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Whenever I try to read a 8GB SDHC on Windows 8 (using two different card readers), it says that the card needs to be formatted, but from the camera (CanonSX240HS) the photos are readable.

I have the same issues with two cards, both 8GB, different manufacturer.

Looking at the properties, it says that it is in "DCF file system". Wasn't supposed to be FAT32 ?

Then I tried to read the card on a MacMini, using the internal card reader, and it works fine!

I'm quite confused, so some questions that come in mind:

  • Are there issues with Windows 8 and DCF?

  • Should I format to FAT32?

  • I tried to connect the camera via USB, the files are there, but it takes about 45 minutes to download 6GB of photos. Isn't it too much?

Thank you.

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The DCF system is supposed to be formatted as FAT, whether it be FAT32 or exFAT (for your cards) depending on what the camera supports. I would take everything off the cards and use the Windows machine to format it as FAT32 (a simple right-click, quick format from My Computer) and see if the camera is able to use it. If it is, then that should work.

The file transfer speed does sound kind of slow, but it's entirely viable depending on the speed class of the SD card. A class 2 SD card would transfer 6GB of files at around that rate. If the SD card is a higher class than that it could also be the camera's interface. Either way, you should be able to connect the SD directly to the computer if the camera accepts a plain FAT32 partition.

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  • I just tried reading the card with an old Asus eeepc, works fine, and managed to copy 1500 pictures (3GB) to an external USB HDD in 4 minutes. On PC I tried two different card readers too, so it is definitely an OS issue.
    – Omiod
    Aug 16, 2013 at 17:21
  • Well, you were copying through the camera on Windows, so I'm inclined to say that it's the camera's interface that was slowing down the transfer speed. I think that if you were to format a blank card on Windows to FAT32 as a test, it should be able to work on all operating systems if the camera supports it.
    – parashep
    Aug 16, 2013 at 20:42

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