I have been using SanDisk High endurance microsdxc card for a CCTV camera. It is formatted within the camera and I can access the footage via an app. However, when I try to plug the sd card into my PC, I was unable to read it: asking me to insert a disk. Plugging into another USB port that the sd card is RAW format and no issues when placed back into the camera.
I have contacted support for the camera, and have been asked to see if I can download a driver to read the card. I’m not sure where to download a driver since reading through the website, all drivers are automatically installed in Windows updates.
Have you opened a Support Case? If not opened, for more information, please contact the SD Technical Support team for best assistance and troubleshooting: https://kb.sandisk.com/app/ask
The insert disk error message appears when your USB flash drive or pen drive is inaccessible or unreadable by Windows due to uncertain reasons like fault or partition errors. You need to try some troubleshooting methods to fix the problem. While troubleshooting, you may have to format your USB drive to make it usable again. Check out this article to fix the SD card error “
"Please insert disk into removable disk” in Windows.
Many surveillance cameras run on Linux-based operating systems (using file systems like EXT4). Since Windows does not recognize this format, it may treat the memory card as blank, corrupted, or in “RAW” format.
If you need to read the memory card directly via a USB card reader, consider using Linux Reader by DiskInternals—a safe, free tool that allows you to view and copy files from Linux drives within Windows.
Instead of removing the microSD card, check if your camera has a physical USB port; some models allow you to connect the entire camera directly to your computer using a data cable.
If you no longer need the surveillance footage and simply want the SD card to work normally on Windows again, you will need to reformat it:
Step 1: Open Disk Management on your computer (right-click the Windows Start button and select “Disk Management”).
Step 2: Locate your SD card in the list at the bottom (it may appear as “RAW” or “Unallocated”).
Step 3: Right-click the partition on the card, select “Format,” and choose either exFAT or FAT32. This will make the card readable on Windows systems again. Also read: How to Format RAW Drive to NTFS without Losing Data?
