Use the cd card as a flash drive. What is the difference between a flash drive and a memory card (SD): comparison and differences

They are both small, portable and used for transferring and storing files. Their differences are noteworthy, but they are hardly competitors in the NAND flash world. It is important to distinguish what makes these memory formats unique in order to take full advantage of each.

Flash drive

USB drives are removable storage devices with flash memory capabilities and a USB connector. They are compatible with any system that offers a USB port, including Windows, Mac and Linux. Memory capacity of flash drives between 128 MB to 256 GB of data. While most flash drives use USB interface 2.0, new drives on the market offer USB 3.0, which is ten times the transfer speed we currently use.

The standard rectangular shape of a flash drive can be transformed into a unique design suitable for branding purposes. Manufacturers tend to create flash drives in original shapes and colors to stand out in the consumer market. There are no limits in terms of creativity in custom USB drive configurations. The flash drive can be password protected and virus protected in biometric security.

SD card

Memory card is a compact, rewritable storage medium on which any data can be stored in the form of text, images, audio and video. They are used for small mobile devices such as digital cameras or Cell phones and as a means of porting files from a USB flash drive to a personal computer.

SD - memory card

(Secure Digital) SD card uses non-volatile memory like flash drives. SD cards are an integral part of many devices, including digital cameras, phones, MP3 players, and game consoles. Medium SD cards offer 2 GB, 4 GB, 8 GB and 32 GB. (Lexar recently started shipping 128 GB SDXC cards.)

Visually, memory cards look like an asymmetric, rectangular plate with contact pins. Physical dimensions range from 11mm to 32mm long depending on the type of SD card used.

SD, MiniSD, MicroSD, SDHC, miniSDHC, MicroSDHC, SDXC and microSDXC – available options. This is the biggest drawback for SD cards: it lacks the universal compatibility of a flash drive. Not every memory card slot is built into computer system will read all cards. As a result, a card reader must be used.

Flash memory cards come in a variety of sizes, with storage capacity usually directly related to price. Compact Flash card the size of a matchbox, while the Multi Media Card (MMC) and SD card are like a postage stamp. Later developments are the size of a fingernail. Since 2009, memory cards with 64 gigabytes have been regularly in the trade.

Differences between USB flash drive and SD card

There is no clear winner in terms of flash memory formats. On the one hand, you cannot manage your media devices without an SD card. On the other hand, the USB flash drive excels in its ability to easily work with the operating system.

1. At USB drives wider scope - who can use them and where. Custom USB drives are also used along with basic storage and transmission data. However, Premium USB recognizes the importance of using an SD card for multimedia and creative professional requirements.
2. One could even argue that SD cards and USB cannot live without each other - a flash drive needs the image, video and sound that an SD card can provide, while an SD card needs a flash drive to Reserve copy and easy file access.
3. If you're going to be using your data on more than one computer, a USB flash drive will offer you more in terms of system support and compatibility. Plus, you do not have to carry an additional device - an adapter.
4. Flash drives are easier to keep track of, as SD cards can be so small that they can be easily lost. When we are talking about the reliability of the memory itself, they are both comparable.
5. USB can be connected via slot or USB port.
6. Memory cards were originally designed for other devices such as digital or mobile cameras, so data transfer to the computer is slower than USB.
7. USBs are for computers, so file transfers are faster.
8. Memory cards are storage devices used in digital cameras, laptops, PDAs, phones, music players, game consoles and others electronic devices. Memory cards allow fast and long-term storage.

Summary

The USB flash drive is small device which plugs into the USB port of the computer. USB small size can be used as a key fob. Some flash drives connect to an MP3 player. They are convenient because they are easy to transport, store a lot of data.

The principle of using memory cards is the same as USB flash drives. There are many different memory cards from different manufacturers with different names and capacities. Memory cards are smaller than USB, require an adapter to read, and are susceptible to damage.

This article will discuss various methods that will help you recover your damaged SD card or flash drive. Very often we come across the issue of storage device corruption and we use several CMD commands to fix it. If you're not using the command line, you can try repairing your USB drive using Windows Explorer.

