I'm using Windows 11 with a Samsung EVO Plus 128GB SD card. The card appears in File Explorer, but I can't actually use it. BalenaEtcher fails when trying to write an image, formatting it from File Explorer crashes Explorer, and DiskPart and a low-level formatting utility also crash. Sometimes Explorer crashes as soon as the card is inserted. Other SD cards work normally in the same computer. Is the card defective, counterfeit, or could the card reader be the problem?
2 Answers
Try a different SD card reader or another computer before declaring the card dead. If it behaves the same way elsewhere, it may be counterfeit or have failed hardware. Some fake cards report a larger capacity than they actually contain, so buy a replacement from a reputable seller and verify its capacity after installation.
The card is very likely defective, especially since several independent disk utilities crash when they access it. Test the same card in another device or reader, and test a known-good card in the current reader. If other cards work and this one fails everywhere, replace the SD card rather than continuing to force-format it.
That matches what I’m seeing—other cards work fine in this computer, and only this card causes the crashes.
The card showing up in Explorer doesn’t prove that its reported 128GB capacity is genuine; the controller can still be malfunctioning or misreporting the storage.