I have a freshly formatted 32 gb micro SD card (fat32) that I put in my Freshly rooted phone using Bliss Pop Rom. When I boot up my phone, go to storage and mount the micro SD, it automatically says that it now has 15bgb on it. Using ES file explorer I examine the contents of the card and there is nothing on it but yet it reads as 15gb left. What's worse is that when I try to copy or move a file to it, a message saying not enough space please free up space to proceed. I Googled the crap out of this issue. No luck. Please help. I use a lot of storage and the SD card is important to me.
Try on stock rom. If it works then stay on stock. Can't stress this enough. CM is to play around with but not as a daily driver. CM is garbage
vance74 said:
I have a freshly formatted 32 gb micro SD card (fat32) that I put in my Freshly rooted phone using Bliss Pop Rom. When I boot up my phone, go to storage and mount the micro SD, it automatically says that it now has 15bgb on it. Using ES file explorer I examine the contents of the card and there is nothing on it but yet it reads as 15gb left. What's worse is that when I try to copy or move a file to it, a message saying not enough space please free up space to proceed. I Googled the crap out of this issue. No luck. Please help. I use a lot of storage and the SD card is important to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try installing and running SDFix from Google Play Store. Make sure you have a nandroid backup before you do >anything< to your device.
ivanabq said:
Try installing and running SDFix from Google Play Store. Make sure you have a nandroid backup before you do >anything< to your device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just to follow up. . I formatted the card on a PC using a an SD card adapter. After that I had the problem. I researched it and apparently that can mess up, corrupt micro SD cards. So I popped the same micro SD card in my Galaxy s5 and formatted it and the tried it in my LG G3 and it mounted and now works great.
Your microSD card isn't formatted properly
vance74 said:
I have a freshly formatted 32 gb micro SD card (fat32) that I put in my Freshly rooted phone using Bliss Pop Rom. When I boot up my phone, go to storage and mount the micro SD, it automatically says that it now has 15bgb on it. Using ES file explorer I examine the contents of the card and there is nothing on it but yet it reads as 15gb left. What's worse is that when I try to copy or move a file to it, a message saying not enough space please free up space to proceed. I Googled the crap out of this issue. No luck. Please help. I use a lot of storage and the SD card is important to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SD cards and microSD cards should not be formatted by the Windows, Apple, or other default program. If you're running Windows, download and install SDFormatter. SD cards have special hidden files that are deleted by the Windows regular formatter. SDFormatter handles the removable media properly.
If you are going to use the SD or mSD card in a particular device, you should >always< format the card in that device before using it.
Yes, what the previous poster said... I wish you could have asked before you did it. Windows is bad at formatting for anything other than NTFS and so is Mac. If you have to format at all, use TWRP. But me personally I recommend to never ever format. I have always managed to turn them into RAW due to multiple formatting because like ivanabq said, Windows just deleted those files. These files are used by Android to read where everything is and if they are gone, it doesn't know how to read the card anymore. Good luck. Hope you get the space back.
Also could you tell us the brand of your microSD? Sometimes the knockoff brands will advertise more space and once you format it, it reveals that it is far less. You might be able to get a full refund knockoff or not.
Related
Hi I looked to see if anyone else posted about this and I couldn't find one like this. I have an evo that I have rooted. I still have the 8gb sd card. After I rooted my phone I still had about 6gb left on my sd card. After I flashed Mikfroyo 4.5, reinstalled all my apps and and put most of my games on my sd card, like I had before I flashed mikfroyo I had about 4gb left on my sdcard. Yesterday I flashed a new rom on my phone, installed most of the apps that I had, and put the same amount of apps on my sd card it went down to under 2gb. I don't see triple the amount of folders on my sd card. Does anyone know why it shows up like this or at least how to free up some room? Thanks.
