# SD Memory Card Failure



## skwire49 (Oct 3, 2007)

SanDisk Ultra II 2.0 GB SD Card functioned fine in Nikon D80 camera. Removed card and placed in card in reader (GE SD/MMC Card Reader HO97931) connected to USB port on PC running Windows XP to transfer files. Windows Explorer seemed to recognize the device, but not the SD card. Tried closing and reopening Explorer. Tried rebooting PC, but Explorer kept hanging when attempting to read card. Removed SD card and replaced in camera to try to transfer photos from camera using USB cable. Camera now would not read card. Digital display gives message "This card cannot be used."

Prowling around, I found that some card readers do not support the larger cards, but I could not determine whether this GE reader supports a 2 GB card. I threw out the info in the bubble pack, and I couldn't find any specs for the device on the net.

Does anyone know if this reader supports a 2 gb card? It's relatively new - July.

It's possible that I removed the card from the reader when Explorer was trying to access it or when the PC was rebooting - I'm not sure - and this may have corrupted the card. I have now "lost" over 200 pics.

DataRecoverySpecialist.Com has quoted $150-$250 to attempt to recover pics. Their site cautions "Do not attempt to recover data with commonly available software utility programs." Therefore, I have not attempted this - yet.

Help! Any suggestions.


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## kiwiguy (Aug 17, 2003)

The card readers generally are silent on the maximum size they will accept, and althoug you say "relatively new" many reviews for the same reader are well over 2 years old.

The reader may be relatively new to you, but not to the market, so the chance of it reading the larger capacity cards is less likely. They would have been rare at the time it was designed.


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## skwire49 (Oct 3, 2007)

Thanks for your reply. If the card readers are not speced for the max size card they will read, why would one take the risk of using them? I dare not use this one again, and I don't know if I should try another. Still need to try to get my pics back, if that's possible.


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## kiwiguy (Aug 17, 2003)

As to getting the Pics back, it's over to you as to what risk you place on DIY vs the value of the pics. I have found PC Inspector very good, but usually only with deleted files, in your case you may have a scrambled file system as well.

No easy answer.

However If I ever go to the 2 GB cards (current max size is 512 MB here) I would certainly be taking meaningless shots first to verify the card is able to work before putting 200 on it.

I really doubt my readers here would cope, but I have a thing against the large card size for camera use anyway as "all the eggs in one basket" is always going to be a risk and I run many 512 MB cards instead.


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