Recovery from Memory Cards

Datawreck performs recoveries on all forms of memory cards including SD, xD, SmartMedia, Compact Flash and Memory stick. Much like USB pens we class all solid state based media into two categories of damage.

Logical and Connectivity

This type of fault is very common with all removable media. Due to being so portable the connectors suffer more wear and tear from being constantly moved between different devices. As well as physical wear, not removing any solid state media in the correct way can cause corruption or data to be incorrectly written which will cause errors the next time the media is accessed.

Causes: Formatting, Virus Attacks, Corruption, Damaged Connectors. Improper removal/handling,

Symptoms: No connectivity, "Drive not formatted" error, Missing Files/Directories.

Physical Damage

This type of fault renders the media inaccessible and requires connectivity to be established directly with the solid state chip in order to reach the data. In most cases faults will mean any repairs to any of the additional components will mean the data can still not be found. The solid state chip needs to be extracted and specialist tools and training are required before a successful data recovery can take place.

Causes: Physical Impact, Electrical Surges, Snapped PCB, Controller Chip Failure, Heat Damage.

Symptoms: "Device not accessible" Device shows 0 Bytes in size, Noticeable Damage/Burns, No device recognised.

As with all media DataWreck offers a free analysis in order to determine the fault and generate a quote. In the case of a less than 100% recovery a file listing will be sent out for you to verify that the data you want is present. Due to camera media usually containing pictures/movies a set of sample thumbnails would be sent in place of a listing for verification.

Please note: Without performing an analysis it is impossible to determine the type of fault your media has suffered. The symptoms listed are however good general indicators of the fault.