Kovernm said:
Hi I looked to see if anyone else posted about this and I couldn't find one like this. I have an evo that I have rooted. I still have the 8gb sd card. After I rooted my phone I still had about 6gb left on my sd card. After I flashed Mikfroyo 4.5, reinstalled all my apps and and put most of my games on my sd card, like I had before I flashed mikfroyo I had about 4gb left on my sdcard. Yesterday I flashed a new rom on my phone, installed most of the apps that I had, and put the same amount of apps on my sd card it went down to under 2gb. I don't see triple the amount of folders on my sd card. Does anyone know why it shows up like this or at least how to free up some room? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you been deleting the ROMs from your SD card after you flash them? Each Sense rom is roughly 180-200mb. It adds up. Also, if you have been creating Nandroid backups, they too will take up a lot Space, and you need to shuffle through them and delete the old ones. Nandroid backups add up quick. I don't store my apps on the SD card, so don't know much about it, but what method are you using to do so, and are you sure they're not doubling up? I'd be more suspicious of an excess amount of nandroid backups and roms on the sd card though. It doesn't take much to fill up that stock 8gb card.
i agree you should check how many nadroid backups you have on your card, they take a lot of room, i usually move them from my phone to my pc and only leave the last one on my phone, plus they are safer on the computer. also all the zip files you use to flash roms can be moved from the sd card to the computer, once used you dont need them on the root of your sd card anymore they just waste space, i would also recommend upgrading to a 16gb sd card ebay has them for like 20 to 30 bucks and save you the trouble of worrying about memory. to move files from one sd card to another you just connect phone to pc as disk drive open my pc and right click on the drive that represents your phone, go to folder options and in views, select view hidden files. once that is done just copy all inside the sd card to a folder on your pc. then you unplug from the computer, turn off phone replace old sd with new, turn on your phone go to settings storage and unmount the sd card then format it. the plug it to your pc again in disk drive open the folder where you put all the info from the old sd and copy all that to the drive your phone represents and hit yes when it says if you like to copy and replace some files, then you are done new sd and twice the memory cv
"?
Well I have a new version of CWM Mod, and apparently when you format the sd-card, it no longer formats the inner sd card but your external sd card. I was really pissed as I lost all my data I had saved, but it also managed to screw up my sd card. Neither of my computers recognize my SD Card and I have no idea how I can go about restoring it. My phone can detect the sd card but it will say its corrupt randomly. So I'm guessing CWM formatted the card in a really screwed up way. Any suggestions brahs?
I'll even try to mount the sd card on CWM but it wont be able to mount it. It's a shame to waste a 32 gig sd card like this
Have you tried to format through the phone storage? Menu/settings/storage/format
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2
mrbmg said:
Have you tried to format through the phone storage? Menu/settings/storage/format
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only gives me the option to mount or unmount the SD card
How old is the SD card? This phone is know for eating up the 32 GB cards. I had one for less than 3 weeks and it did the same. I use trwp but there is a thread about cards and our misfortunes with the 32 GB.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2
Make sure you card is not in exfat. CWM will not read cards in exfat, I had the same problem. If it is you are going to need to format it to fat 32. Most 32gigs sd cards and higher come in exfat now. You are most likey going to have to do it on the computer also it cant be done from CWM.
Mateoftw said:
Well I have a new version of CWM Mod, and apparently when you format the sd-card, it no longer formats the inner sd card but your external sd card. I was really pissed as I lost all my data I had saved, but it also managed to screw up my sd card. Neither of my computers recognize my SD Card and I have no idea how I can go about restoring it. My phone can detect the sd card but it will say its corrupt randomly. So I'm guessing CWM formatted the card in a really screwed up way. Any suggestions brahs?
I'll even try to mount the sd card on CWM but it wont be able to mount it. It's a shame to waste a 32 gig sd card like this
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aoe316 said:
Make sure you card is not in exfat. CWM will not read cards in exfat, I had the same problem. If it is you are going to need to format it to fat 32. Most 32gigs sd cards and higher come in exfat now. You are most likey going to have to do it on the computer also it cant be done from CWM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes but my computer won't even detect the SD Card. It was fine and dandy up until yesterday when I hit format on CWM on the SD Card thinking I was formatting the internal storage (since it's labelled /sdcard) but it formatted the actual SD. Windows won't detect my Micro SD and neither will my Mac. However if I put the SD card into my phone and connect via USB, it shows up.
