Vista has corrupted 30% of all of my JPG files

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The files were not backed up, rather they were copied from my old HD to the
external drive. Also, I do not think it's the external HD because even new
pics from two digital cameras (Sony and Canon) and two SD cards download
direct from the camera to the new PC with this problem.
Click to expand...

I just replied to another post of yours saying that I thought the
problem might be a difference in the way your new PC Bios addressed
the hard drive. Now I have seen that it affects two SD cards as well.

The one thing that all 3 drives have in common, I presume, is that
they are connected by a USB interface.

Is it possible that your new computer could have a fault in the USB
hardware?

I do think it is wrong to blame Vista for this, as millions of people
are using Vista with external hard disks and memory cards without
experiencing this problem. However, the OS disk accesses are mapped to
the drive or memory card by the PC Bios / other hardware. This seems
more likely to be where the problem is.
 
I do think it is wrong to blame Vista for this, as millions of people
are using Vista with external hard disks and memory cards without
experiencing this problem.
Click to expand...

I won't say that unless I have anything solid to prove it.

Enough people are having problems so MS came up this KB article:

A Windows Vista-based computer may stop responding if a USB camera is
connected.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/939331/en-us

I don't know if it has anything to do with OP's problem but don't assume
something is free of problems just because you didn't experience it.
 
I won't say that unless I have anything solid to prove it.

Enough people are having problems so MS came up this KB article:

A Windows Vista-based computer may stop responding if a USB camera is
connected.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/939331/en-us

I don't know if it has anything to do with OP's problem but don't assume
something is free of problems just because you didn't experience it.
Click to expand...

But that's the fanboy way, just ask newsgroup clown Frank or any of
any of the clueless knucklehead Microsoft apologists. Problem? What
problem, I don't have a problem, ergo, there is no problem. That's the
mind-set of idiots like them.
 
It's not a 64bit problem as exactly the same thing happened to me (though
not 30% thankfully!) with my jpgs and I have a 32-bit version of Vista. And
others have posted similar experiences to these newsgroups.

I lost progress photos of an oil painting of my 100 year old Granma I am
doing! Like you I naively trusted WPG not to do something totally ourageous
and stupid the first time I used it!

I am totally dissatisfied with Vista's file handling capabilities over
networks and from and to USB devices - it is unreliable and dangerous! I
don't know whether it is just a Photo Gallery problem or a combination of
that program and the way Vista handles files and uses different
'permissions' from XP, but it is definitely a Vista problem. It seems to be
worst when moving high volumes of very large files from one USB device to
another.

How can MS get away with producing such consistently bad products with such
serious bugs? My stress levels have definitely risen since purchasing two
Vista equipped machines, both of which have had major problems with the new
OS.
 
I too am having similar problems. I have a newly purchased Acer Aspire
E380 with AMDAthlon 64 x 2 Dual Core Processor 4200+ 2.20 GHz with
Vista Home Premium.

It happens when I try to import pictures from my Sony DSC-V1 camera
(read from USB device action). My workaround is to import to an XP
machine and then transfer the files to my Vista machine over my home
network (wireless).

It also happens if I try to save a picture from Internet Explorer onto
a USB extermal drive (write to USB device action). The files
immediately corrupt when I try to save and the result shows as
corrupted on XP machines as well.

All file operations to/from the internal drive are fine.

An interesting observation is that 'sometimes' if I transfer a
corrupted file from my external drive onto my Vista machine via USB,
the corruption will correct itself on the transfer. I can then
transfer the file from my Vista back to my external drive repeatedly
until it transfers intact. This appears to work 50% of the time.

Another observation is that sometimes jpg files on my external drive
that were previously fine will corrupt when I attempt to write new
files. I can usually correct this with the procedure I described in my
preceding paragraph.

The common denominator does appear to be transferring to/from external
disks attached via USB. Not sure whether it's an Acer USB hardware
issue, a Vista USB driver issue or a combination of the 2.
Click to expand...

