Befuddled by my CRUZER Mini ...

[Mara]

Just wandered through the internet and couldn't find an answer, so do hope someone here can help me, please.

 

I downloaded a flock of photos onto a little 'mini hard driver' - Cruzer Mini with 512 MB of space. (Apparently this thing is 'pre-formatted' so all I had to do was pop it in and the computer recognised and downloaded to it).

 

When putting the stick back into the computer, the computer does recognize it and, in fact, all images are there (however, rather than each file called what it was prior to the transfer there are now called Convar 1, Convar 2, etc).

 

The problem is, they won't open.

 

Right clicked on each and chose 'Properties' and they still show as 'Corel Photo House File', thankfully. And if it helps any, I know that each is created/saved in either TIFF or JPEG format.

 

But when trying to open, all I get is a tiny pop-up box saying "Corel House" with a circle and nasty red 'X' through it.

 

Then tried right clicking on them and 'Open with'. No luck.

 

'Copied' files from the little stick into 'My Documents' and tried again - same result, sadly.

 

Perhaps I'm doing something incorrectly but any idea on how to rescue my photos from this little stick drive would be so appreciated!

 

Thanks once again,

Mara

Edited August 25, 2008 by Mara

[Mara]

I keep going back to the below site, Scan Disk, the company who makes my wee stick)...

 

https://www.customernation.com/pls/ps/ps.ps_main?p_host=304&p_supplier=5096&p_parm=PSHPP

 

... and I'm obviously a dolt or they simply don't mention, for instance, why file names suddenly became 'CONVAR' when transferred to the little drive.

 

...so actually sent an email to the people at CONVAR asking for assistance and, while perfectly lovely about it, they suggested I consult ScanDisk's website. Gentle sigh as I've done this over and over again.

 

I can't help but think there is something 'simple' that I've missed but still befuddled sadly.

[Dalo Harkin]

Mara I found this:- CONVAR is a digital photo recovery system.

 

Can you try the stick in another PC and see what happens?

[Mara]

Popped the little stick into our daughter's laptop with the same result, sadly.

 

How on earth a photo from my computer transferred itself onto the stick in a "digital photo recovery system" is quite beyond me ...especially since I right-clicked on 'Properties' of the little stick and can't find any reference to CONVAR - except for my perhaps doomed photos.

 

Can only hope that if I download the above mentioned "recovery system" it will "recover" or open my photos. And if that works, may pop the new 'stick' into the nearest garbage can as how on earth could I trust it again. Drat.

 

Thanks so much Dalo - how kind you are to help me with this, especially since photos are so precious to me. Please keep for fingers crossed too - gentle smile!

[Guest Wolfeymole]

Did you ever have Corel Photo House software at any time Mara?

 

The point I'm making is that this seems to be a file association issue.

[Mara]

Yes, I actually use my truly old Corel Photo House V4 all the time, Wolfeymole, but rummaged around using 'Search' in the computer and still no mention of CONVAR, though. Then rummaged around inside the 'Corel' program folder with the same results.

 

But after installing the CONVAR 'recovery' program from author's site, I am now more than befuddled - am beginning to feel 'the planets may be out of alignment' - gentle smile - because ...

 

It 'found' tons of photos (we already knew there were sitting there, though) but when it transferred the photos onto my harddrive - some photos will open and others still won't (all still under the CONVAR 'file association' though).

 

And the files that opened are not mine!! Literally have never ever seen these photos before nor the people in them! How can this happen on a new 'stick'!?! If I was a drinker it would this would be darn near enough to make me to pop a long straw in a wine bottle! Gentle smile.

 

Plus, I can only assume all the files that still won't open are mine - and I can't for the life of me find a section at CONVAR on how to open one of their files (nor, for that matter, why their program would be lurking on the stick and change all my photo to their name!).

 

I wonder if you would be kind enough to lead me through the steps regarding "a file association issue"?

[Mara]

Oh thank dod, we may have figured out what happened ... not how to get my own photos to open but how we ended up with someone else's photos on the little 'stick'!

