Q1.
Which memory card formats are supported by Photo Safe?
Photo Safe directly reads from and writes to: CompactFlas, MicroDrive,
MultiMedia Card, SD Card, SDHC cards, Memory Stick, MS PRO, and
xD-Picture Card. It reads miniSD, RS-MMC, MS Duo, and MS PRO Duo
with an adapter.
Q2. How many
photos can I store on Photo Safe?
• 40GB (actual storage space 37.3GB): ~ 15,500 photos
• 80GB (actual storage space 74.5GB): ~ 31,000 photos
• 120G (actual storage space 111.8GB): ~ 46,500 photos
* Photo capacity based on 5-mega-pixel photos (approximately 2.4
MB each);
Music capacity based on 4 minute songs at 128 kbps MP3
encoding;
Video capacity based on 2 hour videos at 500 kbps encoding.
Q3. Can
I transfer photos from the camera to Photo Safe via USB
2.0 port?
No you will not be able to transfer files from the camera to Photo
Safe via USB. You may, however, insert the digital camera memory
card directly into Photo Safe to transfer the files.
Q4. Can I download
RAW images into Photo Safe?
Photo Safe can copy and store any type of file formats. The files
will be copied in their original file names with any alternations.
You can retrieve the original files you copied onto Photo Safe
by connected it to a computer. However, please note that you cannot
view pictures on its screen. Photo Safe has a text-based LCD screen
where you can view file information, copy progress, copy confirmation
etc.
If you would like a device with a color LCD screen where you can
view images, see .
Q5. How big
is the LCD screen? Can I view pictures on the screen?
Photo Safe has a 1.9" text-based LCD screen where you can
view copy progress, copy confirmation, memory card type, active
partition, remaining hard drive capacity, battery life, etc.
If you would like a device with a color LCD screen where you can
view images, see .
Q6. What is
the copy speed from a memory card to Photo Safe?
Please note that the actual transfer time depends on various factors
such as type and speed of the memory card and number of files.
It takes approximately 5 minutes to copy a full 1GB regular speed
CF card to Photo Safe; and approximately 3.5 minutes to copy a
full 1GB Ultra II SD card to Photo Safe.
Q7. What type
of copy information is shown after each memory card backup?
During each copy, Photo Safe shows the percentage of the total
copy task completed as it progresses.
When copy is completed, you will see
- Copy confirmation {OK} and {100%}, indicating that data on the
card has been copied
- The total number of files copied
- The folder number created to which the files are copied
You can also see the amount of data on the inserted memory card,
and available hard drive space on Photo Safe.
Q8. How does
Photo Safe keep track of the different backups from memory cards?
Each time you use the copy function on Photo Safe, a new folder
will be created to store your copied files. The created folder
and copied contents will be located within the default FILES folder
on the Photo Safe hard drive. Locate the files you want to access
by looking under the corresponding folder name.
The folder names are made up of 2 pieces of information. The first
two characters are letters that indicate the type of memory card
copied. The next 5 characters are sequential numbers starting
from ‘00001' that that indicate the order of the folder
created for the specific card format copied.
These letter prefixes correspond to the memory card types:
CF = CompactFlash
SD = Secure Digita, MicroDrivel
MC = MultiMedia Card
MS = Memory Stick formats
xD = xD-Picture Card
For example, an folder name 'CF00003' means that this is a backup
from CompactFlash format, and this is the 3rd folder created for
the CF card format.
Q9. If I copy
the same memory card a second time, does it write over my data
on the hard drive?
No, when you copy the same memory card a second time, a new unique
folder will be created for the second copy. For example, the first
copy will save files in folder name 'CF00001', and the second
copy will save files in folder name 'CF00002' etc.
Q10. Can I
copy a specific folder or file from my memory card to Photo Safe?
No, you can only copy the content of the entire memory card.
Q11. Can
I copy data on my Photo Safe to a memory card directly?
Photo Safe can only copy data from the Memory Card to the Photo
Safe hard drive. You will not be able to copy data from the Photo
Safe directly onto a memory card without a computer. However,
if you have Photo Safe connected to a computer, you can use the
computer to copy and past files from the Photo Safe hard drive
to a memory card.
