"If Found" Disk Label

We have so much portable data these days on usb drives, satnavs, cameras and mp3 players it's a nightmare and losing a device can mean losing irreplaceable photos and data files. Certainly where possible data should be encrypted and backedup locally or to online services such as Dropbox and Picasa but it isn't always possible or practical - such as on the holiday camera.

One simple approach that can at least identify you to anyone who finds a devices is "If Found" file.

At the very least create a simple text file with contact details and recovery information and save as "If Found.txt". It might help to suggest that you will cover all recovery costs and are interested more in the data card than recovery of the device.

However, to get more attention and especially instantly accessible from camera cards create an image:

• Create a word processing file with the same contact information, perhaps even a photograph (might identify you in a crowded venue and helps humanise the situation), and formatted to a nice box shape inside a table, and export to PDF. The more the document looks like an ID card the more instantly identifiable as something interesting it will be.
• Open the PDF in the Gimp, make sure the DPI on the import is good enough to produce a legible image, and use the autocrop tool to create the small box image.
• Save as a JPEG "If Found.jpg" on the root directory of the media card or device.
• Include both JPEG and TXT files on all MP3 players, camera data cards, satnavs, and USB disks, etc. On a Garmin savnav you can set an image as the splash screen. This is displayed before the password request. Placing the image in the root of internal memory ensures it is also the first image in the picture viewer tool. On a regular digital camera place the image on the root of the disk to keep a position of image number 1. Place a copy on the internal memory too if available (for my Kodak this meant actually photographing the image from the screen to the internal memory).