Mateoftw said:
Yes but my computer won't even detect the SD Card. It was fine and dandy up until yesterday when I hit format on CWM on the SD Card thinking I was formatting the internal storage (since it's labelled /sdcard) but it formatted the actual SD. Windows won't detect my Micro SD and neither will my Mac. However if I put the SD card into my phone and connect via USB, it shows up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You pressed format /sdcard, and it formatted your extsd? That's a pretty serious bug, so thanks for the heads up. What version of CWM are you running?
Op. I did the same thing a long time ago. I have gotten into the habbit of removing the sd card when I am formatting with a custom recovery. I also back up the sd to my pc and reformat the sd when changing roms. A bit off topic but I also wipe system before flashing a new rom. So far I have avoided many of the issues mentioned day after day. Maybe I am lucky but my wierd habits have been successful so far.
jcbofkc said:
Op. I did the same thing a long time ago. I have gotten into the habbit of removing the sd card when I am formatting with a custom recovery. I also back up the sd to my pc and reformat the sd when changing roms. A bit off topic but I also wipe system before flashing a new rom. So far I have avoided many of the issues mentioned day after day. Maybe I am lucky but my wierd habits have been successful so far.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you manage to fix the problem though? Not to be rude but I'm looking for solutions towards this specific situation, not advice on what to do next time :crying: :crying: :crying: :crying:
Aerowinder said:
You pressed format /sdcard, and it formatted your extsd? That's a pretty serious bug, so thanks for the heads up. What version of CWM are you running?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
5.8 something. It's weird because it allows for both internal and external SD use. When you backup the first open is to save to external then its internal. First version of CWM i've ever used with such an option.
For anyone wondering about a solution, I used an android 2.3 device which actually has a format option for the SD card and now my computers recognize it again. Life is good
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
Hi this is my first time posting a question on here so I'm hoping I'm doing this correctly
I recently received a SanDisk Ultra 64GB MicroSDHC card to use in my AT&T Note II phone. When I inserted the external SD card into my phone, everything mounted correctly and functioned right. However, when I tried to transfer my pictures and music into to the external SD card from my internal SD card using the stock app My Files, it would say that everything moved to my external SD card, but when I checked it, nothing was in the external SD card and the files that i had moved from my internal SD card were gone. So I backed up all my files from the internal SD card to my laptop to make sure I don't lose files again.
Afterwards I tried all of these methods to get files to properly into the external SD card:
I tried connected the external SD card directly to my laptop using an adapter and moved the files there
I tried moving files to the external SD card while it was in my phone
I also tried using KIES and KIES Air to move files into my external SD card
The first two methods didn't even have files show in the external SD card. The third method, using KIES and KIES air had files in the external SD card but they were corrupted where I can open my picture and it's a icon of a man of some kind and my music files just wouldn't play.
So I just factor reset my phone hoping that this would fix this problem and I haven't tried moving files yet. I'm hoping that perhaps it was an app that was conflicting with the external SD card.
I know that my external SD card is not fake because it came in a legitimate package and I also ran a software (that I can't remember the name of) that puts in data in the external SD card until it fills up and reads the data to see how much actually went in.
Could anybody tell me what the problem is and how I can fix it? I can't go back to the store and exchange it because it was a gift and there's no receipt. Thank you so much for your help.
gnabffej said:
Hi this is my first time posting a question on here so I'm hoping I'm doing this correctly
I recently received a SanDisk Ultra 64GB MicroSDHC card to use in my AT&T Note II phone. When I inserted the external SD card into my phone, everything mounted correctly and functioned right. However, when I tried to transfer my pictures and music into to the external SD card from my internal SD card using the stock app My Files, it would say that everything moved to my external SD card, but when I checked it, nothing was in the external SD card and the files that i had moved from my internal SD card were gone. So I backed up all my files from the internal SD card to my laptop to make sure I don't lose files again.
Afterwards I tried all of these methods to get files to properly into the external SD card:
I tried connected the external SD card directly to my laptop using an adapter and moved the files there
I tried moving files to the external SD card while it was in my phone
I also tried using KIES and KIES Air to move files into my external SD card
The first two methods didn't even have files show in the external SD card. The third method, using KIES and KIES air had files in the external SD card but they were corrupted where I can open my picture and it's a icon of a man of some kind and my music files just wouldn't play.
