Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

Not sure if this is the right forum but here goes. My Dell is an older Studio XPS unit with 12gb's of Ram running Windows 10. Well, today, out of the blue I got the error that my SD cards needed to be formatted before it could be used and I just used this card yesterday.... I ran the System File Checker but it found nothing. Tried restarting as well to no avail. Put the SD card in an older computer and all was fine. Tried to download via a separate card reader and same result. Anyone have any tips?

lamontcranston

Sounds like you need to format the card in the camera you will be using it in. Don't format it in the computer. Format it in the camera.

Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

Just tried that. Didn't change anything... ( I downloaded the images onto a different computer first)

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

What file system is on the card? (FAT?, exFAT?, FAT16?, FAT32?, NTFS?, APFS?, etc...)

Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

exFat

JeffDavidson Loc: Originally Detroit Now Los Angeles

First connect the camera to the computer to transfer files and then format card only in the camera.

Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

Images have already downloaded to a secondary computer via that computers card reader. The card was then formatted in the camera it's used in. Upon inserting it back into the offending computer, I get the same response saying the drive needs to be formatted.

jesmason

I assume yours is a Windows system. When things like this happen to me, I check the log to see what changes were made to the operating system. Chances are a system update was done and that is your problem. You can do a system restore to an earlier period but this obsoletes the system and loses whatever fixes the new update gave you.

Reinstall or update your software for moving files from the SD card to the computer's files. This is (probably) from the camera's manufacturer. If that fails, reformat the drive in the camera. If that fails, return to the last restore point and wait a month. In any event, if you are set up to accept automatic updates, reset your computer to allow you to just notify of update availability. Set a restore point immediately before initiating any update(s).

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Hmmm. My next step would be to look in disk manager (in control panel under admin tools/computer management/storage/disk management) and see if the card shows up. If it does, does it have a drive letter assigned?

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I'm using a Dell Studio XPS (2008) right now - also running Win10. Mine doesn't have a slot for an SD card, though. I plug a little adapter into a USB port when I want to get something from and SD card. Like this, but without the wire.

https://smile.amazon.com/WEme-Aluminum-Converter-ChromeBook-Microsoft/dp/B00WHL1QG2/ref=sr_1_14?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1501880304&sr=1-14&keywords=sd+card+adapter

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

As I recall, this is the second or third person who has reported this problem on the forum in the last few days. That said, it may, in fact, not be a procedural problem, but a problem caused by a recent update. These are hard to diagnose and fix long distance. I'd suggest these steps to help identify the problem:

1. Plug the card into the computer and try to have the computer format it. (If successful, verifies that the computer is still compatible with the card. Reformat the card in the camera, take some test shots, and try to download them.)
2. If #1 fails, repeat the same step, but with a new identical card straight out of the package. (If successful, the original card is probably bad. If it fails, the computer and card are almost certainly no longer compatible.)

If it turns out that the card is good, and that it is compatible with the computer, do a couple of cycles of test shots and downloads until you are satisfied all is OK.

I encourage all of us to get in the habit of reformatting memory cards every 2 or 3 download cycles, especially as they get older. They fail gradually as they age, and the failures can corrupt the file system.

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

Try downloading from the camera. Sometimes I do this with my D300 or D7100. As I recall, you have those two models. For some reason this works, when the reader won't.

Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

I'll give it a try, although a card reader plugged into a USB port didn't work either

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

My Dell is a newer XPS 8900 with 32GB RAM and running Windows 10. Never a glitch with my SD cards. All SanDisk brand. You should probably never format a SD or CF card with your PC, always format it with your camera. The card may be corrupted. Why, who knows. They can just crap out. Are there photos on the card now? If so you have a problem. Why the difference between two different PCs? Good question. Possibly some arcane difference in O/S that it tries to use media differently. Hopefully some UHH'er is a techie and know how to fix this issue.

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

In the past, I have gotten that message and ignored it. Just downloaded the files. Have had no problems recently with W10