This newly updated post (first published two years ago) has nothing to do with retirement or Asia. However, a mobile or cell phone, smartphone, tablet, notebook, netbook, computer, digital camera, pda or mp3 player has become a tool used by people of all ages, all around the world. Most portable devices have extra storage or ‘flash’ memory – a small removable card (micro SD) either inside the device or accessible through a slot or small flap on the casing.
There are quite a few types on the market from manufacturers such as Kingston and SanDisk, and they come in different capacities; several gigabytes are common on today’s new phones and tablets. For many, this extra memory functions as part of the system, without needing setting; they may not even be aware of the card or its features. But problems can arise when the card is nearly full and files need deleting, transferring to other storage, or replacing the current SD card with a higher capacity one.
Having had issues myself, I created a Micro SD page on the R-A website several years ago. Since then it has been consistently one of the most popular, receiving hundreds of hits every day – over 85,000 by 2010 and over 180,000 by 2012. There’s no doubt that many have problems and card failures; there are numerous forums where people post, including phone and card manufacturer support sites.
Two common problems: microSD file transfer & Nokia phones with password-locked cards
1. If a microSD cannot be recognised by a computer (read, write, format etc), it may not be the card itself but a microSD to SD adapter typically needed for it to fit in a standard size card reader slot. The adapter usually comes with it. This is the first thing to check for a fault. Try using a different adapter (Kingston seem to have dud ones); better still, get a USB reader with a Micro SD slot for $3.50; in the UK for £1.40.
2. Nokia phones with locked microSD cards that need a password for access (happens suddenly without user intervention). Retrieving or removing the password depends upon the model. Some Nokias have an “MMC store” folder; copy this to a computer and open with Notepad to find the password. Reformatting the card (losing all content) allows a new password e.g. 1234 to be set if needed.
Ways to copy/move files between SD cards or transfer to and from a computer
There are different options for working with files. One is with the 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 is Bluetooth – a wireless link between the two, as also is WiFi. If you have a built in or USB card reader, removing the microSD card from the phone and connecting directly to a computer is easiest.
Some card readers now accept a micro SD card directly (see above); previously it needed a micro to standard size SD adapter often but not always supplied with a micro SD purchased separately and often the cause of problems, one of which is the write protect switch (on the adapter – the micro SD does not have this).
Whichever way you connect the card to a computer, a file manager such as Windows Explorer should see an extra external hard drive . The drive letter (G in the image) depends on how many drives are already in the computer, including the CD or DVD drive.
T
he card’s folders and files (not always all of them) will be visible too and can be copied or moved by dragging and dropping them to a folder on another hard drive or perhaps burning a CD for archiving purposes.
Sometimes they are hidden or copyright-protected by the manufacturer and other means are needed to move or copy them. See our main MicroSD page for how to copy all SD card content to another location.
Due to the sheer scope of this topic, and the different problems that users experience, the web page is long and rambling – even more so than this post – especially for someone looking for a ‘quick fix’. When I find the time, I will sort the information into categories and incorporate a summary on this blog, where issues will be easier to identify. Readers can also comment below and see answers which hopefully help others with similar problems.
NOTE: Before posting a problem with your SD card, PLEASE visit the MicroSD page at Retire-Asia.com. There are a lot of things you can try and tools you can download and use; most are free.
If you cannot find a solution there, (or you have found one and want to help others) you are welcome to post a comment. BUT you must provide the make and model of the phone, camera or other device, the card type (SD microSD, SDHC, SDXC etc), brand name and capacity (Gb) of the card. Describe the nature of the failure and the procedures you have already tried to fix it with the tools offered here or elsewhere.
Don’t comment “My card doesn’t work, I’ve tried everything; what can I do?” and expect an answer, but if you don’t see your problem listed here, below in comments, or on the R-A MicroSD page, then I am probably going to suggest you replace the card under warranty if possible, go to a phone service centre or ‘byte the bullet’ and just get a new SD card! They are pretty cheap now.
The EM325 can take a maximum of 2GB, so that’s not the problem. You may have a faulty card which should be exchanged under warranty. How are you connecting the card to the computer? Can you get hold of another card or SD adapter to try?
