# forgot to format SD memory card - what harm can this cause?



## Bungal (Nov 18, 2011)

I bought two 16GB class 6 SD memory cards for my Sealife underwater camera (these card types were recommended for the camera), but I forgot to "format" the cards. The cards have all my pics/videos and the videos play fine on playback on the camera.
However, when I transferred the pics/vids to my computer, the videos were jumpy - start/stop, break up, etc. Could this be a result of not formatting the cards? These were brand-new never before used cards.

These are .avi files and regular JPEG files. Just for kicks, I converted one of the .avi files to a .wmv file, and the video played back on my computer just fine, but quality wasn't as good, and there was a thin blurry "line" on the bottom of the video.
*Side note:* as I continued fiddling with the pic/vid files on my computer (via Sony PMB) my computer started slowing down, couldn't open the pics/vids, PMB started crashing, and then error messages started appearing......then my entire "E" hard drive (partitioned drive where I store all my pics/vids/works) dissapeared! 
Could this be a coincidence happening? (or does this sound like a viral issue?) Or can a non-formatted memory card cause all these problems? (thank goodness I have backups of all my work on externals)!
*another note:* after the dissapearance of my "E" drive, I did a complete virus scan, and it revealed 9 threats (some of which mentioned Trojan), but the scan was done on my "C" drive, which is still on my computer.
thanks for any insight!
Linda


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## zuluclayman (Dec 16, 2005)

It shouldn't be a problem (not formatting the SD card before use) as most cards these days are formatted to be able to accept use in cameras etc. - if you can see the pics and video on the camera you should be able to access them/copy and paste them to your computer's HD if unsure how to do this read here. PMB is known to have difficulties at times so I suggest bypassing it altogether.
The method I have outlined in the article applies to both still images and video - your still images are usually in a different folder to your video - look for one that has the title DCIM.

The other problems you have mentioned may be best answered in a separate thread or threads - we have a security forum which can help you deal with infections and a XP forum to help deal with disappearing partitions.


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