Be careful with that camera/memory card!

[Cristi]

I'm pretty careful with any photos I take. The ones I keep are in a hidden directory buried deeply in my computer.

Something happened today that gave me bit of a wake-up call, so I thought I'd pass it on to you so you don't make the same mistake.

I had an older camera that I sold to a friend. Along with the camera, I sold him a 2GB memory card. Before passing it over to him, I formatted the card.

Well, just my luck three days after selling it all to him, he was taking some photos and the card died. He had quite a few pics on it that were important to him, so researched and bought a 'photo recovery' program specifically desinged to recover photos from a memoryh card. He called me up today to let me know how well it worked. He said that it was such a good program that it had recovered all his photos, PLUS about 50 of MY old pics. I didn't ask for any specifics (I was a bit afraid what might have been on there) but he said it was some pics from my recent trip to the ocean 'and a lot of other stuff'.

So now I'm wondering what 'a lot of other stuff' really means. I have several cards. Had I ever used that one for photos of Cristi? Has he now seen me en femme?

He is a great guy, so I would suspect that he wouldn't have any problems if he HAD seen Cristi... but I really want to know, just so I know where things stand!! OTOH, *I* don't want to ask too many questions, since if he hadn't seen pics of me, he'd end up wondering what it was I was worried about hiding.

So let that be a lesson... formatting is NOT enough to get rid of pics.

[nikki_t]

So let that be a lesson... formatting is NOT enough to get rid of pics.

Very true! It's always best to use some kind of security utility (eg. Norton disk tools) to write random data or zeros over deleted items on your computer. If you can do it on your memory cards then that's great too. Luckily my OS on my laptop has this feature built in ("Secure empty trash").

I use it all the time just out of habit more than anything else.

[trannie T]

Formatting the memory card is the est way of removing old photos from memory cards. As you have learned, memory is still retained by the card. There are two solutions, either buy a new card and include it when you sell a camera or use a seperate card for those photos you don't wish to see on the internet.

[Staci]

That had to be a bit of a scare. Not knowing what was on the card after the recovery of the photos. Hopefully he is a good friend and if he did see Cristi he deals with it as you would hope a long-time friend would.

[pamela_a]

A good word to the wise:

The same goes with any computer storage device. It takes an awful lot to bury data, usually done with a program that alternates writing all 1s then all 0s then repeating. So be careful with things on you hard drive and other storage devices.

-Paula-

[SandyR]

I use a card just for Sandy. Now I know why.

SandyR

[Billijo49504]

My wife takes most of my pictures. So I don't worry too much. If I sell or donate a puter, it's without the HD. That gets smashed by me. Just a little insurance...BJ

[Beth785]

In that case, I woulda had to consider formatting the old card with a BFH. For those of you not up on technical terms, that would be a Big Freaking Hammer.

[kimmigir1]

theres a program that i use called "eraser" and it basically 99% prevents recovering old deleted pix, because what it does is deleted then writes randomly generated data over it then deletes that, rinse and repeat about 20 times and viola, poof-gone

edit -- paula i think your talking about eraser cuz thats basically what it does :p

[Julogden]

You may want to be careful if you're planning on hooking your card up to the computer using a card reader in order to over-write the data with a data-scrubbing program. Some cameras don't like it if you use your computer to erase or format their memory card. I would think that using data scrubbing software on a memory card might cause problems.

Since memory cards are dirt cheap now, I think the best idea is to buy a separate card for your CD photos and keep it locked away if you're concerned about privacy.

Carol

[Mistybtm]

here is an idea have your friend make a copy of your old pix and give them to you that way you will now for sure.:2c:

[Stephanie Anne]

This is what I use to wipe my drives and memory cards:

56555

[Joy Carter]

We have two puters in the house. If I was to replace them, I'd take a hammer too the hard drives, like the others have said.

[erickka]

Thje BBFH is the best way to secure any computer data you do not wish to share. The "Geek Squad" can find stuff in any storage device even if there is an overwrite program.There are so many computer geniuses out there, I just wouldn't trust anyone with something I sold as used by me.

[Maddie]

i always fdisk fat drives and with ntfs i run the install program and delete the partition

this garentee the removal of data because the file system is gone

to reuse a drive you must run and repartition the drive

everything is gone never to be seen again

I teach Computers therefore i know how to destroy them :)

[Rayne]

Just fill the storage device with ordinary files up to the last KB, and then quick format.
Nothing of original content could be recovered, unless that storage have double storage capacity without the users knowledge.
No software required !

