CF Card Data Recovery: Restore Data From a Compact Flash Card

There are two types of data loss: logical and physical. While we will be focusing on the former, as data recovery is much more likely, we will include some options if your CF card has sustained physical damage too. Let’s dive into several ways you can restore data from a CF card.

How is a CF card Any Different From a Standard SD card?

Professional photographers and filmmakers like to use Compact Flash (CF) cards in their cameras. These cards are among the largest memory cards and appear bulkier than standard SD cards. However, they are a lot more durable and have faster write speeds.

The utility of CF cards has made them immensely popular among professional camera users. However, whether CF cards are better than SD cards has been a matter of intense debate. While a hobby photographer will not notice the difference, CF cards are undoubtedly better for a professional. They are indeed more expensive than SD cards but have great write speeds and are long-lasting. If you find yourself working in rough conditions, definitely opt for CF cards.

Diagnose Common CF Card Problems

If you discover a problem with your CF card, knowing what might be causing it will help you fix the problem faster. It wouldn’t be possible to cover every problem that could affect your CF card, but some common issues appear more often and are well-documented. We’ve included a table below with some problems that commonly occur to CF cards, as well as their solution.

How to Recover Data from CF Card

Using a recovery tool, you can even recover deleted files from CF cards. It might be possible that your CF card has become corrupted or that you formatted it accidentally.

Recovery tools can help you resolve such problems easily. But before you use a recovery tool to recover files from CF cards, you must connect your CF card to a PC using a memory card reader.

Choosing the right data recovery tool for the task is a job in its own right. There are several qualities that the software must possess in order to do a good job, such as:

• 🗃️ Necessary file system support – CF cards are typically formatted in FAT32 or exFAT. Be sure that the data recovery tool you use not only supports these file systems but also demonstrates a good ability to recover data from them.
• 🔍 Multiple scanning methods – Data recovery tools that support several scanning methods will increase your chances of recovering more data. For instance, if your file system or its records aren’t in a usable state, the data may be recoverable by file signature instead.
• 📷 Support for file previews – The ability to preview your data is especially useful when it comes to CF cards, as photo file types are likely to be the main file format you’re trying to recover. Previewing the files may be your only method of determining what files you’re recovering if the file names have become lost.

Here at Pandora Recovery, we’re committed to extensively testing the various data recovery solutions available on the net. Our review database is constantly growing, and you can compare the various Windows and Mac data recovery solutions we’ve already reviewed to see their differences. If you’re in a unique situation where you need a data recovery solution that’s tailored to your needs, check out our software picker.

For CF card recovery, our recovery tool of choice is Disk Drill. Disk Drill is a professional data recovery solution that excels at recovering data from FAT32 and exFAT-formatted storage devices. It utilizes multiple scan modes to find as much of your lost data as possible and allows you to preview your data before recovery to ensure you know what you’re restoring. You can learn more about the software in our Disk Drill review.

Follow these steps to recover data from your CF card using Disk Drill:

1. Download and install Disk Drill.
2. If your CF card is in a vulnerable state (corrupted or damaged), back it up first. You can do this with any backup software, or use the free byte-to-byte backup feature within Disk Drill (however, bear in mind that you need to upgrade to a paid license to recover more than 500 MB of data on Windows).
3. Select your CF card and click Search for lost data to begin the scan.
4. Click Review found items once the scan is finished. You can also click on of the colored file type icons to filter the results or recover everything straight away by clicking Recover all.
5. Preview and select the files you wish to recover. When you’re ready to proceed, click Recover.
6. Choose an appropriate location to save the recovered files. Avoid choosing a location on the CF card you’re recovering the data from, as this puts the data at risk of being corrupted. Then, click Next.

How to Fix CF Card Errors

Just because your CF card ran into an issue doesn’t guarantee that it’s no longer usable. To get your CF card back up and running, we’ve included several viable methods for repairing the card so you can start writing data to it once again.

#1: Check CF Card Connection

The first error you may encounter with CF cards is that they are not even recognized by the device. If you have this problem, it might be an issue with your device.

To rule this out, there are some basic preliminary steps you can take to make sure the CF card is in a readable state:

1. Connect the CF card to a different device. This ensures it’s not a device-related issue.
2. Make sure the card reader is functioning properly. Do so by trying another CF card in it or connecting the card reader to another computer.
3. Make sure the port you’re connecting the card reader to is working. For one reason or another, the USB port you’re connecting the card reader to may not be active.
4. Check for signs of physical damage. In addition to checking for any visible cracks or bends in the card, verify that the CF card pins aren’t bent, corroded, broken, or dirty. 

If you don’t have this problem, or once your card is recognized by your computer, you can move on to steps to recover files from CF cards.

#2: Update or Reinstall Drivers

For your operating system to recognize the CF card, the appropriate drivers need to be installed and working. If your drivers are missing or corrupted, your computer will not be able to communicate with your CF card.

Drivers can stop working following a system update that introduces bugs or compatibility issues. Thankfully, updating or reinstalling the drivers is fairly easy. Follow these steps to do so:

1. Right-click on the Start Menu and select Device Management.
2. Double-click Disk Drives to see your storage devices.
3. Right-click on your faulty CF card and select Update Driver.
4. This will open a Wizard that will help you check for driver updates. Let the program automatically look for drivers, which should solve driver issues.

#3. Check CF Card Health

Your CF card contains Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology (S.M.A.R.T.) data that keeps track of its health. Checking the S.M.A.R.T. data of your CF card is a good way to pinpoint any logical issues that it’s facing.

You can do a basic check of the S.M.A.R.T. data using Command Prompt. Follow these steps:

1. Right-click Start and click Terminal (Admin).
2. Type wmic diskdrive get status and press Enter.

If everything is fine, the command will return an OK status. However, if the value returns Pred Fail (Predicted Failure), it means something is wrong and you should back the data up immediately and move it to another healthy storage device.

If you want a more comprehensive overview of the individual S.M.A.R.T. data values, you will need to use a software application. The free version of Hard Disk Sentinel can do this for you.

#4: Check and Fix File System Errors Using CHKDSK

CHKDSK is a file system repair tool that checks the integrity of your CF card and (when given the appropriate instructions) attempts to fix any errors that it encounters. This method is appropriate when your CF card encounters issues like cross-linked files, lost clusters, directory errors, or bad sectors.

Follow these steps to run CHKDSK:

1. Right-click Start and click Terminal (Admin).
2. Find out what the letter assigned to your CF card is.
3. Type in chkdsk followed by a space, then the drive letter followed by a colon, another space, and lastly /f.
4. Suppose your CF card is drive G; the correct command is:
   chkdsk g: /f
5. Press Enter and let the system scan the drive for errors. Once it is complete, your card should work correctly.

#5: Format Your CF Card

Formatting your CF card is the last resort, but the most effective. It’s akin to resetting the card back to factory settings. Formatting the CF card will add a brand new file system, addressing such issues as file system corruption, compatibility issues, virus infection, and unmapped bad sectors.

Follow these instructions to format the CF card:

1. Right-click Start and click Disk Management.
2. Right-click the volume of your CF card, then click Format.
3. Give your CF card a label and select the file system you wish to use. Make sure Perform a quick format is ticked, then click OK.
4. Click OK again to confirm.