heartwrenching old house story

bungalowbees

19 years ago

I need moral support. Here are all the details I can bear to tell:

1.

1914 kitchen, nearly original.

new stove, linoleum floor, tile counter circa 1940/41

2.

Carefully photographed every nook and cranny for posterity, including original cooler cabinet.

3.

Gutted kitchen, salvaging wood to strip and reconstruct.

4.

Daughter erased all photos of original kitchen.

(pause)

I am already aware Step 4 should not have occurred, and that archiving activities should have taken place before Step 4. DD came to me immediately to report she had taken Step 4, camera still in hand. I am grateful to have said daughter, who remains in remarkably good health...

If you have similar sagas to share, words of wisdom, condolences, or photos of my kitchen I don't know about, please post here.

I cannot believe this happened, or that I am sharing such a frightening yet foolish story. I used to pull up behind the same bumper sticker every day at my daughter's school: "Oh no! Not another learning experience!"

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Comments (20)

rindalin
19 years ago
I lost all before/after pics when my computer crashed. Thankfully, the remodel was finished when it happened, so the only damage is no pics left to document what was done.

Were the pictures downloaded yet? If they were on the computer there may still be backup copies on the computer. I have deleted pics before and later discovered that there were 3 more copies hidden away on my computer. I don't remember how/where I found them, but I do remember that they were there.
amyg26
19 years ago
if you delete pictures on my camera and stick the memory stick in the computer, the pictures are still on the stick even though they do not show up on the camera screen. it's a possibility.
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wangshan
19 years ago
Well I always say if it's a modern digital device ,nothing is ever lost, it's in there.....somewhere. Run to your nearest 17 year old geek....he/she might be able to help you!
bungalowbees
Original Author
19 years ago
Thanks for all the tips. My DH is on his way to his office computer as I type, he'll try his luck there. Better computer setup in every way so I await at home. Amy, you inspired him!

Unfortunately the photos had not yet been downloaded to the computer because I've never done it & I didn't want to screw up and lose something... I was waiting for my DH to show me how to download properly so I could start impressing my forum buddies with my technical know-how but we can all see how that's working out...

(DH was out of the country when the photos were taken. Hence the delay.)

I hope someone lurking is learning something from my foolishness!!!
joyce_6333
19 years ago
I lost most of my "before" pictures due to a JAZZ drive that became unaccessible. Live and learn. Digital photography is great, but will they still be available in 100 years like all the original pictures of our house when it was built in 1916? Makes me wonder if I should start creating some albums.
housekeeping
19 years ago
Right now, before you think too much about it, make some sketches. Don't try to second guess or worry about the quality of the drawings, just keep that pencil going. Try again a few more times in the very near future, while it's still in your recent memory. Then go out and look at the saved pieces and see what they tell you and make more notes and sketches. Don't skimp on writing every little detail down. Even little fragments that don't seem connected. You'll be surprised what you can put together. After you're done, get the various family members to look over your sketches: that will trigger more info in their memory banks. Don't argue if it's not quite the same, just collect data.

I hope your husband can resurrect the pix, but if not, you'll still be able to recreate a lot more than you think. Good luck!
mwkbear
19 years ago
It might be possible to restore the pictures, especially if you have not taken any pictures with that camera since your daughter deleted the old pics.

With a computer hard drive, deleting something just makes that space on the hard drive available to be used again. It isn't until something is saved in that space, that the file is really "gone". I am not 100% sure that digital cameras work the same way, but I'd bet that they do.
bungalowbees
Original Author
19 years ago
Still no luck finding pictures on the now-barren camera. And no one has taken new photos so I still have hope. I like hearing that the pictures might still be on the camera -- when do I give up hope? I called the "best" camera shop in town yesterday & was told it's hopeless. Since it's a holiday weekend I think it will help to wait a few days and ask again -- maybe the most experienced people don't work holiday weekends!

Maybe I should start sketching. Housekeeping, I think writing down what I remember is a good idea. For example, no one knew what that cooler cabinet was but me, even when they were looking at it, wondering. Also, all that stuff I photograghed during "demolition" needs to be written up -- for example, the layers of floor and counter, the places in the flooring indicating cupboards built at different times, the plumbing changes. I do have a bit of the original floor - which matched the original floor I found during the bathroom remodel. Clearly I have enough material to start.

My cabinetmaker has drawings and measurements. Also the imprint is still on the plaster walls -- the original cabinets were built in place.

I think I will take measurements and notes tomorrow morning at dawn with coffee. Everything seems possible in the morning.

Do other people care about this stuff or is it just me?
mwkbear
19 years ago
You won't be able to recover the deleted pics yourself. As far as the camera is concerned, they are gone.

You would need to talk to a few digital camera experts to see if it's possible to recover images on the camera's hard drive. I'd call around not only to camera stores, but also places like comp-usa, who know computers as well as cameras.