If it is Cristi in 'and a lot of other stuff', meeting with your friend will answer the question. You will know the answer if is acting normaly, or measure from head to toe and(or) strange smile. http://www.imagehost.ro/pict/061715434730851f40aec.png

[Emily Ann Brown]

Beth,

You obviously don't work construction, or you would know THAT isn't what the "F" stands for. GIGGLE GIGGLE !


Emily Ann

[Sweet Cindy]

I had a similar scare recently but just due to me forgetting to delete stuff in the first place (duh).

With the memory card, I always tripple format (delete all, format, format and format again). Camera gets used a lot, so stuff is constantly getting overwritten, which is good.

The computer is harder. I always worry about recoverability. Gotta do some research on that for Macs.

[nikki_t]

Thje BBFH is the best way to secure any computer data you do not wish to share. The "Geek Squad" can find stuff in any storage device even if there is an overwrite program.There are so many computer geniuses out there, I just wouldn't trust anyone with something I sold as used by me.

I've been a programmer for a while and once you write over data with zeroes or random data it's gone forever. You'll never get it back. However, if you don't write over the data and simply empty the trash/recycle bin all you're doing is removing the file index - the file is still there.


The computer is harder. I always worry about recoverability. Gotta do some research on that for Macs.

See my earlier post in this thread Cindy. Go to your Finder and you'll see the "Secure Empty Trash" option just below the "Empty Trash" option in the Finder menu. It takes longer but this is because it's writing over the existing data on the disk. Once it's gone it's gone.

[paulaN]

I have a mem. stick just for cd stuff. That's a good thing. It is also good to have this reminder to all of us to be extra carfull with any file that you do not someone else to have. I have a couple of hard drives that should be smashed.

[Deanna2]

One does have to be very careful.

I had an experience with a memory stick that had some Deanna piccies on it. It also had a lot of work stuff on it and I was doing some file swapping with a client one day. I was very lucky that none of the JPEG's came out. They have since been removed so it won't ever happen.

[carolinewalker_2000]

Scarey...................could happen to any of us!!!!

[Veronica 1]

I use a program called "Simple File Shredder" to get rid of files on my hard drive, it overwrites the data 7 times and uses the same technology as the military. I do not know if it would work on a memory card, though. It is a free download on download.com.

[Kathleen Ann Trees]

My guess, he knows. His cautious tone and "a lot of other stuff" is code. If he's been that cool so far, you might have a true friend there. Cautiously try to decode is my advise.

Kathleen Ann

[Patti Girl]

Also consider if a camera is stolen....especially by someone you know. Been there...not really sure what was on the camera, but the possibilities are scary!

As for taking care of old harddrives, I've heard of one company that uses a transmission shredder for drives with sensitive data.

My solution? I still have all my old computers sitting around in the basement!

Patti

[trannie T]

I buy old cameras and every now and then there is an old roll of film inside. When I develop the film I'm always a bit afraid I'll find some kiddie porn or something else illicit. So far the photos that have been recognizable have been very tame.
Take the film out of the camera before you donate it.

[docrobbysherry]

[QUOTE=Cristi;1070669]I'm pretty careful with any photos I take. The ones I keep are in a hidden directory buried deeply in my computer. QUOTE]

If you've seen my photos, they're a little odd. Because I take only digital movies, and pull out the frames I like. Also can't show them here. However, I'm scared to death my daughter, or a friend, will be playing around and find my thousand pics of Sherry in my computer! How, ( and I'm kind of afraid to ask, 'cuz I might not understand the answer), do I hide my photo folders? Anyone? In simple, non-computerese English?
RS

www.myspace.com/robertsherry

[Niya W]

simple this is what she meant she puts the files in folder b. Folder b is inside of folder C. Folder C is inside of folder D.

You get the jist. you would have to keep on clicking on the folders.

For me I have my own computer with a password and two accounts. If some has to use my computer i have them use the second account.

[Veronica 1]

[quote=Cristi;1070669]I'm pretty careful with any photos I take. The ones I keep are in a hidden directory buried deeply in my computer. QUOTE]

If you've seen my photos, they're a little odd. Because I take only digital movies, and pull out the frames I like. Also can't show them here. However, I'm scared to death my daughter, or a friend, will be playing around and find my thousand pics of Sherry in my computer! How, ( and I'm kind of afraid to ask, 'cuz I might not understand the answer), do I hide my photo folders? Anyone? In simple, non-computerese English?
RS

www.myspace.com/robertsherry (http://www.myspace.com/robertsherry)


You could try getting a usb hard drive, sort of like a memory disk for your computer. Save all your pics to there and hide the card. They could find tracks leading to the card, but if they don't find the card you are safe. :o I think.