# Corrupt jpegs upon copying with Vista



## zambrij (Aug 19, 2003)

Hello! Here is a new issue I never had a problem with using Windows XP. Been using Vista for a few months now and now, with the same digital camera, same memory cards, same procedures, etc... I am having all kinds of problems with my photos. When I transfer my photos to the computer either via USB cable or by plugging the xd card straight into the computer (no software program, just straight to disc), approx. every 10th-15th jpeg file copies with errors...I can open the file, but it is distorted in some way or has pixel-like lines running through it. Now, if I then go back to the camera or memory card and individualy re-copy that one photo to the computer and overwrite the damaged file, it fixes the problem, and the file is then fine. So, the file on the memory card is fine...it is the copy process to Vista that is damaging the image. Also, the same problem occurs if I try to copy jpeg files already on my computer to another source, like a back-up drive, a usb flash drive, a cd-r, etc... And again, if I go back, and re-copy individual images and overwrite the damaged file, it fixes the problem.

I take thousands of photos a month and this is killing me! I have to go through my pictures multiple times to check for problems and then re-copy hundreds of them...what should take minutes is now taking me hours! Is anyone else having this problem? Any ideas on what the issue is? Please help!! Thank you!!!


----------



## kiwiguy (Aug 17, 2003)

Run a RAM test on the Vista PC.

It's unlikely to be a Vista OS problem, rather a hardware issue.


----------



## slipe (Jun 27, 2000)

Do you have the problem if you transfer from the backup drive to the flash drive? I&#8217;m thinking your main drive might be a common link.


----------



## ViprXX (May 12, 2007)

have you tried checking your camera manufacturer's website for Vista drivers or an updated vista driver if you have one currently installed. if not try downloading the vista driver for your camera model and installing it or re-installing it if one is already installed. If your having trouble finding the driver just post your camera's make and model number here and someone will help you find one, if one is available for vista.

good luck


----------



## slipe (Jun 27, 2000)

I&#8217;ve had several cameras with XP and none have required drivers. I would be surprised if Vista required them. I&#8217;ve never seen an XP or Vista driver listed for a camera.

Also I doubt the camera driver would have anything to do with transferring pictures from the hard drive to a backup drive, flash drive or CD.


----------



## ViprXX (May 12, 2007)

I know what your saying. Most don't require drivers but there definatly are some that do. And yes it shouldn't have anything to do with transferring files, especially since the camera is already detected and functioning. But I figured I'd mention it just as something easy to try, thats all. But your most likely correct about it being something else.


----------



## juanglm (Jul 30, 2007)

I think you problem is related to Vista, so I'm having the same issue on my Vista PC, but when I plug the same camera on my secondary XP machine i have no problems. ah! i have an Ipod Video and when i try to sync photos they are copied distorted or corrupted. (never had those problems with XP)


----------



## zambrij (Aug 19, 2003)

Yup...I have done an entire format of my hard drive and full recovery, re-loaded everything and STILL have the same issue! And yet, on my laptop, which runs XP, no problems at all...I am totally stumped about what to do here!


----------



## kiwiguy (Aug 17, 2003)

From researching this on Google, there appears to be a problem with some hardware where the incorrect drivers are installed, the default Vista ones perhaps are less than optimum, but most people do not realise that they should always load the correct Vista drivers from each device makers website when upgrading to Vista.

If there are no Vista drivers, then there is an issue of compatibility.

If Vista came pre-installed however, there should not be a problem.


----------



## amilcaralzaga (Aug 7, 2007)

Just to add up some info on this, I had the very same problem, my windows vista (ultimate) is up to date, and I also had that problem of corrupted files while copying fomr the flash memory. Now, even worse, I just bought a new 500gb HD, because my primary HD was almost full, the I transfered ALL my movies, and every single file seems to be damaged. They do use the same space in megabites, they do have the same name and extension, they just can't play, and that same thing also happened with PDF's, .rar files, .zip files and even exe. Every single file I copied (like 25 mb) now seems to be damaged. Both disks are SATA. Ah!, in case you are thinking, when I save a file straight to that HD, no matter what kind of file, It does work perfectly.
Strange isn't it?
Can any body help me???


