Problem seeing SDHC card on any computer

[Gustavus]

I have a new Canon PowerShot a4000 camera with a new Verbatim 16GB SDHC memory card in it. I can take and store photos on the card with no trouble, and scan through them with the camera viewer. All my computers are equipped with Microdrive card readers which when I insert a Compactflash card from my Nikon open a box asking what I wish to do and giving me the choice to view files/photos. Nothing happens on any of the machines when I insert the SDHC card. It's as though nothing had been inserted. I also have Secure Digital USB card readers for four different kinds of memory cards. These are seen as a new mass storage device when plugged in, but after the new hardware detected and install, the SDHC card is still not seen.

The photos are still OK as I can verify by putting the SDHC card back in the camera and viewing it on the screen.

I have the latest updates to Windows XP on all machines, so the hotfixes to see SDHC larger than 4GB at the Microsoft homepage are rejected with a note that the OS is later than the hotfixes and they are not needed.

Help would be much appreciated.

Bottom line: the Microdrive card readers work -- with other memory sticks -- the SDHC records and plays back with no problem -- in the camera, and USB plug in card readers fare no better.

 

[denis280]

do you have sp3 install

 

[Gustavus]

denis280
Yes I do.

I downloaded SD formatter, the recommended software to format SD modules since it leaves the small protected partition unchanged. When I try to format with it, I get a message saying "This drive is not supported". As I said this a Verbatim 16GB SDHC module -- not some unkown module from China.

 

[Ketchup]

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/934428

 

[Gustavus]

ketchup79

Thanks for the suggestion, but in my posting of the question I said the Microsoft hotfixes you directed me to are rejected saying that the installed updates to Windows XP already include them.

PS
I just noticed we have almost identical rigs -- CPU, motherboard, HD, memory, cooler etc. What speed are you getting from your system?

 

[Ketchup]

ketchup79

Thanks for the suggestion, but in my posting of the question I said the Microsoft hotfixes you directed me to are rejected saying that the installed updates to Windows XP already include them.

OK, I have found in the past that sometimes they do not (not sure why). I am trying to understand your post (not all your fault, just the mention of Cannon, Nikon, Compact Flash, SD) but let me ask you this: what happens if you just leave the card in the camera and plug the camera into the computer via USB?

 

[Ketchup]

I just noticed we have almost identical rigs -- CPU, motherboard, HD, memory, cooler etc. What speed are you getting from your system

What kind of speed? It's pretty darn fast, even though I spend most of my time on the laptop. The CPU has been up to 4.9, but I think the load speed is set to around 4.2 GHz currently. I am really impressed with the WD blacks. I wish I had an SSD on the laptop, but the desktop is plenty fast.

 

[Gustavus]

Using the Canon Image browser I can transfer photos from the camera to the computer over the USB connection. That is an intolerable way to do it -- very slow, but worse very cumbersome to use. I would get rid of the camera if that was the only way to transfer photo files to the computer.

I understand Sandisk SDHC cards come preformatted FAT32 so may try to get one and see if that works.

 

[Ketchup]

Using the Canon Image browser I can transfer photos from the camera to the computer over the USB connection. That is an intolerable way to do it -- very slow, but worse very cumbersome to use. I would get rid of the camera if that was the only way to transfer photo files to the computer.

I understand Sandisk SDHC cards come preformatted FAT32 so may try to get one and see if that works.

As an onlooker, I would say that the card readers don't support that card, either due to it being a HC card or the format used if not FAT. I was under the impression that pretty much all flash drives used a FAT file system for compatibility reason. I had to switch one of my flash drives to NTFS one time because the file I was copying was too large.

 

[Gustavus]

I have three computers, all of which have working card readers, plus a USB card reader for SDHC modules which just couples an SDHC module to a USB port -- none of which will allow me to either format the drive or read the photo files on it. On net I found many statements that it was desirable to format a SDHC module -- except for Sandisk ones -- and the SD consortium reccomends using their SD Formatter software

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

Since it doesn't disturb the protected partitions on the drive.

I have spent a half day on the new Verbatim drive and am about ready to give up on it and get a Sandisk to see if that works.

I have not found complaints about the Verbatim modules -- but they do not appear to be as common as Sandisk and Transcend.