i dont have a card reader on my main PC, but on my laptop I do use a PCMCIA adapter for my CF card, its VERY fast, and I do use the "unplug or eject hardware" before I remove the card
Yes, I use a USB 2.0 CF card reader for downloading. It is a lot faster than doing it through the camera (which only supports regular USB).
I use BreezeSys's Downloader Pro, an incredibly useful and slick tool for downloading images. It has an option to automatically "eject"* the disk when you close the program. So I insert my CF card, launch Downloader Pro (could probably configure windows to do that automatically but haven't set that up yet), download my pics, close Downloader Pro, wait a couple seconds to make sure the blinking has stopped, pull out CF card.
Works great; is fast; files are organized and named how I want them (thanks to Downloader Pro); haven't had any problems.
* this is an "Eject" from Windows point of view; obviously the card is not physically ejected. It just ensures that the operating system doesn't have any files open on the card before you pull it out. Note that I do NOT use the little "Safely Remove Hardware" icon in the system tray.
Sometimes it says it can't be removed, even when I know that it isn't in use. A quick reboot of the computer shuts down any open connections and then it can be safely ejected when the computer is up and running again.
The bonus question for the people who don't use the 'eject' option before removing/ swapping cards (Nb this isn't the same as the 'safely remove hardware option' that's for unplugging the reader, not a card - though it will also do an eject/ buffer flush on the way...)
If you do just yank cards out and swap them around - ever have problems with weird card errors, lost files, that sort of thing.. ?
I have already damaged a 128 MB card when I removed the USB cable from the MP3 player before the last song had finished downloading. It got `hung`and the only way to stop it was to remove the batteries. It still works, but there is one section of the card that is no longer rewritable. So I'm stuck with David Bowie's "Sufragette City" for life.
Needless to say I always make sure to "eject" my photo CF cards before yanking them out of the reader.
Could be worse ... Billy Ray Cirus and Achy Breaky Heart. Sorry to whoever reads this because I know you'll hate me for the rest of the day. Don't break my heart, my achy breaky heart ....
Originally posted by Beagleboy:
I have already damaged a 128 MB card when I removed the USB cable from the MP3 player before the last song had finished downloading. It got `hung`and the only way to stop it was to remove the batteries. It still works, but there is one section of the card that is no longer rewritable. So I'm stuck with David Bowie's "Sufragette City" for life.
Needless to say I always make sure to "eject" my photo CF cards before yanking them out of the reader.
Although I used to use a USB (non-2.0) reader, I finally replaced it with a firewire reader. I don't use eject and I've never encountered a problem with either.
Even if I don't run Downloader Pro, I always right-click on the drive letter that corresponds to my CF card and choose "Eject" to make sure Windows is not in the middle of doing something with the card before yanking it out of the reader. (My reader doesn't have an actual "Eject" button either, BTW.)
The one one my Canon i900D printer
The lexas 6 in 1 card reader or
The EOS 10D camera (Not for large quantity)
Both USB 2.0
The one built into the printer is really nice I like it better than the 6 in 1.
The Canon file viewer is also nice it lets me view and adjust the RAW (CRW) files before I donwload them.
Yes I always use the eject option. A small surge or etc will wipe the card out or damage files if the reader is still accessing the card.
I had a 1gb IBM CF card that got trashed in less than one month of use, not sure if this is what happened but it scared me enough to say I will use the eject option. Luckily the store replaced it under the 30day option. I can't afford this to happen very often.
With XP and the USB readers usually a device icon shows in the system tray that you can double click and then tell it to stop the device before removing the card. The steps were in the Lexar USB card reader manual.
I use a USB card reader which doesn't require any sort of software eject prior to removing the card. My USB reader just shows up as 3 additional drives (Drive I:\, J:\, and K:\) under the My Computer window.
Sometimes it says it can't be removed, even when I know that it isn't in use. A quick reboot of the computer shuts down any open connections and then it can be safely ejected when the computer is up and running again.
I had this problem and fixed it by making sure all of my image editing/viewing programs were closed before I removed the CF card....no problems with it since I started doing that.
I use a USB card reader which doesn't require any sort of software eject prior to removing the card. My USB reader just shows up as 3 additional drives (Drive I:\, J:\, and K:\) under the My Computer window.
Which card ? All the ones I looked at state that the eject option is required - though they usually hide it in the manual somewhere...
The bonus question for the people who don't use the 'eject' option before removing/ swapping cards (Nb this isn't the same as the 'safely remove hardware option' that's for unplugging the reader, not a card - though it will also do an eject/ buffer flush on the way...)
If you do just yank cards out and swap them around - ever have problems with weird card errors, lost files, that sort of thing.. ?
Yup. Happened last night. After "finding" what I thought were lost files, I just pulled the CF card out of the reader. Went to look at some of the pics on the card today, and it said "Corrupted Data". First time that's ever happened. (And last, I hope. From now on, plan to use "eject" and format as has been recommended.)
There may be an alternative solution to the requirement of 'eject', even though it would be best to use the eject. Since the problem is related to the cache not being flushed before the card is removed, it is possible in most cases to disable the write caching for the card reader.
1. Right click on the drive letter (in windows explorer) that is associated with the card reader.
2. Choose 'properties' from the menu.
3. From the 'hardware' tab, highlight your card reader device.
4. Press the 'properties' button
5. Select the 'disk properties' tab
6. Uncheck the 'write cache enabled' option.
7. Press OK.
This disables the write cache to the card reader and should remove any latency that could cause data writes to not complete promptly.
* These instructions work for Windows 2000 Professional and may vary in other operating systems.
Yes, I have several of the PCMCIA (PCCARD) variety, and one USB. I use the PCCard mostly, I bought the USB one (LEXAR) because it also had a smartmedia slot, and my old camera uses Smartmedia.
Originally posted by Gordon:
and if so - do you always eject your cards in the software menu, before inserting a new CF card..
When I remember; I never used to, and the need to do it depends on three things:
1) Have you changed any data on the card (e.g., usually erased, but if you open any of the folders and your software writes hidden files, as Breezebrowser does), then you have written.
2) Do you only have one card? I have two CF cards, and putting one in after the other without properly ejecting could end up screwing the directory up on the second.
and finally:
3) Knowing the way MS writes software, DO YOU FEEL LUCKY?
One thing that makes it easier is to use the icon in the system tray, and remember to counter-intuitively left click on it to get the menu rather than right click as is the standard. When you left click, you get an immmediate action menu. When you right click, you get the general stop dialog, which takes several clicks to work. Took me a while to figure that out since it is counter- normal GUI standards.
One thing that makes it easier is to use the icon in the system tray, and remember to counter-intuitively left click on it to get the menu rather than right click as is the standard. When you left click, you get an immmediate action menu. When you right click, you get the general stop dialog, which takes several clicks to work. Took me a while to figure that out since it is counter- normal GUI standards.
