I own an olympus FE-170, and was transferring 3 pictures from it to my
computer via a USB cable. I had done this many times before, with no
problems. But this time I had a cyclic error (I looked it up on the internet
and know what it is). My files are still there, as a check showed there was
198 MB of files on the camera. But browsing the camera using the computer,
there is only a file called "100OLYMP" (no extension, 16KB) which is the name
of the folder my pictures are stored in on the memory stick.When I open this
with Notepad, it has 16 rows of a Y with 2 dots above it. There is also a
folder called "101OLYMP", and when I try to access this folder, it says, "The
disk in drive E is not formatted. Would you like to format it now?". There
are no other files, even when I turn on hidden files and folders. When I turn
on my camera, it says the memory stick needs formatting. Can some one help
me? I have some really important pictures on there that I don't want to lose.

"mushroom12" <mushroom12@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:F0C6FCA8-4D52-4BE3-B4FD-17C23C803431@microsoft.com...
> I own an olympus FE-170, and was transferring 3 pictures from it to my
> computer via a USB cable. I had done this many times before, with no
> problems. But this time I had a cyclic error (I looked it up on the
internet
> and know what it is). My files are still there, as a check showed there
was
> 198 MB of files on the camera. But browsing the camera using the computer,
> there is only a file called "100OLYMP" (no extension, 16KB) which is the
name
> of the folder my pictures are stored in on the memory stick.When I open
this
> with Notepad, it has 16 rows of a Y with 2 dots above it. There is also a
> folder called "101OLYMP", and when I try to access this folder, it says,
"The
> disk in drive E is not formatted. Would you like to format it now?". There
> are no other files, even when I turn on hidden files and folders. When I
turn
> on my camera, it says the memory stick needs formatting. Can some one help
> me? I have some really important pictures on there that I don't want to
lose.

You write "My files are still there, as a check showed there
was 198 MB of files on the camera." This only means that
the disk directory can be read and that the file allocation
table is intact. It says nothing about the contents of the files
themselves.

Since you know what a CRC is you must be aware that
a CRC error is always reported when the data stream
received from the storage medium is corrupt. I suspect that
your flash disk has marginal or bad memory chips. You
could try the disk on a different PC. If this does not work
and if you're prepared to spend the money then you can
hand the disk to a data recovery service.