My 8GB kingston memory card also show the same error. Please guide me how to resolve this problem. There are some files which are very important.
i attempted the registry edit for XP to get access to a microSD card that i bought that CAME write-protected (with no switch on it of course). everything went as described but after i changed it from 3 to 0… nothing changed, the card is still write-protected, and i still can’t format it. what else can i do?
The microSD card has no switch. It works through the adapter, which maybe is the problem. Try another adapter. How/where are you trying to use this card? Try to get help or replacement from the vendor.
i was simply trying to plug it right into the card reader on the front of my PC. i currently have no working microSD to Sd adapter on which to switch the lock so i need a software fix.
Now I’m baffled! Are you sure your built in card reader accepts microSD cards direct? That’s a new one on me. I think you need the adapter to make it standard SD size. What device are you trying to use the card with? Can you not connect it by cable and read and write to the card that way?
Sansung Rugby 2…
the files in folders on the SD card are easily sorted to “by name” and remain that way…
but regardless of what i’ve tried, after i’ve tried to sort all the folders by name, it resorts to the apparent default “sort by date”….
any ideas?
Sorry Randy, I don’t know the phone at all, but I see it uses Java Apps. Take a look at this one which may or may not be relevant to your problem.
http://go2c.me/rugbyapps
i have a Kingston MicroSDHC Class 4 32GB. it came with an adaptor and i want to use it on an Oregon Scientific ATC9K cam-corder. the manual states that it is compatible with such a class and size of card.
when i plug it into its adaptor and then into a computer (iMac) it works fine, read and write however when i pug it into the camera and record it comes up write protected.
any ideaS?
Not really, Kris, other than the software fix. Have you tried to format it in the camcorder? Sounds like that’s where the problem is. Can you try a different microSD in the camcorder?
Hi there I am using a few different sized SD cards from an 8 gig micro, 4 gig SD and 8 gig SD, when I try and reformat them it comes up write protected. I am trying to install Win7 onto an SD card to upgrade my mini that I have. I also reformatted the 8 gig micro SD inside a digital camera and now my phone can not read it, do you have any ideas on how i can try and fix this by taking the write protection off of the cards? Thanks for your help
Sorry, David, nothing other than what’s already suggested on the Microsd page such as the format utility on the SD Association site at http://ug0.me/sdformat. Note that this is SD Formatter Version 3.0 which also caters for the higher capacity SDHC (up to 32GB) and SDXC (up to 2TB) cards.
From what I have read, getting Win 7 onto an SD card and actually installing it from there is not an easy task! You might find some useful information here: http://ug0.me/win7netbook
Hi, admin.
I have two MicroSD HC cards, and both display the message “Write Protect” when I try to format them. They display the information 254GB in SDFormatter (SDXC mode, incorrect), and I don’t reach the format the cards. I already try to use the Windows XP Disk Manager, that inform the volume is ok, but with 254GB of capacity, and I don’t get create a partition… Do you have some ideas??? Thanks.
Sorry, I don’t. The maximum for HC is 32GB. What make and capacity is shown on these cards? Where did you buy them and can you not get support from the manufacturer or supplier site?
hello…can u help me plz..?
i got an micro sd card and also an adapter…the switch on it is in unlock position and i tried to format it..but it says that it is write protected…i even tried the tape-thing..but it didn’t workout..can u plz tell me how to remove the write-protection for the sd card??
can u tell me how to remove the write protection for a micro sd card???
i hav tried many times….n the tape-thing too…but it did not work out…plz help me..
Sorry Prasanna, everything I know is on the webpage. Some of these cards are just faulty and should be replaced under warranty.
i have a problem when transferring albums of mp3s to my micro sd, no matter whether it’s in my phone or an sd adaptor. certain albums will appear to transfer, but the album folder is empty when opened.
I don’t know the reason for that. Perhaps you could try transferring with WinImage which is free to use for 30 days without restrictions.
I have a 4gb micro sd memory card and its been read only since i started dowloading applications from blackberry application world. Whatever i do it wont unset read-only for my memory card
this is preventing me from deleting any file as well as copying any other file to the memory card. I need help to unset it.
Copy the files to another drive or disk (using WinImage if necessary) and try reformatting the card.
