How To: Format Your 64GB or 128GB SD Card (Windows PC)Updated 9 months ago
This is done by connecting the SD card to your PC. We’ll go through the process in this guide.
Double check your unit will support 64GB or 128GB, as the maximum for many cameras is 32GB.
We recommend using Class 10 or above speed SD cards.
We recommend using a reputable brand from a reputable seller. We sell cards that have been tested with our equipment.
Don’t use a Class 4 SD card. They’ll probably be too slow and cause corruptions of your recordings.
If the card you’ve bought seems to cheap to be true, it’s probably a fake and won’t last very long, if it works at all. This is the most common cause for issues with our SD card based units.
Download the Software;
To format in FAT32 we first need to download some software to do the formatting for us. This software is called FAT32 Format, and can be downloaded from http://ridgecrop.co.uk/index.htm?guiformat.htm
Download the software, making sure you know where you are saving it, because we will need to open and close this software a couple of times. Once downloaded go ahead and open the software.
You might have noticed your version doesn’t have those coloured boxes. They’ve been put there so we can reference their contents.
Make sure you back up any data you have on your SD card as the following steps will delete the entire contents of the drive. Once you are ready to continue, if you haven’t already done so, unplug the SD card from your PC.
Click on the drop down menu inside the Green box, and take a note of the letters listed in there, and then close the program.
Now connect the SD card to your computer and re-open the software.
Now click on the drop down menu inside the Green box, and you should notice a new letter has appeared. Go ahead and click this as it should be your freshly connected SD card.
Now in the Red box. You can name the SD card to make it easier to identify in the future, though this is optional, and it will format and function correctly without a name.
Ensure there is a tick in the box highlighted by the Blue box. If there isn’t, click it with you mouse to add the tick.
Now click the the Start button which is highlighted by the Orange box. You will then get a message box, asking you to confirm that you understand all data on this drive will be lost, this is your last chance to make sure nothing important is on the SD card. Click the ‘OK’ button to start the format.
You will then get a progress bar above the ‘Start’ button. Once this is full the format is complete, and you can close the software, and remove the SD card from your computer.
The SD card is now formatted in FAT32 and ready to be used in your recorder.
Need more help?
If you need help with anything else please check out our other guides or get in contact.