[SOLVED] Sandisk microSD card won't delete or format

[arch.brf]

I have a 400GB Sandisk microSD card. I have primarily used it in my Sufrace Go, and later in an Android tablet. It has about 300GB of my data and I am unable to delete any file or format the card. Here are the things I have tried.

1. Delete in windows, the file/folder reappears the next time you mount the card.
2. Delete something in Android, it reappears.
3. Full format using Windows Quick format, then Windows Full Format, and then Android format. It fails to format.
4. Full format using Windows command line tools, and full format using Linux (gparted tool)
5. Using a 3rd party software in Windows - tried to replace all data with 0s (it says operation completed, but the data remained intact).

All files are accessible and usable. Called Sandisk and they are happy to replace it under warranty. However, I don't want to ship it with all my data on it.

Any suggestions? I am OK if the card becomes completely useless and unreadable. It will likely be replaced by the manufacturer. Even if it is not, I am not going to use this card anymore (don't trust it).

 

[Math Geek]

i've had similar problems before and never came up with anything that worked to delete the card.

i tried command line, 3rd party utilities and anything else i could imagine. other than a big magnet i don't think anything will allow you to delete the data. that and i'm not sure what you can do to the card that would destroy it yet still allow you to use the warranty.

i ended up simply buying a new card and burning the broke one as i was not willing to send it off full of my data.

 

[popatim]

I think its worth contacting Sandisk, perhaps they'll send you a replacement without getting the old one back if you tell them there is unencrypted personally sensitive data on it.

 

[mundial]

Try this.

SD Memory Card Formatter for Windows/Mac | SD Association

www.sdcard.org

It works great for SD cards that will not format with Windows commands.

 

[arch.brf]

I think its worth contacting Sandisk, perhaps they'll send you a replacement without getting the old one back if you tell them there is unencrypted personally sensitive data on it.

Thanks. They assured that no one will access my data but insist that I need to send in the card before they send out a replacement. They said it will be destroyed immediately upon receipt. If I were Sandisk, I am not sure I would blindly destroy the product without checking what went wrong. I am not sure I trust their customer care person's word.
I bought another card, a Samsung 512GB one. Hope I have better luck with that one.