After sending the card to an outfit that specializes in getting data from corrupted drives, he learned that the cost for this service was a mere $700. He e-mailed to ask if there was a less expensive way to get the photos off the card.

A few days later, FedEx arrived with his corrupt card. Sure enough, when I put it in the slot in my iMac I was informed that the drive was bad and my only option was to format or eject the drive.

Not so fast. I remembered that I’d recently received the latest version of Data Rescue II, from ProSoft Engineering. DRII promises to rescue data from dead drives. I figured, “What the heck.”

After installing the software, I slipped Gary’s card into my card slot. Next, I instructed DRII to scan the card. Sure enough, hundreds of jpeg file names appeared in a list. I selected “Recover Files” and, sure enough, those jpeg files were copied to a folder I had created on my desktop. A few minutes later I was burning the photos to a CD and filling out a FedEx form. Gary was pleased.

For more information concerning Data Rescue II and other ProSoft products, visit prosofteng.com.