Summary:Lost your valuable photo collection due to corruption? This is a common issue faced by most people due to reasons like virus or malware infection, bad sectors, improper ejection of storage drive, etc. In this blog post, we will share an easy, DIY solution to repair your corrupt photos using Stellar Data Recovery software. Download a free trial of the tool to get started.
Photo corruption usually occurs due to malware or virus infection, bad sectors, and improper drive ejection. However, a photo file may also get corrupt due to dying storage media, system crash, sudden system shutdown, corrupt file, and file system errors.
Further, there could be a case where the recovered photos may be corrupt. That happens due to file overwriting as you continue using the storage media or the system after file loss.
Thus, when you open a corrupt photo, it displays either an error that the file can’t be opened or part of photo shows as blank or with random colorful lines and broken pixels (see screenshots below).
In this guide, we will show you different ways to repair corrupted photos in Windows 10.
Steps to Repair Corrupt Photos in Windows 10
Step 1: Stop Using the Storage Media
After data loss or file corruption, it’s important to stop using the storage media to avoid further damage. By minimizing the drive or system use, the chances of repairing or recovering corrupt photos increases significantly.
Step 2: Run a CHKDSK Scan
CHKDSK scan helps fix the file system errors and retrieve recoverable information from bad sectors. The scan may fix the corruption but before you run the CHKDSK scan, backup the corrupt photos to a different external drive.
- Connect the storage media containing corrupt photos.
- Press Windows+S and type cmd.
- Right-click on Command Prompt and click ‘Run as administrator’.
Run the SFC Command to Repair System Files. Run the SFC command when troubleshooting a buggy Windows system. SFC works by scanning for and replacing system files that are corrupt, missing, or changed. Even if the SFC command doesn’t repair any files, running it will at least confirm that no system files are corrupted and then you can continue. This tools checks and replace any of the modified file with the correct version. Steps To Repair Corrupted Windows 10 System Files. We will be using “Command prompt” for this. Type Command prompt in the windows search bar. Then right click on it and select “Run as administrator“. Run Command Prompt as Administrator.
- Type chkdsk /r /f X: where X is the connected drive letter.
- Press ‘Enter’ and wait for the scan to finish.
- Then click the up arrow in the taskbar and double-click on the Safely Remove Hardware and Eject media icon in the Windows System Tray.
- Now unplug the storage media and connect it again to access the photos.
Step 3: Use the Error-Checking Tool
- Go to the File Explorer and right-click on the connected media containing the corrupt photos.
- Click ‘Properties’, go to Tools tab and click the ‘Check’ button.
- Click ‘Scan Now’ and wait for the scan to finish.
If the tool finds any problem or error in the drive, it tries to fix it. Once the process completes, reconnect the drive or restart the system to access the photos.
However, in case the photos are still corrupt, you would need to repair them with the help of a software. The process is explained in the next step.
Step 4: Use a File Recovery & Repair Tool [Recommended]
When the corruption isn’t fixed with the error-checking tool and chkdsk scan, use dedicated software such as the Stellar Data Recovery Premium to recover and repair the corrupt photos.
The software can restore corrupt photos from any storage media even if it’s severely corrupt. Follow these steps to repair the corrupted photos in Windows 10:
1. Connect the affected storage media to your Windows 10 PC.
2. Download, install and run Stellar Data Recovery Premium software -completely free to download and try.
3. Click ‘Repair Photo’ under ‘More Tools‘.
4. Click ‘Add File’ icon and then browse location to select the corrupt photo files.
5. Select single or multiple files and click ‘Open’ to add the photo(s) in the software for repair.
6. To add more photos from other locations, click the ‘Add’ button and browse to select the corrupt photos.
7. Once you finish adding up required corrupt photo files, click the ‘Repair’ button.
8. After some time, the software will show the prompt ‘Repair process completed.’ Click ‘OK’.
9. If some photo(s) is not repaired, click ‘Advance Repair’ option.
10. Click ‘Next’ and then click ‘Browse.’
11. Choose sample photos taken using the same camera or device. Make sure to choose a healthy and playable video file with the format same as the corrupt file.
12. If the list contains multiple photos with the same extension that need Advance Repair, click ‘Apply to all files of same format’ checkbox.
13. Then click ‘Repair.’
14. After photos are repaired, you can click ‘Preview’ to see how repaired photo files look.
15. Then click ‘Save Repaired Files.’ A new pop up dialog box appears.
16. Click ‘Browse’ and to save at custom location or simply click ‘Save.’
Further, you can use the software to recover virtually any photo format and get insights of the health and performance parameters of storage media; this helps to avoid data loss and file corruption in future.
Conclusion
File corruption is a common occurrence with digital storage media, as data is prone to corruption due to several reasons discussed in this post. However, with appropriate steps as explained in this guide, you can recover and repair the corrupt photos in Windows 10 from an internal or external storage media.
The file repair tool that we have used can also repair videos, recover hundreds of file formats and protect against data loss due to impending drive corruption or failure. It’s an all-in-one tool for all your data protection needs.
Have you ever experienced with this kind of situation when you used the windows 10 to surfing the internet, playing games, or having an online meeting with someone else, without any precursor, the screen suddenly became a blue background screen(blue-screen) with the words like that 'Your PC ran into a problem and needs to restart...'
The blue-screen usually caused by applications' failed running or Windows system file corrupt. We know that it may make you unhappy especially when you are doing some important operations, and now we offer two ways for you, hoping that will help you.
Tips: Attention please, first you should power off your computer by pressing the power switch and restart in safe mode a few minutes later, and how to start the safe mode? Click how to boot Windows 10 in a safe mode.
Fix Corrupt Files Windows 10 Update
Way 1: Run the SFC Command to Check the Corrupted System Files
Step 1: Open Command Prompt(Admin).
After your system is in safe mode, Click the start menu or press Win + X key at same time, then click the option like 'Command Prompt(Admin)'.
Step 2: Type this command into the command prompt.
Tips: Theoretically, if the verification process is completed and there is information tells you that everything in your system is fine, maybe the previous blue screen caused by some wrong running of software but no system file was corrupted, you should just restart your computer. When the system tells you that some systems files are corrupted, you should use the way 2.
Way 2: Run the DISM Command to Repair the Corrupted System Files
Step 1: Open the same command prompt as method 1 and it's step 1.
Step 2: Type the command into prompt.
Tips: When this process is completed, the corrupted system files are repaired, just restart your computer.
How To Find Corrupt Files
Related Articles: