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Corrupted CF Card Recovery: Recover Data & Repair CF Card
Worried about your corrupted and unreadable CF card? ? Fear not. You can easily perform corrupted CF card recovery with 2 effective methods and repair corrupted CF card in this article. Common causes and prevention tips are included as well.
By Lori / Updated on December 11, 2024
Compact Flash (CF) cards are widely used in portable electronic devices such as professional cameras or digital SLR cameras, and have the advantages of high storage capacity, high reliability, and fast data transmission rate. If an accident occurs to the electronic device or the CF card is corrupted and unreadable, the data stored in it will also be lost.
Don’t worry about compact flash cards corrupted and how to recover, in this article you can find reliable 2 ways to perform corrupted CF card recovery and repair corrupted CF card completely. Also, some common reasons and prevention of CF card corruption are included.
How to Recover Data from Corrupted CF Card on Windows/Mac?
Compact flash card corruption will cause data loss. You can use data recovery software to perform corrupted compact flash data recovery. The following will introduce the method of recovering data and fixing this problem in detail, keep reading!
- When Windows prompts you to format the CF card, if you have not recovered the files in the CF, please do not format it.
- If the CF card is damaged, please stop storing more data to prevent the original data from being overwritten, and use data recovery software immediately.
Way 1. Recover Data From Corrupted CF Card via MyRecover
I believe you are very distressed to recover data from the damaged CF card, don't worry, there is always a way to get the data back. The easiest and fastest way is to use MyRecover, the most popular, high-performance, feature-rich, and reliable compact flash card recovery software to directly recover data from damaged CF cards.
MyRecover is the best assistant for you. It can scan your CF card for recoverable data and safely restore it to a healthy and safe storage device.
✍ Key features of MyRecover:
Recover 1000+ file formats: Recover permanently deleted photos, Word, Excel, PPT, PDF, Videos, Audio, folders, compressed files, etc.
Advanced scanning method: MyRecover will scan your CF card thoroughly and automatically to locate all the recoverable files.
Filter specific files quickly with Type, Date Modified & Size and recover them as soon as they are found.
Support all brands of CF cards, such as SanDisk, Lexar, Cloudisk, Transcend, Sony, etc. Support SD card, USB flash drives, CFexpress card data recovery, etc.
🔥 Recover a total of 500MB of files for free.
Steps to Corrupted CF Card Data Recovery
Step 1. Install and run MyRecover. Hover the mouse over the CF card saved deleted files before, and click Scan.
Step 2. MyRecover will scan your CF card automatically and thoroughly to display all data from your CF card.
- Type: Select the file type (Documents, Images, Videos, Audios, Mails, Webpages, Compressed files, etc.)
- Date modified: Set the date (today, yesterday, last 7/30 days, etc.)
- Size: Filter the file size (<128KB, 128KB~1MB, 1MB~ 512MB, 512MB above, etc.)
Step 3. After the scan is finished, go to Other missing files and select the files you need, e.g., Images, and click Recover x files.
Step 4. You will be asked to choose a location. Please choose a new location to prevent the recovered data from being overwritten.
Congratulations! You successfully performed CF card corrupted recovery, retrieving all of the important data that seemed lost forever.
- The restore button will display the number of selected data and their total size to determine the integrity of the recovered files.
- You can do corrupted CF card data recovery, up to 500MB for free. When exceeded, please upgrade to the advanced editions.
- If you are unable to recover data from corrupted CF card or the situation is complicated, it's advisable to seek help from data recovery services such as Geek Squad. They have trained professionals and advanced equipment to handle even the most difficult data recovery cases.
Way 2. Corrupted CF Card Recovery on Mac
PhotoRec is file data recovery software designed to recover lost files including video, documents and archives from hard disks. It can help recover data from your corrupted CF card, please follow the steps below.
Step 1. Install and run PhotoRec on your Mac > Use the Up/Down arrow key to select your corrupted CF card > Enter Proceed to confirm.
Step 2. Then choose Search for data recovery > Press Enter to start the file recovery process.
Step 3. PhotoRec requires knowing the type of file system used to store the files in order to recover data. Select Other if the file system is not ext2, ext3, or ext4.
Step 4. Use the Up/Down arrow keys to select a new location to save the recovered files. Press C to start recovery.
How to Repair Corrupted CF Card on Windows & Mac?
After recovering data from a corrupted CF card, you can repair it using the following 4 methods.
