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FORMATTING THE MEMORY CARD
It is not normally necessary to format memory cards that have al–
ready been used. However, if a card that has yet to be formatted is
inserted for the first time, it must be formatted. In such cases, the
Format submenu appears automatically.
Nevertheless, it is recommended that the memory card be reformat-
ted occasionally, as a certain amount of residual data (information
accompanying pictures) can take up memory capacity.
Select
Format
in the menu, and the desired setting in the submenu
Notes:
• Formatting does not cause the data on the card to be irretrievably
lost. Only the directory is deleted, which means that the existing
files are no longer directly accessible. The data can be accessed
again using appropriate software. Only the data that is subse-
quently overwritten by saving new data is actually permanently
deleted.However, we recommend that you get into the habit of
transferring all your pictures to a secure mass storage medium,
e.g. the hard drive on your computer, as soon as possible.
• Do not turn the camera off while the memory card is being for–
matted.
• If the memory card has been formatted in another device, such as
a computer, you should reformat it in the camera.
• If the memory card cannot be formatted, you should ask your
dealer or the Leica Information Service (address, see p. 192) for
advice.
• When formatting the memory card, even protected pictures are
deleted.