Thread: Can't find my card read ?

My computer has a built-in , memory card reader, which I have managed to accidentally switch off (I wasn't paying attention when using the Safely Remove Hardware tool and clicked on' the wrong thing). I've looked in the device manager to try to switch it back on, but the card reader is no longer listed. Can you please tell me where to find it and how to turn it back on other than opening the case and removing and refitting the unit? My computer runs Windows XP Professional.

In theory, the computer should automatically find the card reader next time you switch it on - clicking Safely Remove wireless networks, now superseded by WPA.

Hardware should normally only turn off the hardware until the computer is switched off. If you've been putting the computer into Standby, Sleep or Hibernate, this won't do the trick - you need to shut it down and restart it fully. If you have done that already, you may still be able to resurrect it without opening the computer.

Click Start, then Control Panel (or Start, Settings, Control Panel) and double-click Add Hardware (if you can't see that, click Switch to Classic View on the left). Click Next and the computer will search for hardware that it doesn't know about. Follow any prompts that appear. Alternatively, if your card reader came with a setup disc, you may be able to use this to restore it insert the disc and use the setup program to reinstall tbe card reader driver.

If none of these work and you have to resort to physically unplugging the card reader, it shouldn't be too much work. Switch the computer off, open the case using the side panel and locate the card reader. There will probably be two cables to it - one for data, one for power. Remove either (it doesn't matter which), put the case back together, then restart the computer and shut it down as soon as Windows finishes loading. Next, go back and plug the cable in then restart the computer, at which point it should see the card reader again.