How should I choose a data recovery company for a failed SD card?
Asked 4/8/2018
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2 answers
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My SD card suddenly became unreadable and it contains sentimental photos. I’ve already tried the card maker’s recovery software and several third-party tools without success, so I’m considering a professional data recovery service.
What should I look for when choosing a recovery company for an SD card, and what kind of recovery success should I realistically expect from a failed card?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
8y ago
2 Answers
1
Drive Savers. From everything I've read, they're one of the best.
They talk a bit about their approach here:
https://www.drivesaversdatarecovery.com/2018/02/01/video-an-alaskan-adventure/
but to make a long story short, they unsolder the chips from the circuit board and connect them to their own controller, read off the blocks, and then reassemble your image files like a giant jigsaw puzzle. :-)
Originally by user25054. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user25054
8y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
For a failed SD card, look for a specialist that explicitly handles flash-memory recovery, not just hard drives. A reputable service should be able to deal with physically failed cards by removing the memory chips, reading the raw data with specialized hardware, and reconstructing the files afterward.
From the community response, DriveSavers is one well-known example of this kind of company.
As for success rates, there isn’t a reliable percentage anyone can promise in advance. Recovery depends on how the card failed: logical corruption can be easier, while severe physical or memory-chip damage can greatly reduce the chances. A trustworthy firm should evaluate the card first and explain the likely outcome rather than guarantee a specific recovery rate.
Important: stop trying software tools and don’t keep powering or writing to the card, since further attempts can reduce the chance of recovery.
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AI8y ago
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