So I just factor reset my phone hoping that this would fix this problem and I haven't tried moving files yet. I'm hoping that perhaps it was an app that was conflicting with the external SD card.
I know that my external SD card is not fake because it came in a legitimate package and I also ran a software (that I can't remember the name of) that puts in data in the external SD card until it fills up and reads the data to see how much actually went in.
Could anybody tell me what the problem is and how I can fix it? I can't go back to the store and exchange it because it was a gift and there's no receipt. Thank you so much for your help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
try formatting to fat32 type and chk as it must be ntfs now
shhbz said:
try formatting to fat32 type and chk as it must be ntfs now
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
right I forgot to mention that I reformatted it on my phone as well as using the default Windows 7 format function as well as SD card formatter
gnabffej said:
right I forgot to mention that I reformatted it on my phone as well as using the default Windows 7 format function as well as SD card formatter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well seee if it works on other phone if not then sent it back to sandisk service center they dont need any proof of purchase just the sd card packet pic will do as proof as it comes with lifetime warranty , just sent them a mail and report if its faulty and they will ask u to send the sd card back to sandisk center and they will send u a new sd card :good:
if they ask for a sd card no just chk your sd card back it written over there and not on the package as the org number they need is available in sd card back
gnabffej said:
Hi this is my first time posting a question on here so I'm hoping I'm doing this correctly
I recently received a SanDisk Ultra 64GB MicroSDHC card to use in my AT&T Note II phone. When I inserted the external SD card into my phone, everything mounted correctly and functioned right. However, when I tried to transfer my pictures and music into to the external SD card from my internal SD card using the stock app My Files, it would say that everything moved to my external SD card, but when I checked it, nothing was in the external SD card and the files that i had moved from my internal SD card were gone. So I backed up all my files from the internal SD card to my laptop to make sure I don't lose files again.
Afterwards I tried all of these methods to get files to properly into the external SD card:
I tried connected the external SD card directly to my laptop using an adapter and moved the files there
I tried moving files to the external SD card while it was in my phone
I also tried using KIES and KIES Air to move files into my external SD card
The first two methods didn't even have files show in the external SD card. The third method, using KIES and KIES air had files in the external SD card but they were corrupted where I can open my picture and it's a icon of a man of some kind and my music files just wouldn't play.
So I just factor reset my phone hoping that this would fix this problem and I haven't tried moving files yet. I'm hoping that perhaps it was an app that was conflicting with the external SD card.
I know that my external SD card is not fake because it came in a legitimate package and I also ran a software (that I can't remember the name of) that puts in data in the external SD card until it fills up and reads the data to see how much actually went in.
Could anybody tell me what the problem is and how I can fix it? I can't go back to the store and exchange it because it was a gift and there's no receipt. Thank you so much for your help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
welcome to the screwedup 64 club just throw it in the bin. i had the same 64gig card n been trying for last 10months to format with every partition wizard to no avail.finally smashed to smitherings with a hammer. could not exchange it cos i threw away the box n receipt n they wont replace it but a friend got his changed 3 times before he got a working one.lesson learnt just stick with 32gig sd no such problem
shhbz said:
well seee if it works on other phone if not then sent it back to sandisk service center they dont need any proof of purchase just the sd card packet pic will do as proof as it comes with lifetime warranty , just sent them a mail and report if its faulty and they will ask u to send the sd card back to sandisk center and they will send u a new sd card :good:
if they ask for a sd card no just chk your sd card back it written over there and not on the package as the org number they need is available in sd card back
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah my I threw my package away about a week ago which I completely regret now
gnabffej said:
Yeah my I threw my package away about a week ago which I completely regret now
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
u still dont need to regret just mail sandisk and iform them abt the issue they will ask you to send the damaged chip and they refund it , for me they did not ask for any proff
I've been having problems with the external sd card, when i restart it shows 'sd card inserted' in the notification panel but under storage the only options are mount sd and erase sd. Its a generic 128gb sd which i formatted on the computer and the phone, when i hit mount sd it just shows the 'sd card inserted' again but doesn't actually mount. It only works if i format it in the phone and only until a restart. The card works perfectly on my computer. Anyone else having this issue or have a solution, there has to be something quicker than copy, re format and copy back the files
what type of computer did you format it on? in the past I had issues with formatting my SD cards on windows. I either had to format with the phone, a mac, or a linux pc.