----------



## scott257 (Sep 10, 2007)

I have tens of thousands of jpg's in a shared folder stored on a healthy RAID 1 volume on an up to date Windows XP Pro machine. The folder is shared across a network with one other computer. I never had any issues with file corruption until six months ago when I replaced the other computer which was running Win XP Home with a new computer running up to date Vista Ultimate. Ever since, I have noticed seemingly random corruption of jpg files, a few in this subfolder, a few in that. The files still exist but contain horizontal bars of garbage that replace the original image.

I have been able to copy the individual files from my backup drive (mirrored nightly to a separate network drive), but it takes a lot of time to search out the files and manually replace them.

I suspect Vista because the corrupt images don't seem to affect subfolders that I don't access from the Vista computer. The corruption occurs even though I don't knowingly resave the files from Vista--I only browse the directories and view the files through the built-in image viewer. All file manipulations are done on my XP Pro machine and never appear to cause a problem.

This seems confined to image files. It did happen once with a Word document, which could have been an unrelated problem, but I have not noticed the problem with other file types even with heavy shared access to a shared documents folder.

I'd rather not replace Vista with XP, but this is a headache I'd rather live without. Searching the internet hasn't revealed any help on this issue.


----------



## Guyzer (Jul 3, 2004)

I had the same problem and started a thread a few months ago. Here's what I ended up doing....................
http://forums.techguy.org/digital-photography-imaging/584979-solved-wierd-thing-jpegs.html

In the end I think it's a Vista problem but I did discover a way to beat it.


----------



## mrss (Jun 13, 2007)

Scary. So I count four users here with the same complaint. Taking files from HD and moving them elsewhere. Bread & butter data transfer. It has to work.....

1) zambrij
2) juanglm
3) amilcaralzaga
4) scott257

Seems to me like there's some kind of hardware issue, probably related to the drivers used under Vista that run it.

Maybe some type of hard drive exerciser or test program should be run. I'm not expert enough to know of any.


----------



## Hughv (Jul 22, 2006)

FWIW, I had a similar problem.
A friend's XP laptop was stolen, so she replaced it with a Vista Home Premium laptop, and asked me to restore her files from a USB backup drive.
Most files transferred (Just a straight copy) with no problem, but dozens of her iTunes and images triggered a lengthy chkdsk on reboot. Some of the itunes never did copy.
I didn't have time to pursue this, and a post in a different forum got no answers.


----------



## meohman1 (Sep 27, 2007)

I had the same problem with Vista on a new HP m8100n machine w/Vista Home Premium. Randomly corrupt pictures from the Nikon D80 when transferring to the Vista machine - not all were corrupt - usually 25% - and not always the same pictures were corrupt if I tried to transfer the same pictures again. No problems with same card and camera and pictures on XP machines. I found what was causing my problem - see bottom of this thread.

I ran a very long thread at Nikonians about this here: http://www.nikonians.org/dcforum/DCForumID11/16045.html

See that thread for all the things I tried.

I finally found my problem - the HP m8100n came with a remote control for Windows Media Center. It also came with an infrared remote receiver that I had plugged into the USB hub for the remote control.

When I unplugged the infrared receiver from the USB hub, the corrupt pictures went away. I live in Louisiana, and recently went to New Jersey and New York for a week, and I shot almost 1100 pictures on 3 cards while I was gone. When I got home last Friday, I unplugged the infrared remote receiver and transferred all the pictures without a single corrupt picture. I used the camera as a card reader plugged into the USB, also the card reader on the PC and the card reader on the HP printer, and had no problems.

So if you still have the problem, try looking at the USB devices on your machine - something might be causing the intermittent conflict.

Hope this helps...

Mike


----------



## Adthevenet (Sep 30, 2007)

It Actually works!!!! I guess that is why so little people talk about this issue on the net because we don t all have this problem, thnks so muc, I had tried evrything except unplugging the remote device!


----------



## meohman1 (Sep 27, 2007)

I wonder how many others are affected by this. A lot of the new machines come packaged with a remote for Windows Media Center. I'm glad you solved your problem. I know I was pulling my hair out trying to solve the problem.

