On /r/NintendoHelp, one of the most common issues people post about is issues brought about by having cheaped out and bought a fake MicroSD card for their Switch or 3DS.
These fake MicroSD cards trick the system into thinking that it holds more data than it actually does, and will corrupt your data.
How do I know my card is fake?
There's a few telltale signs of a fake MicroSD card.
It costs way less than other similar sized cards.
A 1TB MicroSD card currently costs around $100 USD. A 512GB card costs around $50 USD. If you're finding a card in these size ranges for $30 or even less, you're probably buying a fake card.
It's from a brand you've never heard of.
There's a lot of weird brands sold online. Look out for well-known brands like SanDisk, Samsung, PNY, or Lexar. Weird brands that aren't well-known are often fake cards.
It just looks off
Some fake cards have bad printing or weird packaging trying to pass themselves off as real brands.
Test it with H2TestW
If you have a card that you suspect is fake, you can test it with the free software H2TestW. This will let you know it's fake.
My card is probably fake, what do I do now?
Simple, throw it away and buy a real one.
Fake cards should not be kept around. Just get rid of it and buy a real card.
If you're using it with a Nintendo Switch, fortunately you won't lose anything of value. Purchased games from the eShop can be redownloaded, and the save data for games is saved on your Switch hardware, not your MicroSD card.
If you're using it in a 3DS, you may lose your save files.
by razorbeamz
9 Comments
Great post.
People should consider backing up the data from their SD card before throwing away.
Switch has just your captures to worry about, as gabes can be redownloaded as OP stated.
https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/27595/~/how-to-transfer-data-between-microsd-cards-for-use-on-nintendo-switch
3DS may be a lot more important stuff, like saves.
https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Support/Nintendo-3DS-2DS/Usage-/SD-Cards/Transferring-data-between-SD-Cards/Transferring-data-between-SD-Cards-826530.html
Both can be backed up with a PC and copied to a new card following procedures from those links. However it is too late for any corrupted files.
If you can afford a Switch and some games, you can afford a proper memory card. So never cheap out on memory cards, and ALWAYS buy from recognized brands.
Nintendeal on Twitter will post when there are deals on MicroSD cards. They also provide a reliable link so you won’t end up buying a bootleg card.
“If it looks too good to be true, it probably is!”
I bought a cheap card from Temu that looked completely real and had normal R/W speed but it later corrupted and I lost everything
Be careful buying cards on Amazon as well. Because they commingle their stock, it’s possible that counterfeit cards sold by third parties can get mixed in with the legit cards sold by the actual manufacturers, so whether you get a legit card kinda comes down to luck.
I would recommend buying from a trusted brick-and-mortar store instead (Best Buy, Target, Gamestop?), or perhaps directly from Nintendo’s online store.
A platform-independent SD card tester:
https://fight-flash-fraud.readthedocs.io/en/latest/introduction.html
As a rule of thumb, avoid buying computer hardware (ssd’s, sd cards, flash drives etc) on Amazon if you can. Amazon commingles their inventory for any “fulfilled by amazon” products, so they just throw every item from all sellers of the same sku into the same pool. It is very, very easy for counterfeits to slip in this way.
Ugh, there’s so many scams and fake products online these days… it’s been a nightmare to shop for anything