The SD Association warns that by using the Windows operating system formatter, “optimum performance may not be experienced.”
The SD card program can be downloaded on both Mac and Windows. All SD cards are supported and using a USB SD card reader is recommended for the formatting process.
The program initializes on one small screen.
Make sure you insert your SD card into the reader before you start up the program. The program is smart enough to scan all the drives and find the drive for the SD card. If not, just click the Refresh button. If you’re having trouble getting the card to show up in the dropdown, you might have to install the SDXC driver for that particular type of card.
The second, Advanced, option allows you to choose between two different MBR layouts. The first, called GPT, uses a GUID partition table. If your computer has an MBR layout that uses this type of partition table, the SD card will be formatted using GPT. If your computer does not have an MBR layout and you want the SD card to be formatted using another type of partition table, you can choose this option by clicking the link next to the GPT layout in the dialogue box. The second, called NTFS, uses a new FAT32 file system. If your computer has an MBR layout that uses this type of file system, the SD card will be formatted using NTFS. If your computer does not have an MBR layout and you want the SD card to be formatted using another type of file system, you can choose this option by clicking the link next to the NTFS layout in the dialogue box.
The Full (Overwrite) option will overwrite all the data on the SD card with meaningless data. This method is more secure than simply erasing the data on the SD card because it is much harder to retrieve previously written data if you overwrite it. This option will take much longer than Full (Erase) or Quick.
The Full (Erase) option deletes the data on the SD card. If the card does not support this method, it will revert to the Quick format.
If you want to try to increase the amount of space on your SD card, click the Format Size Adjustment button and make your selection. Once you have made your choice, click OK. ..
My recommendations are to choose Full (Overwrite) and turn Format Size Adjustment to ON. Back on the main screen, it should show you the settings you have selected.
If you want to format your document for print, click the Print button. ..
A new dialogue box then displays the status of the formatting process. For the options selected above, it will overwrite the entire card with random data and then format the card. If you are using a larger disk, the process could take a while. Do not turn off your computer or remove the disk until the entire process is complete.
The formatting process has completed successfully.
The program works well and it will ensure that your card lasts longer and that your data is permanently removed, if you are planning on giving it to someone else. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment. Enjoy!
