PC expert needed

missfire · 26-11-10, 01:33 AM

not good....

computer has 'lost' all pics of my daughter from 3 months onwards...she's 11 months now.

first grandchild...........not good...

i'm getting the blame as i'm the one on it all the time...

try to open them, windows picture and fax viewer, ''no preview available''

try to open with any other program, ''error occured while opening'' or something like that.

hhmmmmm.............

i run health check software, registry cleaners etc. and keep it up to date with all out of date drivers, windows update on autopilot most of the time.. don't understand..

system restore ''connot restore'' to any restore points either..

we have some backed up on cd but not nearly all..

no substitute for having them developed the old fashioned way and put on a bit of paper!!

i suppose we would not have taken thousands of pics if we were still doing things that way..

BIGGYIN · 26-11-10, 07:21 AM

Brother,s,just had the same problem.Also,he couldn,t get on the internet and it was showing a strong signal.(Tried,everything)
Try and run your anti virus software,in safemode.Restart your pc and as it,s rebooting push f8.It willl give you an option,of starting in safemode.Also while in safemode,try a system restore?
If that doesn,t work,you,ll have to try the experts.(Pc World,maybe)
My Brother's was so stuffed,I had to do a clean install of XP and he lost everything.

He had somethings,because he had backed up to disc a while back.
With my photography,I always back up to an external hard drive(and disc) and when I get time I,m going to make a 2nd copy of the discs.(to be on the safe side.)
Good luck.

Coxy · 26-11-10, 08:41 AM

My hard drive died on my old PC about 2 years ago and my mate Roadie (who built this place) managed to save all my pictures and files for me.
Most of the time, files can be saved so even if the pc is mullered, don't bin the hard drive as some techie bod should be able to recover your files for you.

Emjay · 26-11-10, 08:45 AM

whats your operating system?
what picture editing program are you using?
what's the full description of the error message?
is the problem limited to jpeg files?

Not much use now but back up devices are wonderful things and not so expensive

Phil Payne · 26-11-10, 09:51 AM

http://ntfsundelete.com/

(and many others)

missfire · 26-11-10, 12:59 PM

hello folks

strange,..but dont think its a virus/hard drive/deleted file problem, the computer is running totally normally otherwise..

Quote:

whats your operating system?
what picture editing program are you using?
what's the full description of the error message?
is the problem limited to jpeg files?

hello mr emjay,

-XP

-HP image zone is installed but we dont really use it, think it came with the printer/scanner/copier software.

-dont know if they are error messages as such
open in my pictures: no preview avaliable
'open with' HP image zone: there was an error when trying to read your file
'open with' quicktime picture viewer: a suitable graphics importer could not be found
'open with' paint: not a valid bitmap file, or its format is not currently supported

-yes, only jpeg files but only a few folders are affected.....the ones with the little one in them..

ill try to explain what happens.
-open my pictures, all normal
-view a folder 'cover' all normal, you can see the pics on the folder 'cover'
-open the folder, and out of say 200 pics. only two or three are 'visible' as thunbnails, the rest are there but blank/no pic on the thumbnail.
-open a pic. no preview.

looked at file 'properties' and they (the jpegs) are still there without a doubt. you just cant view them.

say, a pic that was put on the computer in june: it will say created in june, 'modified' in october.....cant view the pic.

or one you can view will say: created in june, 'modified' in march...(before it was put on the pc..)...

does sound a bit like a virus...

thanks for any help or ideas..

Emjay · 26-11-10, 01:23 PM

sounds like there is a file header error. I had a similar problem but it only affected a few pictures so not a great loss for me.

Have you tried to open the bad files in another viewer?
Does the problem effect all jpegs files or is it limited to just a few?

missfire · 26-11-10, 02:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emjay

sounds like there is a file header error. I had a similar problem but it only affected a few pictures so not a great loss for me.

Have you tried to open the bad files in another viewer?
Does the problem effect all jpegs files or is it limited to just a few?

yep, same here, only jpegs, only a few folders, not too bad, sisters will no doubt have a million pics from the same time period anyway

dont know about 'viewers' can i download a new viewer? have tried all the options on the 'right click'-'open with' menu.

cheers!

Martc · 26-11-10, 02:41 PM

Note to all - Never - ever - ever and I mean ever use system restore in Windows - it never works properly and 9 times out 10 messes up your registry and other things. You are much better off going into safe mode to try and resolve issues.

