[meghank91]

so i just took a ton of pictures and i don't want to lose them.

i have a memory card for my digital camera and i have never had problems in the past just putting it into my laptop (with windows vista) and importing the pictures. but today when i put it in a message popped up when i tried to access the content that said "you need to format the disk in drive g before you can use it." this has never happened before. and if i go to format it a message tells me all content on the card will be erased. i don't want that. i tried putting in another memory card and the same thing happened. i tried to format that one and it said format could not be complete. so what can i do? i don't know why this is happening all of the sudden!

thank you

[Triple6]

Try some data recovery software.

Smart Recovery: http://www.pcinspector.de/SmartRecov...htm?language=1
Recuva: http://www.piriform.com/recuva

Don't attempt to format it, that will only make it worse.

[meghank91]

the links you gave me say that i should use that if i "have unintentionally deleted or formatted pictures, videos or sound files on your data carrier or have pulled it out during a write operation." but i didn't unintentionally delete anything. i can still view the content of the memory card on my camera. it's there. my computer just wont open it. i want to be able to see it on my computer.

[Triple6]

The software can also be able to be used to retrieve data that is otherwise not accessible.

If its accessible on the camera then connect the camera to the PC's via a USB cable and retrieve the photos that way. Then once you have the photos, re-format the card. If you can do this and the pictures are important then retrieve them this way before you even consider anything else.

Has this exact card ever worked in either PC? Is it perhaps a SDHC card and the card readers in the PC are not compatible with SDHC cards?

[meghank91]

i don't have a cable for the camera to connect to the PC.

i am really confused by this problem because the memory card has always worked just fine before in this same laptop. this sort of came out of the blue. why would that happen? i just want to be able to use my memory card the same way i was able to before. i would put it in, a window would pop up asking me if i wanted to import photos, i'd say yes, and i'd have my photos on the computer. why wont that happen now?

[Triple6]

Anything that stores data is susceptible to corruption or failure, hence why companies and individuals spend big money on backups. Things break, it just happens with electronics.

Try the data recovery programs.

If the data recovery programs do not work and you want the pictures then buy a cable for the camera. The cables should only be a few dollars at local stores or online. Bigger stores like Best Buy may over charge for the cable.

[meghank91]

i tried the data recovery programs and it says the "parameters are incorrect." this is so dumb! it's obviously a computer problem because it is happening with several memory cards that have all worked before.

i appreciate you trying to help. let me know if you come up with anything else. if not, i'll be taking it to the geek squad (which i really don't want to pay for).

[Triple6]

Oops, I mis-read. I thought you said you tried another computer instead of you trying another card.

Whats the make and model of your laptop?

[meghank91]

HP Pavilion Entertainment PC.

[Triple6]

It should have a DV####ab number. Look on the bottom for the exact model number.

[meghank91]

pavilion dv5

[Triple6]

http://h20180.www2.hp.com/apps/Looku...&submit=Go+%BB

There's more to that model number, it should be something like dv5-1001ca

[meghank91]

sorry. it's dv5-1002nr

[Triple6]

Ok, go to Device Manager and see which Card Reader you have, JMicron or Realtek. Device Manager: http://pcsupport.about.com/od/window...pendmvista.htm
Looks under Disk Drives, IDE Controllers, or Storage Controllers.

Then depending on which one it is, download the correct driver from here and install it: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/s...=3753576#N3032 - its under the "Driver - Storage" section.

[Rich-M]

If you tried another memory card and it could not read or format that either, I would get a card reader because I would bet the reader itself has an issue.
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...1862&CatId=962