Warning: Formatting a flash card will erase all the files on the card. Most devices you use the flash card with will (i.e. camera) have a format feature. Before you use this feature, make sure that this size card and type is supported by the device. Also make sure that the format the device uses is compatible with any other device you might use it with (i.e. the camera formats in FAT32 but a digital frame can only read FAT).

If you are using a card reader and a PC to format the card, open "My Computer" in XP or "Computer" in Vista and Win7 and highlight the drive that corresponds to the card. Make sure you choose the correct drive letter. Then with the right mouse button, click on the drive. Then choose "Format" from the menu and click on it with your left mouse button.

Choose the file system that is appropriate for the card size and the device you are using it with. 2GB and below should use FAT. Above 2GB should use FAT32, NTFS or exFAT. NTFS and exFAT should only be used if you are copying files 4GB and larger to the card or the card is above 32GB.

If you are using a card reader and a Mac, open the "Go" menu and double-click on Utilities (If you do not see Utilities, double-click on Applications and then double-click on the Utilities folder). Double-click on the Disk Utility icon. On the Disk Utility Dialog box, click once on the flash card's active partition.Note: There will be two listings for the card, the first one is the active partition and the second is the volume label. Click the erase tab located on the right side of the screen. Using the Volume Format drop-down, select “MS-DOS File System” from the list. Click Erase. 

1. Some systems do not support higher capacity cards (e.g., 1GB or 2GB). Many systems, including newer ones with built in card readers, are made to support cards up to a limited capacity. The capacity of your card may exceed this limitation and a firmware upgrade from the computer manufacturer may be necessary. Check with your computer manufacturer for hardware/software fixes.
2. If you have a digital camera or an external card reader that you know supports 2GB cards, try connecting one of these devices to the computer. If you can successfully view the card via the external device, the problem may exist with your built in reader.
3. If you have a SDHC (Secure Digital High Capacity) card, it is possible that the internal card reader on your computer does not support this technology. Although SDHC cards look identical to standard SD (Secure Digital) cards, SDHC cards are not backwards compatible with standard SD format host devices. Standard SD devices cannot read the format of SDHC cards. To ensure compatibility, look for the SDHC logo on cards and host devices (e.g., cameras, camcorders, etc.). If your device does not support SDHC cards, we suggest that you contact your place of purchase to exchange for the standard SD card. Note: Standard SD cards are not available in capacities larger than 2GB.
4. If you have Windows XP, Microsoft has acknowledged a Windows XP limitation with SDHC cards. Click the following link for the hotfix: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/934428.

If you have data on your card that is important to you, we strongly recommend that you use one of the two possible ways for data recovery (see below). Kingston does not offer data recovery services. For more information on our warranty policy please visit http://www.kingston.com/company/warranty.asp

1. Contact a company that specializes in data recovery services such as Driver Savers at www.drivesavers.com and Ontrack at www.ontrack.com just to name a couple or you can do a search on Google for data recovery.
2. Go to www.download.com and do a search for data recovery and download one of the many utilities for data recovery which are fairly simple to use. We suggest trying one of the free versions as they work just as well as the paid versions. However for the possibilities for this option to work, the computer must assign a drive letter to the device. Even so it’s not a guarantee. If not then option #1 would be your best bet.

Only SDHC Host devices will support SDHC memory cards. To confirm the device supports SDHC media, please refer to your User’s Guide.

The picture below is used by the SD Card Association to help illustrate compatibility.

* SDHC Host Products can use both SD and SDHC Memory Cards.

* SD Host Products can use only SD Memory Card 2GB or less.

SDXC cards are only supported in SDXC Host devices. To confirm your device supports SDXC media, please refer to your User’s Guide.

The picture below is used by the SD Card Association to help illustrate compatibility:

• SDXC memory cards can be used only with SDXC host products.
• SDXC host products can use SD, SDHC and SDXC memory cards.
• SDHC memory cards can be used with SDHC and SDXC host products.
• SDHC host products can use both SD and SDHC memory cards.

SDXC host products are backwards compatible with earlier SD and SDHC memory cards. SDXC memory cards should not be used in non-compatible host products. If you need to format an SDXC card, you can format it by using SDXC host products or SD Formatter 3.0.

If an SDXC memory card is inserted into a PC or a host product that does not support SDXC memory cards, a message may prompt you to format the card.

Attention: Never format the SDXC memory card in a non-compatible host product! Not only will this erase the data on the SDXC memory card, but it will also format the card with a File System that is incompatible with SDXC host products.

Source: SDA

Secure Digital cards including SDHC, SDXC and Micro SD cards come pre-formatted in compliance with SD Memory Card standards. Formatting with Windows, Mac or Linux is not compliant with SD Memory Card standards and may cause a performance decrease.

The solution is to either format the card in a device that complies with SDA standards, such as a camera or phone, or use the SDA format utility located here:

https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter_4

Be aware this is only compatible with the following Windows operating systems. It will not work in a Linux computer, so using a SDA compatible device is preferable.

In the options section, we suggest you use the "QUICK" selected as the format type and have the format adjustment size set to "ON".