# Corrupt Image Files



## DFaltPhoto (Apr 12, 2015)

HELP! I have a canon 1dx and a canon 7d that I have shot with and both produced corrupt images files. Has anyone ever had image files come out looking like the attached image. The files only show damaged on my computer. Ive tried two different computers, two different cards, two different cameras and now two different card readers trying to eliminate whatever it is thats messing up the pictures. When viewing in Raw they come up as a blank black image and when viewing in lightroom or photoshop they come up looking like this image.


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## bratkinson (Apr 14, 2015)

It's not completely clear to me what the photos look like on computer #2, or via card reader #2, etc.  From your explanation, "the files only show damaged on my computer", says it's your computer that has the problem.

If it's limited to your computer, but on other computers, everything is OK, then:
1. If you have an external USB card reader, try that.  If the problem clears up, it's your card reader
2. If you have the cable to connect the camera to the computer with the memory card in it, try that.  If the problem is gone, it's the card reader.
3. Add a significant amount of data ... say 2GB worth, to your hard drive.  Copy the contents of "My Documents" to a bogus folder, for example.  It can be deleted after the test.  Now, insert the card and read it.  This test is to 'use up' the space on the hard drive with a copy of My Documents, therefore, comparatively 'clean' hard drive space will be used for the latest pictures download.  If the problem clears up, it's time to get a new hard drive.  Before you do that, though, using a different, FORMATed card, take 20 pictures or so and download them.  If the problem is fixed, good chance it's your hard drive.  If the problem recurs, it may be the camera, but don't jump the gun, yet. 
4. Hopefully, you're computer savvy enough to pop the top on your computer and remove one of the memory sticks.  Hopefully, you have at least 2 memory sticks in your computer.  After downloading the pictures one more time, if the pictures are OK, then it's the memory stick you just removed.  If not, swap memory sticks and repeat the process. 

About 2 years ago, I had both brand new, name-brand memory sticks in a computer I had just built fail.  The problem was most annoying while editing maybe 100-125 pictures in Lightroom, and the computer would suddenly lock up or give a blue screen.  As it was a brand new computer, I pursued at least a dozen other possibilities before I fully proved it was NOT other causes... cables, device drivers, hard drives, SSDs, video card, etc.  I even contacted the motherboard manufacturer technicians and ran several specific tests they provided links for.  I then swapped out both RAM sticks with slower RAM and the problem was gone!  What I ended up with was a bunch of pictures that looked fine while in Lightroom, but when I output the photos as JPGs, a handful of them had the bottoms, or tops cut off, or screwy colors, etc.

Bottom line, do a series of tests that conclusively prove it is NOT the reader, or the camera, or the memory card, etc, by using substitute devices.  Once you've eliminated everything but one possibility, you've found the culprit.


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## Derrel (Apr 14, 2015)

My guess? heavily fragmented hard disk. I've had this before on a Windows PC under Windows XP Multimedia Edition (Win XP-ME) in Photoshop CS. But I am not a Windows expert, so maybe the problem I had with a severely fragged HD is not the issue you're having.


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