CF card troubles

[Clancy2]

Until today, when I inserted a CF card into the appropriate slot in the CPU,
it opened up fine. Suddenly, now, when plugging in a CF, I get a message
telling me the CF card has to be formatted. I tried this with a blank CF, but
then got a message saying the card couldn't be formatted. All I want to do is
view/copy/delete the images on my cards. Any advice?
Thanks.

 

[dev]

/Clancy2/ said:

Until today, when I inserted a CF card into the appropriate slot in the CPU,
it opened up fine. Suddenly, now, when plugging in a CF, I get a message
telling me the CF card has to be formatted. I tried this with a blank CF, but
then got a message saying the card couldn't be formatted. All I want to do is
view/copy/delete the images on my cards. Any advice?

It is best to format the card with the camera, not the PC reader. Of
course, formatting will delete all images on the card.

Try formatting a new card, and snapping a few shots. Does the reader
recognize it?

 

[Clancy2]

I've always just plugged new CFs directly into the camera and fired away.
Never had any problem with either obtaining images on the card or with having
a PC read them. This was true with XP Pro and with Vista, until (with the
latter) just recently. Now Vista has suddenly begun the "must format card"
routine. Something has changed in its innards, but I don't know what. Thanks
for offering a suggestion. I'd be most grateful for others.

 

[Quaoar]

I've always just plugged new CFs directly into the camera and fired away.
Never had any problem with either obtaining images on the card or with having
a PC read them. This was true with XP Pro and with Vista, until (with the
latter) just recently. Now Vista has suddenly begun the "must format card"
routine. Something has changed in its innards, but I don't know what. Thanks
for offering a suggestion. I'd be most grateful for others.

Replace the CF card in the camera and see if the camera will display
images. If not, then the card has a structure problem and should be
formatted in the camera.

Then, take several pics and again verify that the camera will display
the pics. If not, the card has failed.

 

[Clancy2]

Thanks, but still no dice. I formatted three different cards (256MG, 512MB
and 8GB, the latter only two weeks old) in the camera. Took several pix and
confirmed that they could be replayed in the camera's monitor. Tried the
cards in the PC and still got the "card must be formatted" message. I tried
to get around it by using a card reader plugged into a USB port, but still
got the same message. I'm about ready to shoot Vista and revert to XP Pro.
Other recommendations?