# Format tool for SD cards (freebie)



## Kelbee (Nov 30, 2012)

It is possible to format your SD card in camera, but sometimes that doesn't fully resolve any issues the card may have.
Then you find the camera won't write to the card, or misses out images, etc.
This tool is a freebie and will properly format SD, SDHC, and SDXC cards.

https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter_3/

So, if you have a card that's a bit 'wonky' this wee tool may help.
Regards,
Kelvin.


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## Brad Snyder (Nov 30, 2012)

Thanks, Kelvin. If no one has said so already, welcome to the forums!


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## Kelbee (Nov 30, 2012)

Thanks Brad.
It's a pleasure to be here. Friendly people and no spam.


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## Chris_M (Dec 1, 2012)

Just curious, what's wrong with formatting through Windows,
does this software do something that the Windows format function does not?

Or is there a reason we *should* be using a program such as this?


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## Kelbee (Dec 1, 2012)

Hi Chris.
Well yes, there is a reason (or two).
Firstly the SD association (who provide this tool) ..." does not manufacture, market or sell any product; it exists to create  standards and then promote the adoption, advancement and use of SD  standards".
*"The SD Formatter was created specifically for memory cards using the SD/SDHC/SDXC standards.*  It is strongly recommended to use the SD Formatter instead of  formatting utilities provided with operating systems that format various  types of storage media. Using generic formatting utilities may result  in less than optimal performance for your memory cards".
I know of times when a Windows format doesn't do any good, or Windows simply won't be able to even see the card. It is usually recommended to use the format option of your camera, but this sometimes doesn't quite do the job either. There will be nothing wrong physically with your card, but it will be giving read/write errors, images not showing, etc.
For these times this tool does the job.
If you have a dodgy card and an in-camera format doesn't work then that's when you need this tool.
I did a quick Google (just to justify my thread), and found this...
http://www.techgeekandmore.com/tag/unable-to-format-sd-card/
I've used it for some time now, and (getting old, failing memory, etc, etc), I do remember having Windows tell me it couldn't read my 32GB card.
Maybe it's a size issue with Windows?
That's when I went looking for an answer, and found this SD tool. I still do a quick in-camera format, but run the card through this program every now and then to "keep all the ducks in a row" so to speak.


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## clee01l (Dec 1, 2012)

Chris_M said:


> Just curious, what's wrong with formatting through Windows,
> does this software do something that the Windows format function does not?
> 
> Or is there a reason we *should* be using a program such as this?


Formatting done in the camera not only formats the SD Card, but also creates the necessary DCIM folders.  I'm not sure this program behaves any differently from the standard Windows or Mac drive formatting function.  Just to see, I downloaded the Mac app from the link above,  The SD Formatter 3.1 tool did not recognize SDHC card media present in either the built-in or a USB connected SDHC reader.  Not only that it gave me no option to look for the media or to use another drive.  It is not a very user friendly program or a very forgiving program. Any error encountered seems to stop it dead. 

As long as the SD media is formatted exFAT, inserting the card into a camera slot wil cause the camera to initialize the formatted card.


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## Kelbee (Dec 1, 2012)

Hi Cletus.
Sorry, can't say for Mac.
Haven't used a Mac for years.
I did have trouble with Windows 7 not recognizing my cards and this tool did the trick.
However, first time it gave the same results as yours.
Then I discovered that my card reader (which was fine with XP) couldn't be seen by my new Windows 7 64 bit.
I updated my card reader and all was fine.
Windows 7 now sees my reader/card, and the tool works.


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## clee01l (Dec 1, 2012)

Kelbee said:


> Hi Cletus.
> Sorry, can't say for Mac.
> Haven't used a Mac for years.
> I did have trouble with Windows 7 not recognizing my cards and this tool did the trick.
> ...


I tried it with the built-in card reader and the USB Card reader on my iMac which are the ones I use to import into LR.  The iMac mounts the volume in either place. The App reports no media found.  
I'm not willing to put any more effort into the program to see if it works in Windows8 on my iMac.


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## Kelbee (Dec 1, 2012)

Hi Cletus.
You brought up a good point about Mac's.
I haven't used a Mac for many years.
I was shown this tool when I had trouble with formatting my SD cards in my Canon 600D.
The cards were OK to format in my old 450D.
Anyway, once I had my hardware sorted with my new computer the tool did the job for me.
Sorry it doesn't work for you.
Just thought it might be useful for any member having problems and throwing out a card that could be saved.


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## Chris_M (Dec 1, 2012)

Ok, I understand what you said.

However, I think I'll stick with Windows 7 64-bit format and in-camera.
As I've never had a problem with either, and have not had a problem under Vista or XP either.

Just as a final thought on my part:


Kelbee said:


> throwing out a card that could be saved.


Cheap as these cards are these days, is that really such a problem?


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## Kelbee (Dec 1, 2012)

Hi Chris.
Depends where you live I guess.
My last cards were $30+ each here in NZ (Adata and Verbatim).
Have you not had trouble with Win7 formatting?
I'm using Win7 SP1 and had problems. Microsoft had a patch that I had to install to enable the reading of SD cards.
That's what made me look for 'something' that would do the job better.
So, yes I'm being mean. I didn't want to throw out cards that I could fix easily with a proper format tool.
My old Windows ME era card reader wasn't helping either.
A new USB3 reader compatible with Win7 fixed that problem too.
Cheers.


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## Chris_M (Dec 1, 2012)

Using "Hama - USB 2.0 Card Reader 35 in 1" here, cost me 20 Euro
(although I don't see where the 35 in 1 comes from since it only has 4 physical slots,
and only 2 of those have wierd shapes to accomodate a different card).

Anyway, I've not had a problem formatting a card in my Camera as yet,
and I also formatted on Windows 7 x64 twice, no problems there either.


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## Kelbee (Dec 2, 2012)

Why I started this thread.

http://www.thewindowsplanet.com/812/sd-card-not-recognized-problem-in-windows-7.htm

Looks like my SD/SDHC cards weren't made to proper standards (Adata and Verbatim), or maybe my old 450D was the problem?.
The SD tool I mentioned put them back into proper format.
Until then Win7 couldn't see them.
Since then I've had no problems.
So, not saying it's a must have for everyone, but if your card is playing up then this tool may be what you need.


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## Chris_M (Dec 2, 2012)

Odd, in my experience (which does not include use of Verbatim SD cards), Verbatim products were always reliable.
Having said that, I have 1 generic 8gb card, other than that, I've been using SanDisk Ultra II cards.
Maybe that's why I have had no problems?

But you are right regarding Windows 7 x64, it DOES have it's quirks.


/waffle ON
Just yesterday, I couldn't load ANY page in Firefox that contained Flash. although the day before it worked fine,
and a Subtitle Editor program I had been using suddenly stopped working.
I spent several hours trying to fix it, including geting latest versions of everything, but nothing worked.
Then I Googled, and found that it was probably the Firefox update that broke the Flash stuff,
followed a tip to turn off the Flash plugin's protected mode & hardware acceleration in Firefox, and that fixed the Flash problem.

But my Subtitle Editor problem would just NOT go away, which led me to a couple more hours looking for a suitable replacement,
and ended up with me not finding any I liked, I got really annoyed, because I use Subtitles a lot,
so rather than plant my foot in the computer, I tried it one more time, it didn't work, so I just shut it down and went for some Coffee.
After calming down, I started it up again, and voila, all of a sudden it worked perfectly again!
Go figure...
/waffle OFF


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