Nef files "unsupported format" in Elements 12, old files OK

Question

Hi,
     I've just loaded Elements 12 (upgraded from Elements 8 which I have uninstalled and no longer can find the disc). All of the Nef files I try and open are showing as "unsuported format", however older Nef files that I opened through Elements 8 open fine. I have not changed any other software or settings on my Camera since Jan, so I'm at a loss to understand why these files will not open.
They do open in Windows picture viewer, so the files are OK, and Elements does open the Jpg version of the Nef file, but obviously this is not what I want to do !
Ian

Answer 1

Hi,           Ok, I’ve never used the organiser, just the editor. I was going to investigate the organiser in 12 – but have not with the NEF file issues that I have hit. This may or may not have been a mistake.
I have tried your suggestion of opening files directly from the camera – and these are opening in Camera Raw just fine – however photo’s that I have already imported into windows and I try to copy back to the camera will still not open.
So the problem appears to be more related to the imported files than Camera Raw or the file itself. Interestingly “Nikon ViewNX2” will open the RAW files I have imported, but only as JPEG’s of TIFF files – so they are not completely beyond salvage !
My comment about "files opened through Elements 8 open fine". Is that the RAW files I imported before February, and opened in Elements 8, will open fine from my hard drive in elements 12 (open in Camera RAW option), it’s just those I have imported through Vista onto my hard drive since I removed elements 8 at the start of Feb will not open in elements 12. I obviously did not try and open them in * as it had been removed, so I don’t know if a Vista update is the issue, and so I would have had the same problem in elements 12, or not.
In hindsight, removing elements 8 may have been a mistake, but I’ve got an old desktop with limited hard drive space, so tend to uninstall software if i’m not using it. !
Do you think it’s worthy trying to import pictures with Elements organiser and see how that works ?
I’m off on Holiday to Cornwall and I’m hoping to come back with a load of good pictures to edit – and i don’t want to screw something up with these pictures ! Or should I just import from the Camera through Camera Raw and then save them ?
Thanks, for all of your help so far – I do at the very least now have a way of accessing my Holiday pictures, which is a huge relief.
Ian