If this is an important feature for you, please take a look at
the Digital Foci Picture Porter Elite. The complete comparison
chart can be found here:
Q12. Can
I copy data from one memory card to another directly?
You can use Photo Safe to copy card content from a Memory Stick,
SD, MMC or xD-Picture Card onto a CompactFlash card.
Q13. Can I
set the date and time for folder to which the files that are copied?
Photo Safe does not have an internal clock so when the folders
are created, the folders will not show accurate dates and times.
Instead you can use a combination of the folder name sequence
number and the dates and times of your photo and video files copied
from you digital camera within each folder to find a particular
set of files.
Q14. Can I
delete my memory card contents after a copy?
You can use Photo Safe to delete all the data on your memory card.
However, we recommend that you always use the 'format' feature
in your digital camera to delete your card because different cameras
will have their own factory settings for the memory card.
Q15. Can I
delete my copied files directly on Photo Safe?
You cannot delete files on the Photo Safe directly. To manage
the data on your Photo Safe hard drive, you can do this with your
computer with Photo Safe connected by USB. Once connected, your
computer will automatically recognize Photo Safe and show 2 removable
devices (for each of the 2 card slots), and 1 hard drive. To access
the Photo Safe hard drive, double click on the drive labeled ‘HARDDISK.
The files you copied from memory cards to Photo Safe will be located
within the default FILES folder. You can delete files or photos
on the Photo Safe hard drive as you would on other drives on your
computer.
Q16. How long
is the battery life of Photo Safe on a full charge?
A full battery charge is capable of up to 1.5 hours of continuous
operation.
It can copy a 512MB regular speed CF card 18 times on a full charge
(9 GB of data), and a 1GB Ultra II SD card 16 times on a full
charge (16GB of data) with a few days of shelf time in between.
This translates to approximately 60 minutes of battery life with
shelf time in between.
Q17. Is the
battery rechargeable?
Yes, you can recharge the battery either with the included AC
power adapter or via USB power. Please note that charging via
AC power adapter will be faster.
Q18. Is the
battery users-removable?
Yes, you can easily replace the battery by removing the front
battery door of Photo Safe.
Q19. Is it
O.K. to recharge at any level of remaining charge i.e. must it
be depleted before recharge?
With the current Lithium-Ion battery technology (the same that
Photo Safe uses), the result called "memory-effect"
is not a problem. In early rechargeable batteries (the Nickel-Metal-Cadmium),
when you charge the battery at the 1/2 way point, you 'reset'
the total capacity of the battery to the point where you started
to recharge it.
With Photo Safe, it is safe to recharge it at anytime, and you
should avoid depleting the battery completely before recharging.
Please also note that it is beneficial to avoid storing a lithium-ion
battery at full charge. A Li-ion battery stored at 40% charge
will last many times longer than one stored at 100% charge. Storing
the battery in a cool place when not in use will also prolong
its battery life.
Q20. Can Photo
Safe run on AC power instead of battery?
Yes Photo Safe runs on either battery or AC power adapter. So
you can always use the power adapter as a power source for Photo
Safe. The battery will charge as you use it on AC power. We also
have car adapter / battery charger available as an extra accessory
so that you can conveniently charge Photo Safe on the go.
Q21.Will I
be able to use the included AC adapter to charge the Photo Safe
battery while I'm traveling in Europe, where the voltage is not
110V?
The specs on the power adapter is AC 100-240V. So it can be used
in European countries without a converter. You just need to get
a plug adapter to fit the different shape of the wall plug.
Q22. Can Photo Safe
receive power from the USB port?
Yes, Photo Safe runs on USB power when connected to your computer.
You can also charge the Li-Ion battery via USB power by connecting
Photo Safe to your computer.
Q23.My computer
only has USB 1.1 ports available. Can Photo Safe still be connected?
Yes, Photo Safe is backward compatible with USB 1.1. Just note
that the copy speed will be slower with a USB 1.1 port.
Q24. Do I
need to install device driver before I can connect Photo Safe
to my computer?
There is no software driver installation required for Windows
Vista, XP, 2000, and Mac OS 9.0 or higher. Simply connect Photo
Safe to your computer using the USB cable included in the package.
Once connected, Photo Safe will show up as a removable hard drive.
