"Error: Failed to decompress data!" when accessing SD card on camera

[#1]

Hi all
My sister is travelling around South America and is having big probs with her 2 camera SDHC memory cards.  Basically, when she tries to view the photos on both SDHC cards on her Canon IXUS 80 digital camera the message "Error: Failed to decompress data!" appears and she cannot access her photos.  There are a whole host of reasons why this may be a problem:-
1. Could have picked up a virus from an Internet cafe?
2. Could be humidity/temperature and thus a temporary problem (which I doubt, but I
could be wrong!).?
3. She's ruled out problem with the card reader, because a guy in the
Internet cafe tried with his card reader, and still the same problem
occurred (same error msg - ("Error: Failed to decompress data!").
She is going to be hard pushed to find another memory card to test/use.  I have searched the web on this error but nothing useful is coming up.
Any ideas please?
Thanks
Scott

[#2]

There are viruses that spread themselves via memory cards and USB keys. If she can get to a PC with up to date antivirus it should be able to clear it, if that's what it is. It could be the card has been corrupted somehow and needs reformatting. How is she trying to view the images? If she is trying to read them direct from the card with an image viewer, can she see the files in an explorer window, or try opening them with something else ?

[#3]

Thanks for the prompt reply Denzil.
I'll make your suggestions know to her but I think she's already virus scanned both cards.  She cannot access the photos on the card via her camera, card reader or computer at the moment so cannot access the files in an explorer window.  I get her to try other card readers, computers and to do another virus scan.
Any other suggestions please?
Thanks
Scott

[#4]

I had a corrupt memory card with loads of irreplaceable photos on it. I ran a recovery app on it and got everything back
I don't have access to the app info here but when I get home I'll check.

[#5]

Thanks Strat, I look forward to that.

[#6]

I used this one on one of my mobile phone memory cards with excellent results.
http://www.recuva.com/

[#7]

Thanks, just evaluated it myself, looks the business, will get her to give it a go.

[#8]

I've used PC Inspector Smart Recovery:
http://www.snapfiles.com/get/smartrecovery.html
The price is right!
Regards,
Neil

[#9]

She's virus scanned both cards which found viruses this time and removed them and she can now access her photos.  She has backed them up and will not forget this solution in a hurry!
Thanks all for your help - much appreciated!
Scott

[#10]

You're welcome, Scott.
The perils of using internet cafes, eh?
I'm just wondering who the IT techs are that are supposed to be looking after these public access points.
Heard of 3 people that have picked up viruses from the terminals at the local library.