Are you using the camera software to do the import ?
Update all drivers, particularly the cameras. You say it's only 30%. Get ahold of www.irfanview.com and use that. Best FREE image tool out there.
I found out using IV that photoshop 3 images were subject to lots of problems. But you need some info not visible without a lot of digging thru IPTC, EXIF, etc.. plus some things you can only see in hex view. Your 30% is most likely a 100% if you do it one specific way. IOW: Fails every time using camera x on machine x mode x etc.. Then again it could be the software you're using to do the transfers.

But here's the 1st question. Corruption corrects itself ? Not gonna happen. What ever you're using to view the corrupt images is telling you wrong information. I've seen it myself. 1 program can't handle all the extras included in an image, so it guesses, and mostly wrong guesses resulting in a corrupt view. Use a different BETTER program to view the same image, and voila nothing wrong.

The common denominator from what you described is the external drive. Areyou USB 2 ? or a mish mash of the 2, USB 1 & USB 2 ?
I also have a USB external drive. But I've never written directly to it. I've always gone with just plain copying to & from.
Not entirely right, I no longer use the drives software because it's out of date, was written for XP, and the company now belongs to Seagate = no support for old drives.

is the camera USB 1 or USB 2 ?
XP and Vista are USB 2 from the get go.
is the camera ALSO USB 2 ?
 
Hi,

Thanks for the reply.

No, I am not using any camera software. I am accessing it as a USB
storage device, similar to my USB drive. I don't use Photoshop.
Click to expand...
I only mentioned PS as there is a 100% problem with PS3 files.
I don't use PS 3 either, but the files are on the web.
You should have some software from the camera to actually do the downloads.
I'd try and find it.
Yes, it would appear that I am experiencing 2 problems. How the file
is being viewed (or read), and how it is written. I never have view
problems from my internal drive. For viewing, I typically just use the
Windows Photo Gallery application ('Preview').
Click to expand...
Try irfanview. and see if there's actually a problem with the files BEFORE doing anything with them.
I agree that it doesn't make sense that the corruption would correct
itself upon a transfer out and then a rewrite back in, however, it does
seem to be a workaround for the view problem. However, if the transfer
Click to expand...
if it's corrupted that's it. no amount of copying is going to restore pixels that were never there.
out is unsuccessful (a trial and error thing) and I rewrite it back in
with the bad copy from my Vista, it is permanent.
Click to expand...
IOW: You're writing a bad copy twice over what you think is a bad copy. There's something else going on. And I'd suspect the software making the transfers.
Use IV to import from the camera.
These devices date back to year 2003. Your question as to whether my
devices are USB 1 or 2 sounds interesting. That could be it. Is this
determination in the firmware of the device? As I say, I'm not using
any drivers or applications from the original installation disks, as
they would be for XP anyway. And I cannot locate any updated Vista
compatible drivers for either device as of yet.
Click to expand...
What I know about USB 1 & USB 2 is below.
I think there is something like a USB 1 to USB 2 converter, but I wouldn't go that far yet.
They're 2 different things. One more way to make you replace ALL your oldequipment. See stuff that's more than a year old = OLD equipment.

XP was upgraded to USB 2. Vista was ALWAYS USB 2.
If the external was 2003, then yes I'd think it was USB 1 compatible.

update drivers - Start - admin tools - computer management - device management -
under disk drives, find the external. right click update driver or properties - driver - update driver. This may just try to reload, or tellyou that you already have the best driver. Machines lazy or not smart enough to find a good one on the web. I would definitely find the camera software, and usage manual. Some may be available on the web. I found a 20 year old manual for a radio shack scanner on the web.

Check the web site of the camera for drivers. or google for the camera.
But 1st use IV to confirm the images aren't already crapped on the camera, and if not, just let IV move them. I haven't found much that IV can't do with an image. Again it's fast & FREE. You don't need to subscribe to anything or promise your 1st born. It's been free for more than 9 years.

troubleshooting = DON'T RELY on just 1 piece of test equipment. This expands to don't rely on just 2 pieces or more of test equipment.
I spent 24 hours replacing 3 radios to fix the 1 bad radio on 1 airplane.We DETAILED that plane and finally came to the conclusion that we had 3 different radios that ALL had the EXACT same problem. 4th radio was the charm. We did have 3 bad radios all with the exact same problem.

