Computer’s memory card reader not working

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Hi, I’m new to the lounge and I have a problem.
I have an HP Pavilion Elite with Windows 7, 64 bit, almost 2 years old. It’s SD picture memory card reader worked fine a couple of days before I went on a week’s vacation. When I got home it wouldn’t read my picture card. My laptop read it and I could download onto the laptop, so the card is fine. I tried to update the driver, but was told that I had the latest already installed. I also did a system restore and that didn’t help. Since nobody used the computer while I was away, what could have possibly have happened to it? I would appreciate any help you might give me. Thanks.

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Hi Heide,

Welcome to the Lounge.

If there is a thing that I find very unreliable are the flash drives, cards, etc. They fail to read on one computer and then they read on the next. I think you need more evidence (other cards) to conclude definitively that your card reader is not working. Can you test it with other cards?

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Hi Heide,

Welcome to the Lounge.

If there is a thing that I find very unreliable are the flash drives, cards, etc. They fail to read on one computer and then they read on the next. I think you need more evidence (other cards) to conclude definitively that your card reader is not working. Can you test it with other cards?

Hi ruirib, yes, I did try it with another card from a different camera. Same result. There is no error message. It’s just as if the card isn’t even in the slot.

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Does “couldn’t read” mean your PC did not recognize the card or got an error trying to read it?

Joe

--Joe

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Does “couldn’t read” mean your PC did not recognize the card or got an error trying to read it?

Joe

Hi Joe, there is no action at all when I stick the card in the slot, no error message. The computer totally ignores the card. I was wondering if this could have been caused by a Windows update. But system restore would have taken care of that , wouldn’t it?

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Can you open device manager and delete the card reader, then reboot and let Windows recognize it again?

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Hi ruirib, I did what you suggested, but no joy. I am just going to buy a separate card reader that I can plug in. Thank you very much for trying to help.

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In my situation, very similar, after installing Win 7, my sc card reader was not seen after the reboot. I went to my PC’s manufacturer’s site (Sony Vaio) and found drivers for the SD Card reader among others. Downloaded and instlled the driver, solved my problem. Perhaps this would work for you as well. Do not go to device manager to update the driver, go directly to the manufacturer’s site.

This is what the Sony site looks like, might be worth a try for your manufacturer as well:

29399-SDCardReaderDriver

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Hi Ted,
I searched the HP site high and low. They don’t seem to have downloads for card reader drivers. They want you to download the “Driver Detective” for $29.95 for one year, after that the driver download will be free. I ran the diagnostic tool which kept urging me to insert the picture card and finally came up with “no media inserted.” So I’m thinking I’m probably better off buying a card reader which I can plug in. It just irks me that for no reason it just failed.
But I thank you for trying to help. It is very much appreciated.

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You’re welcome, Heide. I am sorry that your problem could not be solved.

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I had the same problem with the multi-card reader built into my elderly XP machine. Mentioned it to the computer shop when I took it in to get a new hard drive installed. All they did was plug it into a different connection on the motherboard. Been working fine ever since.

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