Reformatting the XD picture card

[Dudley Hanks]

> hello there
>
> I am new to digital cameras, and have not long bought my first one,
> its a fugifilm/finepix/a510...its just a starter camera
>
> Reading in the manual, could anyone tell me what this actually means
>
> When taking pictures using an XD picture card or internal memory that
> has been used on a PC "reformat" the XD picture card or internal
> memory,
> using your camera for best quality :?
>
> I use the computer alot to transfer pictures, but once they are of the
> camera, I just start taking them again.
>
> Not sure about this reformatting the picture card, and how to do it.
> Should I be going to the "set up" menu on the camera and selecting
> FORMAT > then clicking OK to erase all data, is this what reformatting
> is
> :?
>
> I am using a windows xp PC
>
> Thanks everybody
Yep, that's how you reformat.

But, you only need to reformat if you, for some reason, used your PC to
format the card before putting it into your camera.

If you've just used your PC to download and store your pics, reformatting
isn't necesary.

Good Luck,
Dudley

[Eric Stevens]

>
>"baily" <none@000.com> wrote in message
>news:126145_80f5c489f0088f38e4dc4fe6270f7481@digi forumz.com...
>> hello there
>>
>> I am new to digital cameras, and have not long bought my first one,
>> its a fugifilm/finepix/a510...its just a starter camera
>>
>> Reading in the manual, could anyone tell me what this actually means
>>
>> When taking pictures using an XD picture card or internal memory that
>> has been used on a PC "reformat" the XD picture card or internal
>> memory,
>> using your camera for best quality :?
>>
>> I use the computer alot to transfer pictures, but once they are of the
>> camera, I just start taking them again.
>>
>> Not sure about this reformatting the picture card, and how to do it.
>> Should I be going to the "set up" menu on the camera and selecting
>> FORMAT > then clicking OK to erase all data, is this what reformatting
>> is
>> :?
>>
>> I am using a windows xp PC
>>
>> Thanks everybody
>Yep, that's how you reformat.
>
>But, you only need to reformat if you, for some reason, used your PC to
>format the card before putting it into your camera.
>
>If you've just used your PC to download and store your pics, reformatting
>isn't necesary.
>
I understand its a good idea to periodically reformat
_using_the_camera_ .

Eric Stevens

[Dudley Hanks]

> On Sun, 02 Nov 2008 22:10:15 GMT, "Dudley Hanks"
> <photos.digital@dudley-hanks.com> wrote:
>
>>
>>"baily" <none@000.com> wrote in message
>>news:126145_80f5c489f0088f38e4dc4fe6270f7481@dig iforumz.com...
>>> hello there
>>>
>>> I am new to digital cameras, and have not long bought my first one,
>>> its a fugifilm/finepix/a510...its just a starter camera
>>>
>>> Reading in the manual, could anyone tell me what this actually means
>>>
>>> When taking pictures using an XD picture card or internal memory that
>>> has been used on a PC "reformat" the XD picture card or internal
>>> memory,
>>> using your camera for best quality :?
>>>
>>> I use the computer alot to transfer pictures, but once they are of the
>>> camera, I just start taking them again.
>>>
>>> Not sure about this reformatting the picture card, and how to do it.
>>> Should I be going to the "set up" menu on the camera and selecting
>>> FORMAT > then clicking OK to erase all data, is this what reformatting
>>> is
>>> :?
>>>
>>> I am using a windows xp PC
>>>
>>> Thanks everybody
>>Yep, that's how you reformat.
>>
>>But, you only need to reformat if you, for some reason, used your PC to
>>format the card before putting it into your camera.
>>
>>If you've just used your PC to download and store your pics, reformatting
>>isn't necesary.
>>
> I understand its a good idea to periodically reformat
> _using_the_camera_ .
>
>

It won't hurt anything. And, if you selectively delete some pics while
leaving others on the card, one should clean up fragmentation by copying
everything off and either deleting all or formatting.

But, I'm not aware of any benefit to formatting over simply deleting all the
files. Of course, I'm not an expert in the field, so someone else might be
able to clear that up a bit...

Take care,
Dudley

[John McWilliams]

> "Eric Stevens" <eric.stevens@sum.co.nz> wrote in message

> It won't hurt anything. And, if you selectively delete some pics while
> leaving others on the card, one should clean up fragmentation by copying
> everything off and either deleting all or formatting.
>
> But, I'm not aware of any benefit to formatting over simply deleting all the
> files. Of course, I'm not an expert in the field, so someone else might be
> able to clear that up a bit...

There's one killer benefit for me: Reformatting is way faster than
deleting all, and that's been true ever since cards hit all of 515 MB,
at least on my Canons.

[Dudley Hanks]

> Dudley Hanks wrote:
>> "Eric Stevens" <eric.stevens@sum.co.nz> wrote in message
>
>> It won't hurt anything. And, if you selectively delete some pics while
>> leaving others on the card, one should clean up fragmentation by copying
>> everything off and either deleting all or formatting.
>>
>> But, I'm not aware of any benefit to formatting over simply deleting all
>> the files. Of course, I'm not an expert in the field, so someone else
>> might be able to clear that up a bit...
>
> There's one killer benefit for me: Reformatting is way faster than
> deleting all, and that's been true ever since cards hit all of 515 MB, at
> least on my Canons.
>
>Yeah, there is that aspect... Especially with the slower cards...

I find that deleting on the camera is a lot faster than using the computer
to delete pics after downloading. But, YMMV ....

Take care,
Dudley

[baily]

>But, you only need to reformat if you, for some reason, used your PC
>to
>format the card before putting it into your camera.
>
>If you’ve just used your PC to download and store your pics,
>reformatting
>isn’t necesary.
>
>Good Luck,
>Dudley

Thanks dudley > But, you only need to reformat if you, for some
reason, used your PC
>to
>format the card before putting it into your camera.

When you say for some reason, you used your pc to format the card
before putting it into the camera, by this do you mean like if you
have used your pc to delete pictures of the camera, or edited pictures
and the put them back on the camera,

I am not using a card reader. just using the usb cable in the back of
the camera... 8)

[Dudley Hanks]

> >But, you only need to reformat if you, for some reason, used your PC
>>to
>>format the card before putting it into your camera.
>>
>>If you've just used your PC to download and store your pics,
>>reformatting
>>isn't necesary.
>>
>>Good Luck,
>>Dudley
>
> Thanks dudley > But, you only need to reformat if you, for some
> reason, used your PC
>>to
>>format the card before putting it into your camera.
>
> When you say for some reason, you used your pc to format the card
> before putting it into the camera, by this do you mean like if you
> have used your pc to delete pictures of the camera, or edited pictures
> and the put them back on the camera,
>
> I am not using a card reader. just using the usb cable in the back of
> the camera... 8)

Then you shouldn't have a problem.

I use a Canon 'A' series p&s camera. For some reason, if the card is
formatted by a computer when the card is in a reader, my camera doesn't like
it, and the card will be ruined rather quickly.

Just using the PC to delete files via the USB cable shouldn't hurt anything,
and should be just as good as reformatting, although maybe a bit slower.

For me, the few extra seconds the deletion process takes isn't a big deal,
but for the pros, every second can count, so some seem to prefer
reformatting over deletion.

Take Care,
Dudley

[baily]

how would you use your computer to format the card, and why would you
do it when all the manuals say format the card on your camera for best
quality"Dudley Hanks" wrote:
>"baily" <**> wrote in message
>news:126145_80f5c489f0088f38e4dc4fe6270f7481@digi forumz.com...
>> hello there
>>
>> I am new to digital cameras, and have not long bought my first
>one,
>> its a fugifilm/finepix/a510...its just a starter camera
>>
>> Reading in the manual, could anyone tell me what this actually
>means
>>
>> When taking pictures using an XD picture card or internal memory
>that
>> has been used on a PC "reformat" the XD picture card or internal
>> memory,
>> using your camera for best quality :?
>>
>> I use the computer alot to transfer pictures, but once they are
>of the
>> camera, I just start taking them again.
>>
>> Not sure about this reformatting the picture card, and how to do
>it.
>> Should I be going to the "set up" menu on the camera and
>selecting
>> FORMAT > then clicking OK to erase all data, is this what
>reformatting
>> is
>> :?
>>
>> I am using a windows xp PC
>>
>> Thanks everybody
>Yep, that’s how you reformat.
>
>But, you only need to reformat if you, for some reason, used your PC
>to
>format the card before putting it into your camera.
>
>If you’ve just used your PC to download and store your pics,
>reformatting
>isn’t necesary.
>
>Good Luck,
>Dudley

