[swiftly]

Hey, I got a 2gig minisd recently and tried it on my cellphone. But it didnt work, so i after i found out it should be converted to a FAT16 , because the cellphone does not support FAT32 or FAT. Is there a way or program thats allows me to convert it to a FAT16? Your help is greatly appreciated. thanks

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In the windows operating system formatting is very easy. You will need a card reader to put your card in. These are inexpensive devices and use only 1 USB port and do not require plugging into the mains power supply.

1. Open Windows Explorer (Windows Key + e)
2. Right Click on the Flash Memory Card Drive
3. Select “Format…”
4. Choose the File System (FAT or FAT32, your PDA will not read NTFS) you want from the dropdown box
5. Choose the Allocation Unit Size (4096 byte or 4KB is good) if you are given this option
6. Uncheck the “Quick Format” button
7. Give your card a name if you so desire
8. Click the “start” button
9. You will be presented with a summary of the results at the end

When windows formats this way FAT is "FAT16".


Here is an explanation of fat12 and fat16.

The most common and widely supported File System is the Microsoft FAT or File Allocation Table method. FAT is supported by virtually all operating systems. Unfortunately there are several sub specifications of the FAT specification. This is where complication can arise with supporting different sized CF cards.

FAT12 was introduced in MS-DOS 1.0. It is severely limited as it only supports Partitions of 8MB. Floppy disks are formatted to FAT12. Any CF Card formatted through DOS under 8MB in size will be formatted to FAT12. FAT12 is supported by all versions of Windows CE, as well as virtually any Operating System.

FAT16 was introduced in MS-DOS 3.0, but wasn't fully supported until the release of MS-DOS 4.0. FAT16 supports Partitions of up to 2GB (2,048MB). Most CF Cards will fall into this area. It is addressable by Windows CE and most Operating Systems. We do not recommend that you use CF Cards over 256MB with Windows CE 1.

FAT32 was introduced with MS-DOS 7.0 (Windows 95) and theoretically can support up to 32TB 32,000,000 MB. However is limited by Microsoft to supporting a maximum of 32GB. FAT32 can be accessed by Windows CE 2.11 and higher and generally only Microsoft Operating Systems.



Using a CF Card between a Handheld PC and another PC can be complicated by Windows NT. If you wish to use your CF card in Windows NT (Windows NT 3.51, NT 4.0, 2000, XP, 2003) you should not attempt to format your card using Disk Administrator or Windows Explorer.

Windows 2000, for example is able to support hard disk optimised File Systems running on the FAT specification beyond those supported by the original MS-DOS implementation. As a result of using more advanced cluster sizes Windows will automatically attempt to make the optimum use of your CF card. Handheld PC devices are only able to support the MS-DOS implementation of FAT.

While MS-DOS can only support a maximum FAT12 volume of 8MB, Windows 2000 can technically support a FAT12 volume of 32MB. While Windows 2000 has been programmed to format 32MB cards using FAT16, cards of sizes between 8MB and 16MB may be formatted using FAT12, rendering it unreadable by Windows CE.

The same may be true for CF Cards over 512MB which may be formatted to FAT32 by default. Cards over 2GB must be formatted to FAT32. By default Windows XP will format cards larger than 32MB as FAT32. As a result the following restrictions apply:

NOTE:
I have found that in my Kodak camera if it cannot see the card i can format the card on my computer in a reader to FAT and then install and reformat the card in my camera. I reformat in the camera just so i don't have any problems as i don't want to take 300 pictures and then find out i cant read them.

SRX660

[SRX660]

In the windows operating system formatting is very easy. You will need a card reader to put your card in. These are inexpensive devices and use only 1 USB port and do not require plugging into the mains power supply.

1. Open Windows Explorer (Windows Key + e)
2. Right Click on the Flash Memory Card Drive
3. Select “Format…”
4. Choose the File System (FAT or FAT32, your PDA will not read NTFS) you want from the dropdown box
5. Choose the Allocation Unit Size (4096 byte or 4KB is good) if you are given this option
6. Uncheck the “Quick Format” button
7. Give your card a name if you so desire
8. Click the “start” button
9. You will be presented with a summary of the results at the end

When windows formats this way FAT is "FAT16".


Here is an explanation of fat12 and fat16.

The most common and widely supported File System is the Microsoft FAT or File Allocation Table method. FAT is supported by virtually all operating systems. Unfortunately there are several sub specifications of the FAT specification. This is where complication can arise with supporting different sized CF cards.

FAT12 was introduced in MS-DOS 1.0. It is severely limited as it only supports Partitions of 8MB. Floppy disks are formatted to FAT12. Any CF Card formatted through DOS under 8MB in size will be formatted to FAT12. FAT12 is supported by all versions of Windows CE, as well as virtually any Operating System.

FAT16 was introduced in MS-DOS 3.0, but wasn't fully supported until the release of MS-DOS 4.0. FAT16 supports Partitions of up to 2GB (2,048MB). Most CF Cards will fall into this area. It is addressable by Windows CE and most Operating Systems. We do not recommend that you use CF Cards over 256MB with Windows CE 1.

FAT32 was introduced with MS-DOS 7.0 (Windows 95) and theoretically can support up to 32TB 32,000,000 MB. However is limited by Microsoft to supporting a maximum of 32GB. FAT32 can be accessed by Windows CE 2.11 and higher and generally only Microsoft Operating Systems.



Using a CF Card between a Handheld PC and another PC can be complicated by Windows NT. If you wish to use your CF card in Windows NT (Windows NT 3.51, NT 4.0, 2000, XP, 2003) you should not attempt to format your card using Disk Administrator or Windows Explorer.

Windows 2000, for example is able to support hard disk optimised File Systems running on the FAT specification beyond those supported by the original MS-DOS implementation. As a result of using more advanced cluster sizes Windows will automatically attempt to make the optimum use of your CF card. Handheld PC devices are only able to support the MS-DOS implementation of FAT.

While MS-DOS can only support a maximum FAT12 volume of 8MB, Windows 2000 can technically support a FAT12 volume of 32MB. While Windows 2000 has been programmed to format 32MB cards using FAT16, cards of sizes between 8MB and 16MB may be formatted using FAT12, rendering it unreadable by Windows CE.

The same may be true for CF Cards over 512MB which may be formatted to FAT32 by default. Cards over 2GB must be formatted to FAT32. By default Windows XP will format cards larger than 32MB as FAT32. As a result the following restrictions apply:

NOTE:
I have found that in my Kodak camera if it cannot see the card i can format the card on my computer in a reader to FAT and then install and reformat the card in my camera. I reformat in the camera just so i don't have any problems as i don't want to take 300 pictures and then find out i cant read them.

SRX660