 

Apparently the store sometimes takes back items in it's computer department and would have no way of knowing if the 'stick' had been used if the person returning it had resealed the plastic package carefully. Hmmm.

 

And apparently, since the CONVAR program I used this afternoon often finds "previously deleted files", that "could explain things" (someone else's photos). Another hmmm.

 

While the offer to bring it back for a new one is fine, it still leaves me with the woe of not being able to open my own photos from it, though - but I've now transferred all files from the little 'stick' onto my hard drive, deleted (from my hard drive) those that belonged to someone else, and can just keep what I hope are my own photo files until a way to open a 'Convar' file is found.

 

(I refuse, absolutely refuse to think that the other files transferred onto similar new 'sticks' and popped into the Safety Deposit box at our bank may suffer the same fate - eep!).

 

Still trying to use Google search to find a way to open CONVAR files but no luck so far ... but perhaps doing something with the 'file association' may help.

[Dalo Harkin]

Mara have a look at this link and it shows all the products that Convar make Convar: - Company Information

 

I think that whoever had the stick before you somehow 'lost' their photos and either they or the computer shop you bought the drive from installed the recovery program and now you are getting all of what is on that drive.

[Seth]

What is the actual file extension on the photos?

 

Try changing one to a jpeg extension and see if it will open.

[Mara]

Thanks for that site with all the products Convar makes, Dano ...the great thing about this company is the provide - free- the program to recover 'lost' or damages files. The one thing I wish they'd add is: If one can't open their 'found' files. Darn. After all, the renaming of the files aside, if the original photo program that created them no longer will open them, or, for that matter a number of other photo programs can't open them now ... hmmm.

 

Am laughing at myself now since I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to change a 'file extention', Seth ... but once I realized that no file extention showed, wandered through my computer until I discovered how to 'show hidden files', etc - yipee!!

 

And now that the 'file extentions' show, it's reassuring to see that each is still in my original Jpeg or Tif formats.

 

http://i36.tinypic.com/2l916o7.jpg

 

Tried changing one file to each photo image format/file extention that any of my photo programs can work with - and still it won't open - and then tried importing it into MS Word, etc, and no luck.

 

I think these photos are doomed. Perhaps I'll just figure out how to 'wipe the stick' clean and then experiment by transferring one image onto it - and see if it too becomes unopenable - and if not, surely the stick itself is still usable.

 

My very sincere thank you to everyone who was so very kind to help - how wonderful all of you are!!

[Guest Wolfeymole]

Have you tried right clicking on a given file/image and choose "Open with" and choose Paint Mara?

 

If it will then you can choose to save it as a normal .jpeg file without the Convar file association.

[Mara]

Just zipped off to try it ... and alas, it won't open with Paint either. Gentle sigh.

 

But have decided to drop this woe into my little mental file folder called, 'Will it matter a year from now?' - and since the answer is 'unlikely', think I'll just consider this one of those wee hiccups in life - gentle smile.

[Dalo Harkin]

Put it in the memory banks under - 'learning' :)

[Mara]

Pesky Cruzer 'stick' ...

 

My Cruzer stick by SanDisk lights up green when plugged into the computer and shows everything on it ... but when I try to transfer something from computer's hard drive onto it, computer doesn't recognize it as being plugged in already.

 

Went to SanDisk site again ... tried to see if I could download a new 'driver' (it said one isn't necessary when using Windows XP) ... then clicked on their general help page for these items and only get a blank page showing on screen - so guess they won't be any help.

 

Found the section in my computer that shows 'Device Manager' (I did read all the other posts re these pesky 'sticks' - gentle smile) and there are no yellow exclamation marks showing. Then tried using 'Device Manager Wizard' but it couldn't find anything better than computer has now.

 

My question is ...

 

Would someone please be kind enough to let me know how to "reformat" one of this little sticks?

 

Thanks again ever so much.

[Guest Wolfeymole]

Have a read of this Mara

 

http://extremetechsupport.com/forum/articles-and-tutorials/2275-format-usb-thumbdrive-ntfs.html

 

I'll merge your post to your original one also love as it pertains to the same issue.

[Mara]

Thanks every so much, Wolfeymole - do appreciate it.