ImageRecall V3
Despite the precautions I take to carefully save all the images from my flash memory cards to my computer hard drive, sometimes I get anxious and unintentionally delete the images in the digicam that I don't think I'll ever need again. Boy, has that ever ALMOST landed me into big trouble. I say ALMOST, because for the past year, I've been using a software program called ImageRecall. That program has literally saved my rear end, so to speak.ImageRecall from FlashFixers is technically a class of "rescue" software that works by analyzing memory cards very carefully and picking out all that is POSSIBLY recoverable. I emphasize the word "possibly", because, if you have formatted you memory card, depending on the particular digicam you have, it just might not be possible to recover lost files. More on that later. But, if you have only deleted images, they stand a much better chance of recovery.
I just received FlashFixers' newest third version of the program, and I'm delighted that it works significantly faster than the original (one of my biggest nits). I tried ImageRecall V3 (IR3) on a number of digicams to simulate a variety of "lost image" scenarios.
A British company, Media Innovations Group (MIG), developed ImageRecall 3 ($49.95 MSRP for PC or Mac CD version and printed user manual, or $39.95 MSRP online). MIG has focused on digital camera and media support for the past 10 years, and has a substantial knowledge base and experience in this area. FlashFixers sells and supports ImageRecall in North America.
Technically, ImageRecall 3 recovers lost digital images and data caused by accidental deletion, formatting, and other camera mishaps, like battery failure, accidentally opening up the flash memory compartment while the camera is writing or reading data, etc. These camera mishaps generally corrupt the file structure on the flash memory card. ImageRecall 3 was specifically designed to "sniff out" the remains of the image file structure and recover what is technically possible.
I placed a newly formatted 1GB CF card into an external USB Hi-Speed reader and fired up the ImageRecall software, which was previously installed. The friendly Don't Panic interface appears with its simple 3-step process. First, you select which drive (flash memory card) is to be scanned. Having done that, you click on the magnifying glass icon, which is Step 1, Recover Lost Files. There are two methods that IR3 uses: a Turbo Scan and a Deep Scan. Turbo Scan, as the name implies, is the quickest method and is successful with simple image deletion. Deep Scan is used if the memory card has been formatted.
The Preview screen allows you to see images being recovered. When the Progress Bar reaches 100 percent, the Turbo Scan is complete. By default, any images recovered will be found in the Turbo Scan folder of the My Documents>My Recovered Files folder. If your card has been formatted, you need to perform a Deep Scan. It's a much slower,methodical recovery technique and any images it finds are transferred to the Deep Scan folder in My Documents>Myrecovered Files folder.
Once scanning is complete, you can view the thumbnails of the images recovered. The thumbnail browser is designed for this. Any JPEG images recovered will show up as visible thumbnails. IR3 also has the terrific capability of recovering RAW image formats. Each digicam manufacturer has a distinctly different RAW format; none of them are compatible are compatible. But, IR3 can recognize many of them (NEF, X3F, CRW, RAF, ORF, CR2, ETC.) These will be displayed as an icon of the Don't Worry logo with a mountain scene overlaid. Use your digicam's RAW image viewer (of Adobe Photoshop with it built-in RAW support) to load these recovered RAW images and save them with an appropriate image name.
If you like the fact that recovered images and files are automatically placed into the My Documents>My Recovered Files folder, you can select an output directory of your own for convenience. There is a Set Output Directory button that lets you define where you want the recovered images to be transferred. As before, two folders (Turbo Scan and Deep Scan) will be created to hold the recovered images.
Another cool feature of IR3 is the CD Writing wizard. It automatically backs-up all recovered images, files, etc. to a CD, or series of CDs if the size exceeds a single CD capacity. Note: The CD Writing Wizard doesn't support DVD writing yet, although that would be a logical upgrade when FlashFixers gets around to it.
FlashFixers doesn't guarantee that all flash memory can be recovered after accidental reassure, formatting, or other mishap. A lot depends on the way your digicam formats its images. Some Sony, Fujifile, Konica Minolta, Kyocera, Polaroid, and Olympus digicams use a destructive formatting process called "full-zeroing". With full zeroing, every bit of memory is written to with a binary 0, which completely eliminates all recorded images. This is not just a "flag" that tricks the camera into thinking that the images are not really there, when in fact they are. If you are using a digicam from one of these manufacturers, you might want to consider only deleting images, not formatting them. Then, if you do have an unfortunate accident and delete some images you really wanted, ImageRecall 3 can at least have a fighting chance to recover the deleted images. Luckily, I have been using various Canon digicams and DSLR's, and they don't have the full zeroing type of formatting. WHEW!
And, finally if you've suddenly come to the realization that not all flash memory cards are truly erased, you'll be happy to know that ImageRecall also has a Secure Erase function. This is the Lock icon located under the ImageRecall main page. Its purpose is to fully erase all content on your memory card. If you're seriously security conscious, this Secure Erase function might be just what you need.
I had great success in recovering images that I had either purposely erased or "lost" through formatting or accidentally "lost" through mishap. And, because ImageRecall 3 is really fast, it can even Deep Scan a 1 GB CF card in just a few minutes. I'm keeping this great image recovery tool in my arsenal of tricks. You should find it extremely useful, as well.
ImageRecall 3 is available as a free "light" downloadable version. It can recover 10 thumbnails of images. To do a full recovery you need to buy the product. For more information, contact FlashFixers at 888-8-FIXERS or visit its Web site at www.flashfixers.com