Use several programs to view your images from the camera. They may already be corrupt on the camera. But that's where you need to start yourtroubleshooting, from the SOURCE of the images. If they're ok there, do a transfer. re-check them with same view software. This way you eliminateor create a constant. camera = constant, view software = constant, transfer software = constant. If after the transfer the image is bad, change one of the constants. view software, or transfer software. I'd go with transfer software 1st.

And actually this should be the 1st thing to check, how's the batteries in the camera ?
 
wbarbourca said:
I too am having similar problems. I have a newly purchased Acer Aspire
E380 with AMDAthlon 64 x 2 Dual Core Processor 4200+ 2.20 GHz with
Vista Home Premium.

It happens when I try to import pictures from my Sony DSC-V1 camera
(read from USB device action). My workaround is to import to an XP
machine and then transfer the files to my Vista machine over my home
network (wireless).

It also happens if I try to save a picture from Internet Explorer onto
a USB extermal drive (write to USB device action). The files
immediately corrupt when I try to save and the result shows as
corrupted on XP machines as well.

All file operations to/from the internal drive are fine.

An interesting observation is that 'sometimes' if I transfer a
corrupted file from my external drive onto my Vista machine via USB,
the corruption will correct itself on the transfer. I can then
transfer the file from my Vista back to my external drive repeatedly
until it transfers intact. This appears to work 50% of the time.

Another observation is that sometimes jpg files on my external drive
that were previously fine will corrupt when I attempt to write new
files. I can usually correct this with the procedure I described in my
preceding paragraph.

The common denominator does appear to be transferring to/from external
disks attached via USB. Not sure whether it's an Acer USB hardware
issue, a Vista USB driver issue or a combination of the 2.
Click to expand...


May have been missed in the excellent advice you already got. Do you
mean you can import from the camera to XP perfectly every time? If so
then the import to Vista fails 30% of the time. Is that right?

Of the 30% are they always the same pictures that get messed up or if
you import (say) 10 random pictures several times in different order
does it work out as 30% but different pictures. I am thinking it IS a
USB problem and / or a combination of that and something in the files.
If it's always the same ones then I'd guess that the Sony driver is
sending some parameter that doesn't make sense to Vista's idea of JPC spec.

Can you get the camera to transfer in any other format such as .bmp?

Just a suggestion, you already have someone who probably knows a lot
more about image formats than I do :)
 
Hi,

Thanks for the reply and your questions. In short:

Yes, I can import to XP perfectly every time. The problem only appears
on my Vista machine.
Click to expand...

Then it boils down to a software problem. Or very possibly all that security crap they hung on Vista. UAC specifically.
Try turning UAC off on some images that always fail. This troubleshootingis called elimination.
Eliminate the possible variables that could cause the failures.

UAC - Off - start - top USER picture - bottom of page - turn UAC on or Off

Now try your imports to Vista.

This is why I suggested IV. It becomes a constant, allowing you to eliminate the software glitch on both machines.
There's also the fact that Vista made thousands of computer programs and hardware obsolete.
XP had a compatibility thing. There's also something similar at M$ for Vista. you might check and see if any of the software is listed there.

The problem occurs rqndomly, i.e., it is not with the same pictures
every time.
Click to expand...
same pictures or extensions ?
 
A small update... I have determined that the pictures on the camera are
fine. My PC has a slot that will accept the camera's memory stick, so I
can do my transfers directly to my Vista machine that way. No
corruption whatsoever. Although the problem remains unsolved,
transferring in this manner is 100% acceptable for me. Now it's just
my Datastor external drive.

Turning UAC off had no effect.

Both my camera and my Pocketec Datastor are USB 2 so USB 1
incompatibility isn't the problem. Unfortunately, no Vista drivers
appear to exist for either device. Datastor claims that no drivers are
required for Windows 2000/Me/XP. The manual was written before Vista's
time.
Click to expand...