Try this software its free and can recover pictures called

testdisk

I would run the program from a second external disk, you can then recover the files onto the external disk as you avoid over writing sectors of you original disk. I managed to recover all of data off a 20gb of data from a laptop disk using this, when the disk would not be detected by windows, even doing the usual recovery of the file allocation tables and master boot records would get it back and using hard drive recovery tools. This program was able to go in at a much lower level and get at the data.

msh · 26-11-10, 03:07 PM

Try to open any of these pics with your web browser u are currently using - what will happen?

For my picture needs I'm using IrfanView [www.irfanview.com] - nice viewer with lots of plugins and some editing abilities, and, microsoft paint, when I need edit something, because irfanview can handle more difficult things, but it can't edit anything like paint can

P.S. That "microsoft photo and fax viewer" is piece of useless shit, which I'm leaving in my winxp setups only to keep thumbnail functionality [because some people need them] - but maybe I should rethink and remove it again - I think there was some additional solutions for that.

26-11-10, 07:21 AM	#2
BIGGYIN 4 ring whore! Classic Audi Club Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Merseyside Posts: 7,976	Sounds like you have a Virus? Brother,s,just had the same problem.Also,he couldn,t get on the internet and it was showing a strong signal.(Tried,everything) Try and run your anti virus software,in safemode.Restart your pc and as it,s rebooting push f8.It willl give you an option,of starting in safemode.Also while in safemode,try a system restore? If that doesn,t work,you,ll have to try the experts.(Pc World,maybe) My Brother's was so stuffed,I had to do a clean install of XP and he lost everything. He had somethings,because he had backed up to disc a while back. With my photography,I always back up to an external hard drive(and disc) and when I get time I,m going to make a 2nd copy of the discs.(to be on the safe side.) Good luck. __________________ q90 B2 Type 85 - q90 B2 Type 85-PROJECT-ABY 20vt KARL. Injection is nice but I'd rather be blown

26-11-10, 02:41 PM	#9
Martc Black Coupe Collector Classic Audi Club Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Towcestershiresheer Posts: 2,934	Note to all - Never - ever - ever and I mean ever use system restore in Windows - it never works properly and 9 times out 10 messes up your registry and other things. You are much better off going into safe mode to try and resolve issues. Try this software its free and can recover pictures called testdisk I would run the program from a second external disk, you can then recover the files onto the external disk as you avoid over writing sectors of you original disk. I managed to recover all of data off a 20gb of data from a laptop disk using this, when the disk would not be detected by windows, even doing the usual recovery of the file allocation tables and master boot records would get it back and using hard drive recovery tools. This program was able to go in at a much lower level and get at the data. __________________ 95 UrS6 87 Coupe Quattro

26-11-10, 08:41 AM	#3
Coxy 4 Ring Mafia Classic Audi Club Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: on the side of a hill in Shropshire! Posts: 28,215	My hard drive died on my old PC about 2 years ago and my mate Roadie (who built this place) managed to save all my pictures and files for me. Most of the time, files can be saved so even if the pc is mullered, don't bin the hard drive as some techie bod should be able to recover your files for you.

26-11-10, 08:45 AM	#4
Emjay Man Fettler Extraodinaire Classic Audi Club Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Up my own arse blowing smoke Posts: 7,417	whats your operating system? what picture editing program are you using? what's the full description of the error message? is the problem limited to jpeg files? Not much use now but back up devices are wonderful things and not so expensive

26-11-10, 09:51 AM	#5
Phil Payne Banned Join Date: May 2010 Location: Sheffield Posts: 1,809	http://ntfsundelete.com/ (and many others)

26-11-10, 01:23 PM	#7
Emjay Man Fettler Extraodinaire Classic Audi Club Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Up my own arse blowing smoke Posts: 7,417	sounds like there is a file header error. I had a similar problem but it only affected a few pictures so not a great loss for me. Have you tried to open the bad files in another viewer? Does the problem effect all jpegs files or is it limited to just a few?

26-11-10, 03:07 PM	#10
msh 4 ring whore! Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Rucava, Latvija Posts: 3,816	Try to open any of these pics with your web browser u are currently using - what will happen? For my picture needs I'm using IrfanView [www.irfanview.com] - nice viewer with lots of plugins and some editing abilities, and, microsoft paint, when I need edit something, because irfanview can handle more difficult things, but it can't edit anything like paint can P.S. That "microsoft photo and fax viewer" is piece of useless shit, which I'm leaving in my winxp setups only to keep thumbnail functionality [because some people need them] - but maybe I should rethink and remove it again - I think there was some additional solutions for that.