foxy lady Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 At the weekend I took my digital camera out and took around 50 photographs of various things. Before setting off I formatted the card and all seemed well. However on trying to download the photographs I had an error flagged, and it was clear that the images were corrupted. I took the camera to a local expert who ran a recovery programme and I received a call this morning to say my camera and photos were ready for collection. The photographs had been loaded onto a DVD and amounted to 740 images. Some were 2 years old. There were even a few from my wedding and honeymoon from 15 months ago, which I would have preferred not to share. These weren't just ghost images; they were perfect photographs that had reappeared despite the media having been formatted at least 20 times. It is a lesson that I have learned. I had assumed that formatting the cameras storage would remove old images. This obviously isn't the case and will influence how I eventually dispose of my camera, phone and all my other digital accessories. Has anyone else had similar experiences? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obelix Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 At the weekend I took my digital camera out and took around 50 photographs of various things. Before setting off I formatted the card and all seemed well. However on trying to download the photographs I had an error flagged, and it was clear that the images were corrupted. I took the camera to a local expert who ran a recovery programme and I received a call this morning to say my camera and photos were ready for collection. The photographs had been loaded onto a DVD and amounted to 740 images. Some were 2 years old. There were even a few from my wedding and honeymoon from 15 months ago, which I would have preferred not to share. These weren't just ghost images; they were perfect photographs that had reappeared despite the media having been formatted at least 20 times. It is a lesson that I have learned. I had assumed that formatting the cameras storage would remove old images. This obviously isn't the case and will influence how I eventually dispose of my camera, phone and all my other digital accessories. Has anyone else had similar experiences? This has always ben the case with any storage media in the last oh, 30 years I guess. Unless you specifically overwrite the information it won't be erased. All a format will do is get it ready for overwriting - it doesnt delete the data and make a blank sheet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truman Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 I think all a simple format does is get rid of the index of the device..the actual data is still there until it's overwritten... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxy lady Posted August 12, 2010 Author Share Posted August 12, 2010 I think all a simple format does is get rid of the index of the device..the actual data is still there until it's overwritten... What surprises me most is the fact that in the last year I have filled the card to capacity with photos and video on several occasions before it was formatted. There seems no logic to the photos that have reappeared. Some date back nearly 2 years and have popped up again large as life. The card is 1 gig and 740 photographs amount to about that so at the moment the card is again totally full. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandad.Malky Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 digital accessories. Has anyone else had similar experiences? The images are on your memory card so why should that stop you selling you cameras, just take the memory card out likewise with your computer if it worries you take out the hard drive before you dump it. I smashed my hard drive to bits with a hammer, a but OTT I know but no one will be reading that again. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Wallace* Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 That is very strange overwritting a few times usualy gets rid of most things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dosxuk Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 As Malky says, the only way to be absolutely sure nothing will come back from a storage device is to destroy it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellyman Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 The images are on your memory card so why should that stop you selling you cameras, just take the memory card out likewise with your computer if it worries you take out the hard drive before you dump it. I smashed my hard drive to bits with a hammer, a but OTT I know but no one will be reading that again. . I am trying to imagine who would buy an old digital camera without a memory card or an obsolete computer without a hard drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truman Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 That is very strange overwritting a few times usualy gets rid of most things. Depends on the capacity of the card and how often it's used I suppose Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Wallace* Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 Depends on the capacity of the card and how often it's used I suppose Dunno Foxylady says shes filled the card to capacity several times,i have a utility that is supposed to wipe drives etc to CIA standards whether it does or not i don't know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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