Does your digital camera store photographs on a memory stick or other form of flash memory card? Its just a matter of time before you experience the "no images found", "card not formatted", or "card not found" error message. Perhaps you already have or you wouldn't be visiting this website. Well you've come to the right place. We offer memory stick data recovery for photographers just like you. Our memory stick data recovery process also works on all other digital camera flash media and USB flash memory including: compact flash, Pro Duo, secure digital, smart media, MMX, MMC, micro drives, and more . . . .

First some free advice . . . . !

• DON'T Keep attempting to read the pictures on a damaged or corrupted memory stick. Attempting to view the pictures on your memory stick applies power to the card. Depending on the original cause of the problem this may further damage your pictures, making it impossible to recover them.
  
  
• Don't format the memory stick in the hopes it will bring your pictures back . . . it won't. Formatting the card may permanently remove your photographs making recovery impossible.
  
  
• Don't take more pictures using the memory stick. New pictures will overwrite the old pictures making them unrecoverable. Memory Stick data recovery can be a complicated process or a simple process. The more things you try before sending me your card, the less likely I will be able to recover your pictures.
  
  
• Each thing you do from the moment your pictures become inaccesible adds more variables to the recovery process and decreases the odds that your pictures will be recoverable.

DO turn off your camera, wait for the access light to stop blinking and then remove the memory stick or other flash media card from your camera and store it in it's static free plastic case. If the memory stick is in a card reader, wait for the access light to stop blinking and then remove it and store it. If the access light doesn't stop blinking, turn off your computer and then remove the memory stick from the card reader and store it.

Memory sticks and other forms of flash memory can become corrupted or damaged in a variety of ways, resulting in error messages like, "card not formatted", "card not found", "no images found", "would you like to format", etc. That is when you need a memory card data recovery service. In my experience, 85% of memory cards with missing photographs are recoverable. I maintain a database of successful vs. unsuccessful recoveries and in my experience only about 15% of cards sent to me are unrecoverable. As a general rule deleting your photographs or formatting the card does not permanently remove the photographs.

There are two types of problems that plague flash memory cards; hardware failure and software/operator induced problems. Unfortunately, flash memory cards and micro drives that experience a hardware failure are not usually recoverable. Hardware failure generally means that a component inside of the compact flash card has shorted out or failed, or an electronic circuit path has broken. To repair this type of failure requires opening the case, followed by microscopic surgery to repair the circuit. This type of recovery can cost upwards of two thousand dollars and is not a service I provide at this time. A component failure internal to the acual memory chip is non-recoverable. Fortunately, most failures are software or operator induced. Examples of operator induced failures are:

• Accidentally deleting the pictures from your memory stick or flash memory card
• Accidentally formatting the memory stick
• Taking photographs when your camera battery is not fully charged
• Ejecting the memory stick while the camera is still writing to the card

Photographs that are missing due to these types of actions are usually recoverable. I see a lot of memory sticks that suddenly have missing photos after passing through an airport scanner or when taken to a photo kiosk to make prints. These types of problems are due to software corruption and your photographs will usually be recoverable.

Memory stick data recovery can be complicated or simple depending on what caused the files to disappear. In the majority of cases I am able to recover the missing photographs. This is true even when your camera or card reader no longer recognizes the memory stick. There are many variables that can affect the recovery process. Each attempt at recovery can further damage the files making successful recovery less likely with each attempt. This is why I recommend that you send me your memory stick for analysis. My analysis to determine if your pictures are still on the card and recoverable is free. In the event I am unable to recover your photographs your only cost will be $6 to cover the cost of return postage and handling. I will be using U.S. Priority Mail with delivery confirmation to ship your compact flash card back to you. If I am able to recover your photographs, the Priority Mail packet will also include a CD with your pictures on it.

I would be pleased to attempt the recovery for you. Please print this form and include it with your memory stick, compact flash card, secure digital card, micro drive or other flash memory card. My shipping address is on the form.

If I am able to recover your photographs the following charges will apply.

Feel free to give me a call if you'd like to chat about your particular recovery challenge. I won't be able to tell you definitively if I can recover your missing photos, I have to perform my analysis on your memory card before I can answer that question, but many of my clients like to call before sending me their card. San Diego Photos and Prints is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, Pacific Coast time.

Oscar Medina
Photographer / Digital Artist
Flashcard Recovery Specialist
San Diego Photo
858.274.0665