SDHC cards

[Jim Jensen]

I've been having trouble getting my 16 GB SDHC to be accessible in my computers. I had one that was working fine, but now Windows says it needs to be formatted. I bought a new one and can't read it either in my workstations. Tried Windows 7 and an older XP station. I've tried using the internal card reader from Dell and an external card reader. From researching so far, I see that XP had problems with SDHC cards and many card readers can't seem to handle them. MS had a hotfix for XP machines, but I can't find any references for Windows 7 there. Has anyone been able to successfully use SDHC cards? Surely so. I can access if I have it in the camera and use the cable to the camera, but that's it.

[Billy Welsh]

Recently tried to help someone with a camera card - I believe it was SDHC.  Even Apple didn't like it or vice-versa.  She had filled it with video, so we moved the files from the card to my son's MacBook.  But the camera still detected it as full,even though Apple said it was all free space.

So then she left the tournament ad bought new cards, which the camera didn't like.  And we couldn't find a way to get the camera to format it to make it palatable.  Nor could we find a palatable format via the MacBook.

[Hans Manhave]

I have a PNY Pro-Elite 32GB SDHC that works fine in a HP Pavilion reader and a Canon Powershot SX120.  I don't know what to suggest.

[Mark]

Check drivers - updates/downgrades whatever you can do.  Otherwise, see if you can use PhotoRec to pull the files off.  Not the preferred method, but can't hurt.

[Jim Jensen]

My laptop was able to read it fine and the camera has no problem with it. What I read yesterday is that the SDHC have a different memory build than SD cards (non HC), which allowed them to make SD cards larger than 2 GB in the same size package. Many sources said simply that "older" (no time indication) card readers can't read the HC (high capacity) cards and indicated that a newer card reader must be used, while some others indicated that with updated drivers, they can. I checked for newer drivers, but already had the latest one installed. The odd think is that I never had trouble with my older 16 GB SDHC card until about a month ago. I assumed it went flaky, used an older 2GB card and finally bought a new card. It could be a brand issue, I suppose - both 16GB card are from Sandisk.

A photo recovery program isn't really a difference - Windows simply says that the disk needs to be formatted and doesn't recognize it. At lunch I plan to see what a newer drive might run right now and may just get one of them. Wouldn't hurt to have another anyway, but need one that I know will work fora trip coming up for which I am taking my Surface and not my laptop, so I will need a usb-connected reader that definitely works.

[Mark]

The PhotoRec will ignore the format and will just look at the blocks.  But I guess if it can't read it at all, then it owuld be a no go.  If Windows will format and use it fin after formatting, then I'd assume PhotoRec would also work.  But, don't want to format to just to find out either.