Memory cards
One of the biggest advantages of digital photography is that memory cards can be used over and over again. The disadvantage is the cards can get "gunked up" with bytes of data that can cause problems when shooting photos. There are several ways to avoid this problem.
Instructions
1. Copy all the images from the memory card both to a computer hard drive and to optical media such as a CD, DVD or Blu-Ray disc. Check both copies to make sure they open without glitches.
2. Move all the data on the memory card to the Trash while the card is in the card reader attached to the computer. Then empty the Trash. This is the easiest, fastest way to erase a memory card, but sometimes it doesn't clear all the memory. This method can be used three out of four times. If this method works for you, only do it three out of every four times. One out of every four erasures should be done as explained in Step 3 to prevent a build-up of erroneous data.
3. Put the memory card in the camera. Go to the camera's menu and find the Erase, Format or Initialize feature. Since the card is formated for your camera, this is the better way to erase it. The camera will remove everything from the card and reformat it. This usually takes longer than deleting files using the computer, but it clears the card completely.
4. Do a couple of test shots. View them on the camera's screen or the computer to make sure they are not corrupted. If they are, erase or initialize the card again to clear it.
Tags: memory card, data memory, data memory card, every four, four times