I've sort of lost track on this what the exact problem is. one way it works, one way it doesn't, one OS it works, one it doesn't..

I would say once again use IV to make all your transfers once you get them onto a machine intact out of the camera. Or directly from the external Pocketec Datastor or camera. Some cameras CAN be used as storagedevices. ie: you can also save data to them.

IV shouldn't have any trouble actually picking the images off the camera and putting them anywhere on any drive without going thru any 3rd party OS or Drives.

Plug the camera in where you can, fire up IV and select the camera. then use IV's copy or move option [there's about 8 presets] to move to any drive path you want.
 
Hi,

Thanks for the reply.

No, I am not using any camera software. I am accessing it as a USB
storage device, similar to my USB drive. I don't use Photoshop.

Yes, it would appear that I am experiencing 2 problems. How the file
is being viewed (or read), and how it is written. I never have view
problems from my internal drive. For viewing, I typically just use the
Windows Photo Gallery application ('Preview').

I agree that it doesn't make sense that the corruption would correct
itself upon a transfer out and then a rewrite back in, however, it does
seem to be a workaround for the view problem. However, if the transfer
out is unsuccessful (a trial and error thing) and I rewrite it back in
with the bad copy from my Vista, it is permanent.

These devices date back to year 2003. Your question as to whether my
devices are USB 1 or 2 sounds interesting. That could be it. Is this
determination in the firmware of the device? As I say, I'm not using
any drivers or applications from the original installation disks, as
they would be for XP anyway. And I cannot locate any updated Vista
compatible drivers for either device as of yet.

Thanks again.

--
wbarbourca
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Click to expand...

I had the same problem in Vista when I tried importing my photos from
my external USB drive (all NTFS formated).
Ruined hundreds of photos - now showing only partial images. Expensive
repair software (can't recall the name) can probably fix some of them.
Trial copy seemed to indicate so.
kbsolutions
 
I had the same problem in Vista when I tried importing my photos from
my external USB drive (all NTFS formated).
Ruined hundreds of photos - now showing only partial images. Expensive
repair software (can't recall the name) can probably fix some of them.
Click to expand...

Well I tried to duplicate this problem, but I only have the vista to playwith.
I copied some good pix from my N: Maxtor external drive to my O: plugin 250 meg
USB drive.
My O: USB = FAT system
My N: Maxtor = NTFS
rest of the drives = NTFS

I viewed them after copying them with IV, and they looked fine.

Also copied them from N: to O: and O: to C:\temp
all using IV. Not a bad one in the bunch.
 
Hi,

Well I tried IV. A great application, but unfortunately I still have
the same problem.
Click to expand...

couple questions...
with IV, what did the image look like when you loaded it into IV from the
stick, onto the vista machine ?
ie:
IV installed on Vista machine.
stick = drive M: or whatever...
fire up IV from the vista, browse to M: and an image path.
Load up an image.. what's it look like ? Corrupted or not ?
F7 to move & delete from M: or F6 to copy, pick a location on the Vistamachine
and Save it there if it appears correctly in IV..

If it works then,
use 'T' thumbnails. F7 or F6, and move/copy them to the new path/drive.
Did they corrupt or not ?
or F6 to Copy files from that drive. I don't think you really want something
deleting the files from the stick, b4 you work out the bugs.

Did you email the makers of the stick about this problem ?
I'm starting to think that it's simply a driver/firmware
incompatibility between both ends of the USB connection.
Click to expand...
That would be my guess also.. Which would mean you should be able to google for
the stick, and pick thru the results until you see one that sounds like your
problem.
Unfortunately, no driver/downloadable firmware updates appear to exist
for these older devices (as of yet). The data simply gets corrupted in
transfers, whether or not that transfer is a file copy read, a file copy
write or even just a read and display from the remote device by an
application on the Vista machine such as IV. In all cases, the data
just doesn't go across the USB cable and come out the other side
intact.

