SD card cannot start. Error Code 10.

I had bought a mini PC for my mom with Windows 10 Home installed on it. It had a SD card reader. I used a 128GB MicroSD card, which worked fine initially.

Then comes Microsoft with their "Update first, ask questions later" policy. After a version update I see that the drive is no longer there. Checking the Device Manager revealed the device with a status of "Cannot start. Error Code 10". The problem is that by the time I uncovered the issue, it was over 30 days since the update and I couldn't roll back.

The card itself works fine. When I used it on my Android smart phone and on another Windows 7 laptop, it functioned without problems. Some extensive Google-ing and forum reading led me to believe this is driver related. One forum suggested using the Win8.1 drivers. The current driver is 10.0.17134.1. I downgraded to 6.3.9600.16408. The card was then recognized and all the files were there. But the problem was that I could only read from it, not write.

That's as far as I got so far. Hoping for some valuable suggestions. Thank you for reading.

Hi Dimitar. I'm Greg, an installation specialist and 9 year Windows MVP, here to help you.

Update the SD Card reader from the PC maker's Support Downloads web page for the exact model.

If this doesn't help then in Device Manager reached by right clicking the Start button, chose the SD card device, right click to Uninstall the driver, restart PC to reinstall.

If neither of those help try all previously installed drivers in Device Manager > SD Reader > Driver tab > Update Driver > Browse PC > Let Me Pick.

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I will also give you steps to bookmark to both manage smaller drive storage and perform version Updates on them manually by the most stable method that requires much less space than Windows Update. Without these you'll likely find the oppressive Version updates clogging the PC without clear instructions how to remedy this here:

First here are tips for managing smaller drives:

https://www.pcworld.com/article/3040404/windows...

https://www.groovypost.com/howto/maximize-stora...

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/askjack/...

As more space becomes needed, you can offload User folders (Documents, Music, Pictures, etc) to another drive as shown in this tutorial, which will not affect speed if C is on an SSD and the other drive is not: https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/1964-move-u.... I would not move program files or speed will be affected.

This should make enough space to install Windows Updates. But for now I'd focus on the latest Version 1803 since successfully installing it will bring along all Windows Updates and also resolves almost all other problems since it reinstalls Windows keeping your files and programs in place.

Install the Media Creation Tool on another PC to create bootable media or download the ISO to stick or disk, transfer it back to the target PC to open the media or click to mount the ISO, right click Setup file to Run as Administrator. This avoids needing the space to download the Upgrade and it's staging files. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/m...

If the Upgrade Assistant has already been installed by WIndows Update then I'd remove it and it's staging files first to recover that space:

First turn off Windows Update service to regain control:

Type services.msc in Start Search, Open Services applet.

Scroll Down to Windows Update Service and click on it, Stop service and set to Disabled. Now it should clear the queue of Version and other Updates until you turn it back on and Check again.

Uninstall Upgrade Assistant In Settings > Apps & Features.

Clear out any Upgrade folders in C: drive root including C:\$Windows.~BT. Restart PC, try Upgrade again.

Another option is to do the the best possible Clean Install in this link which will stay that way as long as you stick with the tools and methods given, has zero reported problems, and is better than any amount of money could buy: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wiki....

This will o give you back all but 15gb of the drive so you can slowly reinstall programs to see how they affect performance, move your files to another drive if possible or offline into OneDrive in the cloud with On-demand access to them only: https://www.pcworld.com/article/3233488/windows....

There is also an automated Fresh Start that reinstalls WIndows while shedding corrupting factory bloatware, saves your files, but doesn't clear the drive to get it cleanest: https://www.howtogeek.com/265054/how-to-easily-...

You can also turn off or block Updates if they are bothering you.

There are ways to block Updates here: https://www.howtogeek.com/223864/how-to-uninsta...

If you want you can set a Metered Connection per the above tutorial, then when ready turn it off to install Updates. You can even wait until the twice-yearly Version Updates to run manually from Media Creation Tool which is a more stable method than Windows Update and includes all previous updates rolled into it. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/m...

I hope this helps. Feel free to ask back any questions and let us know how it goes. I will keep working with you until it's resolved


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Retired 2023, thirteen year daily forums volunteer, Windows MVP 2010-2020

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Last updated April 18, 2025 Views 8,233 Applies to: