Question about deleting files from card

[shea1roh]

I typicaly take the card out of my Rebel T6 & insert it into my computer to transfer pictures to my computer, then stick it back in the camera to erase the pictures. A while back I was told that I should not delete pictures from the card via the pc, only the camera. Is this true, & if so why? Thanks

[TCampbell]

There are a few reasons...

Some computers don’t truely “delete” files... they send them to the “trash” can.  The “trash” option is a way to allow you to change your mind later and pull it out of the trash.  To make this work the file is somehow marked as hidden or moved to a hidden folder... but the space on the filesystem isn’t ACTUALLY cleared until you “empty” the trash.

Sometimes the way people “delete” files is to reformat the card.  There are numerous options for the format of any filesystem (e.g. “blocksize”) and if you erase the card via a reformat, then it’s possible the reformat will change filesystem options that the camera doesn’t recognize.  

It isn’t that you must not use your computer... it’s that you must not let your computer do anything that the camera wont recognize.  So the “safe” option that always works is to to erase the images via the camera and not the computer.l

If there are three ways to do something... one of those ways is ALWAY safe, and two of those ways MIGHT be safe if only you knew all the nuances... we’re just going to tell you the “always” safe method to save you from getting in trouble.

[shea1roh]

Thanks!

[RobertTheFat]

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@TCampbellwrote:

There are a few reasons...

Some computers don’t truely “delete” files... they send them to the “trash” can.  The “trash” option is a way to allow you to change your mind later and pull it out of the trash.  To make this work the file is somehow marked as hidden or moved to a hidden folder... but the space on the filesystem isn’t ACTUALLY cleared until you “empty” the trash.

Sometimes the way people “delete” files is to reformat the card.  There are numerous options for the format of any filesystem (e.g. “blocksize”) and if you erase the card via a reformat, then it’s possible the reformat will change filesystem options that the camera doesn’t recognize.  

It isn’t that you must not use your computer... it’s that you must not let your computer do anything that the camera wont recognize.  So the “safe” option that always works is to to erase the images via the camera and not the computer.l

If there are three ways to do something... one of those ways is ALWAY safe, and two of those ways MIGHT be safe if only you knew all the nuances... we’re just going to tell you the “always” safe method to save you from getting in trouble.

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Actually, I think the most compelling reason not to delete files from the card via the computer is to combat the temptation to delete them too soon. No file should be deleted from a card until it has been backed up to at least two devices, one of them in a building that houses neither the camera nor the computer.

[Waddizzle]

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Actually, I think the most compelling reason not to delete files from the card via the computer is to combat the temptation to delete them too soon. No file should be deleted from a card until it has been backed up to at least two devices, one of them in a building that houses neither the camera nor the computer.

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I do that.  I back up my files to a USB drive I keep in my glove compartment!

[RobertTheFat]

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@Waddizzlewrote:

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Actually, I think the most compelling reason not to delete files from the card via the computer is to combat the temptation to delete them too soon. No file should be deleted from a card until it has been backed up to at least two devices, one of them in a building that houses neither the camera nor the computer.

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I do that.  I back up my files to a USB drive I keep in my glove compartment!

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Me too, although mine is in the trunk. (I consider that preferable because the trunk is less susceptible to greenhouse heating than the interior of the car.) Then when I visit my daughter in Philadelphia, I copy it to another 8TB disk that I keep down there. Necessary? Probably not. But everything gets overdone in today's world, so I feel obliged to contribute my share.

[ebiggs1]

"I was told that I should not delete pictures from the card via the pc, only the camera."  "Is this true..."

Is it true?  I suspect somebody told you it was.  So that part is true.  Does it hurt or is is bad, that is the question?  Another one, should you format the SD card only in the camera?  Never in the computer?  They say so.  But the facts are I have done it both ways and so far no disaster, earthquakes or thunder/lightning clashing.

[TCampbell]

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@ebiggs1wrote:

"I was told that I should not delete pictures from the card via the pc, only the camera."  "Is this true..."

Is it true?  I suspect somebody told you it was.  So that part is true.  Does it hurt or is is bad, that is the question?  Another one, should you format the SD card only in the camera?  Never in the computer?  They say so.  But the facts are I have done it both ways and so far no disaster, earthquakes or thunder/lightning clashing.

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Here is a list of recent earthquakes:  https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/

Possibly these are related to you using the computer to delete files from the card.  😉

[ebiggs1]

Hmmm, I may be in error.  

Let's say it 'usually' doesn't cause earthquakes!

[Peter]

With my Canon EOS DCS 3c from 1995 I don't even have the choice to format in camera.