Your SD card is broken or corrupt: here is what to do
We show you how to get files off a corrupt SD card.
How to recover photos and other data from an SD
card that has stopped working.
Expandable storage such as SD cards are great.
They can make your phone or camera a much
larger and more versatile beast. But when a card
corrupts you can lose a lot. Here we've focussed
on recovering photos: apps you can reinstall, and if
they come from a legal source music files can be
replaced free of charge. But in any case the
principles are the same.
Here's what to do if your trusty SD card has
stopped working. First of all, don't format the disk if
you want to retain any of the photos on it. And
unless you have a lot of valuable data that you
absolutely need to get back, we'd caution against
employing a third-party data-recovery company. At
least not before you have tried the following.
How to recover files from a corrupt SD card
You will need some specialist recovery software.
We were recommened a program called ZAR (Zero
Assumption Recovery) . Other similar programs are
available, but ZAR worked well for us and is free for
this purpose.
Install ZAR, then insert the damaged SD card into
your PC's card reader. Launch ZAR. (You may have
to disable your PC's security software, in which
case we recommend you also disable the internet
connection).
When prompted, click the Image Recovery (Free)
option. This will help you to recover photos from an
SD card.
ZAR will now look for devices that are installed, and
you need to point it toward the offending SD card.
Select the correct disk and click Next. ZAR will now
analyse your SD card. This will take a few minutes.
Once this is complete you'll see a list of the
recovered files. On most SD cards the chances are
that clicking the 'Root' checkbox will select all the
images. Click Next and you can then select the
folder into which recovered files will be placed. By
default this will be the same as the folder your
chose to save (so 'Root', in all likelihood).
One important point: you will be asked to select a
destination folder for the recovered files. Make sure
you choose one on your PC's hard disk and not
back on to the corrupt SD card. The latter option will
help you not one jot!
It will take a few minutes for the files to copy
across. Once this is complete browse to the
destination folder you selected. You should find
most if not all of the files you wanted to rescue.