Need help getting SD cards to work under Win7 & Win Server 2008 R2  

Hello everyone, I am in dire need of help getting my netbook to recognize SD cards and MicroSD cards under Win7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. I am currently triple-booting Win7, Server 2008 R2, and BackTrack Linux, all of which are 64 bit. You may wonder why I am mentioniong a Server OS here on the SevenForums, well the reason is because both 7 and Server are having this issue and I figure that a solution for 7 would also solve the problem on Server as well. Besides that, Server is very similar to 7 and can be made to look and act like 7 in almost every way. Most 7 drivers will also work for 2008 R2.

The name of the device in question is "Realtek PCIE CardReader" as listed in Device Manager under the category "Memory technology driver". I have the driver for this from the Acer support/downloads site, and I also have a newer driver version that I obtained directly from the Realtek downloads site. one thing I have learned about drivers is that your PC manufacturer may not always have the latest driver versions, sometimes it is best to go directly to the manufacturer of the actual internal device itself and get the most recent version from them. I also use an app called DriverMax to keep drivers up to date, it is totally free under the condition that you may download a limit of 1 driver per day after registering. premium subscribers are unlimited.

When my cards were still being recognized a few days back, i noticed that every time i would reboot they would no longer show in Explorer even though I had never removed the card from the slot. they also wouldnt show up in the Eboostr control panel as an active cache drive. I remedied the problem by simply removing and reinserting the cards, which fixed both issues. As a side question, is there a way to force SD cards to stay mounted after a reboot without having to manually remove/reinsert them? I ask this because my USB flash drives and portable terabyte drive never have this issue.

The Realtek site says their driver is compatible with XP/Vista/7. So after trying the Acer version I then tried the Realtek version as well. In both cases the dialog stated that the driver had installled successfully, and both times Device Manager listed the driver as working. But when i try to insert SD/MicroSD cards from my digital camera, Android phone, etc. I never heard the distinct sound that Windows makes when you insert a new device, and it never shows up in Windows Explorer or the other alternative file managers I have (Directory Opus and Total Commander). It all started right after I installed AVG Internet Security 2011 Business Edition.

With AVG enabled the driver installs failed both times, with AVG temporarily turned off they were successful both times. I also have Windows Update set to search for/install drivers automatically. I have tried inserting numerous card brands from different manufacturers, none will recognize. I also searched Google and found numerous articles about SD cards not recognizing under Win7, including an article on a Microsoft site. I need to use these cards for my photos, videos, phone data files, and also for use with a Windows app called Eboostr, which basically gives an extra RAM boost, basically like ReadyBoost. Plush Eboostr supports up to 4 drives, ReadyBoost only supports 1.

I have also tried uninstalling AVG, and cleaned up the Registry entries and files it left behind (i use Revo Uninstaller Pro for that, it gets rid of all the minuscule crap that the Windows Installer/Uninstaller misses). but even still, no go. i then reinstalled and uninstalled AVG again and tried once more, nothing. as it stands now i'm not sure what else to do, i need these cards and such to work,ive spent the last 2 weeks installing 7 and 2008 R2 and customizing them , adding software etc and i'm not about to reinstall now. i called AVG tech support and they said AVG probably isnt whats preventing my cards from being recognized. also sent an email to Realtek support, they replied unusually quickly with a statement that said that their card reader drivers should theoretically work on Server just as well as on 7.

I have also tried using a tool called Driver Signature Enforcement Overrider, as i'm fully aware that if the Kernel wont initialize a driver upon boottime then the OS will not recognize the device and it therefore will not work properly, if at all (Download link: Driver Signature Enforcement Overrider 1.3b). i used the tool to disable driver signature enforcement, when i reboot and insert any card in the slot, nothing. i followed the instructions for the tool to the tee, first i disabled DSE then rebooted, then used the tool to sign the driver files for the device, as listed in the driver details section of Device Manager, then rebooted again. for your review i am attaching a screenshot of the Device Manager dialog that shows the names of the drivers.

I am also providing the download links for the Acer and Realtek versions of the card reader driver. the only difference between them that I can see is that one is simply a newer version (the one by Realtek). the newer one is the one I currently have now.