Mike


----------



## buddha34 (Oct 4, 2007)

I purchased an HP a6230n this weekend. I had copied my documents including all photos from my Sony DSC-H7 camera onto an external hard drive, then yesterday transferred them to my Vista machine (my old PC was XP). Upon opening a folder with the jpgs in windows explorer, the thumbnails and images are initially fine. After it sits there for a minute the thumbnails start becoming corrupt, one at a time, until about 20% of them are corrupt (color off, some parts of images moved over a few pixels.

If I return to the folder after that initial time, the same images that were corrupt before are still corrupt, and it stays that way (the ones that were fine stay fine).

If I open a folder with irfanview, the same thing happens.

I don't have an IR/remote device...

I have tried re-copying the images from my XP computer with the same results.

Did anyone above have this problem? Any thoughts? I have not come across much on google!

Thanks in advance.


----------



## mrss (Jun 13, 2007)

Buddha34 
- are both the images and thumbnails corrupt?
- and did you mean that transfering folders from the external drive back to the XP PC also does the same thing.


----------



## meohman1 (Sep 27, 2007)

Buddha34, 

I'm willing to bet one of your USB devices is causing the problem. Could be a USB mouse or mouse/keyboard or wireless mouse or mouse/keyboard, or a webcam. I would try unplugging each USB device and trying the transfer until the corruption goes away. The device that was unplugged when the corruption goes away is the device that is causing the conflict. That's how I found that my IR remote was the culprit in my case. 

My problem was the same as yours, random corruption of JPEGs with the same results you described in about 20 - 25% of my transferred JPEGs.

Mike


----------



## buddha34 (Oct 4, 2007)

meohman- good thought, however, I just unplugged everything (finally everything at the same time, just in case), rebooted, and still get the same problem, to my utter disappointment.

mrss- Yes, both the images and the thumbnails are corrupt. What I meant was, I tried copying them a second time from my old XP computer to my Vista computer, with the same result.

If it means anything, my older photos from a cheap 2 megapixel digital camera do NOT become corrupted.

I'm waiting for a reply from HP customer support "Research dept" but I am not holding my breath.

If you guys have any other thoughts I'm all ears - thanks-


----------



## mrss (Jun 13, 2007)

To further isolate it to USB, you could burn a folder of pix to CD on the XP PC and see if the Vista PC can copy that to a drive.

Knock wood or tap on silicon, my HP Vista laptop doesn't have this problem and I have tried it with a USB TV remote comtroller.


----------



## buddha34 (Oct 4, 2007)

Well, after much go-around and experimentation, I never found the solution:

HP recommended uninstalling Adobe Photoshop, which I did without help.

I then tried uninstalling one piece of software after another, without help.

I finally did a total system recovery, and the problem is no longer there.

I am carefully reinstalling software, drivers, etc one at a time... will post again if it recurs.


----------



## ogreen (Oct 18, 2007)

I had the same problem with Vista on a new HP m8100n machine w/Vista Home Premium. Randomly corrupt pictures from the Canon 20D when transferring to the Vista machine - not all were corrupt - usually 25% - and not always the same pictures were corrupt if I tried to transfer the same pictures again. No problems with same card and camera and pictures on XP machines. I found what was causing my problem read:

I finally found my problem - the HP m8100n came with a remote control for Windows Media Center. It also came with an infrared remote receiver that I had plugged into the USB hub for the remote control.

When I unplugged the infrared receiver from the USB hub, the corrupt pictures went away. 

So if you still have the problem, try looking at the USB devices on your machine - something might be causing the intermittent conflict.

Hope this helps...

ogreen


----------



## Bravochimp (Oct 21, 2007)

Found this after stumbling across the solution some time ago. Until then, about a 1/4 of all the photos would end up rearranged like a badly pieced together jigsaw puzzle. Copying the photos to the destination folder again would result in a new set of corrupted files.....the ones that were bad were now good & vice versa.

Now, I simply unplug / plug back in a USB device before transferring pics from my cam's CF card. 

Sounding like an HP specific problem???


