IMAGERECALL 3 Frequently Asked Questions

Revision 1.4
IMAGERECALL 3
Frequently Asked Questions
Q : In what situations can IR 3 help me? ........................................................................................................................ 2
Q : Why do Corruptions Occur?...................................................................................................................................... 2
Q : Is it possible to upgrade from ImageRecall 2 to 3? ................................................................................................... 3
Q :Are there any cards which ImageRecall is known not to recover from? .................................................................... 3
Q : What requirements are there for ImageRecall3? ...................................................................................................... 4
Q : When I connect my camera, I don’t get a drive letter! What do I do? ....................................................................... 5
Q : Once I close ImageRecall, I cannot open it again unless I restart my computer, how can I stop this happening?... 6
Q : How do I activate ImageRecall 3?............................................................................................................................. 6
Q : Are there any limitations with using ImageRecall and different windows operating systems? ................................. 8
Q : When I open ImageRecall, all the text is replaced with <not set> ............................................................................ 9
Q : I keep getting the message ‘An Unexpected Error has occurred, please contact media innovations group’ ......... 10
If Using Windows 98/Millenium................................................................................................................................ 10
Q : Why Does ImageRecall require ‘Administrator Privileges’?.................................................................................... 10
Q : Can ImageRecall recover from Hard Disks?........................................................................................................... 11
Q : I’ve been told to format the card, is this safe and how do I do this? ....................................................................... 12
Q : Some of my images don’t load, or have grey lines covering it. Why has this happened? ...................................... 13
Q : ImageRecall hasn’t proved successful, is there any money back guarantee? ....................................................... 13
Q : Does ImageRecall provide a hands-on service?..................................................................................................... 13
Debugging ImageRecall................................................................................................................................................ 14
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Image Recall
Technical Support – 01489 772836
[email protected]
Revision 1.4
Q : In what situations can IR 3 help me?
ImageRecall can help when…
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Images have inexplicably been lost
Images have been accidentally deleted
Card corruption has occurred.
All ImageRecall asks is that the card functions and that it can be read. If a card refuses to
read or causes the PC to hang when inserted, then the card is faulty and will need to be
returned to the manufacturer.
ImageRecall can’t recover when cards or drives cannot be read. This can be due to a physical
problem with the card, in which case we recommend that you contact the manufacturer for
possible repair or replacement.
Alternatively you can contact a company who offer physical repair.
Q : Why do Corruptions Occur?
Corruptions can occur in the following ways…
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Turning off a digital camera before an image is completely written to the memory
card.
Removing the memory card from a camera while an image is being written to the
card.
Removing the card from a memory card reader while files are still being transferred to
a computer.
Removing the card from a card reader while folders and files from the card are open
on a computer.
Opening, deleting, renaming or moving files on the card while its contents are open
on a computer.
Using a memory card which has not been formatted in the camera. Use the delete
function as needed, however a card should be formatted after images have been
copied to a computer or other storage device.
Formatting a card in a computer instead of the camera.
Inserting a second memory card into a card reader before closing and removing the
first when viewing images on the card from a computer.
Shooting many photos when the camera batteries are nearly empty.
Taking photos too close together. A camera will not be able to complete writing one
image before starting on the next.
Continually shooting and deleting, shooting and deleting images when the card is full.
Letting a memory card get too full before downloading the images to a computer or
storage device. Cards that are too full may overwrite the card headers.
Using a memory card from one camera in a different camera. If you must use a card
from another camera, format it in the new camera first before using it.
Battery failure whilst an image is being written to the card.
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Image Recall
Technical Support – 01489 772836
[email protected]
Revision 1.4
Q : Is it possible to upgrade from ImageRecall 2 to 3?
A : Yes, if you have purchased any previous full version of ImageRecall, then you are entitled
to version 3 for just £7.99 + V.A.T.
A further £2.99 will be charged if you wish to purchase the software in CD form.
If you wish to do this you’ll need to speak to one of our sales team on 02380 240440
Q :Are there any cards which ImageRecall is known not to recover from?
A : Yes, in the following instances…
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Sony Mavica FD100 – ImageRecall cannot recover from the floppy disk.
Smart Media & xD Cards – Will recover but NOT when either the ‘format’ or ‘delete
all’ option has been selected on the camera
Sony Memory Sticks – Will recovery but NOT when the ‘format’ option has been
selected.
Polaroid PDC 3030 – Cannot recover from smart media in most circumstances.
Monalta Dimage G500 - All cards will not recover except for Memory Stick & SD
Konica KD500Z & KD400 ranges, will only recover from Memory Sticks & SD
Kyocera Finecame M400R – Will not recover from SD Cards
Pentax Optio S5i – Will not recover from formatted SD Cards.
