I use a FlashPath floppy adapter to download pics from my SmartMedia card. The first time I tried to do so after upgrading my OS from Windows Me to XP, the drive made a lot of funny noises. I ejected the FlashPath from the floppy drive and got a message that had to do with formatting the floppy disk. I downloaded new FlashPath software for XP, and tried again. Nothing was on the card. I put it in the camera to view the pics there, and got a "no pictures" message. Is there any way to recover these pics? There are some very sentimental Christmas pictures of my elderly mother that I would desperately love to save... Thanks.

-- Donna Edwards (wsdareme@ywave.com), January 22, 2004

Answers

eProvided.com is one of the largest media card and digital camera recovery companies in the United States. The company’s Quality Assurance Technical Manager, Bruce Cullen, and his team have a wealth of experience in file recovery. For several years they have provided technical support to a wide variety of digital camera users, and the new Image-Recover© process will only serve to increase the benefits for their customers.

The unique Image-Recover© process salvages lost images from a wide variety of corrupt, deleted, or damaged media: • SmartMedia • CompactFlash • Memory Stick • MMC-SD • MiniSD • PCMCIA • Microdrive • SD or PC Card image storage devices • USB Jump Drives • Hard Drives/USB Drives • CD-RW/CD-R/DVD-RW/DVD-R • iStick • xD Card • And all others

According to Cullen, the exclusive service has been able to recover 92% of all lost images. Many people do not even realize that this service is available. Just last month, eProvided.com was contacted by a new mother through email. She had pictures of the delivery of her newborn, but had somehow lost the images. She found Image-Recover© via an Internet search, and to her great delight, they quickly re- produced her incredible photos. Without this service, she would have never been able to share those astonishing pictures with her child later in life!

“I am surprised major camera retailers and large established card manufacturers ask their clients to surf the net looking for digital image recovery sites; they could send them directly to us. We could provide the service on some sort of an outsourcing basis; this would be a huge win/win situation for everyone involved. The retailers and manufacturers keep their customer goodwill; we get to provide the service; and the customer gets to have their images restored,” notes Cullen.

The idea behind this digital image recovery service was developed by Cullen, the owner of the search engine optimization firm WebPublicitee.com, when his wife's digital images were lost during a trip to Europe. Whether the Memory Stick was corrupt or something in the airport scanners affected it, he knew the problem could be fixed when after only a second try, he was able to salvage all of the pictures. Like Cullen himself, many people are in need of digital image recovery. Without any publicity at all, the site has begun receiving an unprecedented increase in the number of hits daily. From January 2003 to February 2004, traffic to the site has multiplied by an average of over 1100%.

Over The firm is thrilled with the level of customer satisfaction it is able to provide. As Cullen notes, “I have never heard so many ecstatic responses. When we tell customers we were able to get their images back, the response is not just, ‘Ok. Great; how much do we owe you?’ It is more along the lines of ‘No way! Are you serious? Fabulous!’” According to Cullen, most people think the technology is so complicated that the images are gone. However, eProvided.com sees it as easy when handled by a dedicated professional. The company cherishes making phone calls telling customers their images are back. “It’s a good feeling when the customers thank us several times before we get off the phone. They just love the news! We know we are providing a valuable service when this happens.”

One point Cullen notes as very important is that you shouldn’t tamper with the storage device. If you just can’t retrieve the images, preserve the device in as close to the original condition as possible. This increases the likelihood of Image-Recover© being able to rescue the digital files.

To learn more about this extraordinary service, check out their web site eProvided.com, or call (714) 225-9700. You can contact customer service by emailing Image-Recover@eProvided.com.

“What eProvided.com customers say about our services.”

Image-Recover® Critical evidence images recovered for Indiana Sheriff’s Department Friday January 26, 2004

ORANGE COUNTY, California, Jan 26 (eProvided.com) – Digital Image Recovery service, Image-Recover® by eProvided.com, successful in recovery once again. In a recent recovery completed for an Indiana County Sheriff’s Department, eProvided.com was able to retrieve evidence photos that are vital to a successful conviction in a currently pending criminal court trial. The key Sergeant, whose name must be kept confidential, tried contacting Sony, the manufacturer of the Memory Stick, for help. However, even the “Manufacturer” of the card was unable to provide their customer with support on their own product. In a letter received by eProvided.com, the Sergeant states,

“When I contacted Sony for advice I did not get much help. The three levels of ‘Help’ I spoke to had no idea what the problem was. I found it hard to believe the camera would give a specific error code and no one from Sony had any idea what it meant.” – Sargent XXXXX

Image-Recover®, on the other hand, was able to quickly and accurately restore sixty (60), out of the requested fifty (50), extra-high resolution images within 24-hours. So why are major manufacturers and camera retailers unable to help their clients with data recovery issues? One reason may be that offering such a service takes up a lot of time and resources; hiring technicians, management, hardware, et cetera. Another reason is that due to the number of different media storage formats, it may not be very profitable for a manufacturer to offer such services.

What can you expect in the future? Cullen says customers should soon be able to not only have the images retrieved but have their images available via the Internet (file upload) within only a few hours of the files being recovered. As of October 2003 recovered images have the ability to be printed on photo paper and mailed to customers. eProvided.com will also be adding image editing services so that customers can improve the quality of their recovered images.

One question still remains, what happens to clients needing Digital Image Recovery services? Are they left in the dark, with no help? Or are they being sent on a endless quest of surfing the Internet for help? A simple answer to those questions is eProvided.com, the Digital Image Recovery experts.

Compact Flash Recovery - Smart Media Data RecoveryeProvided.com - The Image Recovery Experts

-- Bruce Cullen - President/eProvided.com (Image-recovery@eprovided.com), February 24, 2004.