8 GB SD cards were fine yesterday, now computer not reading them

12 years ago

Please help! My 2 newest 8gb SD cards (for my Canon T1i digital camera) that I have been using for the past 2 months were fine yesterday--I uploaded things off them onto Flickr with my USB reader, and used them in my camera....but when I put the cards into my USB reader to transfer them to my hard drive, they suddenly (today) will not read. The computer shows the F drive as being there, but when you double-click the drive, it says "please insert disk into drive F". It also shows the card being there in the "safely remove hardware" icon in the taskbar, and I have tried safely removing it and reinserting it but they will not read now. I also tried one card directly into my husband's laptop (reads cards directly in a card slot) but got the same result.

I believe the cards still work in my camera itself, so why all of a sudden will they not read on the PCs? (I have tried 3 different PCs now). I really hope I have not lost my pics from last night!!!

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Comments (10)

genes
12 years ago
Were you pulling them out before using the "safe to remove" icon/procedure...Little green arrow icon down by the clock when the card is inserted in the computer..If so, that will destroy data storing devices after a time
mike_kaiser_gw
12 years ago
I'd bet the card(s) are corrupt. You can try getting the images back with recovery software like Recuva.
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DA_Mccoy
12 years ago
START>Computer>Right click on the card entry>Properties

Does it show used space? If so, MK is most likely correct. When a card does fail due to not being safely removed it either becomes read-only media or the data is lost and the used space cannot be reclaimed for use.

DA
amy_z6_swpa
Original Author
12 years ago
Hi, I always use the "remove safely" method. I was able to still see the images on the cards while they were in the camera, so I used the camera's transfer cable and EOS Utility to transfer the images off the cards. I guess either my USB reader is malfunctioning or these cards just don't "like" readers anymore. I don't know what happened. The cards still work in the camera though. So for these cards I will just have to use the camera transfer cable...
msm84
12 years ago
If you are using an older USB card reader then you might need to upgrade your card reader. I had the same problem when I first got new high capacity cards for my new camera. The older USB card readers can't read the newer cards. Once I bought a new card reader things were fine!

BTW, I have never attached my camera to my computer to download photos. Not a good idea especially if you are running the camera on battery power!
PKponder TX Z7B
12 years ago
I have a question for msm84. "BTW, I have never attached my camera to my computer to download photos. Not a good idea especially if you are running the camera on battery power! "

Why do you think that? Just curious. I charge my camera with the transfer cable as well as transfer pictures.
owbist
12 years ago
Whether one uses a card reader or the camera to transfer photos to the computer is really a personal choice. I would not waste my time hooking up the camera when the card reader is built into my computer or printer.

Below is an interesting short article on the subject.

Here is a link that might be useful: Camera or card reader?
pfmastin
12 years ago
Just another thought. This has happened with my older computer lately. The USB port on the front doesn't get a good connection anymore. Try a port on the rear if it's a desktop?
pfmastin
12 years ago
Oops, I actually went back and read the entire post :) and see that you tried it in your husband's laptop as well.
amy_z6_swpa
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks everyone. I too would like to know why someone said not to use the camera's transfer ability; my camera came with a utility program & cable specifically for transferring photos. It has worked fine, knock on wood.

As for the cards, I bought the same cards I always buy, but maybe they are making them differently now? not sure. Or maybe my card reader is malfunctioning. not sure. So I'll just keep transferring via EOS Utility for now. (which does not use up the battery that much, BTW--the transfer is fairly fast and the camera shuts itself off after it's done, if I have to let it go awhile/walk away from it)

8 GB SD cards were fine yesterday, now computer not reading them

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genes

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8 GB SD cards were fine yesterday, now computer not reading them

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