Piece of fuzz in pics + corrupted images

[jeepsr4girlz]

I am really frusatrated now.  I am still experiencing problems with my new Canon Rebel XTI.  I have Adobe Elements as well as Windows and AOL to upload photos, in all programs, I am getting corrupted images.  But the thing is, they are random.  I can download the same pics into another program and some are fine and others are corrupted, they are not always the same photos.  I had not been having any problems, this just started hapening about a month ago.  I even bought a NEW MEMORY CARD, and a different brand just to be sure, still, same problem.  I had even tried re-formatting my old card. (While on this subject, does your memory card need to be re-formatted before first use?  Do you re-format after each upload?  When exactly do you format your card?)
Next problem, I am seeing a piece of fuzz in same spot n my pics, obviously a piece of fuzz has made it's way in some how, I guess I just have to take it in to be cleaned?  How do I keep this from happening in the future?
Thank you all in advance.

[AndyF2]

I use an XTi also, with Elements and LightRoom.  For better or worse I work in a group that investigates problems all the time so here's my approach to this!  It's basically, where does the problem happen?  
After you import the images and before working on them in Elements, have a look at all of them with something like ACDSee or Explorer.  Are any of them corrupted.  Try and see which stage of your work the problem happens in - getting them from the CF card to the PC, or sometime after you've edited them.  Then we know what to suspect, or what is not involved.
If they're corrupted before you've even worked on them, the candidates are the CF card, the USB reader, and Microsoft
I use Sandisk Extreme II and Extreme III 2G cards, and a Sandisk reader.  The importer is the one that came with Lightroom, and the one that came with Elements seemed to be OK as well, though I didn't use it that long and it ignores the raw files.
After I know the files are on the PC intact, and copied to a second drive, I reformat the CF card in the camera.
Another less likely possibility is, what else is the PC doing while you're reading the CF card?  Is it busy with other multimedia programs?  This might, unless shown otherwise, cause it to misread or lose data while reading the CF card over USB ("unreliable serial bus").
Andy

[larsrc]

...
Next problem, I am seeing a piece of fuzz in same spot n my pics, obviously a piece of fuzz has made it's way in some how, I guess I just have to take it in to be cleaned?  How do I keep this from happening in the future?
Thank you all in advance.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=127331\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

This is almost guaranteed to be dust on your sensor.  All SLRs suffer from this because they are opened regularly to change lenses.  Most people clean this off themselves, there's even instructions in the manual for how to do it.  It's an open debate whether to use brushes or blowers and how much you get for the more expensive versions -- I personally use a blower from an ear cleaning kit:)  Just be careful and follow the instruction, it's delicate machinery in there.  Liquids are definitely out!  Search for dslr sensor cleaning and you'll much information right away.

-Lars

[jeepsr4girlz]

Thank you so much for your replies.  Dust is gone!  As far as the corrupted images go, here is what I have so far, I purchased a Canon Power Shot A550 to have as a easier to handle camera for vacation which I used while in TN this week.  I tool both cameras to compare.  I really see no differenc in quality for the money difference. (  Anyway, I have to computers, On new computer is when I have corrupted images, on old computer all pictures turn out fine.  So, does that mean I need to re-install program?

This is almost guaranteed to be dust on your sensor.  All SLRs suffer from this because they are opened regularly to change lenses.  Most people clean this off themselves, there's even instructions in the manual for how to do it.  It's an open debate whether to use brushes or blowers and how much you get for the more expensive versions -- I personally use a blower from an ear cleaning kit:)  Just be careful and follow the instruction, it's delicate machinery in there.  Liquids are definitely out!  Search for dslr sensor cleaning and you'll much information right away.

-Lars
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[larsrc]

Thank you so much for your replies.  Dust is gone!  As far as the corrupted images go, here is what I have so far, I purchased a Canon Power Shot A550 to have as a easier to handle camera for vacation which I used while in TN this week.  I tool both cameras to compare.  I really see no differenc in quality for the money difference. (  Anyway, I have to computers, On new computer is when I have corrupted images, on old computer all pictures turn out fine.  So, does that mean I need to re-install program?
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=129297\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Hard to say.  Have you tried copying the images from the old computer to the new one?  If they're still corrupted then, re-installing might help, but my guess is a hardware problem with whatever you use to transfer the pictures onto the new computer.

As for quality:  If you're using the kit lens and shooting JPGs, I'm not surprised that there's not quality increase.  You should shoot RAW to get the most, and use a quality lens.  The 50mm f/1.8 is a good start for image quality, though not for build quality.

-Lars