Converting CR2

[Taiyosan]

Just discovered that the Canon RAW files shot with a Canon 20D in 2005, are no longer openable. (is that a word?) I have a few thousand of them and in '05, '06, etc., i opened them, worked on them in PS and saved them. Now i want to work with some of them and they are not viewable, openable, etc. Not with Canon software, Adobe DNG Converter, etc.. I don't know what to do ... do one of you know what to do? Who to ask? Where to search? Have you had this kinda problem?

The larger question, how did 5000 Canon files get corrupted and will that happen again as the years go by (yes, i'm converting them to dng, but not so at that time) ??? i've no idea how to address. Yes, all files are backed up in triplicate but they are copies of the unopenable files - sigh ... all help appreciated.

Thank you,

Taiyo

[RobertTheFat]

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@Taiyosan wrote:

Just discovered that the Canon RAW files shot with a Canon 20D in 2005, are no longer openable. (is that a word?) I have a few thousand of them and in '05, '06, etc., i opened them, worked on them in PS and saved them. Now i want to work with some of them and they are not viewable, openable, etc. Not with Canon software, Adobe DNG Converter, etc.. I don't know what to do ... do one of you know what to do? Who to ask? Where to search? Have you had this kinda problem?

The larger question, how did 5000 Canon files get corrupted and will that happen again as the years go by (yes, i'm converting them to dng, but not so at that time) ??? i've no idea how to address. Yes, all files are backed up in triplicate but they are copies of the unopenable files - sigh ... all help appreciated.

Thank you,

Taiyo

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You need to be more specific. What version of what Canon software? And are you sure that these are .CR2 files and not .CRW?

Also, you seem to imply that the files that can't be read were last saved from Photoshop. Is that correct, or am I reading it wrong?

[Taiyosan]

Bob, quite sure they are CR2 files as that's what the file says. Have tried both DPP 3 and 4 to no avail.

While some of the files that cannot be read were saved from Photoshop, the majority, maybe 90%, were never opened beyond viewing in the Canon viewer. ie, they were not opened specifically, just seen as one of many.

[fototaker70D]

are ALL files unreadable/UNopenable in ANY program, viewer, or just in PS??

a few years back I had all files stored on a windows-platform pc hard drive display as being corrupt. months later i discovered these files were NOT corrupted, when by accident I discovered those "corrupted" files were accessible via ms-dos!! i eventually moved all those"corrupt" files from the internal hard drive to an empty eHD, and they were all later viewable and usable. hope this helps

[Taiyosan]

Yup, ALL the corrupted files (5K or more) are unreadable in any program using both Olympus and Canon RAW readers; also, LR and PS cannot read them. I did send files to Olympus and they said they were unreadable by any of their methods as did Canon. Seems like almost all avenues have been tried - but there is always a corner or niche that may have just the right software - i'm keeping my eyes and ears open.

[fototaker70D]

find a friend with access to windows and get into MS-Dos and see if the folders and files are there. if so, whilestill in MS-Dos, copy some test files to a eHD and see if they can be accessed in that same computer. good luck 

[kvbarkley]

There is no MS-DOS. There *is* a command prompt.

[fototaker70D]

thanks kvbarkley; i stand corrected!! In ALL of my references to MS-Dos above, just change that to "command prompt"  😉

[RobertTheFat]

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@kvbarkley wrote:

There is no MS-DOS. There *is* a command prompt.

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And since the two are only superficially similar, there's no guarantee that something that once worked under MS-DOS will work under a Windows command line.

[Waddizzle]

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@RobertTheFat wrote:

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@kvbarkley wrote:

There is no MS-DOS. There *is* a command prompt.

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And since the two are only superficially similar, there's no guarantee that something that once worked under MS-DOS will work under a Windows command line.

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I believe what has happned is that the two Operating Systems have swapped roles.  MS Windows used to be an application that ran under MS-DOS.  I think it began with Windows 7, the command prompt is now an application that runs under Windows.

[kvbarkley]

Windows XP was the first NT (non-MS-DOS) based Windows for home users.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Windows