I have not had the issue you are describing, but my card does unmount sometimes and then remounts immediately after.
Windows pc, but i reformatted it on the after it didn't mount, could it be the sd card? It was 14$ on ebay but the sellers feedback was 100% for the cards.
I'm wondering if it might be a problem with the reader or the firmware since it reads on the pc just fine.
Sent from my ME302C using XDA Free mobile app
I actually had a 64GB SanDisk MicroSD card unmount while in use on my G3 then I could never use it again. I'd try to format it and it'd act like it did but the same files/folders were there. I could no longer write to it. I need to still contact SanDisk about it to see if I can get a replacement.
You need to reformat it into NTFS format.
Then try to mount it. This is the case for anything 64g or higher.
Sent from my LG-D851 using XDA Free mobile app
potentional fix
I had this problem with my LGG3 not mounting the SD card, I found that taking putting the SD card into your pc/laptlaptop, copy over pictures and music you wish to keep and format it as a FAT32 this worked for me however the Android files on the card had to be deleted I think on of them was corrupting the SD card as it would show randomly on my phone.
Hope this helps
I know the method one is supposed to follow, the app prompts you to select your external memory card in the next screen, and then you are presented with a screen where you select your SD card in the sidebar on the left. The problem is, on my Zenfone 2, the SD card just isn't being shown in that screen.
I've made sure 'Hide SD Card' is unchecked, but the selector app just refuses to see my SD card, no matter what, and no matter which app I try this from.
All apps can read my SD card just fine, and the Settings > Storage dialog also shows the SD card properly, so I know it's not an issue with the card being detected. It's just the 'write access permission' dialog/app that refuses to see my SD card.
Any leads on what could be causing this, or what I could do? I tried giving my SD card a name, via my laptop, but that didn't work either.
Bump, anyone managed to grant SD write access on your Zenfones?
write access on sdcard with lollipop 5.0 is a know issue...
You must be root and install https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nextapp.sdfix&hl=fr to get write access.
ilos said:
write access on sdcard with lollipop 5.0 is a know issue...
You must be root and install https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nextapp.sdfix&hl=fr to get write access.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for reply, but are you sure about this? As far as I know, write access is an issue in Kitkat/4.4, and in Lollipop, this was fixed by allowing the user to explicitly grant write access permission to the external MicroSD card, using a special folder picker dialog . I can get to the picker dialog, but the picker doesn't show my SD card in there, to select.
Even the app you linked me to is pretty clear in specifying that this is for Kitkat/4.4, which had a known policy against allowing apps write access.
I have previously posted this issue, both in here and in the Power Amp forum (another 3rd Party app which suffers from this).
There appears to be no solution yet. According to Google, app developers can allow users to select to grant permission to edit files on Ext SD cards, but even knowledgable developers seem to be struggling to implement this.
All right, I solved the problem, for anyone interested.
The card (SanDisk Ultra, 64 GB) came pre-formatted as exFat, which it appears Android only has read ability for.
I reformatted the card as NTFS first, and that didn't work either. I then tried FAT32, which worked perfectly, I can now grant external SD write access to any app, as expected.
The only downside is that I cannot store any files larger than 4 GB on my memory card, but that isn't something I foresee needing to do, for now.
Write access is solved by Google in 5.0.1 and up. Without app provided in my Last post i can't backup anything on sdcard With titanium backup. In preroot thread someone confirmed write issue solved with this app. Also i've the same sd than you and don't needed to format.
Envoyé de mon ASUS_Z00AD
I'm not sure if it related to ASUS implementation or Android itself, but besides standard media_rw rights there is another problem. chmod of /mnt is 700, not expected 770.
If you have root access, try install Folder Mount, the app will ask to patch you android system for 2 times then after reboot for two time after each patch you get full access sdcard on you phone.
