Photo files dying??

[genuinesqueak]

Hi there,
i've had this problem every now and then, but it's happening a little more often and I'm worried there's something on my computer killing them... if that makes sense. LOL
I guess you could call the files corrupt? They'll be there, I'll open them with photoshop, edit them then save them... the saved file ends up one big grey mass, or half the photo will be picture the other half grey, and just tonight some of the picture shows with a really weird pattern down the bottom... I took a screen shot of it tonight and i'll post it below. I just don't understand. It happened the other day but no matter what I did I couldn't get the real picture there. Is it computer/software related or possibly something to do with the new camera? Software I'm using is photoshop elements 6.0, and also fuji finepix viewer (i use this to downsize generally). New camera is the D300s. I can't remember if it's happened with any other camera.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y291/genuinesqueak/quack.jpg

Please be easily fixed :D
Thanks in advance!

[JM Tran]

first point of call is to check your memory card to see if it is corrupted, and thus affecting the files.

[Miaow]

If the files are coming off the camera like that then I'd say the memory card could have problems - if it's happening when re-saving them on the computer after editing then maybe you could have a hard drive problem and its not writing to the drive correctly?

[ricktas]

So the file is ok when you import it into photoshop, but the edited and saved version is like the above? You are correct is saying it is corrupt. That is exactly what you are experiencing, file corruption.

Now to the cause, it could be an issue with your hard-drive, it could be that PS itself is corrupt and causing the bad read/write. Can you open the photos in windows viewer? Are they ok or corrupt in that as well.

I think you need to investigate this quite urgently. Cause if it is your hard-drive causing it, you could very well lose all your photos in the near future.

[Invictus]

I think you need to investigate this quite urgently. Cause if it is your hard-drive causing it, you could very well lose all your photos in the near future.
Ditto.
I would backup the entire drive, then run tests on the RAM/Memory, HDD, and motherboard.
Test for as long and hard as possible, as intermittent problems don't always show on 'quick' tests.
If they all pass as ok - check your settings in photoshop and if necessary clear the settings and start fresh.
If symptoms persist or you are unsure how to run these tests, then see your local PC doctor. :)

[IanB]

If you haven't already done so; backup all files now to an external drive; when the puter is fixer and images are safe, format the backup and backup all files again. :)

[genuinesqueak]

Eek! I have no clue. oops! I will go into windows viewer and check the original picture plus the corrupt ones to see what happens. I didn't put these ones straight onto my hard drive because of this issue, I was worried If I put an infected file to the external, it may spread, like a virus... but if it's safe to do it then I'll do that immediately!
I'm not sure how to do the computer checks etc. and am no where near a PC doctor, but is there any simple checks I can do for now?
Ok just checked windows viewer, corrupt file is corrupt in there... the original file is fine. Ah and I just did a little experiment and deleted the corrupt one, then edited the original and saved it in the same place and it saved fine. Oh and viewed it with finepix viewer, photoshop and windows, so I guess that means it's not memory card (which would have been an easier issue I guess), not program and it's something to do with my computer. Hmmf.
SO now to fix it.... ;)

[IanB]

Personally I would be turning it off and heading for Geralton which would be the closest PC fixer to you ;)

[genuinesqueak]

Don't worry the thought has crossed my mind! I am going to Perth this afternoon and staying until next wednesday, so I may just have to make the other half use the old computer and take this with me.
Actually it's a Dell... could this be under warranty? eh I need it fixed now though, not in a months time. LOL

[Invictus]

Actually it's a Dell... could this be under warranty? eh I need it fixed now though, not in a months time. LOL

Re: Warranty.
If it's still under warranty AND it is a hardware issue: yes.
- If it's the hard drive: don't expect them to transfer the files/data to a new drive. Backup first.
If it turns out to be a software issue, then generally, no.

Recommendation: Take it to someone who can inspect the system properly, and then decide on the next step of action.

[phild]

I had exactly the same problem on my eSATA backup drive. I could copy an archive and scattered through were corrupted files. I did an xcopy, with verify, all OK, still the corruped files.

I found that the backup drive (Astone with WD HDD inside) wasn't happy on my vista machine, I moved it to the spare XP machine on a USB port, problem gone. I suspect it's some sort of caching problem with vista, but never really tracked it down. Luckily I have multiple copies of my files and I do random checks of the archives.

Seagate have also had problems with some of their 500Gb and 1tb drives requiring a firmware update.