You can use it just like you use the hard drive on your computer.
Q25.Where
are my copied files on the Photo Safe hard drive when connected
to the computer?
For each copy, Photo Safe creates a unique folder name indicating
memory card type and copy sequence number for each card type to
help you easily locate your files. The created folder and copied
contents will be located within the default FILES folder on the
Photo Safe hard drive. Locate the files you want to access by
looking under the corresponding folder name.
Q26. Can I
use Photo Safe as an external hard drive or memory card reader?
Yes, when connected to the computer, you can use Photo Safe as
an external hard drive to back up data on your computer. In additional,
you can use it as a memory card reader to read from you memory
cards or copy data from your computer on the card.
Q27. For Windows
OS - How do I create multiple partitions on my Photo Safe hard
drive?
You may use a partition software such as . Make sure that the partitions are formatted with FAT32
as primary partitions.
You may also use the 'Disk Management' program on Windows XP.
To do to this please follow these instructions:
1. Connect your Photo Safe to your computer.
2. Right click on the My Computer icon and select 'Manage' from
the drop down list box.
3. Select 'Storage ->Disk Management' from the 'Computer Management'
window.
4. Locate the 'Disk #' corresponding to your Photo Safe hard drive.
5. Right-click on the bottom-right hand portion of the screen
that indicates the storage capacity of the Photo Safe hard drive
and select 'Delete Partition'.**
6. Right-click on the same area and select 'New Partition'.
7. Create a 'Primary Partition' with capacity less than 31999
MB.**
8. Use the default drive letter or assign your own.
9. Select 'FAT32' for the File System,
'Default' for the Allocation unit size,
and enter any name you like for the Volume label.
10. Confirm the settings and wait for the formatting to complete.
11. Repeat Step 6 to 10 to create additional partitions.
Note that the formatting will take some time to complete. To ensure
that the formatting is not interrupted, it is best to connect
your Photo Safe to AC power when doing this.
**CAUTION: Since Windows XP cannot format a partition
to be larger than 32GB (32000 MB), if you delete the original
partition, you will not be able to restore your Photo Safe to
be 1 large partition of over 32GB without special formatting software.
Please consider this condition before deleting the original partition.
Q28. For Mac
OS X - How do I create multiple partitions on my Photo Safe hard
drive?
1. Connect Photo Safe to your Mac with the USB cable. Please make
sure you have AC power plugged in.
2. On Mac, select Finder > Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility.
Double-click to open the Disk Utility application.
3. In Disk Utility, select the appropriate drive for Photo Safe,
and click on the Partition tab.
4. From the Volume Scheme pop-up menu, choose the number of partitions
you'd like to create.
5. Click each partition and type a name* for it, choose a format**,
and type a size. You can also drag the divider between the partitions
to change their sizes.
*This is the name that will show up under the drive icon on your
desktop.
**For memory card copy function to work, you must format the drive
in MS-DOS File System.
6. Click on the Partition Button in the lower right corner of
the window.
7. The created drives should now appear in the list of disks and
volumes. You will also see the volumes in the sidebar of Finders
window.
Q29. How do
I copy to different partitions on my Photo Safe hard drive?
Press the 'ENTER' button once, and Photo Safe will show you the
first partition and its remaining hard drive space. Then, you
can press the 'POWER/SELECT button to toggle between the partitions
on the hard drive. Once you see the desired partition, you can
insert your memory card into Photo Safe and start the copy task.
Your memory card content will be copied to the specific partition
you selected.
Q30.
What are the differences between Picture Porter
Elite, Photo Safe, and Media Buddy?
In short, Media Buddy and Photo Safe are strictly photo storage
device (no picture viewing) and a low-cost alternative to Picture
Porter Elite. Picture Porter Elite has color LCD screen for viewing
photos and videos, direct printing, and video/audio recording
capabilities on top of storage capability.
To see the Comparison Chart, go to:
The main difference between Photo Safe and Media Buddy include:
• Photo Safe has faster copy speed compared to Media Buddy.
(It takes approximately 5 minutes to copy a full 1 GB CF card
to Photo Safe; and about 20 minutes in the case of Media Buddy).
• Photo Safe's battery is easily replaceable; to remove
the battery of Media Buddy, you need to unscrew the 4 screws on
the back panel.