Hi
I use a trancend brand 4gb micro sd in my nokia 5233 mobile. .I download many files using gprs . Suddenly there an error has occured don’t know how. .It shows that’disk error’. .From then i couldn’t able to delete files and even copy files from it . And even it is not getting formatted . .Even on pc also. . So plz find me a solution. Plz plz
Sorry, Prithvi, I have no solution for you other than trying the various options on the web page. I just Googled the forums for 5233 card problems and you are not alone. I suspect it’s the phone. I have lost a lot of faith in Nokia in the past year, and also in microSD cards. I doubt you can retrieve your data.
Good day,
My micro SD memory card got broken recently. It was hit by a hard object and snapped. As such, it’s not being recognised by PCs. Is there anyway to access the data contained therein? Thanks.
I have found a solution for retrieving data from a broken SD card but for a microSD I can only suggest trying to superglue the pieces together WITHOUT getting any on the contacts. You might need a strong magnifying glass to see what you’re doing. Good luck.
Hope someone can help, I am having trouble locating my photos on the SD card. They don’t appear on the cards folder on the PC, but I know they are there. if I go to Properties and look at the “Used Space”, there are 800MB more than if I was to go INTO the FOLDER itself and select all of the photos I can see and check their properties, which is only 38MB.
These photos “missing” cannot be seen on the camera i took them from, not on the PC, but I know for sure they are still there because I have even tried to recover the SC card, every photos I have deleted from even 6 months ago (over 5GB worth) can be found but not the ~100 that are “missing”. I have also tried to archieve the SD card with WINRAR but still there was only the 38MB. Just wondering how I can locate these files on the card? The only idea I have left is to actually delete everything or re format the card and see if I can recover the ~100 photos on the recovering program. Any ideas or advice would be appreciated. Thanks
All I can suggest is to try the free photo recovery program ReclaiMe.
i have a galaxy samsung every time i insert my memory its burning hot and it wont read my files
is there any way i can recover?
I would take the phone to a Samsung service centre and ask them to try a different card. That would establish whether the problem is the phone or your card.
I can’t remember my micro SD card password. What can i do?
There are various ways to retrieve the password and you might have had the answer already if you’d mentioned what phone or device you are using it in.
hi there , i have a nokia 5233 mobile . I have a 2gb memory card in it .. I used internet 4 around 1 month for downloading games and all suddenly 4m past 1 week the card is showing read only and nothing can be deleted or moved from it niether from pc it can be formatted please help..
Sorry, every possible solution I have heard of is mentioned on my R-A Micro SD page. Have you tried any or all of them? Also see 5233 comment on June 25.
I like this website it’s a masterpiece! Glad I observed this on google.
I have a laptop and I am unable to use the SD drive on it. I have ran the internal windows check to see if there is anything wrong with the SD drive and it keeps on saying that everything is fine and functional. I have tried multiple SD cards and I am still unable to get it to work. I have visited Microsoft’s website and have found nothing to help me. I am not very knowledgeable when it comes to computers can you help me?
Fernando, I had the same problem a few months after I bought my BenQ netbook (great in every other respect). It simply stopped reading SD cards or microSD adapters, coming up with card unformatted or unrecognized errors. Occasionally one would work for a while then stop. I searched, found and downloaded new card drivers (Realtek CRW 0158), uninstalled the original and reinstalled the new ones. I still had the problem. The card reader is there in Devices; I get the chime when I insert (or remove) a card, but it shows as unformatted. As the card has files, I do not try and reformat it because I know it makes no difference. So now I just use external USB card readers and adapters.
The problem i have is that my memory card has formated . All i want 2 know is that how can i replace all the files in the memory card.
No one can help you with so little information. What kind of card, what device is it from and what kind of files have you lost?
Hi,
Please help me. I think I screwed my microSD card. Its a sandisk class 4 16gb microSD. Before I did anything, i checked the capacity and it was showing 14-15gb. I then used winimage to write the file generic-sdcard-v1.3.img to the card.
I then went to mycomputer and double clicked the drive for the card which showed a messaged prompting me to format the disk. I thought that the image was not written to the card so I clicked ok to format it.
This time round when i double clicked the drive for the card, it showed some contents which i deleted since I intended to redo the process with win image. Now the card keeps showing 117mb no matter how many times i format it, even after using the SDformatter. I have tried to eject the card and reinsert, reboot my computer, formatting it countless times but it doesnt work =(
Grace, you mentioned trying to copy the WinImage image file to the card. This may be the reason for your problem. Perhaps you missed the procedure for copying across only the files you wanted, using the Folders Injection option:
“Use the ‘Disk’ ‘Inject Folders’ option. This lets you add the files and folders you want to transfer but leaves the rest of the card’s full capacity available.
