Windows was unable to complete format” while formatting SD Card

Anonymous
2010-09-25T00:15:48+00:00

Original Title: Card formatting

I cannot format a SD card   It says "windows us unable to complete format

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Devices and drivers

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Anonymous
2010-09-25T18:24:36+00:00

Hi Mike,

When formatting, only two options should be available NTFS and Fat32.

·         Are there any other options for formatting that are out of the ordinary?

I would suggest you to format the Card from the Disk Management

Steps to format SD card from Disk Management

a.    Click Start and go to Control Panel.

b.    Click Administrative Tools and then click Computer Management

c.    When that window opens you can click on Disk Management and find the device in the drive viewer.

d.    Then you can right click on the drive and select Format and see if using this utility from the Disk Management helps resolve your issue.

You might also try going back to the manufacturer to see if they have a support document or utility that will reformat the drive to original specifications.

Hope this information is helpful and let me know if this worked.

Mouneshwar R – Microsoft Support

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Anonymous
2010-09-28T19:37:36+00:00

SD card greater than 2GB are in reality SDHC cards.  Even though they have the same physical size as SD cards, the internal "structure" is completely different.  You need a SDHC reader to read SDHC card and these can also read SD cards. 

SD Readers can not read SDHC card no matter what you try.

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Anonymous
2010-09-26T22:35:55+00:00

Hello Mike,

Check to make sure that your card reader can recognize SD cards over 2gb.  If it's an old one or a really cheap one, it may not be able to see more than 2gb.  If that isn't the case, do the next step.

Do the steps Mouneshwar suggests but for the file system, choose NTFS.  Let it format the SD card then go and format it again but this time using FAT32.

Let me know if that resolves the issue or not.

THanks,

Mike C.

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-06-30T01:57:04+00:00

    I solved the formatting problem in my SD card following steps here:

    method one:

    1. Go to Disk Management.(Right click the My Computer icon and select the item Manage)
    2. The flash drive is listed at the bottom of the Windows. Right it and select New Simple Volume. Then follow the wizard.
    3. The the drive will be formatted.

    method two:

    if the Disk Management can't help, you should format it with Command Prompt. It's still easy to format it with cmmand line.

    1. click Start button and type cmd in the search both and press Enter
    2. Type command diskpart on the black windows and press Enter key
    3. Continue typing disk 4. Type create primary partition and hit Enter
    4.  type in Command prompt format /FS:FAT32J

    mehod three:

    check and repair bad sector for the SD card. Then format it under My Computer.

    If all these method can't help fix the Windows was unable to cimplete the format error, then your SD card gets physical damage and you have to buy a new one.

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