Have you tried to format the card? I never use a reader for my cards. I just use the USB cord and hook up my camera to the computer to transfer pictures. I'm really of little help here. It's all I can think of to do.

I did format it last night and it still not working right. It's just weird knowing they are on the card and I can only see them while it's in the camera.

I would suggest re-formatting. Reformat in your camera, not on the computer.

Usually you have menu button or a way to get to the menu on your camera. The reformat option will be there.

You will lose ALL data on your card when you do that. Make sure you have your pictures transfered over to internal memory before reformatting.

I reformat in my camera everytime I put the card in my camera. I d/l the pictures to my computer after each event, then reformat the card.

Cards do go bad - even new ones.

Thanks....iowagirl! I reformatted it in my camera and now it seems fine. I'll paly around with it for a few days and hope it doesn't get screwed up again. I'm afraid to trust it with important pictures. I have about 4 other cards for back up but this was my biggest one.

A new memory card to be used in a camera should always be formatted in the camera before its first use.

However, unlike IowaGirl's standard practice, you shouldn't reformat it every time you reinsert the card into the same camera. You will only shorten its life that way. A card, generally speaking, can only be reformatted a certain number of times. The better quality card can be reformatted more times than a lesser quality card, but, nonetheless, it will reach the end of its "formattable life" sooner or later -- sooner if you reformat a lot. And there's really no reason to reformat it unless it's acting up.

Many memory cards intended for use in cameras come with free image recovery software. When you delete a picture (or a data file), it is still recoverable as long as it hasn't become corrupted. When you delete something, it's not really removed from the card/disk/hard drive. All that happens is that a command is given that the area of the media that was used to store that image/file is now available to be used for something else to be saved.

And there is more sophisticated software available that can recover images/data files even after something new has been saved over it -- that's what happens, for example, when forensic teams work with hard drives when crimes are committed.

I did use a image recovery tool on it and recovered about 1000 pictures but again could only view them in the camera, so I deleted them. I didn't format this card when I first got it..never thought about it. Now that it is formatted I hope it doesn't fail me again. I am so happy that it didn't screw up my son's wedding pictures! I had about 70 pictures at the birthday party that I didn't want to lose. I transferred about 10 at a time from the malfuctioning card to the internal memory, then to a good card and then into the computer. I did that until I had saved them all! Time consuming but it worked, I saved them all. Some of the videos I took we're too large and wouldn't transfer to the internal memory so I lost a few of them. It could have been worse! I really never format a card until I have to....just don't think about it really.

When you transfer images from a camera memory card to the computer using a card reader, or the reader slots on a printer, NEVER, NEVER, perform any operation that writes back to the card. Not all camera manufacturers adhere to a standard format - they use their own scheme. There is a chance of messing up the format by writing to the card with any device other than the camera that formated the card. I also advise using the camera to delete images rather than with a separate device.

Formatting a card destroys all data on the card, and begins anew. The card MUST be formatted by the camera in which it will be used.

"I also advise using the camera to delete images rather than with a separate device."

Most digital cameras these days come with software that is specific to the manufacturer. If you load that software onto your computer, you can safely use the functions of that software to delete images from the camera's memory card when it is in a card reader.

Using the camera itself to delete images from the memory card, when you have quite a few images to delete, unnecessarily depletes the camera's battery.

Flash memory should withstand at least 100,000 - 200,0000 cycles - That is a pretty long "reformattable life".

The camera does a quick format - it clears the FAT. While it may not be necessary to reformat everytime, it is a good idea to clean it up once in a while. It resets the directory and file allocation table. The data is still out there - just as with a delete, but not easily found. I use my cards for more than just my camera - so the reformat is necessary.

One thing for sure - Never count on your card as the "backup" to your pictures.

I formatted all of my cards last night just to be sure...it's somethng I never do unless I have to, like this time. I just never think about it. They are so inexpensive now and easy to have more than a few, but it's scary to know it could fail you at any time. I have one that is not formatting though...just says card error, no matter what I do. I can't recover any images, reformat etc. so I supposed it's trash. I never lose pictures though and always transfer and burn them to a cd before I delete them. I was thinking about how small they are and how much they can hold. It's amazing how much you can get onto one card. A few I've been using daily for 2-3 years with no problems. This newest one worrys me now that it did this, I'm afraid to trust it with important event pics. It created about 10 empty files and they were all named with symbols like wingdings! They were on there for a day and gone the next...really weird.