Removing MicroSD card bug

[Mister Underhill]

Hello,

Does anyone know if the bug still exists where, if you remove your MicroSD card from a WP7 phone, you get a factory reset or something like that? I remember reading about that when I first got my phone but don't remember if that was addressed with Mango. Does anyone know if it erases all your texts and uninstalls your apps, or just sets your home screen to the default? Please not that the card isn't a WP-specific one, just a generic 16GB one.

Thanks in advance.

 

[SnailUK]

The sd card is the phones memory, so removing it resets the phone. I was under the impression putting the card back put the phone back into its original state.

Wp7 never had USB removable storage, it just so happened some phones had a hidden sd card slot.

 

[Mister Underhill]

Thanks for the reply. Does that mean I can't store photos and videos on the microSD?

 

[gfunk84]

It's a not a bug. It's by design.

Basically, the phone takes the on-board storage and the card and creates a single storage pool or "drive". So if you have 8 GB on your phone and a 16 GB card, your phone sees it as one 24 GB storage pool and it just saves stuff either on the phone or the card without any specific care as to what goes where.

If you remove the card, you won't be able to boot up the phone. Also, the card is digitally and securely attached to the phone, so you won't be able to view photos or music stored on it using your PC.

In Windows Phone 8, phones with micro SD slots treat the card as separate storage location and it can be added or removed at-will. It can only really store photos and music though, not apps.

 

[Mister Underhill]

Well, I have an 8GB phone and a 16GB card, but it keeps telling me I'm running low on space at about 7.75GB. It seems to not be reading the card at all and not storing my photos and videos there.

 

[gfunk84]

Well, I have an 8GB phone and a 16GB card, but it keeps telling me I'm running low on space at about 7.75GB. It seems to not be reading the card at all and not storing my photos and videos there.

Which phone do you have? If you go to settings > about, what does it report for Total Storage and Available storage? Did you reset your phone after inserting the card?

 

[Mister Underhill]

Which phone do you have? If you go to settings > about, what does it report for Total Storage and Available storage? Did you reset your phone after inserting the card?

Samsung Focus
Total Storage: 7.39 GB
Available Storage: 829.09 MB

I never reset the phone. I put the MicroSD in a long time ago and the phone never seemed to detect it one way or another.

 

[gfunk84]

It won't recognize the card until you reset the phone. Then it will format the internal storage and the card as one large pool of storage. You'll lose everything on your phone by doing a reset, including text messages, app data and game saves.

 

[Mister Underhill]

Ugh. That's what I was afraid of. Well, at least I know now.

 

[Mister Underhill]

It won't recognize the card until you reset the phone. Then it will format the internal storage and the card as one large pool of storage. You'll lose everything on your phone by doing a reset, including text messages, app data and game saves.

Will it delete all my photos and videos?

 

[gfunk84]

It will delete absolutely everything. Back up your photos and videos using Zune on your PC.

If you're using an exchange account for email and contacts, you can get them back after the reset.

If you've purchased any apps, you can download them again for free but all your settings will be lost.

 

[Mister Underhill]

Ok. I'll have to decide whether it's worth backing everything up and reformatting. But it's good to finally know how this is all supposed to work.

Thanks for all your help.