Working with a damaged memory card, flash drive is a tedious task. We spend a lot of time getting them back in working condition, but nothing works. You may have seen online forums asking questions such as "My flash drive is damaged" or "My SD card is not working". This article contains various methods to help you recover damaged storage devices.

In order to restore a memory card, you need to remove it from your smartphone or camera, insert it into a slot provided on your computer, or connect it to your computer using an external card reader (card reader). If you have a microSD card, use an adapter.

Various ways to recover a damaged flash drive or SD card

Change drive letter

Sometimes your computer is unable to assign drive letters (eg C, D, E) to your media. For this reason, the files on it are inaccessible. To fix this problem, you can assign a drive letter to the device yourself.

Below are simple steps To fix a damaged drive or memory card by assigning the correct drive letter:

• 1. Connect your media to your computer.
• 2. Click right click mice My computer/This computer. From the drop-down menu, select "Control".
• 3. In the window that opens, on the left panel, select the item "Disk Management" and wait a few seconds for Windows to load the virtual disk service.
• 4. Right-click on your media, and from the menu that appears, select "Change Drive Letter and Paths".
• 5. Click the drive letter (it will turn blue) and click "Change".
• 6. Select a drive letter from the drop-down list. Click "OK".

Try using the device on another PC

Perhaps the problem is related to your computer, and that is why you are having difficulty starting the USB drive. Try connecting your memory stick or USB drive to another computer.

Try another USB port

Although, it sounds strange, but you can waste your time trying to connect an SD card or USB flash drive several times to one USB port on your computer. It is possible that the port itself is damaged or there is some problem with software. Try other USB ports if your storage devices are not recognized.

Reinstall drivers

There are times when the drivers that run your drive get corrupted and the computer won't be able to detect the media. Try reinstalling the drivers by doing the following:

• 1. Right click My computer/This computer. In the menu that appears, select "Control".
• 2. In the window that opens, on the left panel, select the item "Device Manager".
• 3. In the list, double-click « Disk devices» . Right click on the name of your drive.
• 4. Click "Delete". Click "OK".
• 5. Disconnect your media and restart your computer.
6. Connect media. Your computer will detect it.

Repairing a Damaged SD Card or USB Drive Using Windows Explorer

This is the most commonly used procedure for recovering a connected storage medium on your computer.

• 1. Open "My computer" or "This computer".
• 2. Select the damaged drive and right-click.
• 3. From the drop-down menu, select "Format".
• 4. In the pop-up window, click "Restore device settings".
• 5. Click "Start" to start the formatting process. For a deeper cleaning of the media, uncheck the box. "Fast"(Cleaning the table of contents), but it will take a little longer. Therefore, uncheck the box only if the first attempt did not work.
• 6. Click "OK" in the next dialog which will warn you that the data will be lost. The formatting process will complete in a few seconds, and you will receive a formatted memory card or flash drive.

Repairing a Damaged USB Drive or Memory Card Using the Command Line

This process consists of working with the command Windows string, which is commonly known as CMD. You will need to enter certain CMD commands and Windows will format your damaged drive/SD card.

• 1. Connect your damaged USB drive or SD card to your computer.
• 2. Hover your mouse over the button "Start" and right click.
• 3. Click "Command line"("Administrator"). A CMD window will open.
• 4. Enter diskpart and press Enter.
• 5. Enter list disk and press Enter. A list of all storage devices connected to your computer will be displayed.
• 6. Enter select disk and press Enter. (Example: select disk 1). Important: Make sure you enter the number correctly. Otherwise, you can format the internal HDD. You can enter the command again list disk to make sure you made the right choice. The name of the selected drive will be preceded by an asterisk (asterisk symbol).
• 7. Enter clean and press Enter.
• 8. Enter create partition primary and press Enter.
• 9. Enter active.
• 10. Enter select partition 1.
• 11. Enter format fs=fat32 and press Enter. The formatting process will complete in a few minutes. you can write NTFS instead of fat32 if you want to transfer files larger than 4 gigabytes. Do not close the command prompt until you are done.

Recovering an SD Card and USB Drive by Removing Bad Sectors

Our storage devices store data in different sectors. For various reasons, these sectors become unusable, which leads to all sorts of failures and errors when trying to read data from the media. By running a few simple commands, you can restore your flash drive. Read more about this.

