What is wrong with this file?

[NicoleScraps]

I just pulled some pics off of my camera today and a couple of files are all messed up. I have no idea why. I can't open it in any programs or do anything with it. Not that it is an important pic, it is just my kids new silly bandz.
This is a screen shot of what it looks like on my computer. Somethings messed up. I took 88 photos off the camera and two maybe three of them are like this.
Anyone know?

[Murtasma]

It's probably one of 4 things a camera problem, memory card may be going bad, it's just a fluke or it got corrupted during the transfer to your computer. If it continues I would try switching to a different memory card. If it still continues it's probably a camera issue and will need to be sent in for repair, probably the same time your computer goes in for repair.

If you stick the memory card in your camera and view on the camera do they appear this way? It could have also gotten corrupted during the file transfer to the computer.

[snowfalldesigns]

I've had a few do something similar - like half of the photo is underexposed. It seems like most of them are really good shots too...so that makes me mad!
Also, since I started shooting in RAW, I've had a few that have bright pink/yellow/green areas when I open the photo (the thumbnail is fine) It doesn't happen often but when it does, it's really irritating! So I'd appreciate some thoughts on this as well!

[NicoleScraps]

Originally Posted by Murtasma

If you stick the memory card in your camera and view on the camera do they appear this way? It could have also gotten corrupted during the file transfer to the computer.

They are not on my memory card anymore, but I remember specifically viewing this photo on camera before I pulled them off. I was making sure I had room to crop and got everything in the photo. It looked fine on the camera screen.

[Murtasma]

Odds are it was corrupted when you transfered it to your computer. Are you using the camera to transfer the pictures or a card reader? Is this your machine that wasen't working so hot a few days ago? Bad memory? Bad RAM can cause all sorts of weird problems.

[TheDarkReaver]

Yeah, only part of the file is there. The rest got lost during transfer. If you download a photo from the internet, but stop it before it's finished, you get a similar thing. Like Murtasma says, there's lots of reasons why it can happen, both software and hardware.

Originally Posted by snowfalldesigns

Also, since I started shooting in RAW, I've had a few that have bright pink/yellow/green areas when I open the photo (the thumbnail is fine) It doesn't happen often but when it does, it's really irritating! So I'd appreciate some thoughts on this as well!

Your RAW editor has a function that shows you your blown highlights and what not. It will do this by colouring the areas. You can turn it off somewhere on the program.

[NicoleScraps]

Originally Posted by Murtasma

Odds are it was corrupted when you transfered it to your computer. Are you using the camera to transfer the pictures or a card reader? Is this your machine that wasen't working so hot a few days ago? Bad memory? Bad RAM can cause all sorts of weird problems.

I use the camera itself to transfer files. Just plug in the usb and turn it on. Usually it works fine. I am using the machine that was causing me trouble. DH ran a memory diagnostic and it came out fine. So he concluded that Vista + an unknown driver was causing my problem. He installed Windows 7 and this is the first transfer I have made from my camera since. Good grief, I was really hoping my computer troubles were over. Now one more problem. I am hoping for a bad memory card. That is an easy fix.

[LMAshton]

Transferring the files via card reader is much faster than via USB. I've also read that there are less corruption issues when done via the card reader. And I've read that the card should be formatted in camera frequently to increase its health and longevity. Personally, I format mine each time after downloading the photos to my notebook.

[Henry Wilt]

Originally Posted by LMAshton

Transferring the files via card reader is much faster than via USB. I've also read that there are less corruption issues when done via the card reader. And I've read that the card should be formatted in camera frequently to increase its health and longevity. Personally, I format mine each time after downloading the photos to my notebook.

+1 It can also be worth doing a full format of your card either on your computer or camera (if possible) every now and again as the standard format only really erases the header information.

The picture does look like the transfer got interrupted for some reason, I don't think it will be a major problem.

[NicoleScraps]

Well, DH stayed up late fiddling with the computer and researching this for me. He has found at quite a few different sources (techie forums and blogs) that Windows 7 has a history of randomly corrupting file. Just great. Freaking great! I am about ready to have him pull out that 5 year old XP disk and be gone with Vista and Windows 7. At least it was a stable OS, it rarely crashed and it worked as it was supposed to. WTF Microsoft? You Suck!! Can you not do any better than this?
So now I have to use our "netflix" computer (an older computer that we keep in the kitchen that basically good for nothing except surfing the web, we watch movies on it all the time ) to download my pics off my camera, it has XP installed. Transfer them to the EHD, mark them as "read only" then I can open them on my windows 7 machine. At least until he finds a fix for this problem!