Please Note : The above list is only what we know so far. There are many different cards and
cameras on the market and we don’t have the resources to test them all. As we continue to
test different cameras, we’ll update this list with our findings.
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Image Recall
Technical Support – 01489 772836
[email protected]
Revision 1.4
Q : What requirements are there for ImageRecall3?
All you need to run ImageRecall 3 is a Windows PC and a drive letter.
A drive letter is a unique letter which identifies a drive on your computer.
In ‘My Computer’, you can see these letters, most PC’s have the following letters…
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A = 3½ Floppy Drive
C = Local Hard Disk
D = CD-ROM Drive
When ever you connect a drive to the PC, whether that be a network drive or just another CDROM, a drive letter will be allocated.
When you connect a card reader to a PC, a drive letter will be created. Some camera’s act as
a reader when connected to a PC and this also creates a drive letter.
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Image Recall
Technical Support – 01489 772836
[email protected]
Revision 1.4
Q : When I connect my camera, I don’t get a drive letter! What do I do?
Some camera’s connect to the PC in a different way, using a driver which requires a piece of
software to access your images
An example of this kind of driver is called ‘TWAIN’ which is used to form a connection
between both camera and PC.
If your camera uses this kind of driver, you will need to buy a reader for the camera’s memory
card.
Readers can be purchased from most good computer or camera retailers.
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Image Recall
Technical Support – 01489 772836
[email protected]
Revision 1.4
Q : Once I close ImageRecall, I cannot open it again unless I restart my computer, how
can I stop this happening?
When used in conjunction with certain systems, ImageRecall is unable to close its processes,
meaning that when the software is closed, the only way to re-open it is to actually re-start your
system.
However, this isn’t the case, as the process can be terminated…
Pressing Ctrl+Shift & Esc will open the Windows Task Manager
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Locate the ‘Processes’ tab
at the top
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In the ‘Image Name’ field,
locate ‘ImageRecall3.exe’
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Select ‘End Process’
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At the warning prompt,
select ‘Yes’
After this has been done. You
will now be able to reopen
ImageRecall 3.
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Image Recall
Technical Support – 01489 772836
[email protected]
Revision 1.4
Q : How do I activate ImageRecall 3?
If you have purchased ImageRecall 3 on the web, you’ll have been given an activation key.
This software is activated by selecting option 3 in the trial version of the software.
Select register full version and then enter the details you were sent in the confirmation email.
If the key is invalid and the software fails to activate, contact [email protected], quote
your Worldpay transaction ID that you would have obtained when you bought the software,
and our support team will supply you with a new activation key.
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Image Recall
Technical Support – 01489 772836
[email protected]
Revision 1.4
Q : Are there any limitations with using ImageRecall and different windows operating
systems?
Yes, see the chart below…
Floppy Disk Recovery
Hard Disk Recovery
CD Recovery
Memory Card Recovery
95
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98
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98SE
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ME
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2000
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XP
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As yet, ImageRecall 3 isn’t available for Mac operating systems, but ImageRecall 2 is
downloadable from our website for OS 9 & OS X systems.
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Image Recall
Technical Support – 01489 772836
[email protected]
Revision 1.4
Q : When I open ImageRecall, all the text is replaced with <not set>
This is an issue with ImageRecall and some previous versions of Windows 98 & Windows
Millennium.
This involves the language.ini file in the installation directory.
If you contact our support team by either email [email protected] or on 01489
772836 they’ll be able to email you a new language.ini file to replace the one in your
installation directory.
Once you have this file, find the installation directory by right clicking on the ImageRecall icon
on the desktop and selecting properties.
From there, select ‘Find Target’
Once you’re in the application directory, place the file you’ve obtained from our support team
into this directory, windows will ask you if you wish to ‘over-write the existing file. Press ‘Yes’.
Run ImageRecall again and the problem will have been resolved.
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Image Recall
Technical Support – 01489 772836
[email protected]
Revision 1.4
Q : I keep getting the message ‘An Unexpected Error has occurred, please contact
media innovations group’
This error message appears for many different reasons, if you get this message, try the
following…
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Try restarting ImageRecall.
Take the card out and then re-insert it.
Try formatting the card (IN WINDOWS NOT IN THE CAMERA)
¾ See Q : I’ve been told to format the card, is this safe and how do I do this?
Check that no other software is using the card
If Using Windows 98/Millenium
This error message sometimes appears in Windows 98/Millenium. To clear this problem
follow steps 1 & 2 in the section entitled ‘Debugging ImageRecall’ at the end of this document.
This should clear the problem you’re experiencing.
Debugging ImageRecall
Q : Why Does ImageRecall require ‘Administrator Privileges’?
ImageRecall relies on it’s user to have the rights to read/write to any drive he/she wishes.
Only administrators have this level of access.
The only solution is to have a stand-alone machine dedicated to ImageRecall for nonadministrator accounts.
