SD Cards and Windows 10

Sam36401 · Jul 19, 2023

When you 'right click' on your SD card and select 'Properties', it should show this pop-up.

What do you see for the 'File System'?

PeteTheJack · Jul 19, 2023

Anhelmoras said:
Make sure that your SD card and SD card reader are clean and firmly connected to your computer. You can also try switching USB ports if you are using an external adapter.
Use the Windows Hardware and Devices troubleshooter to detect and fix any hardware problems. You can open it by pressing Windows key + I, clicking Update & Security, clicking Troubleshoot, and then clicking Run the troubleshooter under Hardware and Devices
Assign a new drive letter to your SD card if it is missing one. You can do this by opening Disk Management (press Windows key + R and type diskmgmt.msc), right-clicking on your SD card, and choosing Change Drive Letter and Path2.
Update your SD card reader driver if it is outdated or incompatible with Windows 10. You can do this by opening Device Manager (press Windows key + X and choose Device Manager), expanding the Disk drives category, right-clicking on your SD card reader, and choosing Update driver
Scan your SD card for any virus or malware infection using a reliable antivirus software. You can also try formatting your SD card if it is corrupted, but make sure you back up your data first.

I don't see "Hardware & Devices" in the Troubleshoot window.

PeteTheJack · Jul 19, 2023

MS Coast said:
I've used this USB reader on both my computers and a friend's PC and Mac without issues on 64, 128, and 256 gb cards.

Amazon.com

Thanks. At least we know its not the hardware. If I resize the partition to 60 Gbytes it works. I'll check Motherboard drivers.

WanderLost · Jul 20, 2023

PeteTheJack said:
Thanks. At least we know its not the hardware. If I resize the partition to 60 Gbytes it works. I'll check Motherboard drivers.

Oh - is it possible you have a fake card? I've got those in the past - some of them are pretty good copies, but always have less storage than they claim and are slower than claimed. Most manufacturers have ways to check for security.
I've used this program in the past to check my cards for authenticity:

H2TestW- Download

Download h2testw for free. H2testw is a program that can test your storage devices for their actual size against claimed size.

h2testw.org

PeteTheJack · Jul 22, 2023

Sam36401 said:
You can still read and format SD cards using an external USB reader. If you are able to read then, you should be able to format them

I have a couple of external card readers. On a Windows 10 or 11 machine they will read cards up to 64Gb but no bigger. The same readers on a Windows 7 machine will reader cards with a larger capacity. I've not tried them using Linux. I have a Linux emulator on my PC, so I might try that.

PeteTheJack · Jul 22, 2023

WanderLost said:
Oh - is it possible you have a fake card? I've got those in the past - some of them are pretty good copies, but always have less storage than they claim and are slower than claimed. Most manufacturers have ways to check for security.
I've used this program in the past to check my cards for authenticity:

H2TestW- Download

Download h2testw for free. H2testw is a program that can test your storage devices for their actual size against claimed size.

h2testw.org

It's not a fake, as the Mini 2 formats the card to 128Gb, as does a Windows 7 PC. It's a Windows 10 issue. Thanks anyhow.

Meta4 · Jul 22, 2023

PeteTheJack said:
Thanks. I've also tried it on a Windows 11 machine with the same result. There seem to be a lot of users asking the same question on various sites, but few answers that work.

I can't understand what the problem is.
You put the sd card in a cheap USB adapter and plug that into your computer.
It just works ... simple and cheap.
No drivers, no messing around and no filesize limitations.
Format in the computer or in the drone - it makes no difference.
If you format in the computer, just accept the default setting.

Sam36401 · Jul 22, 2023

Meta4 said:
I can't understand what the problem is.
You put the sd card in a cheap USB adapter and plug that into your computer.
It just works ... simple and cheap.
No drivers, no messing around and no filesize limitations.
Format in the computer or in the drone - it makes no difference.
If you format in the computer, just accept the default setting.

I agree. I use that same type of adapter.
No muss, no fuss.

Meta4 · Jul 22, 2023

PeteTheJack said:
It's a Windows 10 issue.

There is no "Windows 10 issue".
Formatting an SD card is a simple, standard operation, regardless of the Windows version.
Maybe you need to get a different card reader.

Ronny St. · Jul 22, 2023

Looks clear to me that is a problem of the card reader. I use Windows 7 and 10 with an external card reader (have two of them of a different brand) and cards are read without problem.

