My dad is trying to fix this over the phone with me, and I haven't experienced it so I'm throwing it to the wolves.
He has an older model HP digital camera with a 1 gig SD card. He has pictures on the card, as viewable by playing them on the camera's lcd, however when he connects the camera to the PC to transfer the pictures and clear his SD card, he gets an error on the PC that simply says "Not Formatted" and he can't go any further. Obviously the SD card is not formatted; it has pictures on it.
Is this something anyone has experienced at all? He's had the camera forever, but the SD card is an upgrade from what he had and it's the first time he's tried to upload the photos to the computer with said card. If he needed to format that card within the software on the PC before using it, how can he get those pictures now? After talking to him again, suggesting he just go to My Computer and search the removable drive files, he said that when he clicks on the camera drive, it gives him the Not Formatted error again. The problem is the HP software, because he didn't know the card had to be formatted beforehand in order to get the pictures. He's not interested in removing the software. I recommended he connect the camera to another PC without the software and just choosing his options that pop up once the camera is connected. Do Not Ever try to format using the computers operating system. Mac's will destroy the card and in some cases so will Windows.
To format the card use only the format feature that is on your camera. Sometimes even a card formatted on one camera will not work on another.
The only way to be sure to get all the image files from the card is to use a card reader. Some printers and computers have these built in, but if he doesn't have that option, then he will have to spend $15 and buy one. It connects to a USB port and the card goes in it.
Then all he has to do is use the file manager to drag and drop the images on the card to a folder on his computer that he has pre-named so he knows what is in the file. You could try installing the HP software that came with the camera to save the pictures, you should have a CD. Sometimes windows XP just can't do it. maybe the memory card or the camera is defective and try exchanging it for a new one Sounds like he might not have formatted the card before using it the first time and it may not be formatted in a way that your PC can read it.
Here's a couple things to try:
Get an SD card reader (about $20 at Best Buy, etc.) and try reading the card with it instead of the camera.
You can download this software for free and try to recover your images either off the camera directly or the SD card reader.
http://www.download.com/SoftPerfect-File...
You don't mention what operating system you have on your PC but if you're using Windows 98 or Windows 95, find a computer that has XP on it. XP supports more file formats than 95 or 98.
Hopefully you can get them off...if all else fails and your camera has a video output, plug the video output into your VCR or camcorder and play the images back on the camera while recording on the VCR or camcorder.
Once you get this situation resolved suggest to your dad that he get into the habit of formatting the card in the camera each time before he uses it. Of course he will want to ensure that all the pics have been copied down to the PC first as formatting erases all the images.
By formatting the card in the camera every time before using it he will ensure this won't happen again. Never format a card with your computer. Computers and cameras use different file formats.
Please feel free to email if you have more questions. | 