Recover Lost Data

You can use the tool Starus Partition Recovery to recover your data in case you have deleted files or formatted your SD card/USB drive by mistake. The memory card must be in working order to complete the recovery process. The device must be identified by means operating system and appear in the list, then your data is waiting for a very successful recovery!

Tools provided by USB flash drives and memory card manufacturers

You may not know, but many storage device manufacturers such as SanDisk, Kingston, Samsung, Sony, etc. provide their own low-level utilities for formatting and other recovery purposes. Such tools can very well be used to fix and repair SD cards and flash drives. You can find these tools by visiting the device manufacturers' websites or by contacting their support.

Other SD card issues

The recovery methods for memory cards and flash drives may be similar, but SD cards are different hardware. Therefore, memory cards may have several issues preventing them from being accessed on your computer.

Problems with external card readers

Most modern laptops and 2-in-1s have an SD card slot, but drives may not show up on desktops. That's why people resort to cheap external card readers, which are often problematic.

External card reader not working

Sometimes it may happen that your card reader is faulty while you are troubleshooting your computer. The card reader may not be getting the power it needs from the USB port, or may not have power at all if its USB cable is damaged.

You may be using an old card reader while trying to access your memory card. It may not support higher capacity SDXC, newer UHS-I or UHS-II interfaces, or may not work on the latest operating systems.

Check if the SD adapter is working properly

When you try to connect microSD card using a microSD adapter, make sure the adapter is working properly. In addition, there is a tiny slider on the memory card adapter that, when turned on, allows data to be written to the card. Check if it is in the correct position.

Damaged SD card

If you're one of those people who doesn't care too much about careful use, the device can become unusable pretty quickly. Wrong installation and removing the SD card from the card reader may damage the card slots and even render it unusable. So, if your card is not recognized, check the connectors.

There are chances that your damaged USB flash drive or memory card is still under warranty. So if your storage device keeps having problems, take a moment and get a refund or replacement. I recommend this because you should not believe in a USB drive that shows signs of insecurity over and over again.

Note. Please note that the above methods for repairing a memory card and a USB flash drive are general for restoring devices. Due to device-specific issues, there may be times when these methods are not suitable.

Just in case, if you are looking for methods to repair a damaged hard drive then you can check out our

For most people, microSD is just a form factor, but it really isn't. You can easily insert any microSD card into a standard slot, but not every one of them will work, since cards differ in many ways.

Format

There are three different SD formats in total, available in two form factors (SD and microSD):

• SD (microSD) - drives up to 2 GB, work with any equipment;
• SDHC (micro SDHC) - drives from 2 to 32 GB, work on devices with support for SDHC and SDXC;
• SDXC (microSDXC) - drives from 32 GB to 2 TB (for this moment 512 GB maximum) only work on SDXC-enabled devices.

As you can see, they are not backwards compatible. Memory cards of the new format will not work on old equipment.

Volume

Support for microSDXC declared by the manufacturer does not mean support for cards of this format with any capacity and depends on specific device. For example, HTC One The M9 works with microSDXC, but officially only supports cards up to and including 128GB.

Another one is associated with the volume of storage important point. All microSDXC cards use a file format by default. exFAT system. Windows has been supporting it for more than 10 years, it has appeared in OS X since version 10.6.5 (Snow Leopard), exFAT support has been implemented in Linux distributions, but out of the box it does not work everywhere.

High speed UHS interface

I or II is added to the logo of a card with UHS support, depending on the version

SDHC and SDXC cards can support the Ultra High Speed ​​interface, which provides higher speeds (UHS-I up to 104 MB/s and UHS-II up to 312 MB/s) if the device has hardware support. UHS is backward compatible with earlier interfaces and can work with devices that do not support it, but at standard speed (up to 25 MB/s).

2. Speed

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Classifying the write and read speed of microSD cards is as complex as their formats and compatibility. The specs allow four ways to describe card speed, and since manufacturers use them all, there's a lot of confusion.

speed class

The speed class marking for ordinary cards is a number inscribed in the Latin letter C

The Speed ​​Class is the minimum write speed to the memory card in megabytes per second. There are four in total:

• Class 2- from 2 MB/s;
• Class 4- from 4 MB/s;
• Class 6- from 6 MB/s;
• Class 10- from 10 MB/s.

