How to Recover deleted photos and Videos from XD cards?

"When I connected the XD card to my computer to transfer photos, my PC froze. I did a hard reboot to continue from there. However, my PC was not recognizing and reading data from my XD card. I tried connecting the card to another computer but, no luck their too. Tried to inserted the card back into the camera and it said ‘Card error please Format’. I do not want to format and lose photos from my XD card. Is there any way where I can recover photos from my XD card without formatting? Please help. Thank you"

EXtreme Digital Picture Card or XD Card

XD cards were predecessor of SD card. Originally designed and developed by Olympus and Fujifilm to be specifically used in their digital cameras. As technology progressed XD card got replaced by SD Cards. XD card however has its own advantages such as its smaller size, low power consumption and are faster compared to older versions of memory cards such as Memory Stick, SM card, MMC card and limitations including the maximum size limit restricted to only 2GB, their usability restricted to only Olympus and Fujifilm cameras due to these reasons XD cards are now obsolete.

If you are still using XD card, and have deleted or lost, or for some reason your files are inaccessible, then you have landed at the right place. In this article we will be discussing everything that you need to know about recovering all your files, and also discuss how to repair corrupt XD card.

Why can’t I find my files on XD Card (I didn’t delete them)?

The reasons are as follows:

• If you have deleted your files accidentally
• Virus intrusion can also make your data inaccessible
• Improper handling of the storage device leads to physical damage
• Logical damage to the card
• Data loss due to formatting your XD card
• Improperly ejecting XD card also leads to data loss
• Constant Interruptions during data transfer.

The above-mentioned issues corrupt your XD card. You can scroll down to know how to repair a corrupt XD card.

How to Recover all of your media files from XD card?

Remo Recover is one such specialized photo recovery software that can read photos from storage drives even if the file system is unreadable. This robust tool will scan, recognize, and recover photos even if the XD is formatted or corrupted.

XD cards that have been Quick-formatted, corrupted, displaying ‘Card error’ or ‘Format error’ can be fixed and the photos can be recovered using Remo Recover software. One can also use this tool to perform XD card recovery on all the macOS versions including the latest Big Sur and Windows 11 version.

There are many instances that cause photos to get deleted from XD picture cards. For instance, hitting the ‘Delete All’ button on your camera. Accidents like this cannot be avoided, but can certainly be dealt with in the best possible way using Remo Recover.

This tool skillfully recovers all formats of photos and even videos from XD card. All standard formats like JPEG and RAW images like ‘.orf’ and ‘.raf’ can be recovered using this tool. Even videos like MOV, AVI, MP4 can be recovered using this tool.

5 Simple steps to retrieve and restore all your media files from the XD card

Download and install Remo Recover on your computer. Connect the XD card from which you want to recover data and follow the below-mentioned steps:

• Launch the tool, Select the XD card from which you to recover and hit the Scan button.



• If the XD card is not getting recognised or didn't show up on the tool, click on Can't Find Drive option to list your cards. And then select the XD card from which you want to recover data and hit Scan.



• After completion of the scanning process, the tool will display recovered data in Dynamic Recovery View. Here you can simulataneously search for data or files you want and recover them even if the scan is still in progress.



• Select the file types you want to recover from XD card. You can also use Advanced Filter option to choose any particular file formats you want to recover.



• Click on Preview option to preview the recovered files from XD card.



• If you are satisfied with the recovered data, Save the recovered data to desired location.

Since, we just spoke about corruption earlier in the article, one of the most common question that pops up in the users’ mind is.

How do I know if my XD card is Corrupt and what can I do about it?

Two of the most common issues faced by the users are:

• Computer didn’t recognize inserted XD card or the XD card reader. (try to use the same XD card and XD card reader on other computer) in case, the issue still persists, that means your XD card has gotten corrupt.
• A message is displayed on your screen asking you to format the disk before you can use it or anything similar to that. (try to repair manually using CHDSK or First Aid in Mac)

How can I repair corrupt XD card?

Once you have recovered your data try repairing your storage device. In this section we will be discussing ways to do it.

On Windows:

1. Repair Corrupt XD card using Windows Explorer

• Go to This PC.
• Insert the drive and right click on it.
• From the options Click on format
• Select Restore Device Default option
• Click on Start to begin the process.

2. Repair Corrupt XD card using CHKDSK Command

• Plug the corrupt XD card.
• Type CMD in the search bar, and run command prompt as an administrator.
• Type CHKDSK and add the letter which represents your corrupt drive.
• Hit Enter.

On Mac:

Repair Corrupt XD card using First Aid

• Type Disk utility in Spotlight search.
• In the sidebar, click on a Volume, then Click on First Aid Button.
• In the First Aid dialogue box, Click Run.

What can I do to make sure I don’t face lose data again?

Follow these simple precautions to avoid corruption and data loss on XD cards

• Always use Authentic and Reliable XD cards.
• Ensure the Card reader you are using is compatible with the memory card you have.
• If you want to format your XD card it is generally recommended to format that on a camera not on a computer.
• Always have a backup of your important data and save it on some other external storage device.
• Kindly, follow the procedure which is recommended for inserting and ejecting memory card.

Note: If you want to recover data from sdhc card refer this aritcle to get more information about Sdhc card recovery.

Conclusion

In this write up we have talked through and through about XD card. Starting from reasons for data loss, symptoms of a corrupt XD card to briefing you about an extremely simple yet powerful way to recover all of your media files. We have also explained you how to repair corrupt XD card on Windows and Mac.
Hope this article was helpful in solving your problem.