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Image Recall
Technical Support – 01489 772836
[email protected]
Revision 1.4
Q : Can ImageRecall recover from Hard Disks?
ImageRecall can recover from hard disks, however, to do this you need to have somewhere
large to store the recovery. This is because you cannot store files on to the same drive that
you are recovering from.
This can either be a 2nd hard disk, a partition, or a large memory card.
If you have somewhere to store the recovery, you must change the output directory. This can
be done by selecting the advanced option ‘Set Output Directory’
Once this is open, select the drive you wish to store the recovered files on…
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Image Recall
Technical Support – 01489 772836
[email protected]
Revision 1.4
Q : I’ve been told to format the card, is this safe and how do I do this?
Formatting the card is completely safe when using ImageRecall.
When formatting the card in windows, it’s only the FAT table that gets wiped, not the
underlying data.
Sometimes clearing this FAT table improves the performance of ImageRecall
However, we recommend that you DON’T format the card in the camera, this is because
some cards work using a series of electrical charges and formatting the card actually runs a
charge through the camera and to the card wiping all data from it.
For capacities under 2 GB, ensure that the ‘File System’ is under FAT not FAT32.
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Image Recall
Technical Support – 01489 772836
[email protected]
Revision 1.4
Q : Some of my images don’t load, or have grey lines covering it. Why has this
happened?
These grey lines indicate that there has been a ‘corruption’ in the data on the card.
ImageRecall scans every sector of the card’s surface and recovers what it can from the card
or drive. Images span several sectors, if any one of these sectors have been corrupted or
overwritten, then this kind of problem occurs.
This is not the fault of the software, it’s just the software trying to recover what it can.
Q : ImageRecall hasn’t proved successful, is there any money back guarantee?
If ImageRecall has proven unsuccessful then you are entitled to send the card to us for a
personal service. This can be arranged by dialling (01489 772836) or emailing us at
[email protected]
However, if you send the card to us, this does not guarantee a successful recovery,
Q : Does ImageRecall provide a hands-on service?
If you don’t want to use our software we provide the
same service ‘hand’s on’.
Our charge is just £35 + V.A.T and we aim to get the
card back to you within 5 working days.
There is no guarantee of success, however if we are
unsuccessful, you will NOT be charged.
If you wish for us to provide this service, please speak
to our support team on 01489 772836 or email us at
[email protected]
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Image Recall
Technical Support – 01489 772836
[email protected]
Revision 1.4
Debugging ImageRecall
In our continuing quest to make ImageRecall the best possible image recovery experience for
our customers, we may sometimes need our users to help us diagnose the fault.
If one of our engineers has not been able to solve your problem verbally, then we will
sometimes ask you to ‘debug’ the software and send us the diagnostic logs for analysis.
Once we have the diagnostic logs, we’ll be able to diagnose the fault and provide you with a
solution.
To debug the software, you will need to go through the following steps…
Step 1 – Entering the Shortcut Properties
Firstly, you’ll need to access the properties for the ImageRecall 3 Shortcut.
Right click on the ImageRecall icon on the desktop and select ‘Properties’.
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Image Recall
Technical Support – 01489 772836
[email protected]
Revision 1.4
Step 2 – Adding the ‘debug’ Function
In the Properties window, select the editable window ‘Target’.
It should currently say…
"C:\Program Files\Media Innovations Group\ImageRecall 3\ImageRecall3.exe"
This needs to change to
"C:\Program Files\Media Innovations Group\ImageRecall 3\ImageRecall3.exe" – debug
So all that’s added is ‘– debug’ (minus the ‘
‘)
It’s imperative that you include a space between the end of the speech marks and the
hyphen.
Press ‘Apply’ once done.
Please Note: If you did not install the application into the default folder as stated above, only
add the ‘– debug’ switch to the target line.
Step 3 – Clearing the logs file
Go back into the Properties menu by right clicking the shortcut for IR 3 and this time select
‘Find Target’. You’ll be taken to the installation directory.
If you double-click the logs folder you’ll find several text files. Please delete them all. This will
reset the logs folder so when you run the software again, new log files will be created.
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Image Recall
Technical Support – 01489 772836
[email protected]
Revision 1.4
Step 4 – Recording the Errors
With the log folder empty, ImageRecall is ready to start recording the errors.
Open ImageRecall and use the software normally, do everything you did before in an attempt
to get the same error messages as you had gotten previously.
Once you are satisfied that you have experienced the same difficulties as before, go back to
the logs folder that you visited in Step 3.
You should find two new text files. These files should contain all the errors you previously
experienced.
Step 5 – Sending the log files to ImageRecall Support
Once you have these two files, email them to [email protected]
With these files we’ll be able to pin-point the fault and hopefully solve your problem.
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Image Recall
Technical Support – 01489 772836
[email protected]