----------



## williamrobinsonb (Oct 21, 2007)

it is totaly vista
graphics artists found this out early and have ben yelling foul ever sense
microsoft is even allowing companies to install xp in exchange because microsoft was in dander of being sued by the publishing industry
all jpgs transferd in vista are modified


----------



## JRUS (Nov 4, 2007)

Hi, Just a note to let you know that I am having the same problem with a Nikon D80 and an HP 8100n. I've tried everything from disconnecting everything from the USB ports to calling HP,Nikon,Adobe and Microsoft and nobody can fix it. One company blames the other. When I use a machine with XP the files come out fine.


----------



## jphphotography67 (Dec 16, 2007)

I've got the same problem and the more I look online the more I think it is HP Specific, I've got an a6200n. 

I'm a photographer and this is just completely unacceptable, as I'm editing my last photoshoot I'm finding that pictures that were previously fine are now screwed up. I've recopied the damaged ones and then other ones become corrupt, this is really freaking me out as I have 6 years of photography work on external drives and now I'm starting to worry that vista/hp could be corrupting my work. 

If anyone finds out more about this please post the soloution and if anyone else has this problem please state if you're on an HP machine.


----------



## Noyb (May 25, 2005)

HP machine, originally XP MCE, with M$ Vista Home Premium upgrade.
Can't duplicate the problem in Vista ???



williamrobinsonb said:


> it is totaly vista .... all jpgs transferd in vista are modified


Got any links ???


----------



## jphphotography67 (Dec 16, 2007)

I guess I should add that I'm running Vista Home Premium on my HP a6200n. I talked to HP tech support last night and they had me reinstall my usb drivers (the whole nvidia driver package actually). I'm not sure if that will make a difference but we'll see. 

I tried something before I reinstalled the drivers though that seemed to work, I unplugged my usb hub and tried re-transferring the original images from my memory card using the built in card reader and so far 0 are corrupt so it seems the onboard usb just doesn't play nice when certain devices are attached. I'll post more when I have more info.


----------



## JRUS (Nov 4, 2007)

Hi Mike, I tried to do what you said with my computer and the USB thing and it still doesn't work.


----------



## JRUS (Nov 4, 2007)

Hi, I have the same problem and even went back to Best Buy and replaced the computer with a new one and it does the same thing. HP 8100n. Thank God I have another computer with XP on it. That computer works fine.


----------



## mrmusic1964 (Jan 30, 2008)

I too am having corupt pic issues when transfering from SD memory card to my external hard drive thru vista. Not sure yet what usb device might be causing a conflit. Has Microsoft agreed there was a vista problem or HP???


----------



## ktara (Feb 22, 2008)

I don't know if any one is still having this problem but Mike's solution helped me and i wanted to share my solution. Its not just USB devices that can cause an interference, I think its actually infrared devices that cause it. My new HP a6200n came with an infrared mouse that that I had been using and I was having the exact same problem. I'd copy files from my external drive, or thumb drive and every couple jpgs would corrupt, as well as psd files, bmps, even some objs corrupted. I would have to copy some files over and over till they copied correctly, but those same files would copy just fine to an XP machine. Then I read Mike's post, and realized my mouse was infrared, though its not a USB mouse. Once I unplugged it my files copy from my external drive to my Vista perfectly. Thanks.


----------



## mrmusic1964 (Jan 30, 2008)

I too have an inferred mouse,,, i will have to try unpluging it.... thanks


----------



## craignorris (Feb 26, 2008)

This problem also occurs with Win XP Pro. I've been having this trouble for two years already, and as many of you pointed out in this forum, there is very little info on the web, so it seems like it's limited to just a few machines, relatively speaking, otherwise the whole world would be up in arms about it.

I'm a photographer, and for me, it's a major disaster in the making. Originally, it started a couple of years ago as a random corruption after copying, as described by others here. But since then it has grown into a "JPEGs rotting away on the hard disk" problem.

I wrote up the whole story on a web page with sample pictures, hoping to attract someone with a solution.

See: http://alkiratech.tripod.com/jpegcorruption

I'm using XP pro. I haven't tried Vista yet, but after reading this forum, I don't want to try Vista until this issue is publicly resolved.

I don't have an HP PC. I assembled my own computer - based on an Asus motherboard. I don't use any USB infrared devices.

I hope we can all find a solution to this very soon. It's a mighty serious problem.