By analogy with the marking of conventional cards, the speed class of UHS cards fits into the Latin letter U

Cards operating on the high-speed UHS bus have only two speed classes so far:

• Class 1 (U1)- from 10 MB/s;
• Class 3 (U3)- from 30 MB/s.

Since the minimum value of the entry is used in the designation of the speed class, theoretically a card of the second class may well be faster than a card of the fourth. Although, if this is the case, the manufacturer will most likely prefer to state this fact more explicitly.

Max speed

The speed class is quite enough to compare cards when choosing, but some manufacturers also use it in the description top speed in MB / s, and more often not even the write speed (which is always lower), but the read speed.

Usually these are the results of synthetic tests under ideal conditions, which are unattainable with normal use. In practice, the speed depends on many factors, so you should not focus on this characteristic.

Speed ​​multiplier

Another classification option is a speed multiplier, similar to the one used to indicate the read and write speed of optical discs. There are more than ten of them, from 6x to 633x.

The 1x multiplier is 150 KB/s, which means that the simplest 6x cards have a speed of 900 KB/s. The fastest cards can have a multiplier of 633x, which is 95 MB/s.

3. Tasks

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Choose the right card for specific tasks. The biggest and fastest is not always the best. For certain use cases, volume and speed may be excessive.

When buying a card for a smartphone, volume plays a bigger role than speed. The advantages of a large drive are obvious, but the advantages of a high transfer rate on a smartphone are practically not felt, since files are rarely written and read there large volume(unless you have a smartphone with 4K video support).

Cameras shooting HD and 4K video are a completely different matter: both speed and volume are equally important here. For 4K video, camera manufacturers recommend using UHS U3 cards, for HD - regular Class 10 or at least Class 6.

For photos, many professionals prefer to use several smaller cards to minimize the risk of losing all the pictures in force majeure. As for the speed, it all depends on the photo format. If you shoot in RAW, it makes sense to invest in microSDHC or microSDXC class UHS U1 and U3 - in this case, they will reveal themselves to the fullest.

4. Fakes

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No matter how trite it may sound, but buying a fake under the guise of original cards is now easier than ever. A few years ago, SanDisk claimed that a third of the SanDisk memory cards on the market were counterfeit. It is unlikely that the situation has changed much since that time.

To avoid disappointment when buying, it is enough to be guided by common sense. Refrain from buying from untrustworthy sellers and beware of "original" cards that are priced well below the official price.

Attackers have learned how to counterfeit packaging so well that it can sometimes be very difficult to distinguish it from the original. With full confidence, it is possible to judge the authenticity of a particular card only after verification with the help of special utilities:

• h2testw- for Windows;

If you have already experienced the loss of important data due to a broken memory card for one reason or another, then when it comes to choosing, you will most likely prefer a more expensive card. famous brand than the available "noname".

In addition to greater reliability and safety of your data, with a branded card you will receive high speed work and a guarantee (in some cases even a lifetime).

Now you know everything you need to know about SD cards. As you can see, there are many questions that you will have to answer before purchasing a card. Perhaps the best idea would be to have different maps for different needs. So you can use all the advantages of the equipment and not expose your budget to unnecessary costs.

If your Android 6.0, 7 Nougat, 8.0 Oreo, or 9.0 Pie phone or tablet has a memory card slot, then you can use a MicroSD memory card as internal memory your device, this feature first appeared in Android 6.0 Marshmallow.

On the last android versions all the steps for turning a microSD memory card into an internal one are almost the same, but just in case, I will separately describe the steps and provide screenshots (do not forget that all data from the memory card will be deleted in the process, take care of saving important files):

This will complete the procedure. All features of operation and the way to return the memory card to the mode of operation as a portable storage device remain the same as for previous versions Android.

Video instruction

Features of the memory card as the internal memory of Android

It can be assumed that when to the inner android memory with N capacity is added with M memory card capacity, the total available internal memory capacity should become N+M. Moreover, this is roughly displayed in the device storage information, but in fact everything works a little differently:

As a result - after the moment when the SD memory card began to be used as internal memory, the user does not have access to the "real" internal memory, and if we assume that the device's own internal memory was larger than the MicroSD memory, then the amount of available internal memory after the described actions will not increase, but decrease.

