Do you wonder, why your PC does not recognize an SD card? Is something wrong with your SD card? Or are you using a fake SD card? If your answer is yes then do not be afraid. I will tell, you some easy ways to check your SD card health and fix your corrupted SD card. Additionally, I will explain how you can test the health of your Memory card on your Android phone. So without further ado, let’s get started.
Quick Links
- Brief Overview
- Video From Our YouTube Channel
- What Factors Affect SD Card Health
- How To Detect Fake SD Cards
- How To Check SD Card Health On Windows
- How To Restore Formatted Or Corrupted SD Card
- How To Test Micro SD Card Health On Android
- Bonus Tips
- Final Verdict
- FAQs
Brief Overview
You can check your SD card’s health by connecting it to your PC and using Windows Command Prompt. Moreover, you can use third-party speed test applications like USB Deview, H2testw, Speed out, etc. to check the health of your memory card through your PC.
Video From Our YouTube Channel
What Factors Affect SD Card Health
Here are many factors that may affect the well-being of your SD card:
1. High Temperature
Overheating your device may deteriorate the functions and efficiency of your SD card and may result in poor performance or total failure of your SD card.
2. Bad Handling
If you remove the SD card from your connected PC or phone then it may result in corruption or permanent deletion of your stored data.
3. Physical Damage
Physical damage such as scratches, fall on a hard surface, and electric short circuit can affect the stored data of your SD card.
4. Virus Infestation
Any virus attack may create bad sectors in your SD card or severely damage your connected camera, PC, or phone. This may happen due to downloading data from an insecure internet website or virus-affected device.
How To Detect Fake SD Cards
You can identify the fake SD cards by following the below methods:
Check Packaging
If the packaging is not the same as it appeared on the website then you can return the SD card and make sure you get your new SD card from the official website only.
False Storage Information
Usually, fake brands tend to show unrealistic storage capacities such as 2 TB, 4 TB, etc, or they misprint the storage size on SD cards. However, the reality of these cards is worse, they lack the transfer speed and storage capacity.
How To Check SD Card Health On Windows
If your SD card is getting slow while transferring data or you have experienced unexpected deletion of the stored data then it is advisable to check the health of your SD card. Moreover, you should regularly test your SD card’s health.
This way, you will be able to identify the signs of deterioration before it results in corruption or deletion of your stored valuable photos and videos. You can check the health of your SD card by following the methods below:
Method 1: Check SD Card Health
You can test your SD card’s health by following the below-mentioned steps:
1. First, connect your SD card to your PC and open Windows File Explorer.
2. Then click on This PC( My Computer in older versions of Windows) and you will be able to see all drives. Select your SD card and right-click to select Properties.
3. Now, click on the Tools and select the Check button. After this, click on OK.
4. Next, a new pop will appear on your PC’s screen, click on Scan and repair drive and wait till the process is complete.
Note: You will not be able to use the connected SD card while the scan is in process. Therefore, close all files before you click on the Check button.
5. Once the scan is over you will see a new page. If your SD card has some problems you will be notified.
Method 2: Use the Command Prompt
If the above-explained method does not solve your issue then you can use the Windows Command Prompt to find and fix errors in your SD card. To do this, follow the steps below:
1. First, connect your SD card or memory card to your PC. Then use the Windows+R shortcut key, type cmd, and press the enter key.
2. Now, Windows Command Prompt will open on your PC’s screen. Next, type chkdsk (Disk letter): /f and press enter key.
3. By doing this, the Command Prompt will initiate the scan of your SD card and repair the bad sectors automatically. Wait until the process is done, it may take several minutes or hours depending on the storage size of your SD card.
Method 3: Use Third-Party Software To Test SD Card’s Health
To check whether your SD card is genuine or not, you can do a speed test by transferring big data files to your PC. Or you can install free third-party software such as USB Deview, H2testw, Speed out, etc. to check the actual size of your Memory cards.