• Photo Safe shows percentage of completion for entire
copy task; Media Buddy shows percentage completion for each file
during the copy progress.
• Media Buddy has MP3 playback feature; Photo Safe does not.
Q31. In the
case that Photo Safe encounters an erroneous operation and freezes,
is there a way to reset it?
To reset Photo Safe, please remove the battery from the battery
compartment. Photo Safe will reset the operating system. You can
replace the battery and power on Photo Safe and return to normal
operations.
Q32. I am
a Windows user, I deleted the files from Photo Safe but found
that the files are only deleted from the directory, but the storage
space is not returned. How can I free up the hard disk space on
my Photo Safe?
One possible reason for the situation is that the deleted files
still exist in the ‘Recycled’ folder on your Photo
Safe. To check for these ‘hidden files,’ you may do
the following:
1) In My Computer, select the backup folder under Photo Safe
2) Select TOOLS > FOLDER OPTIONS
3) Select View tab
4) Under Files and Folders, go to Hidden Files and Folders
5) Select “Show hidden files and folders”
This way you’ll be able to see the hidden files. You will
see a ‘Recycled’ folder, and you can access this folder
and delete these files from your hard drive.
You can change the settings to delete the files directly without
sending them to the Recycled folder:
1) Right click on the ‘Recycled’ folder under Photo Safe
2) Select Properties
3) Select the Photo Safe hard drive
4) Select the option: ‘Do not move files to the Recycle Bin. Remove
files immediately when deleted’.
Q33. I am
a Mac OSX user, I deleted the files from Photo Safe but found
that the files are only deleted from the directory, but the storage
space is not returned. How can I free up the hard disk space on
my Photo Safe?
In Mac, any files or folders you deleted (drag to the Trash) will remain there until
you empty the Trash. To free the disk space, you need to empty the Trash by following these instructions:
1) Connect Photo Safe to your Mac with the USB cable.
2) On Mac, select Finder > Empty Trash.
This will delete your deleted files in the hidden '.trash' folder
and Photo Safe disk space will be returned.
Q34. I reformatted
my Photo Safe hard drive, and the copy function no long works.
Please note that the Photo Safe hard drive has to be formatted
in FAT32 format (or MS-DOS File System
for Mac) for the card copy function to work. If you do wish to
format the Photo Safe hard drive at any point (note that formatting
delete all data on the hard drive), make sure it is formatted
in FAT32 format. When formatted in NTFS file system, the Photo
Safe hard drive can still work as an external hard drive when
connected to the computer, but the card copy function will not
work.
Here are the instructions on how to use a software called SwissKnife
to re-format the Photo Safe hard drive in FAT32:
1. Download the software at: http://www.compuapps.com/Download/swissknife/swissknife.htm.
2. Connect Photo Safe to your computer. Make sure you plug in the AC power adapter.
3. Run the software.
4. Under Devices, select USB > USB Host Adapter 3.
5. Click on “Device Info” on the left side and the Disk information
will show up. Click on MORE INFO to confirm that Model Number
says “FOCI PSF-250”.
6. Next, click on “Partition and Quick Format”.
7. Highlight the partition and click “DELETE”. This will delete the partition.
8. Next, under Volume Label, change the drive name to something easy to identify (such as PhotoSafe).
9. Leave Partition Type as Primary and File system as FAT32.
10. Click “CREATE” to format the Photo Safe hard drive in FAT32 format.
11. If the newly created Photo Safe hard drive does not show up on your computer. Disconnect it and reconnect it to your computer to verify that it has been formatted correctly.
Mac uses: Please refer to Q28.
Q35. When
I check the available hard drive capacity on Photo Safe by pressing
the [ENTER] button, it doesn't seem to give me an accurate available
capacity.
Please do the following to update the hard drive capacity displayed
on Photo Safe:
1) Press and hold the [ENTER] button for 5 seconds on Photo Safe.
Release the button when you see the 'HD' icon shows up on the
screen.
2) The HDD blue indicator will light up, indicating that Photo
Safe is "re-initiating" itself and recalculating its
available hard drive space.
3) When the process is finished, Photo Safe will display the partition
and its available hard drive capacity on the screen.
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