Compact Flash Memory card Recovery

Types of Memory cards and Recovery

There are different types of memory cards of different formats and storage capacities that are available in the market today. These memory cards are customized for various portable devices such as digital cameras, camcorders, mobiles, media players etc. Before getting into details about how data recovery is performed on these memory cards, it is better to get an overview of the entire range of memory cards.

• Compact Flash Memory cards: This is a format that has been specified and standardized by SanDisk. Compact Flash or CF memory cards make use of flash memory and are mainly used in digital cameras. There are two varieties of CF memory cards that are available based on their size. Their memory capacities range to a maximum of 128 GB.
  
  
• Secure Digital Memory cards: The most popular and widely used type of memory card is the Secure Digital or SD memory cards. This format was together developed by SanDisk, Toshiba and Panasonic. The SD memory cards are used in a variety of portable devices ranging from digital cameras and camcorders to mobile phones and PDAs. There are basically six types of SD cards namely SD, SDHC, miniSD, microSD, miniSDHC and microSDHC. Though SD and SDHC are physically the same, SDHC memory cards provide better speeds and higher capacity.
  
  
• Smart Media cards: Smart Media cards are memory cards developed and standardized by Toshiba. Though these memory cards were introduced as a competitor for CF cards and PC cards, their production has been stopped as they failed to get recognized. The Smart Media card was introduced as a successor of the floppy disk, with memory capacities ranging upto 128 MB.
  
  
• XD Memory cards: The xD picture card is a memory card specially designed for use in digital cameras. The format was together developed by Fujifilm and Olympus. There are basically three types of xD memory cards that are available namely Standard, Type M and Type H. Though the standard version is available only upto a maximum of 512 MB, the later two versions have a maximum storage capacity upto 2GB.
  
  
• MultiMedia Cards: The MultiMedia card is a format that has been standardized by SanDisk and Siemens AG. Though not as famous as SD cards, they are still widely used in digital cameras as almost all PCs that can read SD cards can also read MultiMedia cards. There are four varieties of MMC cards that are available namely, MMC, MMC Plus, MMC Micro and MMC Mobile.
  
  
• Memory Stick: The Memory Stick is a flash memory storage device that stores data in a form that can be easily accessed by your PC. This format was developed by Sony and is made use of in digital cameras manufactured by Sony. The two major varieties include Duo and PRO.

Irrespective of the type of memory card, there is always bound to be data loss if the memory card is not handled in a proper manner. You might end up losing valuable photos or important documents if the memory card gets corrupted due to various reasons like mishandling of the memory card, accidental formatting, accidental deletion, loss of data due to interrupted data transfer etc. The lost data can however be restored using Memory Card Recovery software. This powerful data recovery software can recover memory card data from CF cards, SD cards, Smart Media cards, Multimedia cards, xD cards and memory sticks with the least effort. Mac users can use Photo Recovery software, which is customized for Mac users and Digital Media Recovery software can be used for PCs running on Windows.