Any Programs that can recover corrupted JPGs ?

I have a bunch that Irfanview says it can't display, Can't read the
header. From the file size there should be sufficient data for a
clever program to reconstruct.

Not my pictures, for a family member. Families are wonderful, anyone
want mine?

On Sat, 21 Aug 2010 20:50:55 +0000 (UTC), Gordon Freeman
wrote:

charles wrote:

I have a bunch that Irfanview says it can't display, Can't read the
header. From the file size there should be sufficient data for a
clever program to reconstruct.

Try using Irfanview's hex viewer to see what the headers actually show, and
what if anything is in the files. They could be blank, or they might even
be a different valid format such as a mime encoded email or a zip file or
something that has got the wrong file extension.

If they're corrupt because of a dodgy memory card etc though they may just
contain totally random junk.


It looks like the headers are gone, I don't know what is supposed to
be there, but it looks much different from a good jpg. I found some
demo programs and an online service that are supposed to fix jpgs,
they gave up as well. They are good for retrieving deleted files
which aren't really gone, but whatever happened to these files is
beyond recovery.

Thanks for the response. Even though I didn't get the files back I
think I can quit worrying about them, just pronounce them as gone.

charles wrote:
I have a bunch that Irfanview says it can't display, Can't read the
header. From the file size there should be sufficient data for a
clever program to reconstruct.

Not my pictures, for a family member. Families are wonderful, anyone
want mine?

If the header of the JPEG is corrupt, they're gone. But
if the corruption is in the directory of the filesystem
(so that trying to read the file gets the wrong data),
then some or all of the actual file data may be
retrievable.

Do *NOT* write to the filesystem until you have a chance
to use recovery software on it! Any file io that writes
to the filesystem will potentially overwrite the lost
file data and permanently corrupt it.

Do a web search on "file recovery".

--
Floyd L. Davidson http://www.apaflo.com/floyd_davidson
Ukpeagvik (Barrow, Alaska)

On 22/08/2010 00:43, Floyd L. Davidson wrote:
wrote:
I have a bunch that Irfanview says it can't display, Can't read the
header. From the file size there should be sufficient data for a
clever program to reconstruct.

The file size itself is not a good indicator of content. First thing to
do is backup everything of value in case whatever damaged them is still
occurring. And don't run any file recovery programs on the original
data. Certain ones will obliterate the information needed to fix them.

PhotoRescue is worth a try. There are others. The better ones will show
you what they can recover in the demo version. All the good ones will
offer to make an exact binary media copy before doing anything.

If that will not do it then I am interested to take a look privately
(please send me a two or three of consecutive bad image files - I can
quickly tell if recovery is possible). The hard problem is doing it when
serious damage is present. It is usually only worthwhile for press
images with real commercial value or irreplaceable ones like weddings or
trips of a lifetime.

NB a quick and dirty test of whether they still contain something that
approximates to valid JPEG data is to try compressing a few with ZIP. If
they will compress by more than about 5% then the images are likely gone
forever. Certain viruses zap JPEGs to files full of nulls.

It is actually quite unusual for a bad disk or file structure to cause
header corruption since it occupies such a small proportion of the file.
I tend to suspect malware here and that does not bode well.
An AV scan might be worthwhile.

Not my pictures, for a family member. Families are wonderful, anyone
want mine?

If the header of the JPEG is corrupt, they're gone. But
if the corruption is in the directory of the filesystem
(so that trying to read the file gets the wrong data),
then some or all of the actual file data may be
retrievable.

JPEG header corruption may be recoverable and part of files may still be
recoverable even when the headers are completely gone. However, it isn't
simple and it is at present specialist recovery work.

Do *NOT* write to the filesystem until you have a chance
to use recovery software on it! Any file io that writes
to the filesystem will potentially overwrite the lost
file data and permanently corrupt it.

Unfortunately that also includes running the Windows OS because of the
swap file.

Do a web search on "file recovery".

Good advice. Though I seriously recommend backing things up very
carefully before attempting anything else. Even installing the recovery
software could itself zap some crucial data. For this reason some of
them will run directly from a memory stick or CD without installing.

Regards,
Martin Brown
(my odd looking email address is valid)

"Martin Brown" wrote
...

On 22/08/2010 00:43, Floyd L. Davidson wrote:
wrote:
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Not my pictures, for a family member. Families are wonderful, anyone
want mine?
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I can certainly sympathize with that !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!