PeteTheJack · Jul 22, 2023

Ronny St. said:
Looks clear to me that is a problem of the card reader. I use Windows 7 and 10 with an external card reader (have two of them of a different brand) and cards are read without problem.

Right, I thought the same thing, but there are other users of the same card reader who have no problem with using it on a Windows 10 machine. Hence it would seem it's not the card reader unless it's a badged clone, as I have yet to find a windows 10 machine that it works in and I have tried six.

My machine has Windows 10 pro, a 3 Ghz AMD Ryzen processor, but my Windows 10 laptop which has the same problem has an Intel chipset.

I used it in a Windows 7 laptop without any problem, but when that machine was updated to 10 it wouldn't read any card over 64Gb. Initialising it by right clicking My Computer, Manage, Disk Management ETC, I can initialise a 128Gb partition but cannot format it. If I initialise a 64Gb partition on the same SD card, it can format it and it can be written to and read from. No problem with a Linux OS PC either.

It appears that it is not an unusual problem but I've found no fixes for it. Quote one poster. "Thank you Microsoft for another half baked update with compatibility issues".

Amen.

mobilehomer · Jul 22, 2023

get another adapter.

Meta4 · Jul 22, 2023

PeteTheJack said:
It appears that it is not an unusual problem but I've found no fixes for it. Quote one poster. "Thank you Microsoft for another half baked update with compatibility issues".

It appears that you've invented a problem that doesn't exist.
Get a new adapter and get on with life.

PeteTheJack · Jul 25, 2023

Meta4 said:
It appears that you've invented a problem that doesn't exist.
Get a new adapter and get on with life.

What are you on about? Do you think I'm trolling the forum, as you appear to be accusing me of lying. Which part of what I've posted do you think I've invented and hence is a lie?

If that were the case, why would I want to get another adaptor if it's a made up "problem that doesn't exist". You didn't think your response through, did you.

MS Coast · Jul 25, 2023

PeteTheJack said:
What are you on about? Do you think I'm trolling the forum, as you appear to be accusing me of lying. Which part of what I've posted do you think I've invented and hence is a lie?

If that were the case, why would I want to get another adaptor if it's a made up "problem that doesn't exist". You didn't think your response through, did you.

You might want to try another card reader because there's no inherent problem with Windows 10 and large capacity micro SSD cards. The model of card reader you have may work fine for other people, but all the evidence so far points to your particular card reader having a fault. Amazon can put a new one on your doorstep in two days for $4.00.

No one here has accused you of lying. But it is difficult to understand why you've been posting about this problem for nine days without reporting that you'd tried a different card reader.

PeteTheJack · Aug 17, 2023

MS Coast said:
You might want to try another card reader because there's no inherent problem with Windows 10 and large capacity micro SSD cards. The model of card reader you have may work fine for other people, but all the evidence so far points to your particular card reader having a fault. Amazon can put a new one on your doorstep in two days for $4.00.

No one here has accused you of lying. But it is difficult to understand why you've been posting about this problem for nine days without reporting that you'd tried a different card reader.

I have two card readers neither work on four different Win10 PC's or a new Win11 machine. Both of them work on Win7 PC's. One of the respondents has the same card reader and has no problems, so I may have a knock off one. There are many hits if I Google the problem, so I thought it must be an issue as I'm not the only one, but maybe there are many knockoffs out there. Here is a link to just one of the hits. Redirecting I've tried many of the so called "fixes".

I shall try Amazon one more time.

TKS.

Meta4 · Aug 17, 2023

PeteTheJack said:
I have two card readers neither work on four different Win10 PC's or a new Win11 machine. Both of them work on Win7 PC's. One of the respondents has the same card reader and has no problems, so I may have a knock off one. There are many hits if I Google the problem, so I thought it must be an issue as I'm not the only one, but maybe there are many knockoffs out there. Here is a link to just one of the hits. Redirecting I've tried many of the so called "fixes".

There shouldn't be a need for a "fix".
Any Windows version treats SD cards in adapters exactly the same.
The fix is to get an adapter that works properly.
No need to spend big as good ones cost just a few dollars.
Get something that looks like this:

Ronny St. · Aug 18, 2023

Meta4 said:
There shouldn't be a need for a "fix".
Any Windows version treats SD cards in adapters exactly the same.
The fix is to get an adapter that works properly.
No need to spend big as good ones cost just a few dollars.
Get something that looks like this:

+1