General warning about cheap card reader.

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: RossMAN

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: RossMAN
I never use card readers, they're just to inconvenient for me and I'm a lazy ass.

I prefer USB from digicam to PC. Thank goodness for rechargeable batteries.

Canon's software sucks big fat donkey dicks. I'd rather just use a card reader. It's a LOT faster and easier.

Wow that's rather graphic and detailed :disgust:

Even on my Canon A40/S200 I don't use Canon's software, it's all built into Windows XP.
(Start -> Control Panel -> Scanners and Cameras)

The trick is to plug the USB cable into digicam then into PC, turn on digicam and assuming you're using XP it should recognize it and offer to d/l all your pics to a specific folder.

Hey, that was the NICEST thing I could say about their software. :|

I'll give that a try. My question is: why can't they make it so XP just sees it as a card reader/removable drive???

BTW, I have a card reader built into my printer. So it's just real easy to pop the card in there and have it recognized by XP as a removable drive... then I simply copy the files over.

That's what I would like to see, treat it like a Zip disk, CD-R or any other removeable media.

 

[Viper GTS]

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: joinT

Originally posted by: Bootprint
I don't think you need to stop the device, just you should eject it from the explorer.

You need to "safely remove hardware" - stop the drive, then eject the card.
You do NOT need to unplug & replug the USB cable OR reboot your machine - when you plug a piece of media back in, it will detect & "start" the device.

Really? Show me a card reader or media manual that says this must be done.

Item #9.

Here's your manual

Another one - This one is for a USB Flash Drive, same concept

Viper GTS

 

[DurocShark]

I paid $2.99 for my SanDisk at the thrift store. Awesome reader. Heh

Agreed, I wouldn't buy crap when irreplaceable images are at risk.

That's like taking the film you got of Bigfoot to SavOn for processing.

 

[FrustratedUser]

Originally posted by: Viper GTS

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: joinT

Originally posted by: Bootprint
I don't think you need to stop the device, just you should eject it from the explorer.

You need to "safely remove hardware" - stop the drive, then eject the card.
You do NOT need to unplug & replug the USB cable OR reboot your machine - when you plug a piece of media back in, it will detect & "start" the device.

Really? Show me a card reader or media manual that says this must be done.

Item #9.

Here's your manual

Another one - This one is for a USB Flash Drive, same concept

Viper GTS

From that manaul:

9. Removing the Card from the FlashLink Reader
Make sure not to remove the card, when the data is being read or written in the card. Removing the card while data is being
transferred can delete all data on the card and/ or freeze your computer.
Make sure that you are not accessing the card . In Windows, it is recommended that you ?Stop? or ?Unplug/Eject? the USB device by clicking on the
Device icon on the lower right corner of the taskbar and gently pull the card from the FlashLink Reader. In Apple OS, drag the Flash Card icon to the
Trash Bin and gently remove the card from the slot.
Note: In Windows 2000, if you choose to ?Unplug/Eject? the device and remove the card from the USB device, you will have to disconnect and
reconnect the USB FlashLink Reader to enable the operating system to again recognize the device.



See bold text. This makes a card reader under W2K kind of useless. You wear out the USB connector.

 

[Jzero]

See bold text. This makes a card reader under W2K kind of useless. You wear out the USB connector.

You've had a USB connector wear out???

Anyway, you should at least close all explorer windows viewing the device before you yank it. This goes for floppy drives, too. I have had floppy disks get overwritten b/c of this...

 

[Viper GTS]

Originally posted by: FrustratedUser

Originally posted by: Viper GTS

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: joinT

Originally posted by: Bootprint
I don't think you need to stop the device, just you should eject it from the explorer.

You need to "safely remove hardware" - stop the drive, then eject the card.
You do NOT need to unplug & replug the USB cable OR reboot your machine - when you plug a piece of media back in, it will detect & "start" the device.

Really? Show me a card reader or media manual that says this must be done.

Item #9.

Here's your manual

Another one - This one is for a USB Flash Drive, same concept

Viper GTS

From that manaul:

9. Removing the Card from the FlashLink Reader
Make sure not to remove the card, when the data is being read or written in the card. Removing the card while data is being
transferred can delete all data on the card and/ or freeze your computer.
Make sure that you are not accessing the card . In Windows, it is recommended that you ?Stop? or ?Unplug/Eject? the USB device by clicking on the
Device icon on the lower right corner of the taskbar and gently pull the card from the FlashLink Reader. In Apple OS, drag the Flash Card icon to the
Trash Bin and gently remove the card from the slot.
Note: In Windows 2000, if you choose to ?Unplug/Eject? the device and remove the card from the USB device, you will have to disconnect and
reconnect the USB FlashLink Reader to enable the operating system to again recognize the device.



See bold text. This makes a card reader under W2K kind of useless. You wear out the USB connector.

Can't you refresh the USB root hub & pick it up again?

I dunno, I've been running XP since it came out...

All this being said, I pull my flash cards out without stopping them too - But I'm aware I'm taking a risk. The biggest thing is to make sure it's not writing, but stopping it is the "correct" way.

Then again, you won't hear me bitching if I hose a CF card.

Viper GTS

 

[FrustratedUser]

I was not bitching. I thought it was something wrong with the reader so I posted this as a warning. But now it seems like the HW is OK afterall. Even if the reference to the manual here is for a completely different reader.

:beer:

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: Viper GTS

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: joinT

Originally posted by: Bootprint
I don't think you need to stop the device, just you should eject it from the explorer.

You need to "safely remove hardware" - stop the drive, then eject the card.
You do NOT need to unplug & replug the USB cable OR reboot your machine - when you plug a piece of media back in, it will detect & "start" the device.

Really? Show me a card reader or media manual that says this must be done.

Item #9.

Here's your manual

Another one - This one is for a USB Flash Drive, same concept

Viper GTS

Bah, sounds like they give that "advice" to stop idiots from popping the card while it's being read by the system.

In all the time I've used CF cards, I've never stopped the reader. I just close the window, and make sure the read light is out, then pop the card.

I haven't lost one yet.

 

[joinT]

Note: In Windows 2000, if you choose to ?Unplug/Eject? the device and remove the card from the USB device, you will have to disconnect and
reconnect the USB FlashLink Reader to enable the operating system to again recognize the device.

That's one card reader, there's dozens of different one's.
It takes all of 2 secs to stop the device, I don't understand how that 2-3 secs is worth taking a chance on losing data, or corrupting your card.

Just left click the icon in systray & click STOP. When the icon dissapears 2 secs later, pull out the card.
When you want to use it again, plug it in again. It'll get detected.