Storage Card Format utility for CE 2.0?

Hello,

Does anyone know of a program that formats storage cards?

Thanks,

Joseph

Try this link (freeware):

http://www.tucows.com/preview/256150

There are others there and elsewhere, some of which are not freeware but I assume have extra features. (You can search using keywords like "flash format" or "storage card utility." )

However, before doing anything else, have you tried inserting an unformatted (ie, brand new) card? I think that some versions of CE have format utilities built in, which prompt you if you insert an unformatted card. (I know that at least some of my H/PCs have this, but I can't recall whether my Phenom is one of them, so I don't know if this includes CE 2.0.)

Edited by CE Geek 2005-12-27 11:25 PM

well my older hpcs (2.0, 2.11) always drive me crazy when i insert one of my cf cards (a certain one) and it always asks me about repairing it blah blah blah i always press cancel but once i pressed yes accidentally (for another card)... and it screwed up part of the card needed a reformat later in the PC.. since then they no longer want to do anything with it.

oh yes 2.0 does this too

Well, I inserted a brand new 512 CF card and CE 2.0 did NOT prompt me to format the card... I installed about under 1 MB of programs to it and now CE believes there is no storage left... By the way, I am using my 360LX...

I bet if you try formatting the card using either the above-mentioned utility/ies or a PC, it would solve that problem. (You can format the card using a card reader connected to your PC by right-clicking on its drive letter in "My Computer" and choosing "Format." The default file system the computer formats to should be FAT, which CE 2.0 can read. [2.11 can read FAT32-formatted cards, which use the space on the card more efficiently.])

A arguable point, unless your didk is 1Gig or larger. The trade off for a 0.5Gig volume is negligible. Also due to the uncertainly of final volume size, you may not be able to format to FAT32 on a 512Meg CF.

FAT16: 16,384 b FAT
FAT32: 131,072 b FAT

114,688 b Overhead lost to FAT expansion
8,388,608 b cluster saving @ 4K

Total space saving 8,273,920 b assuming no files larger than 4KB are ever written to the file system. Anything over 4K and that number plummits. If the average file size is >= 32K then the benefit is 0 b give a few bytes.

Memory performance hit at having to address using x2 the RAM and then there is the observable syndrome that FAT32 is far less reliable than FAT16. You're much more likely to get a "Windows CE has detected corruption..." or "Windows CE needs to format this CF card" using FAT32.

Tenjeangosi, Like the others, I stronngly recommend that you format the CF in a PC.

Thanks, C:Amie, CE Geek, and cmonex...
When I get a USB card reader, I will format it FAT...

IIRC, Softwinter storage tools has a format utility ti format anmd Resco xplorer formats.\Dunno if you velo is arm based bu the Steph Bell utility formats too,

well well i know all this but i'm lazy

IIRC, Softwinter storage tools has a format utility ti format anmd Resco xplorer formats.\Dunno if you velo is arm based bu the Steph Bell utility formats too,

it is mips based.. CE 1/2...

Looks like you're saying "CE one-half." I guess that'd be somewhere between the Velo and, oh, an HP 200LX? (Just kidding; I know what you meant.) (Speaking of one-half, I'm impressed how you managed to insert your post in the middle of wallythacker's double post. )

Re: the big FAT debate above
All I know is that I run out of space much sooner on FAT-formatted cards than on FAT32-formatted ones (at least 30 MB sooner on a 256 MB CF card). All my CF cards are formatted to FAT32 except the one in my Phenom, and I've yet to have the corruption problem C:Amie described above (or any other problem, for that matter).

CE .5:

LOL

I always wondered if Mobil Oil Company ever complained about Microsoft using that logo.

Edited by CE Geek 2005-12-29 12:44 AM

How about this?