Flash Media Cards are all subject to similar types of problems which include accidental formats and deletion of photo data, corrupt or damaged file structure, and unreadable cards.

When Flash cards are corrupt they may issue messages similar to these: “card not found” , “unable to access removable data”, “card unreadable” or “card not formatted”. This is sometimes followed by the message 'do you want to format?'. If you answer 'yes' to this you will reduce the chances of recovering your data. Sometimes, a minor problem on your Flash media card can lead to a major corruption of the card. Problems with one picture can affect others in what is known as the "avalanche effect".

Some Flash Memory cards also have unique problems. CompactFlash cards for example comprise two main areas; the flash memory area and the data controller. These are two seperate chips. If the data controller is phyically or electrically damaged, it is very difficult to recover any meaningful data from the card, even though the image data may still be intact in the Flash memory area.

Microdrives are often grouped with Flash memory cards because they are similar in size and use. However The Microdrive is actually a miniture hard disk and therefore is subject to many of the standard hard drive failures. The majority of Microdrive failures (about 80%) are the result of excessive ‘G’ Force – they are dropped, knocked or banged against something hard.

Qibs Data Recovery is able to recover lost, deleted or damaged photos, images or data from Microdrives. The symptoms that you may see on a Microdrive are identical to hard disks. If your reader is taking a long time to read the microdrive it could indicate corruption or physical damage to the Microdrive.