One other option is to contact the camera's manufacturer and speak with someone there in customer service.
joed
19 years ago
Here are some links to software that claims to be able to recover deleted picture from digital cameras. I found them with a google of "digital camera deleted picture recovery".

http://www.iolo.com/sr/2/tool.cfm?tool=93

http://www.recover-my-photos.com/

http://www.photosrecovery.com/digital_photo_recovery.htm
bungalowbees
Original Author
19 years ago
Thank you, so much!

mwkbear, I will call some computer places as well.

joed, I've already forwarded the links to my DH, the technical one in the family.

I won't give up hope yet.

Another thought is to figure out if anyone else has a photo of my kitchen, maybe a stranger... About 10 years ago my house was on a local historical society (preservation) tour and about 1,500 people paid for the privilege of touring our charming home in booties. (Okay, there were other more extravagantly charming homes as well!) I wonder if anyone happened to have snapped a photo of my kitchen. Several visitors commented they wanted to see my kitchen after "renovation." (Yeah, so would my mom!!!) Makes me wonder.

Also, that week I was so impressed with how clean our house was (with a houseful of cats, a dog, & a 3 year old underfoot!) that I photographed for insurance purposes. Could have been video or still, I'll have to look. I know I was more interested in woodwork but at this point I'd be grateful to find anything.

Of course, I really want the shots I took a week ago. They were completely attentive to kitchen details, with an eye to the project at hand.
sunrochy
19 years ago
I would be heartbroken in the same situation! Hope something comes up. Keep us updated!
ashleysf
19 years ago
You can try calling Best Buy's "Geek Squad" or some such place who have the ability to do a "Hard disk recovery" and ask them if they can recover pics from a digital camera memory. It is easily doable for people who can understand the computer file systems and please don't use that memory on that camera for taking new pictures until you recover the old pictures. Good luck.

Here is a link that might be useful: Geek Squad
User
19 years ago
At Home -
What kind of computer do you have - what operating system.

If the computer thinks it's a hard drive, you might be able to get the DOS command "undelete" to work.

"Drive Rescue" might work. It's a single-purpose freeware tool that I have used in the past.

Here is a link that might be useful: Drive Rescue
ksmeltzer
19 years ago
somebody might have mentioned this already, but whatever you do... DO NOT TAKE ANYMORE PICTURES WITH THAT SAME MEMORY CARD...

taking more pictures will surely start to overwrite whatever data somebody or some software might be able to save from the card.
bungalowbees
Original Author
19 years ago
My husband is now fearful I will use our life savings to recover these photos!!

How expensive are some of these options?

I do want my photos back if possible -- and it seems foolish not to try!

I saw my husband remove the memory card and put it away so I am pretty sure it is safe. I haven't touched it. There is a different memory card in the camera right now. I'm so busy with my kitchen remodel right now the memory card disaster is on the back burner. I'm still stunned this happenened.

In what order should I try these options? How expensive might they be??? I do think I should ask around and see if any of my dear geeky friends can help.
mwkbear
19 years ago
Did you take a look at any of the links from Joed's posting above?

The last one, for photosrecovery.com, it is a $29 Windows software program that says it can recover pictures from a memory card. It even has a free, downloadable demo of the product, so you can see before you buy it, if it will be able to recover any pictures.

I'd say to try that.
bungalowbees
Original Author
19 years ago
Oh yes!

A friend who troubleshoots computer systems explained to me that all depends on whether the "directory" was erased or the actual details of the photos. If only the directory is lost, the software will allow me to reconstruct some of the lost photos, piece by painful piece. I knit, so this seems quite do-able to me. I have more patience than common sense sometimes...

Right now the memory card is safe. My DH & I are enjoying a domestic dispute over the next step. Remember, if I knew how to download a photo to begin with, none of this would have happened!

Will keep you posted.
User
19 years ago
ATHOME -
I can send you a FREE program I have used successfully. It ignores directories and rebuilds the files based on other markers. Just reply to this email.

Or try http://www.officerecovery.com/freeundelete/ first. YOu would plug in the camera and tell the software to undelete whatever is on the camera memory card - just pretend it's a "drive".
bungalowbees
Original Author
19 years ago
lazygardens, I just checked out your garden "site" -- what great fun you have! Love the jackrabbit and the branding equipment passing for seating.

And yes I can use all the help I can get. I am quite frustrated, and quite distracted by the urgency of the kitchen project at hand. I'm hacking away at some of the pop-up costs, which I'm sure you'll appreciate now that I've visited your website! I find I'm often able to find the same item or service for less if I persevere. I'll email you.

I hope this thread is helping someone out there avoid my experience! This would be infinitely better than eventually recovering the photos...

heartwrenching old house story

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