Memory Card Locked?

The memory card? It may depend what kind, but mine (standard SD cards) have a little slider thing on the left side that locks it so it can't be saved onto (or erased). Maybe that's it?

Surely it can't be that simple, though!

 

If it dosn't have a slider switch on the side with the word "lock" on it- then you could probably plug it into a camera or computer and change it- but even my other cards have locks on them ( except for gaming platforms, lol)

 

what kind of card and camera are you using??
compatibility could be an issue...

 

If your camera is old it might not support SDHC memory cards, which may well be why the new card isn't working. Not all cameras can use/read SDHC.

If anybody has a spare SD (NOT SDHC) memory card you can try in your camera to see if that works, it might be worthwhile to check. It sounds like your memory card may have gone bad, since it's not reading anywhere and doesn't have a lock.

 

it could be that your sd card was formated for a different camera? if you have a formated sd card other people won't be able to see your pictures when you put it in your camera.

 

I borrowed my parents Canon Power Shot S2 IS 5.0 megapixel camera and went to use it and. . . everytime I turn the camera on its says "Memory Card Error" and "Memory Card Locked". I don't know why it says that or how the memory card got locked, I asked my Dad what he did, but he doesn't know. >< I tried two different memory cards and it says the same thing on each of them.

So, does anyone here know how to unlock the memory card so I can take some pictures? I want to take some pics of some doll outfits I want to sell, but I can't sell them without pictures and if the memory card is locked, I can't save any pics to use. >< Ugh!! So frustrating!

 

I had a similar problem with my memory card as well. On the memory card, there should be a tiny, tiny sliding switch that you slide over to unlock the card. That's how I solved my problem with my memory card. It's small though, so I've never noticed it before until I googled my problem. >__<;

If that's not the problem, then I don't know. :<

 

Thanks for the tip! I never noticed that before.

I tried it, but unfortunately, it didn't work. So, I think the problem lies with the camera.

 

You could be right in that - I know that when I put the memory card into the camera, it sometimes locks itself again due to the pushing action. This tends to result in me taking it out, unlocking it, pushing it back in, finding it locked again, repeat until it decides to stay unlocked

Just keep trying until it stays unlocked I guess.

 

I had this problem with a card and eventually had to wrap my card in a piece of scotch tape to get it from hitting the switch

 

Can you try using a different memory card? That way you could tell if the problem is something with your memory card or a problem with the camera. It could be that the lock switch on the memory card is having a problem, or it could be a problem with the camera. Or could you try the memory card in a different camera?

Back in the day when everybody used 3.5" floppy disks, if you wanted to reuse a locked floppy you just put a sticker or a bit of tape over the locked tab (disks you got for free, like AOL install disks, frequently had the lock tabs removed so you couldn't unlock them!) so the tape solution is a time-honored one. XD

 

I tried the scotch tape just now and that isn't working either. I don't have another memory card to try, I'll have to buy one once I get my paid. I don't know why all of a sudden the camera's doing this. We've had it for years and we never had this problem. . .

 

have you also had the memory card for years?
sounds like the memory card might be crapping out!

Best guess would be that it's your memory card going and not your camera

and check ebay or amazon for a new card, cheap cheap cheap!
I've gotten all of my memory cards from ebay and amazon and have never ever had a problem ^__^

 

Yeah, you can get 2 and 4gb memory cards for under $10 from amazon.com, so it's worthwhile to have a spare around. XD I carry a spare ever since I managed to damage one of my memory cards and not realize it until I was at the zoo trying to take photos...

 

Yes, both the memory cards we've had since we bought the camera, so, it may be just the memory cards. I'm going to check out amazon or ebay on payday and see how a new one works.

 

Awesome, I'm going to check out Amazon and ebay on payday! I hope a new memory card does the trick! *crosses fingers*

 

I found a newer memory card I forgot I had and had barely used, and gave it a try, but it also didn't work.

 

The last time I had a memory card problem (...granted, I can't remember exactly what the error message was), I solved it pretty quickly by just reformatting the thing. It may not help, but it's worth a shot.

 

I found this site where several people are having this same problem. From the looks of things it may actually be a camera problem and not a memory card problem. Even after trying memory cards from different brands they still got the same error. What did seem to work for some people was to remove all the pictures from the card with a card reader, reformat the card and then it worked fine for a while. But they constantly had to keep doing that. The other thing was using a card that was less then 512MB.
Here's the site in case you want to read through the first few pages for other hints and tips.

 

Not cameras, but my department has a bunch of audio recorders that will do a similar thing. For whatever reason when you delete files with the recorder or on a computer, even if you empty the trash/recycle bin afterwards the audio recorders won't recognize the files as deleted, and will claim there's no space on the card. If you reformat the memory card it's fine again until it believes the card is "full", at which point you have to reformat it.

 

In general, it's never a good idea to delete files from a memory card outside a device. For the longest lifespan and best performance, the way to go is to copy the pictures to your computer using a card reader, and then put it back in the camera and format it.