Sent from my SM-G900F
DanielKennethRego said:
All right, I solved the problem, for anyone interested.
The card (SanDisk Ultra, 64 GB) came pre-formatted as exFat, which it appears Android only has read ability for.
I reformatted the card as NTFS first, and that didn't work either. I then tried FAT32, which worked perfectly, I can now grant external SD write access to any app, as expected.
The only downside is that I cannot store any files larger than 4 GB on my memory card, but that isn't something I foresee needing to do, for now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you provide an example of an app that had not permission to write on external sd before you formatted it in Fat 32, and that have the permission after?
hardhu said:
Could you provide an example of an app that had not permission to write on external sd before you formatted it in Fat 32, and that have the permission after?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Every app I happened to try. For example X-Plore file manager and FolderSync.
DanielKennethRego said:
All right, I solved the problem, for anyone interested.
The card (SanDisk Ultra, 64 GB) came pre-formatted as exFat, which it appears Android only has read ability for.
I reformatted the card as NTFS first, and that didn't work either. I then tried FAT32, which worked perfectly, I can now grant external SD write access to any app, as expected.
The only downside is that I cannot store any files larger than 4 GB on my memory card, but that isn't something I foresee needing to do, for now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am having the same issue. How did you format a 64GB card using FAT32? I thought the limit for FAT32 is 32GB.
ZenFone 2, Sansung EVO 64GB (exFAT)
More info on solution
I found out that FAT32 supports larger drives, but Windows will not (easily) format FAT32 to drives >32GB.
I used fat32format to format the card. Apparently I cannot post an outside link yet, so google: ridgecrop.demon.co.uk fat32format
To reiterate the issue, the access-granting UI that is on the ZenFone 2 lollipop (5.0) will not show the sd card. The process of what is supposed to happen is here: again, google metactrl.com sdcard-on-lollipop
yc1437 said:
If you have root access, try install Folder Mount, the app will ask to patch you android system for 2 times then after reboot for two time after each patch you get full access sdcard on you phone.
Sent from my SM-G900F
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can confirm that this worked on my phone with root.
Great
natebizu said:
I am having the same issue. How did you format a 64GB card using FAT32? I thought the limit for FAT32 is 32GB.
ZenFone 2, Sansung EVO 64GB (exFAT)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had first formatted it as NTFS, and tried to use it in the phone. The phone told me the card wasn't formatted, and offered to format it for me. When I allowed it, it has formatted it as FAT32.
I'd really prefer not having to go to FAT32 as I routinely store and move files larger than 4GB on my microSD. I think this is an Asus issue, they just need to make the microSD card visible on the app selector.
So I have now had my Zenfone 2 for 1 week and I noticed that when I tried backing up my phone with Titanium backup to my SD card, it would not allow me to do so. I could only back up to the internal storage. Am I understanding that this is an issue with Lollipop rather then with the zenfone?
Regarding writing note..txt.saving...on sd card...the only 2 i tried es file explorer and fx file manager are the ones working..i can freely edit with those while files on external sd drive...imbut im still waiting for mix explorer to that...
DanielKennethRego said:
All right, I solved the problem, for anyone interested.
The card (SanDisk Ultra, 64 GB) came pre-formatted as exFat, which it appears Android only has read ability for.
I reformatted the card as NTFS first, and that didn't work either. I then tried FAT32, which worked perfectly, I can now grant external SD write access to any app, as expected.
The only downside is that I cannot store any files larger than 4 GB on my memory card, but that isn't something I foresee needing to do, for now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How did you "grant external SD write access to any app"? Did this require root? (Without root I can write to external SD with ES File Explorer and Astro File Manager, but can't do so with other 3rd party apps of interest to me.)
I had the store where I bought my ZENFONE 2 install my 64 Gig SD card.
I can see the external memory, and even make folders, but it won't allow me to save any files to it. At the top of the screen, where all the little icons are, it shows the symbol for the SD card, but it also has an "X" on the symbol. Settings doesn't show an option for formatting the SDCard. Is it because it is already formatted? Would appreciate some advice. Lawrence