Utility for low-level formatting of SD disks

[Frank Rizzo]

Is there a utility out there for low-level formatting SD disks? Or a
utility that can delete and re-create partition on an SD disk. The disk
is corrupted somewhat and Windows XP can't seem to format it. I don't
need a picture recovery tool (i already have that).

Thanks.

 

[Mistoffolees]

Is there a utility out there for low-level formatting SD disks? Or a
utility that can delete and re-create partition on an SD disk. The disk
is corrupted somewhat and Windows XP can't seem to format it. I don't
need a picture recovery tool (i already have that).

Thanks.

One little trick, and probably a reliable one at that, is
to use the camera utility to do the formatting. Unless one
knows what are the formatting keys and can format the card
manually under CMD from the Command Prompt, it is probably
best not using Windows.

 

[Frank Rizzo]

I tried that (and other devices, like Palm, etc...) but to no avail.

 

[DevilsPGD]

In message <#[email protected]> Frank Rizzo

I tried that (and other devices, like Palm, etc...) but to no avail.

Personal opinion: Unless the card is special in some way, toss it and
buy another.

 

[DevilsPGD]

In message <OXAG$Y#[email protected]> Frank Rizzo

Is there a utility out there for low-level formatting SD disks? Or a
utility that can delete and re-create partition on an SD disk. The disk
is corrupted somewhat and Windows XP can't seem to format it. I don't
need a picture recovery tool (i already have that).

There is no such thing as a low-level format for an SD disk.

Low-level formatting is the process of outlining the positions of the
tracks and sectors on the hard disk, and writing the control structures
that define where the tracks and sectors are.

Flash disks simply don't have anything similar, nor do they have moving
heads which would need to be aligned.

 

[Frank Rizzo]

In message <OXAG$Y#[email protected]> Frank Rizzo




There is no such thing as a low-level format for an SD disk.

Low-level formatting is the process of outlining the positions of the
tracks and sectors on the hard disk, and writing the control structures
that define where the tracks and sectors are.

Flash disks simply don't have anything similar, nor do they have moving
heads which would need to be aligned.

I beg to differ. When you load the SD card, check the total space. For
a 1GB card, it'll be 976 MB. The rest of the space is devoted to the
FAT-like structure. The bottom line is that if that structure gets
messed up you can't format the card any longer. And that's when you
need the low-level format utility (which accesses that space).

 

[DevilsPGD]

In message <[email protected]> Frank Rizzo

I beg to differ. When you load the SD card, check the total space. For
a 1GB card, it'll be 976 MB. The rest of the space is devoted to the
FAT-like structure. The bottom line is that if that structure gets
messed up you can't format the card any longer. And that's when you
need the low-level format utility (which accesses that space).

That's still not low-level formatting though, that's just regular
formatting. Low-level formatting defines the physical location of the
tracks on the disk, partitioning and formatting define the file system
(FAT12/FAT16/FAT32/NTFS being the most popular in WinXP environments)

0.976GB=1000MB, perhaps that's what you're seeing?

 

[Frank Rizzo]

In message <[email protected]> Frank Rizzo




That's still not low-level formatting though, that's just regular
formatting. Low-level formatting defines the physical location of the
tracks on the disk, partitioning and formatting define the file system
(FAT12/FAT16/FAT32/NTFS being the most popular in WinXP environments)

0.976GB=1000MB, perhaps that's what you're seeing?

Ok, I didn't make myself clear. Perhaps formatting is not the right
word. Perhaps a low-level utilty that re-initializes the card.
As far as 0.976GB - it is not that - it's 976 Mb, which is different
from 0.976GB. The card is 1GB - 1024 MB.