Frequently Asked Questions about products

This FAQ covers common support and usage questions related to the products.

Digital Photo Recovery

• I ordered online. Where is the software?

A dynamically generated download link for the full version of Digital Photo Recovery has been sent to your email address when you placed your order. The email sender is SWReg<support@swreg.org> and the subject is: "Thank you for your Order - U[order no]" . If you haven't received the download link email, please check in the spam, bulk or junk e-mail folder. If the email is located there, please note that your ISP, spam-blockers or filters are diverting our emails there. It is a good ideea to add the sender to your Contacts list to ensure delivery.
Locate the DOWNLOAD INFORMATION in the email receipt and click on the link to Download and install the software.

• I installed the full version but I still have the demo

If you previously installed the demo version please uninstall it prior to install the full version. Go to Control Panel/ Add or Remove Programs, select the Digital Photo Recovery Demo and click Change/Remove. Then you can install the full version from the link provided in the email receipt.

• My camera is not in the list of available drives from where to recover. What should I do?

If after plugging your camera to your computer you can’t select the Camera Drive Removable Disk (G:\, etc)
you’ll have to pull the memory card from your camera and connect it to a USB Memory Card Reader, a device that connects directly your camera’s memory card to the computer through a USB port. This way you can select the memory card as the location from where to restore the images. The price for a USB Memory Card Reader is around $10.
We do recommend using a Plug and Play USB Memory Card Reader for a better recovery and a successful saving for the recovered files. It offers a more reliable way to transfer the photos to your computer and in most situations it is the faster.
Also you can use a device that supports the card Reader function (Camcorder, Printer). There are several types of Readers: for notebooks (PC-CARD / PCMCIA) and for PCs (USB, IDE). Ask your local computer shop for a “Plug and Play USB Memory Card Reader”!

• Where should I save the recovered files?

When you save the recovered files always make sure that the output folder(Where you save the files) is not on the same drive as the files to recover were. That way you avoid inadvertently overwriting other deleted or lost files. Please save the recovered files to a folder from your hard drive. (for ex "C:\Program Files\Digital Photo Recovery\Recovered"). If you scan a memory card (Secure Digital, Memory Stick, CompactFlash) save the recovered files to a folder on your computer (for ex: My Documents).

• Is Digital Photo Recovery a Windows or Macintosh application?

Digital Photo Recovery is a Windows® application. It works under the Windows® OS only. It supports all versions of Windows® from Windows 95 to Windows Vista™.

• Does the program have the capacity to put a messy picture "back together"?

To explain the process, the recovery method used by the program is also referred to as "file carving". It searches for files that can be recognized by a characteristic file header signature (a certain sequence of byte values). Because of this approach, recovery does not depend on the existence of functional file system structures. When found based on the signature, the files are saved to the output folder that is specified by the user. The recovery assumes contiguous file clusters, so produces corrupt files in case the files were originally stored in a fragmented way. If your file is fragmented most likely the software will not be able to recover it correctly. You should try our demo and look at the thumbnail preview.

• The software shuts down while I am scrolling through

Always try to run the program from a different media than the one you are scanning. If you scan a hard drive try to copy "C:\Program Files\Digital Photo Recovery" to a different hard drive (not partition), a floppy, a CD or a multimedia card (SD, CF, Flash Card) and run the program from that location.
If you scan a removable media (Secure Digital, Memory Stick, CompactFlash) run the program from the default location (where it was installed).

• Can i recover files from a hard drive?

The software wasn't designed for large fixed media (hard drives). Scanning a hard drive is time consuming and may generate errors if you scan the drive where the software is installed. Always try to run the program from a different media than the one you are scanning. If you are unable to do so you can simply run the program from your hard drive but in this situation it is possible that the program will stop working and even close if you scan the drive where it is installed.

When you scan a hard drive it is practically impossible to locate a photo from the thumbnails displayed in the program. This is because all the images from the hard drive will be recovered. The solution would be to recover all the image files (JPEG) then search for your lost file among them.
Please note that the software can scan only your entire hard disk. It does not recognize hard disk locations (Recycle Bin) and will not target a selected folder. This is why it will recover all the media files it founds on your disk. You can limit the search for specific files like JPG. (Available in the Full Version)
Selecting a hard drive will require significant time for the scanning process to complete. The software was designed for use with removable media.
While it is possible to recover photos from a hard drive the process can be difficult to achieve and will require time and disk space depending on the size of the hard drive.

Please try to follow these steps:

1) Select the drive where the deleted images are located from the list of all available drives.

2) Select a 64KB cluster size

3) Press the Settings button and select only the file types you want to recover - for ex. Jpegs (*.JPG). Leave all the other file types unselected.

4) Press Next

5) WHEN the program finishes the recovery process (“Progress" bar or "Current sector" is not changing - This may take a while (a few hours) depending on the size of the drive. Please wait...)

6) You will be prompted to select where to save the recovered files. You can select the default location "Recovered" folder: C:\Program Files\Digital Photo Recovery\Recovered

7) Press Save

8) The saving operation can also take hours. When it finishes a popup window will appear with "Save succeeded" message.

9) Do not wait until the program finishes the save operation.

