
USB Flash and Camera Cards Data Recovery
USB flash recovery and camera card recovery is one of Memofix’s most sought after services. When you open the hood of a USB flash drive or a Camera Card, you will essentially find the same components. Both devices will contain a controller chip and one or more flash memory chips. Although some devices like micro-SD cards are monolithic in that they contain the memory and controller all in one.
The USB flash drive, also known as a, thumb drive, pen drive, jump drive, flash-drive, memory stick or USB memory was first introduced in late 2000 and has gone on to become the most successful portable storage device of all time. We successfully perform over 500 USB flash recovery cases every year and have a success rate approaching 98%.
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Cameras Cards come in all sorts of different packages and configurations; CF or compact flash, SD, SDHC, SDXC, Micro-SD, xD, Memory Stick Duo, Smart Media, MMC, and the latest CFast card to name a few.
If you’re a professional photographer or an amateur shutterbug, you have no doubt experienced the distress of finding your camera memory card unreadable OR discovered you deleted the wrong pictures or video. We are experts at getting your irreplaceable memories back and if they still exist in any state, we WILL recover them.
How We Recover Data from USB Flash and Camera Memory Cards
SB flash recovery and recovery from camera memory cards begins with an attempt to image the entire memory device.
If the device is defective and an image cannot be secured, the problem is further identified as originating from the controller chip, the devices firmware, or the actual memory chips. If the memory chips are defective, no data recovery will be possible. If the controller is non-operational we can either replace the defective controller or remove and read the individual memory chips.
If the USB flash drive or camera card is able to be imaged, the problem will likely be a logical software issue with the file system. In most cases, whether the result of read errors, re-formatting or deleting data, we will be able to repair or rebuild the necessary file system structures required to access your data or photos. When you delete or reformat your device the file system will basically re-write the tables or indexes that define where the pictures are stored BUT the actual images will remain.
Unlike a computer where the file may be broken into many pieces and stored in many different locations, a camera stores the individual pictures or video sequentially arranged with one image following the next. This is very good for USB flash recovery purposes as we can literally search through the raw data for unique photo or video file headers. Once we find a header or start of an image, we can rip off the data from the beginning of the header to the start of the next. While we won’t have the original file names, we will have your images in perfect condition. BUT please be aware that with some cameras, the re-format or re-initialization routine may overwrite the entire contents of the card and destroy any chance of seeing your data again.
Reasons For Data Loss from USB Flash Drives and Camera Cards
There are two main reasons you can’t access your data.
1. LOGICAL – In this scenario, the USB flash or camera card is 100% functional. Your data has become inaccessible because of a user mistake such as accidental formatting or file deletion OR because the file system structures have become corrupted or overwritten.You may not be able to access the data or photos on it, but if you re-formatted it, it would work perfectly well for storing new data and images. And by the way, if you do re-format by mistake, we can usually still recover your data. These issues may result from several USB flash recovery scenarios including:
Accidental deletion Corrupted memory Virus damage
Formatted Memory Corrupted pictures Power Interruption or Spike
Battery Died Defective Camera Read errors
Deleted Video Cable problem Re-initialized Re-formatted
2. PHYSICAL USB Flash Recovery – The USB or camera card is NOT recognized or functioning properly. Camera cards and USB flash sticks use a controller chip and many discrete components which can become defective. Additionally the device’s firmware which it requires to function can become corrupted. These types of damage can be the result of:
Critical Read Errors Thunderstorm Damage Fire or Water Damage
Defective Controller Defective Electronics PCB Physical Abuse
Cracked or Damaged Shell AC Power surge Bad Controller Chip
Connector damaged Prolonged Heat ESD Static damage
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