Secure Digital (SD) memory cards are used for storing images, audios, videos and other multimedia files. They are widely used in hand held computers, PDAs, digital cameras, digital camcorders, mobile phones and other portable devices.

Before one gets to using it, the card needs to be formatted in the device it is being used by. Formatting installs a new file system in the card and helps it to interact well with the device. SD cards need formatting when they get corrupted. Formatting fixes the damaged card but makes the previously stored images inaccessible. In order to recoup lost images, one must go for an image recovery software.

As a practical case, if you pull out the SD card while the camera is still on, and re-insert it again, you may come across the following error:

“Card is not formatted. Format now?”

The error message indicates that the card has got corrupted. Moreover, the error message won’t let you click more images and access the previously stored data on the card.

Cause:

  • The card was not properly formatted. It must be formatted in the camera instead of the computer.
  • You pulled out the card while the camera was still on, causing interruption in the read/write process. The card got corrupted, leaving the stored images inaccessible.

Solution:

Try accessing the images by connecting a card reader to the computer, if it doesn’t work, format the memory card in the camera. For sure, formatting will ward off the problems with the card as it will place a new file system in the card.

But, in order to retrieve lost images on account of the error message, one should use a good digital image recovery utility. An image recovery software will ensure that the data is extracted in the original form. These third-party tools are capable of recovering lost images from a variety of data loss situations like error in read/write process, virus attacks, file system corruption, accidental deletion or formatting etc.

Stellar Phoenix Photo Recovery is a trustworthy tool to salvage lost/formatted/deleted images and other multimedia files from damaged or corrupted storage media like memory cards, memory sticks, digital cameras, Windows/Mac hard drives, Zip disks, Mini disks, CD, DVD, USB drive, and other removable media. The image recovery tool supports all photo formats such as JPEG, RAW, PNG, TIF, TIFF, Exif, CDS, NFF etc.