The ‘Disk’, ‘Write disk’ option allows you to restore the image to a new card, but will reformat the card to the same size as the original. You almost certainly want to put the files on a larger capacity SD card, so injecting as above is the correct option.”
Your card may be screwed, but you may be able to revive it with a low level format using a program I just found at HDDGURU. I’ve also added it to the tools offered on the R-A MicroSD page. Make sure you select the correct drive letter (NOT C:) before you start a reformat, otherwise you will screw up more than just your card!! Good luck. Otherwise, think about getting it replaced.
Hello
I have problem with my phone memory card.
Which is MicroSD 2GB. I search my problem in Internet I found a solutions but all solutions I already tried and nothing happened. Now my problem is that my phone which is Nokia C3-00 cannot detect my memory card. It happened went my classmate borrowed my cellphone and he removed the memory card and I was their and went he put it back the icon of memory card is gone. Thank you very much and please help me.
Can the card be read from a computer? Have you tried formatting it using the tools on my Micro SD page? Can you take the phone to a Nokia service shop and/or try a different card?
With the trend I’ve been seeing these days concerning Micro SD cards, I’ve discovered that they fail a lot. For all those whose Micro cards are write-protected, I’ll just advice you to copy the contents somewhere else and toss the card away. This is a very hard and funny thing to believe that a Micro card on it’s own can be write-protected (seeing that it doesn’t have the ‘lock’ switch)
I bought 3 Micro SD cards 16GB from Amazon and discovered that the one on my BlackBerry Bold 9650 just became writed-protected on it’s own. I tried formating from a system but shows the write-protection error and other cards did not (with the same adapter). I also tried using a buit-in card reader (which does not require an adapter) but the same problem persists.
I as well tried low-level format applications like BOOTICE, HDLLFT, SDFormatter (the official SD formatting application) and even Windows Command Line tools (Diskpart and Fdisk). If anybody knows something else maybe we can all benefit but as far as I know, the content of the card remains intact no matter what you do to it. You can only read but can’t write, delete, modify or overwrite.
ayboye@gmail.com
“….concerning Micro SD cards, I’ve discovered that they fail a lot”. I couldn’t agree more, Ayoola.
Hi,
I’am using a nokia 3500 classic…!!! and i was using a 1GB micro sd…!!!
it’s almost two years, but now it’s giving problem that ‘password protected’ the micro sd.
i have not even given a password before…
i usually remove the micro sd and i have inserted many micro sd…!!! but after inserting mine again it was working well …!!!
but 3weeks ago i inserted my friends micro sd to transfer songs after transferring as usual i put mine back to my phone after that i’am pissed off… it’s showing enter password… there are eight digits to enter… i don’t no what to do… bro plz help me…!!!
i dint even put up a back up… all the important files are in the micro sd… how can i remove the password? or how can i find out?
plz help me…
waiting for ur positive reply…
I’ve looked into this micro sd password problem and it seems you are one of thousands.
Nokia says take it to a service centre and get the MMC password reset.
Try reading the card in a computer, using more than one card reader if the first one doesn’t work. If you’re lucky even once, copy all the files to another destination. Use WinImage if necessary. Replace the card and restore the files.
Reformat the card using various methods offered, but you will lose the data.
Sorry.
I have Nokia 5130 Xpress Music mobile phone…with this i get 1 GB MICRO SD memory card…then i switch to another mobile Nokia X2 and i use the same memory card, and now its creating problem…
1. I lost my songs…
2. why i connect m/m card from PC it open (autoplay) but it dont show anything…
then i format my card…n lost all my data
now when i try to paste something it show “Please insert a disc into drive: H”
im getting mad…:S
please help…
Don’t get mad, get another card and try it in the phone.
hi
i have a samsung chat s3353 and today I inserted it into a laptop to cut and paste my files from the card to the laptop. i then copied some songs into the card and when i inserted it back to the phone, the phone keeps hanging and restarting. when i remove the card, the phone works fine but when i re-insert it, it hangs and restarts again. what’s causing this? and how can i remedy it? thanks.
It sounds like the format has been destroyed. Can you still read the card in the laptop?