SD camera media "can't read", hosed my card?

[Guest]

I was out yesterday and took ~1GB worth of pictures and movies on a 2GB SD
flash card inside a Canon PowerShot SD550 camera.

When I was done with my ride, I took a quick glimpse of the pictures on the
camera, everything looked fine.

Then I popped the card out, put it in the USB reader that I have used for a
long time and stuck it in my Vista notebook (Dell Inspiron 4150). I got the
"can't read media, do you want to format?" question.

Immediately said "cancel" and took the card out. Now it can't be read by my
server or by my camera - both report errors.

Anyone else see this happen? Is it vista related or just coincidence?
Anybody know of a good tool to help correct this?

 

[JW]

Did you format the card before you put it in your camera? I know I always
have to do that or the pictures taken in my Kodak camera can not be read by
my Windows system since it does not recognize the format on the card.

Was the card in your USB reader when you connected the reader to your
computer?

 

[Guest]

Yes, the card was formatted and has been used for almost a year.

I had just re-formatted it yesterday before going out on the trip.

I reviewed pictures throughout my ride and all was fine. I reviewed
pictures after the ride and saw that I had taken ~300 pictures and a couple
of videos.

I could review pictures and video on the camera. Then, this morning I tried
to put it in the vista laptop.

 

[JW]

What format are you using FAT32 or NTFS?
When you reformatted it yesterday did you do that on the Vista system and
card reader?
Do you have another system that you can try the card reader or camera direct
with USB cable in?
If you put the card back in the camera can you still see the pictures?