Digital Pictures: How to Protect and Recover Your Precious Moments

I've been using computers since I was 8 years old. I have a Graduate Certificate in Information Technology. I'm 3 credits away from a Master's Degree in Information Technology. Most important, I use a digital camera on an almost daily basis.

With the cost of digital cameras plummeting almost daily, more and more people are turning to digital photography. Digital pictures allow us instant access to moments we want to capture for a lifetime. Digital cameras can capture everything from the day a new baby is born to family portraits.

However, there is a downside to digital photographs; just like any other computer data they can be lost. While most other types of computer data can be replaced or recreated, you'll never be able to recreate the moments you captured with your digital camera.

Most modern digital cameras use what are called "smart cards." These cards will store the data. You should make it a habit to transfer the pictures to your computer, and also at that moment back up or print your digital photos.

You will protect your digital photos from permanent loss, by automatically backing them up to CD, DVD, or printing them out. However, if you do lose your digital photo data, it is not a completely lost cause. Methods are available for digital photo data recovery, which you probably didn't even realize existed.

If you notice your digital photos are no longer on your computer, it's important to not panic. The first place you should look is inside the recycle bin. You may have accidentally moved them into the recycle bin Click on your recycle bin icon, if the pictures are there, just drag them back to your desktop. Or you can right click on all of them and select restore. By selecting restore, it will put them back in their original folder.

If your digital photos aren't in the recycle bin, they still may have been accidentally moved. Go to your desktop search box. In windows you get to it by clicking on the "Start" button. Use the search box to type in the name of a photo and the file extension. For example, "Bills45th.jpg" To use this method, you would have to know the name of some photographs and the extension you saved them in.

If your digital pictures can not be found anywhere, you may need a professional. There are people who are data recovery specialists. If you lost your pictures because they were accidentally deleted, or due to a hard drive malfunction, data recovery technician can help.

The data had to be on the hard drive, for certain, at one point or another. These services don't come cheap. However, what price tag can you put on moments captured on digital camera you'll never be able to capture again?

One word of caution: There is data recovery software for computers. Steer clear from it. The majority of the time, this type of software does more harm than good.

Unfortunately, sometimes, the pictures can be lost from the camera malfunctioning. If something goes wrong with your camera card or the hardware inside your camera, it won't be easy to get your pictures. If you do experience a digital camera malfunction you'll need to get it to a professional repair technician.

There is also software available made specifically to recover pictures from a malfunctioning camera. Please note, this type of software is not the same as the hard drive data recovery software mentioned above. If the software doesn't recover your pictures, the repair technician is your best bet.

Whether the media you had on your camera was JPEG pictures or video files, the software or service tech can usually recover the data. This is why instant transfer to your computer is so critical. If the malfunction happens after the pictures have been transferred to your computer you will not have lost them. The sooner you get your camera to a professional after the malfunction, the better the chance the data can be recovered.

For price, convenience, and quality you can't beat digital cameras. However, the danger lies in how we store the pictures. Backup is essential. Remember backup is your best bet against loss of your pictures. However, if need be, there are professional services available to you, to recover your digital pictures.