PC won't open my SDHC card, sees no partition

Question

I just took off my SDHC card from my camera in order to save all my pics on my pc, but when I plug it in it says it cannot be opened and I need to format it.

I tried several programs that do recover files from such drivers, like:

Ease US
Yodot Photo Recovery
Test Disk
Remo Recover

but none could help.

Fact is they see no partition, however I don't understand how this could have happened... I took photos and saw them while the SD card was in the camera.

What should I do? Format it and then trying to recover the files? (It's possible even if the SD card is formatted, but I'm scared of loosing all the files)

The SDHC Card is a 32GB Lexar.

Have you tried putting the card back in the camera and seeing if the camera sees them? I would not format the card until every other option has been exhausted. — Michael C, Jul 30 '18 at 17:09
We've got several existing "How do I recover images on a corrupt card" questions here. There's really nothing in this question that distinguishes it from some of those, but it might take one of us a while to find which one is the closest to your situation. — Michael C, Jul 30 '18 at 17:13
Possible duplicate of How can I recover photo files from a memory card with a corrupt filesystem? — Romeo Ninov, Jul 30 '18 at 18:38
Possibly related: Mysteriously lost photos on Nikon D5100 after shooting and plugging into iMac and New SD XC card, works fine in T5i, Windows is prompting to format and How do I get my photos off a card with a “card cannot be accessed” error? — Michael C, Jul 30 '18 at 22:08
Possible duplicate of New SD XC card, works fine in T5i, Windows is prompting to format — Michael C, Jul 30 '18 at 22:09

xiota · Answer 1 · 2018-07-30T21:06:35.597

It is possible that the card does not have a partition table. I have encountered a few problematic cards that were formatted this way. In these cases, the card was formatted with a file system, but no underlying partition structure.

Such cards would still be readable by your camera, and you can try transferring files through your camera. However, this is unlikely to work if your camera simply presents the SD card as an additional drive.

If you have access to a camera that multiple card slots, you may be able to transfer files to a card that is known to work with your computer.

Linux computers, and possibly also Macs, can also read such cards. Most distributions have a "live" edition that can be used from DVD or USB without installation to a hard drive. Even if you are not a regular Linux user, these editions are useful for recovery purposes.

Once you have successfully copied the files from the card, you should use a utility, such as gparted to create a partition table and reformat the card. It is also possible that Windows' built-in formatting tool will create the partition table for you.

Yes I was thinking about inserting the card back in the camera and then transferring the files onto my pc, will try and let you know how it goes! — FET, Jul 31 '18 at 07:57

PC won't open my SDHC card, sees no partition

1 Answers1