A Secure Digital card, also known as a SD card, is a small and sleek memory card designed for easy handling and storage. The card is used in portable devices like camera, camcorders, music players and mobile phones, and is available in several capacities and sizes. Although considered reliable for data handling, SD memory cards are not foolproof. Accidentally deleting files or formatting the card instead of the camera may result in corrupted data. The card becomes unreadable and you are unable to access the data. However, with certain data recovery tools and freeware, recovery of data is possible.
CardRecovery
CardRecovery is award-winning software that allows you to recover corrupted or formatted photo, audio and video files from various memory cards. The software supports all popular memory types, photo files, brands of cameras and memory card manufacturers. Once downloaded from its official website, CardRecovery provides users with a simple and comprehensive wizard-style interface and guarantees recovery of files within 10 minutes. The software supports Microsoft Widows 98, 2000, NT, 7, Me, XP, 2003, Vista and 7, and also has a version for Mac OS X.
Using CardRecovery
Download the software from the website and install it on your computer. Connect your camera to your computer. If your camera does not appear as a drive in the "My Computer" folder after it is connected, you may need a USB SD card reader, which is available in major retail stores. The USB SD card reader uses your computer and allows you to access the data on your camera. Run CardRecovery to scan and recover lost data. The percentage of recovery depends on the amount of damage incurred.
With the CardRecovery Evaluation Version, you can scan your media and preview lost files. To recover the data completely, purchase and download the complete version of the software from the website.
Freeware
A quick search on the internet will lead you to several freeware solutions for SD data card recovery. Consider reviews and download freeware from reliable sources only.
PhotoRec is a free data recovery utility from CG Security distributed under GNU General Public License.The software is designed to recover lost pictures or lost files from digital camera memory. According to CpSecurity.org, "PhotoRec ignores the file system and goes after the underlying data, so it will still work even if your media's file system has been severely damaged or reformatted." PhotoRec is extremely safe and compatible with Windows 2000, XP and NT.
Once you download and launch the software, it chooses the media-type, recovers files after verifying them, rejects invalid files and saves files in the chosen destination directory.
Tags: your camera, your computer, access data, card reader, data card