10) With your windows explorer browse the folder "C:\Program Files\Digital Photo Recovery\Recovered" Select to view the folder files as thumbnails (ALT-V, Select Thumbnails)

11) Delete from this folder all the files you do not recognize as being your deleted photos. The program will continue to write new recovered files to this folder. Continue to delete the unnecessary files. This repeated operation will save disk space and time from your side.

12) To be able to locate your pictures in Windows Explorer, from the View Tab (Alt V) select Arrange Icons by > select "Picture Taken On" or "Dimensions" or "Size". This way when you find your first photo the others should follow.

Another option is to Search in your folder based on the information referring to "What size is it?" or "When was it modified" if you know this information. This way the search result should lead to your photos.

• Why some recovered images appear complete in the thumbnail view but in full view they are only partially viewable?

You are able to See/Save the thumbnails because in some cases JPEG images from digital cameras often contain small thumbnail images in their EXIF data and most viewers will use these when available. Some applications do not update the EXIF thumbnail when modifying the image and this can result in the thumbnail and main displays becoming out of sync. In other words the thumbnail is stored in a different place than the body of the image and when you recover them the software will preview the image based on the EXIF preview. So it is possible to be able to see the thumbnail but that picture was overwritten and therefore is not fully recoverable.

• The recovered files seem to be truncated and parts are missing. What should I do?

The program truncates the recovered files because a new valid header is found within the file. This can be solved by selecting only one type of files for recovery. Repeat the recovery and from the Settings menu try to select ONLY the file types you want to recover - for ex. Jpegs (*.JPG). Leave all the other file types unselected. This will prevent misinterpretation in the recovered files.
If your files still appear incorrect your media is fragmented and in this situation the software will not work.

• If the demo previews my photos am I 100% sure that they can be recovered?

The demo should preview correctly all the files that can be recovered.

There are a few situations:

1) The demo won't be able to display the picture because it is corrupted /overwritten or the media is fragmented and therefore it can't be recovered.

2) The program truncates the recovered files because a new valid header is found within the file. This can be solved by selecting only one type of files for recovery - for ex. Jpegs (*.JPG). This option is available in the full version.

3) The program won't be able to preview specific file types like MPG, Tiff, etc.

4)The demo previews correctly the file based on the exif preview(the thumbnail is stored in the file) but that picture was overwritten and therefore is not fully recoverable. This is the situation in which the demo previews photos you will not be able to recover. 

• I accidentally formatted my memory card in a Olympus/Fuji/Casio camera and I can't  recover my files.

Files deleted by a Fuji / Olympus or Casio camera are usually not recoverable, because they initialize the actual image data when deleting, not just mark a file as deleted in the file system.

Olympus/Fuji/Casio cameras wipe the media with a blank pattern of 0s for formatting. With this wipe format all data will be lost forever. The Wipe Option overwrites the entire card with zeros, including the file system areas completely and securely erasing the data.
If your digital camera card has been formatted in a destructive way, by overwriting all sectors and not just by initializing the file system data structures, the recovery is impossible. Fuji, Olympus and Casio use this type of delete/format.

• What is the cluster size and how should i use it?

You can adjust the number of bytes read at a time (cluster size) in order to optimize your recovery success. Each Media has a default cluster size which should work well in most cases. However depending on your situation you will be able to get better results by adjusting the read cluster size. First try to use a 64KB cluster size, then experiment with different values.

• I can't recover my files. Is the recovery guaranteed?

NO. Every recovery will depend on the media state, fragmentation and how much information was overwritten. Also if the media is damaged or defective the recovery won’t work.

if new information has been saved on top of the deleted file area it will be impossible to recover your files. If you have deleted a large number of files and then only written a small amount of information, some of the files could be recovered. The best chance is when the files have been deleted but no new information has been saved on the media.

We can’t guarantee a recovery because it’s not up to us to predict the recovery rate. Several factors are included here.
The recovery rate can be from 0% to 100% depending on your media state and we can't guarantee the recovery.

• I cannot "chose a drive" when prompted by screen to do so.  All drives come up "not ready".

You will need Administrator's privileges to run the software and scan a drive. This is caused by the Microsoft components that are imported by our program. Please make sure you have Administrator's privileges on the computer. Also you should be able to save, install new programs and access the drives. Please make sure you are selecting a drive that is available.

• I can't open any of the recovered files. Why?

You have connected the camera using a USB cable or a Card Reader that is not supported or requires installation. The recovered files may appear in the program but they are not saved correctly. We do recommend using a Plug and Play USB Memory Card Reader for a better recovery and a successful saving for the recovered files. It offers a more reliable way to transfer the photos to your computer and in most situations it is the faster.

Also you can use a device that supports the card Reader function (Camcorder, Printer). There are several types of Readers: for notebooks (PC-CARD / PCMCIA) and for PCs (USB, IDE). Ask your local computer shop for a “Plug and Play USB Memory Card Reader”!

• The recovered files do not print correctly. Why?

This is because when saving the files the program includes more information than needed in the body of the image and this information will be printed. To solve this open the recovered pictures into your favorite image editor: Photoshop, ACDSee, Picasa and then save them using the "Save As..." function from the editor. Then try to print the new saved files.

Ask Questions to our Support Team

If you didn't find an answer to your question in the FAQs, you can contact our Support Team directly. In your message body please specify (if possible):

• Order Number
• Your Name
• Address
• Your Configuration (Windows version, SP, Video card & driver, processor, USB Card Reader...)
• The specific problem with details