When I turn on my camera to shot a picture, it will not let me. Instead a screen pops up that says "card write protected." What does this mean?

Take the memory card out of your camera and look at it. SD and SDHC cards have a slide switch along one edge. The position farthest from the metal contacts locks the card, protecting it from writes. The position nearest the contacts unlocks the card.

There are several possible causes for "memory card locked", "memory card error", or "no memory card". Troubleshooting steps for this problem are listed here.

Look at your memory card. SD cards have a slide switch along one edge. The position farthest from the contacts locks the card, protecting it from writes. The position nearest the contacts unlocks the card.

SD and SDHC cards have a slide switch along one edge. The position farthest from the contacts locks the card, protecting it from writes. The position nearest the contacts unlocks the card.

Your memory card is either write protected or corrupted.

• If it's write protected, it can be very easily fixed.

1. Turn off cam.
2. Take out the mem. card. (it's probably located near the battery. press down on it and release it. Then it will pop out.)
3. Slide the small switch on the side of the card to the position marked with an unlocked padlock.
4. Put card back in and turn on cam.

• If that doesn't seem to be the problem, then it's likely that the memory card is corrupted. This is common with Flash memory that has been used extensively for a long time and this problem is likely not caused by any fault in the camera. You might not be able to access any pictures that were stored on your cam, but you can try using a data recovery software like Recuva if you want to recover pictures ( click name to download ). If you want to use the card again, You can try formatting it (differs from cam to cam, check instructions manual for specific instructions) If this doesn't work, You will have to buy a new card. Make sure you buy a good brand like Lexar or SanDisk.

That's it. hope that helped.

What make and model camera? On most cameras you unprotect a picture the same way you protected it, possibly by pushing a "protect" button. No matter what, you can clear everything off the card by formatting it. Cards should be formatted each time after you download pictures to a computer instead of deleting individual pictures. FixYa is full of people asking how to salvage pictures from cards they didn't format.

There are several possible causes for "memory card locked/protected", "memory card error", or "no memory card". Some include trying to use of a 4GB SDHC card with an older camera made before SDHC format came out. Others include problems with the tiny slide switch on the side of the card, or the electrical contact switch internal to the camera. The problem may also arise from simple formatting problems if the card has never been formatted in the camera (note that this will also erase the card). Troubleshooting tips for this problem may be found at this link.

You didn't specify the make and model of your camera, so I'm going to assume it uses SD and/or SDHC cards.

SD and SDHC cards have a slide switch along one edge. The position farthest from the contacts locks the card, protecting it from writes. The position nearest the contacts unlocks the card. If the switch is already in the proper position, slide it fully the other way and then back again.

when i turn on my nikon coolpix the screen says memory card is write protected what does that mean

Which OS?
Try this link to download updated software. click on download drivers, choose your camera, choose your OS.

Either this or remove your memory card and use a USB multi-card reader or if your laptop has the cardslot instead of docking the camea to the laptop.