For the demonstration, I will explain how you can use the H2testw app to test the actual performance of your SD card.
1. Go to the H2testw official website to download the exe file. The setup file is only 409 kb in size.
2. Once you have downloaded H2testw, double-click to open the setup and connect the SD card to your PC.
3. Now, click on English to select the language and then click on the Select target button.
4. After doing this, a new page will appear on your PC screen. Scroll down and select your connected SD card, then click on OK.
5. Finally, click on the Write + Verify button and wait until the scan is over. If there are no errors in the test results then it means that you have an original SD card.
How To Restore Formatted Or Corrupted SD Card
In case, you do want to retrieve your important data from a corrupted or formatted SD card then you can recover it using a Stellar Data Recovery Professional. To do this, follow the below steps:
1. First, download and install Stellar Data Recovery Professional from Stellar’s official site.
2. Open the Stellar dashboard and select the type of files you wish to restore from your corrupted SD card. Otherwise, select the All Data option and click on Next. The scanning process may take time depending on the amount of photos or videos you want to get back from your SD card.
3. Next, select your connected SD card and click on scan.
3. Now, click on the OK button and select the files you wish to recover. Moreover, you can preview the scanned files. Once you have selected the files, click on the Recover button.
4. By doing this, a new page will open on your PC screen. Click on Browse…
5. Next, select a different location to save the recovered data from your formatted SD card. Then click on the Select Folder.
6. After that, click on the Start Saving button and wait till the recovery is done.
Note: Your recovered data will be saved as a #Root folder on your selected location. You can go there and check the restored files.
Recommended: You can read my full review on Stellar Data Recovery Professional.
How To Test Micro SD Card Health On Android
You can check the Micro SD card’s health on your phone also. To do this, follow the steps below:
1. Open the Google Play store and search SD Card Test to install the app on your Android phone.
2. Now, open the SD Card Test app from your phone’s home screen and select the Removable SD card option.
3. Then select the All radio button.
4. Next, tap on the START button and wait till the speed test is over. After that, the SD Card Test app will run speed tests in write+read+wirte sequence.
5. Once the speed test is done, you can view the test results by tapping on the Results options.
Bonus Tips
Use Quality SD Cards
Always purchase high-quality SD cards for fast read and write speed. Such SD cards are good for 2k, 4k, and 8k video recording, and high-speed data transfer. Moreover, make sure to purchase SD cards from authorized vendors only.
Do Not Remove Your SD Card During File Transfer
Handle your SD card with care and do not remove it while transferring data to your PC. Always eject the SD card before disconnecting from the device.
Do Regular Backup
Create a backup of your stored data in an SD card. To create a backup you can upload your valuable data on cloud storage like iCloud, Google Drive, etc.
Once you have set up a backup for your SD card’s data, make sure to regularly repeat the process to avoid any accidental data loss.
Format Your SD Card
Format your SD card from time to time to remove bad sectors but before you do that, make sure to create a backup of your stored data.
You might also like:
- How To Recover Data From A Dropped External Hard Drive
- How To Clone NVME SSD To New Or Larger NVME SSD
- How To Fix A Corrupted SD Card
Final Verdict
I hope this article will be a useful guide to checking your SD card’s health and help you to identify signs of potential degradation of your SD card. Furthermore, I have included a step-by-step process to recover data from your formatted SD card.
FAQs
How Do I Know If My SD Card Is Bad?
If your camera or PC does not recognize your SD card then there are the chances that your SD card is corrupted. Furthermore, if your SD card gets slow during large file transfers then it may not be a genuine SD card.
How Do I Check The Health Of My SD Card?
You can test your SD card's health using Windows Command Prompt or third-party software like H2testw, USB Deview, Speed out, etc.
Can I Test My Micro SD Card Health On My Phone?
Yes, you can use third-party Android software like Zoltan Pallagi's SD Card Test app to check your Memory card's health.
