# Card Reader problem



## cjanosky (May 16, 2010)

I have a Promaster Digital SD/MMC Card Reader. The disk is a SanDisk Ultra 8GB. I get the message "The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer". (I have an iMac - two years old - OSX 10.5.8 operating system. ) I have been using this reader for two years and the disk for about a year and never had problems. In the past I've inserted the reader in a PC and uploaded pictures and never had problems going back to the Mac. I let someone put my card reader in their PC. She has a lot of "safety" things built in her computer from her company. She tried for about one hour. I have no idea what she did, but it seems 'connected' to why I get the message. 

I plugged the reader directly into a port on the computer and that didn't work either. I took off the cord of the reader so I could plug directly also - no go.

Help would be greatly appreciated. Of course the pictures are priceless - my niece getting commissioned in the Army and her graduation from college.

Many thanks, cjanosky


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

Try the card in a different reader to see if it's the card or the reader. Also, are you sure she didn't mess the reader up by trying to stick the wrong kind of card in it? If you lent her the card too, are you sure that it didn't get reformatted?


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## cjanosky (May 16, 2010)

I tried to read the card in another reader and upload to my husband's PC. His computer could recognize the card as being there, but he got a message saying the card needed to be formatted. I told him not to do it. I understand the cards are formatted for the camera, not the computer. (I have a Nikon.}

My sister-in-law said she didn't format it, but she's not a technical person so who knows what she 'clicked'. She had my reader and the card and used nothing else. 

I am going to go to the camera store to see what they say. I can "see" the pictures on my camera.


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

If the camera can still see the pictures, then all is not lost. Most digital cameras come with a USB cable to allow you to plug them into the computer and get the photos that way. Does your Nikon support that, and have you tried it? Also, have you installed all the Nikon software that came with the camera. Sometimes you have to install drivers for the OS to be able to read those camera formatted cards. Speaking of which, did you install anything new since the last time the computer read the card fine?


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## cjanosky (May 16, 2010)

Thank you for all your help. 

I had not changed anything on my computer. My computer had been able to read my card, but just couldn't this time. I did not try uploading the pictures directly from the camera - that was my last resort. I read or someone told me that taking the pictures directly off the camera isn't 'good' for it. 

I went to the camera store and they took the pictures off my chip and burned me a DVD - why they could read the chip and I couldn't I don't know (should have asked him). After that, he formatted my chip IN MY CAMERA. He said I should do this every time I take photos off my camera because files become corrupted. Hmm?? It is a simple process to format the chip in the camera. I suppose it's just extra insurance. Perhaps I could have fixed the problem myself, but with the worry of losing the pictures I didn't want to even try.

Appreciate everything.


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

It's not bad for the camera to get the photos that way, it just uses up the camera's battery unless it can charge while plugged in. As for formatting the card, I sure wouldn't do it every time, that is bad for the card. The cards have a finite number of read/write times to them, and formatting adds another tick to that count. I would format it only after a couple dozen uses, using the format as the means to erase the card, as that's what formatting does.


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## cjanosky (May 16, 2010)

Thank you so much for the card information. ...always learning. I'll format after a couple dozen uses. Glad I joined this forum...much better than others I've been to.


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