lost photos.” With nothing to lose and 1,400 cherished pictures to gain, I dropped the card off at his house. By that afternoon, Kevin found some folders on the SD card, and the following day,A smart card  is a card with a microchip in it. “Mr. Magic,” as I’ve started referring to him, located the illusive photos on the damaged memory card. To me, it was a miracle; to Kevin, it was thanks to his years of experience as a photographer.

Modest as he may be, and busy with his real job, Kevin asked to remain anonymous, but he did share a number of tips on how to avoid losing your digital memories. I had to share them in hopes they might help avoid a loss like the one I almost suffered.

Kevin’s Tips:

1) When you buy a new memory card, don’t just start using it — format it before ever taking a picture for the 1st time. (Memory cards can get corrupted and formatting will keep the card running well.)

2) Format the card with the camera, not on the computer. Familiarize yourself with your camera’s menu and use it to format the memory.

3) Format the card after each photo session once you have ensured that all images were copied to the computer.

4) Buy only top-quality cards from reputable manufacturers like Sandisc or Lexar.

5) Buy the fastest card they sell. Newer cameras with high pixel counts need to write the data fast; to take advantage of the camera’s speed, you need a fast card.

6) Use a quality card reader!! You can buy cheap ones, but the pins on these can scratch the card and over time damage it. Stick to using the one built into your computer or buy one from photo store or higher-end electronics dealer and go with a big name.

7) Never upload your pictures using the cable from the camera to the computer. USB delivers power from the computer to the device. A power surge or some other unanticipated issue can damage your camera and the memory! (Not likely but possible).

8) Don’t fill up the memory card. Try to avoid going over 80 per cent of the card’s memory. Kevin has seen issues where someone has filled the card beyond what it can actually write (yes, this is possible). This will totally mess up the card and data loss is almost certain. This is most likely going to happen when shooting video, so keep a close eye on the memory (time left) when shooting videos.

9) Safely eject the memory card – do not just pull it out of the computer. With some newer systems you can, but whenever possible, use the safe eject option.

10) Remove your pictures frequently from the card. Don’t leave them on there for months. Back them up and store them in multiple ways.