# Built in SD card reader stopped working on HP computer



## ScottyP (Aug 12, 2015)

Hi,

My built-in card reader has stopped working. I have tried it with three different SD cards so I know it is not a bad card.when I put the card in the computer does not even see the SD card reader as a drive when I am looking in My Computer like it used to. 

The only thing I can think of that has been different at all lately was I installed and ran CCleaner by Piriform. I then uninstalled it. That program used to work fine on my last two computers so I don't know why it would have been a problem this time. I am running Windows 8.

I tried running the HP self-diagnostic from the HP website and it did not detect that I needed any new drivers. 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.


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## Random Orbits (Aug 12, 2015)

Is this a desktop or a laptop? If a desktop, did you try moving the card reader to a different interface (USB?) internally?

Did you also try putting the card in the card reader and then reboot/starting the computer? Sometimes installed software will interfere with the hardware. My USB ports behave this way after installed Spyder.


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## siegsAR (Aug 12, 2015)

ScottyP,

Try this:
1.Open MyComputer/ThisPC so you can see all the drives.
2.Right click "Safely Remove Driver and Eject Media". Its the USB pointing up w/ a green check - taskbar right corner (startup programs).
3.Hopefully you should see the card's drive letter appear on MyComputer.


Random,
My Spyder 4 Exp. exactly does that on Win8.1.


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## jprusa (Aug 12, 2015)

If you feel the program you ran may be the problem, you could try system restore and set it back to a date when you know the reader was working. if your driver lost or corrupted then that should fix it.


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## Random Orbits (Aug 12, 2015)

siegsAR said:


> Random,
> My Spyder 4 Exp. exactly does that on Win8.1.



Glad to hear I'm not the only one, but I do wish that a new driver would be made available to fix the problem. Lucking my external card reader is always "on" so I don't have to reboot the computer every time I'm importing pics into LR.


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## Valvebounce (Aug 12, 2015)

Hi Scotty. 
If this is a hardware software is due, this might help. 
No idea which OS you are running, but if you can get to the hardware device manager (name from memory as I'm not at a PC.) then remove the device , click check for changes and let the PC find it again. 
Of course there is a good chance that the internal reader really has died, these bits are built down to a price not up to a quality! 
If you have warranty, get it fixed, if not, use one of the multitude of external readers that you have and move on. 
Actually for a desktop PC even if I had warranty I would not get a card reader fixed due to the hassle, I would buy a new internal and fit it or just pull the plug off the mobo, get an external reader and move on. 

Cheers, Graham.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Aug 12, 2015)

USB card readers dying is a common issue. I had five Dell PC's where the USB card readers died after a week. Dell replaced several of them which promptly died. I tried everything, I could restart the reader by physically unplugging it and then plugging it back in, and could remove the driver and let it reinstall. The internet was jammed with Dell users complaining and they never found a fix. Finally, they started using a different brand of reader and they work fine.

At the others have noted, remove the driver for the reader and let it reinstall. Check your advanced power settings and set the USB power to be on all the time.

Then, I'd get a external Lexar USB 3 reader. If you don't have USB 3, they work on USB 2.0. The new model is compatible with UHSII, a new SD card standard, so you are ready and will not have to replace it once UHS II cards are supported in cameras.

http://www.amazon.com/Lexar-Professional-USB-Dual-Slot-Reader/dp/B00WBK03OU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1439396283&sr=8-1&keywords=lexar+usb+3


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## ScottyP (Aug 12, 2015)

Random Orbits said:


> Is this a desktop or a laptop? If a desktop, did you try moving the card reader to a different interface (USB?) internally?
> 
> Did you also try putting the card in the card reader and then reboot/starting the computer? Sometimes installed software will interfere with the hardware. My USB ports behave this way after installed Spyder.



Solved! I had rebooted three times and it didn't help. I rebooted with the card in the drive and lo and behold, the drive appeared in My Computer again and the reader came back to life.

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions.


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