It happens with TIFF and BMP as well as JPG. I have also had
corruptions with videos in MPG, AVI, WMV and FLV formats. Never
noticed a problem with other file types such as word, powerpoint, etc..
In fact, when I bought my new Vista machine I transferred my entire "My
Documents" directory (almost 1G of data) from my XP machine using the
same Pocketec Datastor USB 2.0 (40G) with no problems whatsoever. It
just doesn't like pictures or video.

As I say, the files on the Sony DSC-v1 or Pocketec Datastor may be fine
initially, as can be proven with an XP machine. However, file transfers
to/from the Vista machine over USB will produce permanently corrupted
results. However, file transfers to/from the Vista machine by any
other means (e.g. network transfers from an XP machine, or plugging the
memory stick directly into the slot on the Vista machine) from these
devices are fine.
Click to expand...
Which sounds correct. meaning the stick & the vista & XP are compatible.

Hmm... am I understanding you right, you're plugging the USB cable from one
machine to the other directly ?

Not real sure if a USB cable was designed for that sort of thing. Feedback =
corruption!

But you'll need someone that's done those type of transfers to help any
further. I think you need a parallel cable or fire wire or modem for machine to
machine transfers. Actually, what it sounds like you need to do is set upyour
Vista & XP on a home Intranet. That's beyond me. I have no use for 2 machines
being connected. Never much dug into how to setup an intranet. But I'm pretty
sure you can bet it isn't done with 1 USB cable. Actually, I'm partially wrong
here. I did build a cable for an office intranet once. There were something
like 100 pins to 1 cable. Not exactly a USB cable.

Do you have any other cables from the XP to the Vista plugged in ?

I'm thinking with the USB plugged in to do the transfer, you may be having
other issues. Such as you would with 2 similar objects trying to do the same
job at the same time. Best illustrated when you have a bad phone connection and
hear the neighbors yakking away in the background on your phone. Poor
connection causing interference. resulting in bad images. And I'm guessing if
you did the same type transfer with 'My Documents', you probably have
corruption in them also. They're just not as visible as an image or movie. ie:
You'd need to run a spell checker to be sure.

Take a look at the cable on your monitor.. See that large round oblong thing on
the line to the monitor ? That's a filter to prevent interference. ie: The
computer itself broadcasts interference. The monitor does also. a USB cable is
normally unfiltered. If you have 2 cables connecting the Vista with the XP,
that might be your problem. Do you have a USB printer connected to both
machines ? Try unplugging that cable and do a transfer.
Any other USB things connected to both machines you failed to mention ? Or list
them all again..

Take the above and see if it matches your setup.. I'm just guessing now.

Actually, I'm not sure what you are doing.. ie: put data on the stick viaUSB
from the XP, then move the USB cable on the stick from the XP to the vista and
try to download from the stick ?

It should work, but even though the stick has a USB connection, there is such a
thing as signal loss over any wires. Plugging the stick in directly to the
Vista or XP negates the signal loss. There really shouldn't be any signalloss
over a normal length USB cable, but there could be signal interference going
on. Signal loss, interference = poor transfer. That might explain the
differences you see in the transfers. No constant, except signal noise which
would be a variable resulting in a different corrupted image as long as the
interference is present.

I wouldn't rule out dirty contacts on either the USB device or the cable
itself. A rubber pencil eraser on the contacts should be able to restore them
if necessary.

See if any of the above sounds like your situation...
 
The file copies or reads that have exhibited my problem have always
been machine-to-storage-device, or storage-device-to-machine, both via
USB, i.e. the ‘stick’ has always been in the middle of the
transfer or read. In fact, file transfers from XP to Vista are not
even the issue for me any more (it was merely the initial required task
at hand).
Click to expand...

Ok, maybe I have it. You have a USB cable. an XP computer, and a Vista
computer.
You haven't mentioned a USB port on the XP machine, which makes me think that's
why you're using a USB cable.
I assume your XP has a USB port on the rear of the XP, else how could you
connect a USB drive to it ?
When I had my XP built, I had a 4 port USB extender installed on the front of
the machine exactly to avoid a bunch of cables, and over movement of the
machine to access rear ports. They aren't very expensive, and you could install
one yourself. Just stick it in where the floppy goes, or another blank inthe
front. It has a long cable that reaches from front to back, and lot's of
electronics. I wouldn't be surprised if there's a signal amplifier and lot's of
noise filters in that box also.

