Missing photos on Picassa

[polidor]

Have you tried:

Start->Search->For Files or Folders.

If you know the name of files or what filename extension they had e.g. filename.jpg then enter the search criteria as: *.jpg
that is an asterisk followed by a dot followed by the letters jpg.

downside

Hi again downside---I have just finished trying the above--rescued 1 file but the rest are still elusive !!
Your 2nd. tip, the MFT, how should i go about that-??- If you feel like giving up on ideas for helping me i can understand --i am beginning to feel SO frustrated-- Poli

[downside]

Hi Polidor

The 2nd tip thing only applies to rescuing files that have been deleted.  As these are photographs it is more complicated to use a program like 'File Recover' http://www.pctools.com/file-recover/?ref=mgfr which looks for text within a file.  There are various free undelete utilities available on the web for recovering deleted files but as your files have not been deleted (as far as you know) they might not be applicable.

The important thing to know is where they were before you did the System Restore.  If they were within the My Documents folder then they should still be there.  System Restore does not alter that folder or its contents.

You could download File Recover and see if it finds anything.

A lot rests on you remembering what the file names were.

downside

[polidor]

Hi Po

The important thing to know is where they were before you did the System Restore.  If they were within the My Documents folder then they should still be there.  System Restore does not alter that folder or its contents.

You could download File Recover and see if it finds anything.

A lot rests on you remembering what the file names were.

downside

Thanks for your continuing patience--The photos were all in the Picassa 2 programme, put there many weeks BEFORE the dreaded 'system restore' i did, after which they vanished.
Logically they should still be in Picassa [i think]

I even entered a Picassa 'help' forum seeking advice but although 2 people kindly replied, they were far too technical for me to understand

Where you mentioned file 'names' i assumed wrongly i now realise, that it referred to the album titles of the photos in Picassa!!

A thought---all the missing photos had been originally uploaded into Picassa straight from my camera. The i file i 'recovered' after a search had also been uploaded to Picassa in the same way---which begs the question---if none of the missing photos had been held in 'My documents' originally, how come only one single recovered file was found??

Poli.
p.s  i'm confusing us both now.

[downside]

Hi Polidor

I've just had a quick look at a Picassa Forum and have learnt a couple of new things:

1) When Picassa is first installed it creates folders of every image on your PC, no just your personal phtotgraphs/images.
2) The program creates folders all over the PC not just in the C:\Program Files\Picassa folder.  It also creates a small filename.ini file for each folder.

In which case I suggest you search for those *.ini files:

Start->Search->For Files or Folders

search for: *.ini
that is an asterisk followed by a dot followed the letters ini.

There will probably be a lot of non-Picassa related ini files but you will find all the Picassa folders/files using this method and hopefully you should be able to track down the elusive photographs.

downside

[polidor]

I have just scanned a document and decided to 'view' it after scanning.

Went onto my HP Photosmart Essential programme and clicked to view this doc and lo and behold --there they all were--the lost photos. BUT--as soon as i tried to move them all or view them they each came up with the following notice--

"The image or folder is no longer available. It may have been moved, deleted, or was on a drive that is no longer available."

What is all that about?
There they are and i cant get at them!!!

I did the search re *.INI  it brought up loads as you said it would, but to be honest downside, none of the icons on screen had anything to do with actual photos when i 'opened' them, it all seemed geared towards general installation and such. But---i'll have a 2nd. go. Poli

[downside]

The HP thing probably retained file and path name information from previous scans.  Possibly Picassa moved the images to another folder, hence the reason they cannot be found.  However, it should list the file names of the photos you scanned which means you can search your file system for those file names, unless Picassa renamed them of course.

With the ini files you will probably have to open the file using NotePad:

Right click on the file name and select Open With and then NotePad from the drop down list.  If the ini file is associated with Picassa it should contain a list of file names associated with a folder.  You will have to work your way through all those ini files until you find the one you are looking for.

downside

[polidor]

Thought i'd give an update.

On the 'search' facility i tried various routes---*.tif--*.png--*.pcy--*.jpg--*.bmp--*.dsc

I 've actually recovered 15 photos so far but am still missing some of my 'oldies' and a family group shot of about 12 pics i took only 4 weeks ago. i half hoped that this last lot were still on my camera but no, i'd cleared them. However some of these particular ones i had forwarded to one of my children so hopefully he can let me have them again.

Run out of ideas now from people here but i thank you very much for your encouragement. Poli

[downside]

Hi polidor

It is baffling that you can loose data by just doing a Syytem Restore.

The problem with System Restore is that it copies in an old regsitry associated with the restore point.  A registry contains entries for settings and file locations and links - so recent settings and links can disappear if the current registry is replaced.  It depends on how old that restore point was.

IMPORTANT

Make sure all your documents and photographs are put in the My Documents folder.  That is the only directory System Restore does not change.

I have had a case where Windows changed the name of a file.  I tried moving a filename.ftw file from one folder to another and something weird happened and it changed the name from 20061018.ftw to 0018.ftw.

downside