SD card upgrades brick Windows Phone 7 handsets

[Simon]

Microsoft Phone 7 users have been warned not to upgrade handset memory or use the phone's SD card in other devices, after it emerged that the handsets alter the memory card's format.

According to Microsoft, removing the original SD cards can cause data loss and stop the handset from working properly, limiting upgrade options that might have been a key purchasing motivation for media hoarders.

"You should not remove the SD card in your phone or add a new one because your Windows Phone 7 device might not work properly," Microsoft said on its support site.

Read more: http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/362788/sd-card-upgrades-brick-windows-phone-7-handsets

[vitriol]

Oh dear.........not a great advertisement is it?

[pctech]

A colleague has just got a Samsung Omnia 7 which has a terrific screen and I was tempted to break my golden rule and go on a contract but the cost shook me which is just as well isn't it.

[Steve]

An SD card is designed as a removable memory device , so what is the point of having one . Of course people will want to remove it,swap it or upgrade it. They are not exactly the most robust devices either with a maximum number of writes, what then when it fails? You can't swap it out without data loss if the total memory is shared across this card.

[pctech]

Windows phone 7 looks nice but they obviously haven't learnt from the dogs that were the previous versions.

[Simon]

They might have been better off making it non-removable, like the iPhone, then it wouldn't have been an issue. 

[Rik]

Plain daft, if not suicidal. If it's removable, and they haven't put a warning on the phone or in the manual, I would think MS would be liable for any failures.

[Simon]

It's apparently OK if you put it back in again. 

[Rik]

[Technical Ben]

So... "Shall we use the noraml format for SD cards and memory allocation? Boot tables and file locations? Fat36?"
Windows Boss "No, use NTFS extreme edition, bind it to the hadset with encrypted DRM, and use ready boost too..."

You get what you ask for I suppose. They should have kept it simple, so nothing could go wrong.
My LG Cookie can hot swap SD cards. No crashes, no troubles. So for windows phones to fail, it can only be the designers at fault!

[Rik]

The only question being whether it was an intentional spoiler, Ben.

[Ray]

The only question being whether it was an intentional spoiler, Ben.

Reading the review of the HTC HD7 in the latest copy of Computer Shopper Magazine it sounds like it probably was, Rik, glad I went for an HTC Desire now,

[Technical Ben]

Then they should do what Apple do and advertise it as a "feature". 

[Rik]

Reading the review of the HTC HD7 in the latest copy of Computer Shopper Magazine it sounds like it probably was, Rik, glad I went for an HTC Desire now,

How are you getting on with it, Ray?

[Rik]

Then they should do what Apple do and advertise it as a "feature". 

[Ray]

How are you getting on with it, Ray?

Fine so far, Rik, once I'd got used to the touch screen I find it a lot easier to use than a conventional one with keys, I can fire off texts and emails much faster now, it's also got a small tracker ball which is very useful for navigating web pages and clicking on links.

[Rik]

I take it that it's not the Z, Ray?

[Ray]

No, Rik, it's the standard Desire.

[Rik]

Shame, I need someone to test a Z for me. Oh Simon... 

[Ray]

 

[Simon]

Shame, I need someone to test a Z for me. Oh Simon... 

Buy one, send it to me, and I'll break test it for you. 

[MisterW]

Then they should do what Apple do and advertise it as a "feature".

I thought all software bugs were just 'undocumented features' 

[Rik]

Buy one, send it to me, and I'll break test it for you. 

[Rik]

I thought all software bugs were just 'undocumented features' 

That's what they tell us. Personally, I don't buy it. I wait for Simon to first.

[pctech]

I'll probably go for a Samsung phone next as I do like the look of the AMOLED screens.

[Simon]

That's what they tell us. Personally, I don't buy it. I wait for Simon to first.

You'll have a long wait.  If anything, I'd get the Desire HD. 

[Rik]

 

[pctech]

Software not too stable on that I've heard Simon.

[Simon]

Software not too stable on that I've heard Simon.

Isn't there another Android update due?  The biggest issues I've heard about are tinny sound, hard to release battery cover, and "it's too easy to answer a call when getting it out of your pocket".   

[pctech]

The person I know who's had one does tend to put phones through their paces so he could have tested it to destruction.

[Glenn]

Gingerbread is next, rumoured to be v2 .3, of maybe v3.0 which is meant to include Tablet device support.

[Simon]

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/362815/android-phones-to-replace-your-credit-card

[Glenn]

More info available here http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/17/windows-phone-7s-microsd-mess-the-full-story-and-how-nokia-ca/

[Technical Ben]

Um... So... What on earth? How stupid can you be? It's either a "Iphone" like non expandable phone. Or an expandable one.
So you make it with no SD slot, or you add an extra one (as it appears the main one is for windows only)
So this is either a big mess up from Microsoft, not warning manufacturers to add 2 memory moduals, one fixed, one expandable. Or a failure on manufactures to listen to that advice.  
It also seems Microsoft is cutting corners. Using the SD as system RAM instead of installing it's own. It appears Android avoids this. One of the problems seems to be apps. They need RAM to work properly. So apps on SD cards can slow the thing down. May be fine for simple phones, but Windows is over tasking the SD card, so no current models are "certified" to work. I suppose it's just like real windows. A system hog.  

On the good side I have learnt is old broken phones might contain "free" SD cards. I'll go get the screwdriver!  

[Simon]

Just don't put one in a WM7 phone. 

[Glenn]

Take them out ofWM7 phones and put them in Nokias.