

While this post has little or nothing to do with retirement, most people these days have a mobile phone, digital camera, pda and/or mp3 player. The removable memory cards which they contain can be problematic. Having had issues myself, I put up a MicroSD page on the R-A website a couple of years ago and it has been consistently one of the most popular, receiving some 150 hits every day – over 85,000 by May 2010 and 100,000 on Sept 8. So, if you do have an issue with an SD or microSD card, you are most certainly not alone and may find a solution there! Read on, if you’re interested.
There are quite a few different types of card and format on the market, but most cell phones now use the ‘micro SD‘ format with a capacity from 128 Mb to several gigabytes. 2 Gb is common and probably enough for most users. In addition to the phone’s built-in memory, this will be enough for hundreds of photos, music files and video clips. Cameras and players will use the standard format with greater memory capacity, up to 32Gb or more.
This flash memory card is held in a slot either inside the device or accessible under a small flap on the casing. When you want to download files to a PC or laptop, there are several ways to do it. One is via a USB cable supplied with the phone and used in conjunction with a software program also supplied by the manufacturer. e.g. Nokia Data Suite. Another method of file transfer is via Bluetooth – a wireless link between two compatible devices. Wireless LAN is yet another option for certain phones and network computers.
If you have the necessary connectivity hardware, removing the microSD card from the phone and connecting directly to a computer is easiest. Because the ‘micro’ SD is too small on its own, it needs to be placed in a standard SD card adapter (usually supplied with an SD card device). This can then be inserted into the card reader found on many computers and notebooks today. Both internal and external multi-format card readers are also available from computer stores.

If there is no built-in slot or external card reader available, then a small, inexpensive USB adapter can be purchased and plugged into any empty port on the computer. It normally includes the adapter for the microSD as well. These inexpensive USB adapters come in different shapes and sizes, but on the right is a typical example, with the tiny SD card protruding from the standard SD card size adapter. Amazon in the UK sells a similar one for £1.50.
When this combination is put in a USB port, the computer should recognise it as an extra external hard drive and it will be allocated a drive letter such as G: – as seen on the left. It depends on how many drives are already in the computer, including the CD or DVD drive. The files will be visible in a file manager such as Windows Explorer, and can be copied or moved (to release space on the card) by dragging and dropping them to a folder on another hard drive or perhaps burning a CD for archiving purposes.
Unfortunately, many people encounter problems of one sort or another when trying to move files between their card and a computer (perhaps to transfer them to a larger capacity one), as well as formatting errors.
As it’s a bit long and rambling – even more than this post! – especially for someone looking for a ‘quick fix’, I am sorting the information on the MicroSD page into sub topics and will incorporate it here on the blog, where issues will be easier to identify. Readers can also comment below and be given answers which hopefully help others with similar problems.
Footnote: After using SD and microSD cards myself for several years now without many problems, I recently ran into some with two Kingston 4 Gigabyte standard SD cards (not micro), trying to use them as an easy way to transfer files between my desktop and the netbook I use when away from home or coping with mains outages – and I have yet to solve them. I will be discussing this as well.
For anyone who has lost media files on a flash memory card, especially photos, you may like to try the CardRecovery program I recommend on the R-A web page. You can download an evaluation version. This scans the card for files and there is a preview feature that lets you view and check what can be recovered before you purchase the software. If you can’t find what you want, it costs you nothing. Otherwise it’s $39.95.
Read the comments below. Contributors have also found some solutions and fixes to flash card problems.
NOTE: If you are posting a comment about a card problem, give as many details as possible e.g. make and model of the phone (or other device) as well as the memory type and capacity.


