Read time 6 minutes
Digital cameras have now become a ubiquitous tool to capture images and audio-visual content. Nowadays cellphones come equipped with camera sensors, which has allowed the end-user to exploit this functionality to its fullest. Due to this, the digital data has been growing at an unprecedented rate, so does the problems such as file corruption. Dreadful incidents like this can be overwhelmingly sad, as nobody wants to lose their precious data. There can be a myriad of reasons for digital media corruption, including malicious attacks, a corrupt storage device, or merely an error during the data transfer process from the capture device to the storage device.
Basically, there are two types of issues:
- JPEG/JPG (or any other format) is severely damaged, and software such as windows photo viewer is unable to open these files
- Files open but there might be some distortions and artifacts in the images
For example, the following error message is displayed if the user tries to open a corrupt image file in Photo Gallery:
However, if you are on the verge of tears, you might want to check out the following ways to repair and recover these corrupt JPEG/JPG files:
- Restore from backup:
This is the easiest of all options. Most of the avid photographers and enthusiasts backup their photos on a regular basis. In this case, being paranoid and backing up your data can save you some serious trouble in the future. If you are using GOOGLE photos as your photo manager, you can anytime backup your precious pictures (with a single click!) to your GOOGLE drive. In another scenario, you are using a professional camera and, your original photos are on a Camera’s SD card. Then possibly, the error is caused by the file transfer; hence, you can always recover the corrupt image files. If the aforementioned scenario is not applicable, which means the original files on the SD card are corrupt, sadly this backup option is not available. - Convert JPEG/JPG to other formats:
It is often the case that earlier inaccessible JPEG files can be opened in other formats. You can import the corrupt image in the paint software (comes pre-installed in Windows). Just go to File>Save As and select any other format. - Use Command prompt to repair corrupt files:
At first, for a newbie, this might feel technical and daunting, but it isn’t. One can try fixing the corrupt files, as explained in the following steps:- Command prompt can be found by searching for CMD (choose ‘Run as administrator’) or holding the windows key and R key simultaneously. This will open a dialog box. Just enter CMD in it, and you are good to go.
- Next, enter ‘sfc/sacnnow’ in the command prompt and hit enter. This will initiate a scan and will try to fix the corrupt files.
An example of a system scan is shown below in the snippet.
- Perform CHKDSK:
Performing CHKDSK on the drives containing your damaged files might fix these issues. Open the command prompt and type ‘chkdsk (your drive) /r’. For example, if the images you want to repair are in your D drive then type the following command in the command prompt: chkdsk D: /r
An example of the CHKDSK process is shown in the snippet below:
Once the process finishes, restart your computer and try to access the JPEG files again. If this too doesn’t solve your problem, then move on to the next step. - Use a professional photo recovery tool:
If you are still unable to repair the corrupt JPEG files, then you should look for third-party Photo Recovery software. If you are looking for a hassle-free recovery tool to repair and retrieve these files, look no further as Kernel Photo Recovery is the right tool for you. It also allows the user to set the picture size after recovery. This tool runs a deep scan of the drives to recover images. Besides, it also supports recovery from various storage devices such as USB drives, pen drives, flash cards, memory cards, micro drive, SD cards.Recovering your image files using Kernel Photo Recovery tool is easy and does not require any prerequisite. A step-by-step procedure is outlined below:
- After installing the software, open it. From the ‘Available Drives’ section, choose the drive containing the corrupt image data. Moreover, the User Interface (UI) displays the properties of the selected drive. Once you are done hit next.
- Select all of the applicable file formats which you want to Preview and Save.
- Next, you can either select and Save the retrieved images one-by-one or all at once.
Conclusion
To summarize, in this tutorial, we have discussed two types of corruption issues and ways to manually repair the corrupt image files. It is not guaranteed that the manual repair/recovery methods will work for all users. If somehow you are able to recover the damaged files using the manual techniques, still it takes time and effort on your part. Kernel Photo Recovery tool not only saves time but also recovers all of your corrupt image files efficiently (without breaking a sweat!). It is also recommended as the best Photo recovery software.