Memory card failures are a pretty rare event these days. The newer cards are generally pretty stable and reliable too if you stick to buying the high quality name brand professional level cards from Lexar and Sandisk.

But what does happen from time to time are errors and crashes. What I mean is most of the time, when a problem occurs with a memory card, the card is not physically broken or needing replacement. It is usually an error that occurs causing the photo files on the card to seem to have disappeared. But the files are often still there and in tact and the memory card itself will usually still be perfectly usable again with your camera once you reformat it.

So how do these errors occur?

Much of the time the problems occur from shuttling cards back and forth between the camera and a computer. Sometimes after cards have been read by multiple devices, and with changes made to the card in terms of adding and removing photo files from the card via a computer, then the card can become corrupt. When this happens it usually appears that there are no longer any photo files contained on the card and either the computer and/or the camera may even tell you that the card is unreadable and needs reformatting even though the photos may still be there on the card.

So what can you do to recover files if you have an error like this and your files seem to have disappeared?

1 – First thing is don’t panic and be sure not to continue using the card to take more pictures with it or anything else for the time being. Don’t reformat the card either. There is a good chance your files on the card are still there and are still fully in tact, but just can’t be seen by your computer or camera at the moment. And if you continue using the card then you risk accidentally overwriting your existing photo files that are on the card with new files. So just put the card aside for the time being. Use a different memory card if you want to keep shooting and do not do anything with the unreadable memory card until you have a chance to try to recover the files from it using a computer.

2 – The next thing to do now is to use a file recovery program to try to extract the files that are still on the memory card. The program that most people have the best success with at the moment is called Recuva, which is a free program that can be downloaded here. Unfortunately Recuva is only available for Windows based computers though. So if you are using a Mac you can try PhotoRescue, which is not a free program, but a free trial version can be downloaded here so at least you can try it out first before buying it.

3 – In some cases, when the file allocation table on the card itself is damaged, programs like Recuva, which require the existence of a readable file allocation table, may not be able to recover your files. In cases like this then there is another program called PhotoRec which is a free open-source program which is available for both PC and Mac computers. Unfortunately it has a DOS user interface which is not as convenient as a graphical user interface, and it runs a bit slowly, but it is sure to be able to recover your pictures files even when the file allocation table is completely destroyed. So you can go here to download PhotoRec for free if Recuva doesn’t work for you.

To recover your files from a damaged memory card with any of these programs, first install the program and then follow the program’s instructions. Recuva has a help section here to guide you through the file recovery process. For PhotoRec there is a step by step help section here to guide you through as well.

Once you have recovered your files how can these errors be prevented from happening again in the future?

1 – After you have shot pictures with a memory card, don’t put the card into a card reader and into a computer and start editing and/or deleting files on the card. Especially if you plan to put the card back into the camera again later for more shooting. Sometimes these actions can and often will cause errors. The best thing to do is always copy all the files from the card onto your computer first and then start working on the files once they are safely stored on your computer’s hard drive.

2 – After you have downloaded all the photo files onto your computer from a memory card using a card reader then always reformat the card before starting a new photo shoot with the card. Not reformatting the card first can often lead to errors with the card later.

3 – Never delete all the files on the card by using your computer to delete them. Always reformat the card instead of doing a complete file delete on your computer. Reformatting is normally faster too than doing a complete file delete.

4 – When formatting memory cards always reformat the card using the camera and not your computer. Sometimes formatting of the card by the computer can cause errors later with the card when using it to take pictures again with a digital camera.

As I mentioned, it is also best to stick with using high quality brand name memory cards for maximum stability. If you spend a bit more money to buy the professional level cards by Lexar and Sandisk then physical card problems hardly will occur. And the cost difference now between the lower grade cards and the professional grade cards is small anyway. So there is little reason these days to buy anything but the professional level memory cards.

Personally I use both brands, Lexar and Sandisk. But recently I have made a habit of buying Lexar cards only. According to speed tests that have been carried out to compare various brands of cards, Lexar are generally the fastest cards out there and are considerably faster than Sandisk cards of the same specs. Lexar are often up to 30% lower in terms of price too than Sandisk cards for an equal amount of storage capacity. So Lexar cards are really the best value for money in terms of reliability, speed, cost and storage capacity at present.