** email masked for security. To view email, see thread url below.

[David J Taylor]

Jürgen Exner wrote:
[]
> There are also claims that a file system created by the camera might
> be different than the same file system created by a computer program.
> If that is the case then one of those two is broken and creates a
> non-conforming file system. Unfortunately if your camera is the one
> that creates a broken file system and expects a broken file system
> then there is just about nothing you can do but to use the broken
> formatter in the camera.
[]
> jue

Hardly "broken" if the computer chooses NTFS and the camera requires FAT.
Or FAT16 and FAT32. User error.

But as you said, it's easier in the camera in any case, so just do it that
way to avoid problems.

Cheers,
David

[Eric Stevens]

>>how would you use your computer to format the card,
>
>By plugging the card into the card reader which is attached to the
>computer and issuing whatever command the operating system uses to
>format the drive with whatever file system the camera uses.
>
>>and why would you
>>do it when all the manuals say format the card on your camera for best
>>quality"
>
>Why not? A file system is a file system and the card couldn't care less
>about who created it. Of course you need to know which file system the
>camera expects and how to use the tools of your operating system to
>create just such a file system. For some people this seems to be an
>unsurmountable problem. In any case, it _IS_ more complex than using the
>format command in your camera which is one good reason to use the
>camera.
>
>There are also claims that a file system created by the camera might be
>different than the same file system created by a computer program. If
>that is the case then one of those two is broken and creates a
>non-conforming file system. Unfortunately if your camera is the one that
>creates a broken file system and expects a broken file system then there
>is just about nothing you can do but to use the broken formatter in the
>camera.
>
>BTW: "better quality" is utter nonsense. The camera doesn't take better
>photos because of the file system on the memory card. Either the camera
>recognizes the FS and can work with it or it doesn't.[/color]

'Why not?' you ask.

Here is what my computer's 'Help' says about the instruction 'Format'.

Begin quote
==
Formats a disk for use with Windows XP.

FORMAT volume [/FS:file-system] [/V:label] [/Q] [/A:size] [/C] [/X]
FORMAT volume [/V:label] [/Q] [/F:size]
FORMAT volume [/V:label] [/Q] [/T:tracks /N:sectors]
FORMAT volume [/V:label] [/Q]
FORMAT volume [/Q]

volume Specifies the drive letter (followed by a colon),
mount point, or volume name.
/FS:filesystem Specifies the type of the file system (FAT, FAT32,
or NTFS).
/V:label Specifies the volume label.
/Q Performs a quick format.
/C NTFS only: Files created on the new volume will be
compressed by default.
/X Forces the volume to dismount first if necessary.
All opened handles to the volume would no longer be
valid.
/A:size Overrides the default allocation unit size. Default
settings are strongly recommended for general
use.
NTFS supports 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 16K, 32K,
64K.
FAT supports 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 16K, 32K,
64K, (128K, 256K for sector size > 512 bytes).
FAT32 supports 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 16K,
32K, 64K,
(128K, 256K for sector size > 512 bytes).

Note that the FAT and FAT32 files systems impose the
following restrictions on the number of clusters on
a volume:

FAT: Number of clusters <= 65526
FAT32: 65526 < Number of clusters < 4177918

Format will immediately stop processing if it
decides that the above requirements cannot be met
using the specified cluster size.

NTFS compression is not supported for allocation
unit sizes above 4096.

/F:size Specifies the size of the floppy disk to format
(1.44)
/T:tracks Specifies the number of tracks per disk side.
/N:sectors Specifies the number of sectors per track.
==
End quote

That lot is for XP. W2000 will be different and so too will be Vista.
Then there is Apple and Linux. Obviously not all of these options will
apply to a memory card for a camera but if the proper operation of
your camera depends on a particular setting and you don't give it to
it, then you can expect trouble. Formatting using your camera will
ensure that everything is done correctly.

Eric Stevens