Acer: Acer Support: Downloads & Support Documents - Netbook / Aspire One / AOD257

scroll midway down the page, you will see the link for it.

Realtek: Realtek

on this page you will need to get the 3rd link from the top titled "PCIE card reader driver for XP/Vista/Win7"

for your review i am also attaching a complete system review file that I produced with an app called Everest Ultimate Edition (now known as AIDA64 since Everest was bought out). It is a assessment/diagnostics tools used by hardcore PC users, especially overclocking types. Device Manager will not allow me to export a snapshot of my system details to a file, so I've used this instead. It should list all devices and relevant info. It is ALOT of info (and I do mean that). Sorry if it's too much, but i figure the more info the better. you can simply skip the parts you deem irrelevant, as it is all conveniently separated into categories. It may or may not help out in the end.

How can i troubleshoot this? what steps can i take to address the issue, since the driver is clearly listed as working in Device Manager? if AVG is really the cause of the problem , then do i really have to give up my AV protection just to get my cards recognized? i paid good money for a license for AVG is all. as it stands now AVG is completely removed and the issue persists regardless, so i'm not 100% certain that its the cause.

I think this may be due to a Registry issue or the driver not initializing on startup, not sure one way or the other. That may or may not explain why the device is shown as working in Device Manager.

Well, i apologize if this post isnt very coherent or well-organized, i have tried to the best of my ability to keep things simple, but i have a tendency to write unusually long posts on forums etc. If anyone can help, then please reply soon!

Hello Enigma,

You could try this; USB Driver - General Fix for Problems[2]=Hardware%20and%20Drivers
I would recommend using a wired mouse, removing all USB devices and in the section where it says Uninstall all the faded entries. take that as reading uninstall everything USB, if you cannot get hold of a wired mouse then you will have to follow the tutorial as written.
Sd cards would normally be mounted after a reboot so no there is no way to force a mount, at least not that I know of. I think the problem is caused by the Card reader itself as some work and others do not
If the above tutorial does not work you could also try a System Restore Go back to a date before the problems started or a Repair Install

Thanks for the response, Pooch, but unfortunately the problem still persists. i did read the guide you linked to but DID NOT apply of the steps contained therein because the guide appears to be for usb devices. the key word here is usb. a sd card IS NOT the same thing as a usb device. they use 2 similar but still different technologies, in that they share the same common theme of utilizing flash technologies. but besides that, my usb devices work fine, all of them. my portable terabyte drive, usb drives, bluetooth chip (about the size of half a fingernail and plugs into usb slot), usb mouse, logitech gaming controller, scanner, all of that works. it is ONLY my SD cards and MicroSD cards for my Android phones that fail to be recognized. following the steps in the guide would potentially render my usb devices unusable and i'm not sure i would be able to get them to work again, plus i dont want to do anything that might screw stuff up to the point that a Win reinstall is necessary. i need to use these things for work purposes since i'm self-employed and if they're not working then i'm not making money. my usb's arent broke so why go screwing with them? i dont think it would fix my overall issue anyway. quite frankly, your advice seems a bit on the risky side of things, it may mess up more than it fixes.

Thanks anyway, and i dont mean any offense to you, but i think I'll wait on someone else to reply.

Whoops I missed the PCIe part in your little text and assumed it was a USB card reader. The tutorial would not harm any of your USB devices as it just cleans out the old drivers. You mention drivers for the device so I am going to assume that you have tried updating the driver, have you tried uninstalling it,(from Device Manager) placing a tick in the box to delete driver software and then restarting the PC before installing the driver again?


I have no PCIe devices but the picture is otherwise the same

I also suggested a system restore or if that does not work a Repair install that is if they are not toooo risky :)

Thanks for the help Pooch but I tried all your advice, none of it worked. In any case, I figured out the answer to my question, a computer techie friend of mine looked into it and noticed that one of the drivers for the card reader was not digitally signed (very strange coming from a company like Realtek), so he used an app he's got to sign it himself. As it turns out, the lack of a signature was causing the Windows kernel to not load the driver before boot-time, so the device failed to function as a result. He says some 64 bit OSes have this issue. Thanks anyway though!