SD cards, short for "secure digital" cards, is a flash media format commonly used in cameras and smartphones. SD cards can get damaged or corrupted for a number of reasons -- including removal of the card when it is being written to, or a power outage during reading or writing. Fortunately, most of these types of problems can be fixed.
Instructions
1. Download an appropriate data recovery program, as you may need to recover important files before reformatting the SD card. Choose one designed for recovering data from corrupted memory cards. Most data recovery programs use a simple wizard-driven interface which will guide you through the recovery process.
2. Insert the SD card into your computer's card reader. Open the Start menu and click "Computer" in the right-hand side of the menu. Right-click on your SD card in the Explorer window. Choose a format and be sure "Quick format" is selected. Leave everything else at the default settings. Click "OK" and wait for the card to be formatted.
3. Go to sdcard.org if the format did not work. Download the SD card formatter from the site and run it. Follow the on-screen prompts which walk you through the process. This program works in most cases, but if it does not, your SD card may be permanently damaged and in need of replacement.
Tags: data recovery, your card