Writing to SD Cards

aliskander · 26 Jun 2020

in order to backup and restore an SD card (32GB) I use "USB Image Tool" on my Windows 10 computer.
Worked fine until a month ago but now I get following error message while trying to restore a .img file to my SD Card:

"Could not write to the USB device (code:5)!
Please close all open explorer windows for this device.
Access is denied".

I don't have opened explorer (booted and started USB Image Tool).
I could backup (not restore) from my SD cord to an image file (.img) using USB Image Tool
Simular programs (belanaEtcher, Win32 Disk Imager, Upswift imgFlasher, ..) have the same problems.

Maybe it is due to the latest Windows update but my question is: is this problem known to other users and is there a solution?
thanks in advance, gabriël

idgat · 26 Jun 2020

Shouldn't use an image program for backing up an SD card. Best is to use a program that copies native format (like SyncBackFree).

Given other programs have failed, possible SD card has failed (they're not very reliable as a long-term storage source).

Format the card and try again?

aliskander · 26 Jun 2020

thanks for the answer.
Downloaded and installed SyncBackFree but it is not exactely what i want.
I already bought another SD card with the same results.
It must be something softwarewise because earlier all worked fie.
gabriël

idgat · 26 Jun 2020

Why do you want to "image" the SD, rather than just back it up?

aliskander · 26 Jun 2020

i don't know if a backup of files is the same as an image.
e.g. if I backup an SD card wich is bootable, is the restored SD card the also bootable?
it is with an restore of an image file.

- - - Updated - - -

IT WORKS!
disable virus scanner and everything works.
thanks for all the help,
much appreciated, gabriël

Compumind · 26 Jun 2020

aliskander said:

i don't know if a backup of files is the same as an image.

An image is not the same as a backup but the concepts are similar.

Image Backups are just what the name states: an image of your entire operating system, including files, executable programs and OS configurations.
With an image backup, you can restore a single file, directory or entire disk to the same or another hardware or to a virtual machine.

File and folder backup will back up each file on your PC. They don’t work in case you want to do a full restore of an operating system.
File Backup will save documents, but not the applications that created them.

HTH,

aliskander · 26 Jun 2020

thank you for the expanation.
In my case I think a image backup/restore is needed (boot sectors and multiple partitions).
thank you so much for all the answers.
I really appreciate that.
gabriël

Barman58 · 26 Jun 2020

SD cards are designed for temporary storage, although the micro version are now used to provide additional storage for portable devices, like Smartphones, they are not designed to be used as boot media.

They are known to be an unreliable storage for longer periods of time, due to the physical design, they are extremely fragile with open connectors, so are liable to fail at any time.

For backup or imaging use I would suggest you use a USB pen Drive at a minimum, as at least these have some protection for the mechanical connectors, and some sealing. It is preferable to use an external hard drive, with. mains power supply so that a reliable copy can be made and then the drive stored safely.

I use SD cards extensively, in DSLR cameras, and transfer contents to a computer using normal programs, (specifically Photo editing software), and then formatting the card on reinserting into the camera, you can also use Drag & Drop operations for copying within the Operating System.

As soon as I have any sort of failure in a Card, (reading or writing), the card is discarded and replaced immediately, the images I store on the card are far more valuable to me than the chance of the card failing to work in the future. I use the best quality, Known Name 64GB cards, (cheap unbranded cards are not worth the risk), but still expect them to fail at any time

There is of course a secondary, but less likely cause for a failed transfer from an SD card ... the card reader, although this is more robust than the card, it is still reliant on flimsy connectors in an unsealed location

Compumind · 26 Jun 2020

I agree with the comments made by @Barman58 -

FWIW.

Bree · 26 Jun 2020

aliskander said:

in order to backup and restore an SD card (32GB) I use "USB Image Tool" on my Windows 10 computer.
Worked fine until a month ago but now I get following error message while trying to restore a .img file to my SD Card:
"Could not write to the USB device (code:5)!
Please close all open explorer windows for this device.
Access is denied".

I don't have opened explorer (booted and started USB Image Tool).
I could backup (not restore) from my SD cord to an image file (.img) using USB Image Tool
Simular programs (belanaEtcher, Win32 Disk Imager, Upswift imgFlasher, ..) have the same problems.

Maybe it is due to the latest Windows update but my question is: is this problem known to other users and is there a solution?
thanks in advance, gabriël

You know, there is a forum for Alex Page's USB Image Tool, and this code has been reported before. Suggestions from Alex are that you may have inadvertently left a file open from the card, or that your AV may be blocking access. If you use no other AV besides Defender, then check if turning off Controlled Folder Access helps.

Enable or Disable Controlled Folder Access in Windows 10

idgat said:

Shouldn't use an image program for backing up an SD card....

I use USB Image Tool too, mostly for making images of USBs, but it works equally well for SD cards. The .img file it creates (and restores) is a sector for sector copy of the source, and when restored the USB/SD it makes should be identical to the original.

Given other programs have failed, possible SD card has failed (they're not very reliable as a long-term storage source).

That does sound the most likely explanation in this case. Though a trivial possibility exists, SD cards have a write-lock slider that may have accidentally been moved.

Format the card and try again?

Properly low-level formatting an SD card is not possible with the tools in Windows. The SD Association provides an SD Formatter that does it correctly.

It is strongly recommended to use the SD Memory Card Formatter to format SD/SDHC/SDXC Cards rather than using formatting tools provided with individual operating systems. In general, formatting tools provided with operating systems can format various storage media including SD/SDHC/SDXC Cards, but it may not be optimized for SD/SDHC/SDXC Cards and it may result in lower performance.

SD Memory Card Formatter - SD Association

If that fails, then the SD card is almost certainly dead/dying.