----------



## sggray98 (Mar 19, 2008)

I have an HP 6230N running Vista home premium. While transferring pictures from the onboard sd card reader to the internal hard drive everything seems to work well. When viewing the files in various programs, they randomly become corrupt. Also moving the files between folders causes random corruption with some of the pictures. Most of the problems identified in this thread are also experienced by me. Once corrupt, the picture is no longer any good. When I use my other computer running XP (also an HP), I'm not had any problems what so ever. I've tried different programs to move the files and view the files but that doesn't seem to be the answer. With so many people having the same problem, you'd think there would be an answer out there.


----------



## Noyb (May 25, 2005)

Maybe .... (But not holding my breath) ...
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/microsoft/2004291342_servicepack19.html


----------



## BeachTech (May 29, 2008)

Thank you for all of the posts. It is important that others know that this problem exists.

I also have an HP 8100n Media Center PC (bought in january) running Visat Home Premium. I found out early on that about 25% of all JPEGs copied across a USB drive to the C: drive or another USB drive get corrupted. This is also true when copying from the built-in card reader to the C: drive (because it uses the USB channel). 

The problem goes away when the HP infrared remote sensor is unplugged from the USB port. This provides a reliable fix, but it is hard to call the machine a "Media Center" if it can't use a remote and/or can't transfer files without having to plug and unplug devices.

I tried upgrading to Vista Service Pack 1 and there is no change in the problem. 

It sounds like this is definately a problem with all 8100n HP machines. I am surprised that it doesn't come up with other machines in this post (the EXACT problem with the IR remote).

I have contacted HP support and they do not yet have an answer (except to blame microsoft).

Stay tuned...


----------



## thomamueller (Jun 7, 2008)

I have a HP 6230n running Vista and have the same problem with Nikon raw (aka NEF). No matter what technique is used to copy, going thru USB creates corruptive photos. I have to copy over the network which is very slow. I have convince HP that they have a problem, but no ETA on a fix,


----------



## thomamueller (Jun 7, 2008)

I updated the BIOS and after to two uploads I don't have any corrupt pixs.


----------



## wilson44512 (Mar 25, 2006)

. are these PC with the trouble come with Vista or is it been upgraded from Xp? i have read that a lot of people has or had problems when they upgraded there Xp to vista. on the same pc

has any one of you that are having this problem. try to use another program other then windows to view these pictures? some thing like FastStone Image Viewer. or IrfanView

http://www.faststone.org/FSViewerDetail.htm

http://www.irfanview.com/

i have had my pc that came with vista for almost a year now and had any problems with my pictures. and i use a usb cable for all 4 cameras i have


----------



## thomamueller (Jun 7, 2008)

In my case Vista came with it. In my opinion it is related to HP. I have a Sony Laptop with Vista and had no problems. But as I wrote before, updating the BIOS fixed the problem. I am on my fourth upload now without problems.


----------



## tahmail (Jul 10, 2008)

This issue is not restricted to HP computers. I just purchased a Toshiba laptop and it has the Vista OS and is doing the exact same thing. I downloaded the most recent BIOS files and it did not make a difference. If anyone knows what the solution is, please post it. I have no problems witth my other computer that runs on XP. Also, the new laptop will not recognize my camera (Nikon D80) when it is connected to a USB port. Anyone know the solution to that? It should recognize it as a separate drive.


----------



## Webweweave (Jul 28, 2008)

I have a Gateway with Vista Home Premium SP1. I first noticed a USB problem when copying or saving files that were on USB thumb drives. These files were NOT jpeg. They were Excel, Quattro (don't laugh), Lotus (ok, really, DON"T LAUGH). LOL. Sometimes the problem occurred when saving from the original software for that file type. I stopped saving to/from USB thumbs but I miss how handy they were.

I never had the problem with JPEG images as I always uploaded my pics from the Kodak camera and dock only to the C:. Then I began using SD flash cards directly and realized I had problems with those file types as well, i.e., JPEG images have been corrupted (partial picture, jagged image, "not a valid file type", all kinds of things. I first realized the SD card issue when copying images from C: to the SD card.

I'm inclined to blame it on Vista and some issue with file-handling and the suggestion that the problem may be related to the IR Media Center and/or the USB hub connection seems likely. I haven't tested it out but thanks Mike and others for the notion.

I look forward to seeing other postings.


----------