Then just plug the stick into the XP USB port, do the transfer, plug it into
the Vista's USB port and finish. It all may be exactly what I thought.
Interference using a long USB cable.

Simple way to test this theory, with the computer off, position it so youcan
easily access the USB ports on the rear of the XP. Install the stick intoa
blank USB port. Boot, [and hope you didn't shake something loose moving the
machine, I used to do that every time. Spent more time tightening connections
than doing the actual work.]. Plug the camera in, Boot up, or plug the camera
in after a reboot, download the images to the stick. They should be fine.IV
should be able to verify they are.
remove the stick and stick it into the USB port on the vista. It should
[according to you ] transfer just fine this way.

I don't have a USB to USB cable to test this theory. But I think this will cure
the problem.

ie: on my XP there was 1 USB port that would ONLY work with either the printer
or the USB extender. I know squat about why that would matter. But I learned
use 1 port for this, and others for the other stuff.

I don't think external USB drives were meant to use a USB cable. My little 250
meg one doesn't use a cable.
 
Hmm, so MS can't figure out how to sign their own software still, and
when you see the "Improved" references to drivers it kinda negates all
the assertions made here that most user problems have been due to
various hardware manufacturers getting their drivers wrong...
Click to expand...

I've been using a HP Vista HP, that I maxed out to 500 gigs drive, and 2 gigs
ram.
I've had only one problem that I can attribute to Vista. If I weren't using a
HDTV GT, I'd have had no problems. But the updated video drivers for the HP,
are incompatible with my TV.

I can agree with M$ that Vista is a very stable OS. But I've had 9 or 10 years
experience in setting things up.

But I'm not so naive as to think it's bullet proof. I thought Trend was until
they released an engine update that grabbed the 3.2 ghz 1 gig ram OS, and
turned it into a 16 kb, timex 1000. Actually it was even slower than that.
I wouldn't call Vista buggy. Just too slow..
this is a 2.8 ghz dual core.
 
Problem still not solved... here are some responses to questions posted in
this forum.

1) All hard drives - external and internal are NTFS, not FAT formatted.
2) Issue is still happening even on new pictures I take. This happens
whether downloaded to PC by USB or by the internal card reader. Always using
SD card, but I've tried 3 cards all with the same results. About 1 in 5
pictures are goofy now.
3) SD cards always formatted on camera, not on PC.
4) Another strange fact I've noticed... not always the same pictures have
the problems. If I download, then put the SD card back in the camera and
then re-download to PC, different images are corrupt each time. Usually the
same, but sometimes okay and sometimes the same image is not okay.
5) I understand the concepts of troubleshooting. I've done all I can to
rule out certain things. So far it's down to the PC, which could include
Vista. PC is HP a6110n if that helps. BIOS version 5.08 5/4/2007.
6) I'd be happy to have a "professional" look at the PC, but I'd sure like
to know who qualifies as "professional" these days. I've contacted
Microsoft, they tell me to contact HP (after hours on hold of course). I get
in touch with HP (apparently in India), the guy tells me it's going to cost
money just to have me talk to someone. I say forget it. Why is it I buy a
$1000 computer and nobody will touch it. If the auto industry was like this
with their warranties, it would not be accepted at all. I'd be happy to get
some references for "professionals" that can speak English and can actual be
helpful and not just have be try things I've already tried.

Don't get me wrong, this forum has provided me some insight and I'm
appreciative of the free help I'm getting. I just can't believe the problem
I'm having is that hard to solve and here it is almost 6 weeks later and I'm
no further than I was with the issue.

If someone can solve this problem, I'll buy them a 6 pack of their favorite
beverage.

Thanks.

tewkes
 
One other thing I thought of that may help dispute this as a USB issue...

Even old pictures that I took 8 years ago on a floppy drive that have not
recently been xferred by USB have this issue. This is true of those files on
internal and external hard drives.
 
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