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Testimonial: NAND Flash Recovery Client Story
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- Email updates from start to finish
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Can Photos Come Back from a Sand- and Water-Damaged SD Card?
Yes, in this case. Two local camera shops could not help a honeymoon couple whose waterproof camera filled with sand and seawater. eProvided’s lab read the SD card’s NAND flash directly and recovered every photo in less than 4 days in total, with email updates at each step.
“Sand and seawater ruin a camera fast. The memory inside often holds on longer than the camera does.” — Bruce Cullen, founder, eProvided
For many, NAND flash memory is a better storage device, especially in low-capacity applications (4 GB or less). NAND is a no-brainer for folks seeking a lower-power, lighter and more robust storage device. Although these devices have marked advantages, they can easily become corrupt due to external environmental factors, as one of our clients recently found out at a most inopportune time. (For getting photos back from damaged media, see our photo lab.) Thankfully, they wasted no time in enlisting our recovery services. Here’s what they had to say.
Saving Precious Memories: A Firsthand Account from a Data Recovery Client
During my incredible, amazing, and absolutely PERFECT honeymoon in Costa Rica last December, my husband and I were spending our last day in heaven-on-earth at the beach with our waterproof camera. When we got out of the water, my husband held up the camera. We were mortified as sand and water began pouring out! I thought for sure we had just lost all of our wonderful pictures, and all on the last day of what was the perfect memory. I was crushed.
When we arrived back home in San Diego, CA, I removed the SD card, which was obviously quite damaged. I took the camera card to two different camera and image recovery stores in the area, but had no luck finding any data recovery assistance. I wasn’t about to give up and lose our honeymoon pictures! There had to be someone out there with experience and persistence.
I decided to try a different plan of attack. Instead of staying local, I got online and googled “SD card recovery companies.” The first company to come up was eProvided. As I searched through reviews, I read one positive story after another about this company, and all the reviews held personal success stories from satisfied customers. I read so many stories, and they were all very similar; eProvided had recovered all the images in every review. I was sold, but the main reason I decided to send our SD card to them was the continued mention of their updates and communication with their customers. I knew my SD card would be in goods with people who would let me know exactly what was going on from start to finish. These sounded like people who would care, and that was important to me.
I mailed my SD card that day! I was constantly receiving emails with updates, which made me very happy. Furthermore, I was contacted by a friendly, and personable man to let me know the SD card was too damaged. Just when I thought there was no hope, he offered a new option: a more intensive recovery attempt, which would require our SD Card to be sent to the lab.
Let’s just say that this amazing human being listened to my story, was genuinely invested in helping me as much as possible, and helped make us some of the happiest people ever. In less than 4 days TOTAL, they have recovered every picture from our honeymoon!
I’ve never had an experience this remarkable with a company before. I intend on going to every possible website just to rave about my experience and share my review of this incredible company. eProvided is the only reason I have my honeymoon pictures. Without them, all of their help, and everything they did for me, I would have never seen or had the pictures that will capture some of the best times and best memories of my life!
Thank you so much for everything, Bruce. I cannot tell you all how much I appreciate you!
Why This SD Card Could Still Be Read
An SD card is a small controller chip sitting next to NAND flash memory. Sand and seawater usually damage the contacts and the controller first. The NAND chip that holds the photos often survives. When a card is “too damaged” to read through its own contacts, the lab takes the more intensive path this client describes: it reads the NAND flash directly and rebuilds the card’s file system from the raw data. SD and microSD cards do not encrypt their contents the way modern phones do, so a direct read of the memory is the correct method for this type of media.
| This Case, Step by Step | |
|---|---|
| Stage | What Happened |
| Damage | Sand and seawater poured out of a waterproof camera on the last day of the honeymoon |
| Local help | Two camera and image recovery stores in San Diego could not help |
| Choosing a lab | The client picked eProvided for its reviews and its record of updates to customers |
| First assessment | The card was too damaged for a standard read, so a more intensive lab attempt was offered |
| Result | Every honeymoon picture recovered, less than 4 days in total |
If Your Card Gets Wet or Sandy
Do
- Take the card out of the camera and stop using it
- Keep it in a small sealed bag so sand does not spread
- Get an evaluation before anyone tries a fix
Don’t
- Push a sandy card into a reader or computer again and again
- Dry it with a hair dryer or an oven
- Format the card when the camera asks you to
Recovery Services for Every Storage Device Class
Cards like this one go to our memory card data recovery service (SD, microSD and CompactFlash, all brands) or to NAND flash chip-off recovery for BGA, TSOP and monolith packages. The same lab handles USB flash drive data recovery, failed and clicking hard drives, NVMe and SATA solid-state drives, and microSD card data recovery, including monolithic cards. Browse all data recovery services →
More NAND Flash Recovery Guides
- What is a monolith storage device?
- NAND flash not detected? Who to call
- NAND flash technology in space
- NAND wafers vs. monolithic storage
- NAND flash in tablets vs. laptops
What Our Customers Say
Frequently Asked Questions
Send Us Your Damaged Card
Sand, seawater or a snapped card: tell us what happened and we will tell you what can be read. The evaluation is free.
Start My Free Evaluationor call (866) 857-5950
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