COMPACT FLASH CARDS – andrew asks

AT
Posted By
Andrew Turek
Aug 30, 2003
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187
Replies
6
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Closed
Every time I empty my CF card onto my hard disc I find there is a folder on it called MISC which contains nothing. Can I safely delete it – and can I stop it being created?

Andrew
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BG
Byron Gale
Aug 30, 2003
Andrew,

I doubt that you can stop it from being created.

Each digicam creates it’s own file structure, and it is apparent that your camera wants a MISC folder. Whether that folder is there "just because", or for esoteric purposes, you may be able to determine by delving into your camera’s manual.

Byron
P
Phosphor
Aug 30, 2003
I agree that you probably can’t get rid of it. I’ve been trying for over a year to figure out how to get rid of an annoying folder my Canon generates. No joy.
MM
Mac McDougald
Aug 30, 2003
/misc is folder from where firmware updates must be run in some cam brands.

Mac
EM
Eric Matthes
Aug 30, 2003
Why do you all care to delete that folder? My coolpix makes a folder like that, but I never copy it when I upload images. After archiving my images, I reformat the card in the camera which empties the card, so the extra folders never multiply or anything. This sounds like trying to delete some of the esoteric system folders in Windows.
Eric
AT
Andrew Turek
Sep 1, 2003
I guess I’m just an inveterate meddler. The last words I ever speak will be "I wonder what that button does". Eric, as to your suggestion, I have heard that repeatedly reformatting any storage medium reduces its capacity over time, or is that an Urban Computer Myth?

Andrew
PD
Peter Duniho
Sep 1, 2003
"Andrew Turek" wrote in message
[…] I have heard that repeatedly reformatting any storage medium reduces its capacity over time, or is that an
Urban Computer Myth?

I never heard that, but there’s a grain of truth in it. That is, repeated formatting (or any kind of writing, for that matter) does shorten the lifetime of non-volatile computer memory (like flash cards). However, the lifetime is generally so long in the first place that by the time your flash card fails because of all the writing you’ve done to it, you’ll be using a camera that can only fit a handful of images on that flash card, if even one.

It’s theoretically possible that a flash card would just isolate the failed sections, thus reducing capacity. But in reality, I’m pretty sure that the entire card would just fail to work. Once part of it starts to go, the rest is sure to follow soon enough anyway. But whether the whole card fails, or just parts of it, you’re unlikely to ever manage to break one.

Pete

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