Memory cards

[Scott K]

My daughter has erased the memory cards in her phone, and her camera, they both need to be reformated, how do I reformat the cards, they are blank?

[dan z]

I believe your computer will prompted you if you stick it back in.

[Scott K]

I stick it in the computer and open the file, there is nothing in the file at all. I stick it in the camera/phone it says it needs to be reformated. So how would I reformat it?

[dan z]

does it show up under your computer tab thats were I look for my stuff if it aint thier I dont know how to help ya

[Dbl]

Put it back on your computer. It should show up as a drive such as D,or whatever the next drive letter is. If it doesn't pop up with a new window just go to "My Computer" and it will be there. Right click on that drive (your memory card) and choose "format" That should work for you.

[Scott K]

Thanks I will try that

[delcecchi]

is there a "format" option on the phone/camera? Hit the menu button and look for it.

[Powerstroke]

My camera has a "format card" option in the system menu

[Scott K]

I stuck the memory cards into a different computer, and they formated automatically. Thanks for the info.

[Dbl]

Glad it worked for you.

[Whoaru99]

If the card is used in a camera or phone, it's often necessary to do the format process with the specific camera or phone it's used with.

This is because in the process of formatting, the device may create special folders that are not created with the reformatting process done by a computer.

[Dbl]

Whoaru99 is correct but my understanding is wandering was having trouble doing the format in the camera or did not have the format option or did I misunderstand?

You should always if possible do the format in the device, it does retain and re-arrange your folder and file system structure. If you are having problems you can reformat in a computer which hopefully will now allow you to reformat again with the card in the device. This will re-set up your "DCIM" folder and other system files for your device.

I ALWAYS reformat my card before I use it for a shoot. I also try to avoid "deleting" or using the "delete all" option to EMPTY the card. Deleting seems to introduce flaws in the file system leading to read errors like the one wandering has. I do delete individual shots, not the whole card, but after doing multiple backups I then reformat the card in the camera again.

I have successfully formated cards in a computer, and most cards will recognize and re-load your settings after you put it in the camera with out a format. I just like to play it safe and reformat again in the camera after a computer format. In 6 years of high volume (75,000+ images per year) I've never had one memory card error or failure. Knock on wood!

[Scott K]

Ok now one of the cards stopped working again. Now when I stick the card in my computer it doesnt even reconize it at all, and if I try to click on the drive it wont open it and just has the hour glass. Is the card bad now? Or is there a way to save it?