Files not recovered despite "excellent" rating

[Theo Cupier]

Formatted my smartmedia memory card in the camera before I'd downloaded all the JPGs.

 

Downloaded and Installed Reciva 1.30.435.

 

Used the Wizard to locate image files on removable drives and it located the smartmedia card fine.

 

It displayed a list of all the file names I was expecting. For most of the files, including the 2 I wanted, it rated them as Excellent quality but was unable to display a preview of the JPGs (none of the files had previews).

 

I selected the 2 I wanted, pressed "recover" and selected a location on my HDD for the files.

 

When I access the files in XP, no preview is available in Photo & Fax viewe. When I try to open them in Paint Shop Pro 6 I get the error message "this is not a valid JPEG-JFIF image". When I try to open the image in Photoshop CS3 I get the error message "could not complete the request because a JPEG marker segment length is too short (the file may be truncated or incomplete)"

 

Looking at the file in Recuva advanced mode, it can't show me a preview.

 

I get this in the "info" screen:

Filename: _SCF0079.JPG

Path: H:\DCIM\100_FUJI

 

Size: 758 KB (776,516)

 

State: Excellent

 

Creation time: Unknown

 

Last modification time: 01/09/2009 14:12

 

Last access time: 03/09/2009 00:00

 

Comment: No overwritten clusters detected.

 

48 cluster(s) allocated at offset 438

 

In the "header" pane, I have 256 x "FF"

 

Is the file dead, or is there something else I can do to recover it?