Formatting a memory card for use as internal storage in ADB

For Android devices where the function is not available, for example, on samsung galaxy S7-S9 Galaxy Note, it is possible to format the SD card as internal memory using ADB Shell.

Since this method can potentially lead to problems with the phone (and may not work on every device), details on installing ADB, enabling USB debugging and running command line in the folder with adb I will skip (If you do not know how to do this, then perhaps it is better not to take it. And if you do, then at your own peril and risk).

The necessary commands themselves will look like this (the memory card must be connected):

1. adb shell
2. sm list disks(as a result of running this command, note the output disk ID of the form disk:NNN,NN - you will need it in the next command)
3. sm partition disk:NNN,NN private

When formatting is complete, exit the adb shell, and on the phone, in the storage options, open the "SD card" item, click on the menu button in the upper right and click "Transfer data" (this is mandatory, otherwise the phone's internal memory will continue to be used). When the transfer is completed, the process can be considered completed.

Another possibility for such devices, if root access is available, is to use Apps Root Essentials and enable Adoptable Storage in this app (potentially dangerous operation, at your own risk, do not perform on older versions of Android).

How to return the normal functioning of the memory card

If you decide to disconnect the memory card from the internal memory, it's easy to do - transfer all important data from it to your computer, and then go to the SD card settings, just like in the first method.

Then, in the menu of actions with a memory card, select the item "Portable media" and, following the instructions, format the memory card.

Starting with androil 6.0, it became possible to use a flash card as internal storage device data. Now the device, after certain actions, can use the memory available on SD as freely as the internal one. The article will talk about how to connect an SD card in this capacity and what restrictions are imposed on it.

How to connect a flash drive as internal memory

Before connecting the drive, you must transfer from it all important information. During the setup process, it will be completely cleared and you will not be able to return the data.

First of all, you need to go to Settings and then go to the " Storage and drive”, where you should click on the SD card.

Next, choose " Tune» and click « Inner memory". Immediately after that, the device will warn the user that all information will be deleted and it will become unreadable on other devices without full formatting.

Here you need to select the item " Clean and Format” and wait for the memory cleaning process to complete. You may then see a message that the media is running slowly. As a rule, this means that the flash drive used is not very good quality and its use as device storage can also affect the performance of the smartphone itself. For good and fast work recommended to use UHS Speed ​​Class 3 (U3) drives.

After formatting is completed, the smartphone will require you to transfer the information, you should agree with this and wait for the work to complete. After the transfer, the work of turning the flash drive into internal memory will be almost completed, all that remains is to reboot the device.

Features and limitations of using an SD card

There are a few things to be aware of before using a flash drive in this way.

1. After conversion, all data, except for some applications and system updates, will be placed on the SD drive.
2. When connected to a computer, only this part of the memory will also be available for interaction.

In fact, all actions are performed only with a flash drive, the real internal storage of the phone not available for interaction and, practically, is not used in any way. Firstly, this means that when you remove the drive, almost all data, photos and applications will be lost. Secondly, if the volume of the flash drive is less than the actual storage capacity of the smartphone, then the amount of available memory will decrease, not increase.

Format the card with ADB for use as internal storage

On some devices, the function is not available, but it is possible to connect a USB flash drive as storage in another way. However, it should be noted that this method is very laborious and can harm the device, therefore, if you are not confident in your abilities, then it is better not to do this on your own.

To use this method, you will need to perform a lot of actions. You need to download from the site and install Android SDK , then download and install from the official website device drivers, and you also need to enable " debug mode byUSB» on the device.

• adb shell
• sm list-disks (after execution, the id will be given in the form disk:XXX,XX it should be written down and entered in the next line)
• sm partition disk:XXX,XX private

Then it will take turn off the phone, go to settings and click on sd, select menu and click " Transfer data". Everything, on this action is completed.

How to put a memory card in standard mode

To return the flash drive to standard mode, you just need to go to its settings, as in the first option, and select " Portable media". Before that, all important information should be transferred to another location, because the drive will be formatted in the process.