Way 1: Fix Corrupted CF Card with CHKDSK (Windows)
You can use the Windows command line tool CHKDSK to fix a corrupted CF card. CHKDSK makes a storage device accessible again by fixing its filesystem (if it supports one). However, it may cause some files to become inaccessible and unrecoverable. This method is generally only used after taking a full backup and attempting to restore the files.
1. Type "cmd" in the Windows search box, and click "Run as administrator".
2. Enter the command “chkdsk /f *” or “chkdsk /r *” (replace "*" with the letter of your CF card)".
- “/f” will check your CF card's file system for problems and then fix the errors. “/r” is pretty much the same, but instead of just checking the free space on the CF card, it also finds and analyzes bad sectors on the disk and recovers readable information.
- If you're dealing with a failed CF card, it's best to start with “/r”, which is faster and puts less stress on it, minimizing the chance of further data loss.
3. Wait for CHKDSK to complete the process. Depending on the size of your CF card, this process may take several hours.
Way 2: Repair CF Card Using Error Checking Tool (Windows)
1. Insert your CF card into your computer, open File Explorer, and right-click on your CF card.
2. Choose Properties >Tools >check> Scan drive. Follow the steps of the guide to try to fix your CF card.
3. Click Scan drive to find errors and fix them.
Way 3: Repair Corrupted CF Card Using First Aid (Mac)
Mac users can use the First Aid feature in Disk Utility to get back files from damaged CF cards, its main function is to find and fix file system errors. It's the easiest way to fix your Mac.
1. Launch the "Disk Utility" app.
2. Choose the CF Card from the list of devices on the left of Disk Utility’s window.
3. Click the "First Aid" at the top-right of the window。
4. Finally, click "Run" and hit the "Continue" button to complete the process.
5. Disk Utility will automatically repair the CF card, and after a while, it will notify you of the status of the CF card and let you know whether it has been repaired or not.
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You don’t care about your CF card’s contents but would like to keep using it. You can always reformat it through the Disk Utility.
Way 4: Format CF card (Windows & Mac)
1. Insert your CF card into your computer, and copy its contents to a temporary folder.
2. Open File Explorer, right-click CF card and click Format.
3. Format it to one of the supported file systems (FAT32 or ExFAT).
4. Move it back to the camera and format it there to ensure full compatibility with the device's preferred file system.
Futher Reading: Why Is Your CF Card Corrupted?
There are many reasons for your CF card corruption, which may lead to loss of stored data, including:
- Write or Read to CF card was interrupted
During the process of reading and writing the CF card, transferring data to the computer pulling out the CF card in a hurry, or writing interruptions such as battery failure may lead to data loss.
- File system failure
The CF card is using an unsupported file system and needs to be formatted (usually FAT32 or ExFAT), Any damage to the file system will damage the CF card.
- The contents of the CF card are corrupted
The reason for the damage may be a misbehaving app, which didn’t finish a write process to your CF card properly, inadvertently corrupting it. It may also be due to a virus attack, malicious software or adware, and other viruses that intentionally damage the CF card.
- CF card formatted
Users may have accidentally formatted the CF card, or some errors and corruption may force them to format it. Formatting will delete all data on the CF card.
- CF card physically damaged
Sometimes a CF card gets corrupted due to some form of physical damage such as shock, drop, abrasion, etc., affecting its functionality.
Bonus Tip: How to Prevent CF Card Corrupt?
We hope you don't get to the point of recovering data from a corrupted CF card, so it's even more important to make sure that doesn't happen in the future. Here are the preventions of CF card corruption.
💫Reduce human error: Please double-check all your important files and make sure everything is removed from the CF card before formatting it.
🐱🚀Make backups: Back up all precious files, especially those that are not easy or completely impossible to recreate. You can try AOMEI Backupper Standard, a worth trying and free Windows backup software.
💥Avoid virus attacks: Try not to run applications from unwanted or untrusted sources. Always use antivirus software, especially Windows, which has a large user base and is more likely to be targeted by malicious users.
🎎Safe storage: Always store the CF card in a protective case. Do not expose to the sun or place in a humid place.
Even if you take care of compact flash card cards, always remember that they are not permanent, they are replaceable. In the event of a hardware failure or repeated content corruption, please back up the failed CF card in time and replace it as soon as possible.
Conclusion
In this article, corrupted CF card recovery using data recovery software - MyRecover seems an easy thing. It can also recover formatted CF card. You can then, fix this problem completely.
The best way to prevent data loss is always to have a backup. Regular backups and the use of reliable storage devices can reduce the risk of data loss. In the event of a disaster, you'll be able to quickly restore files from backups and get them back in no time.
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