If you are a photographer, memory cards are most likely the devices that hold the key to storing your treasured memories. If you know how to take care of this "key", your lockbox of memories are safe. If not, you may be gambling with your memories.

A few things to remember about memory cards. Although there are no moving parts in the standard card there still are a few things that can be done to extend their life.

1) Format your card regularly and always do so while it is in your camera, not when it is connected to your computer. In fact, not only should you not format your card using your computer, but you should not even delete individual files. The problem with erasing or formatting cards on your computer instead of in your camera has to do with the ways in which these tasks are performed by the two and how the two ways are often incompatible.

By regularly formatting your memory card in your camera you can avoid memory variables and lost clusters. Formatting in the camera also helps to be sure that if a card is used in multiple cameras there are not any lost images or folders saved in one camera that cannot be read by the current camera. There could be times when the total available space to store your images is not accurate, due to folders or images saved from use in multiple camera.

2) Removing your memory card from your camera: It is very important to remember to always turn your camera off before removing or inserting a card. When your camera is turned on and your card is inserted the two are connected, passing information and in some cases electrical power. Pulling out your memory card can literally cause things to go haywire, often corrupting the card and making it unusable. Make sure that all the images in your cameras buffer have been saved to your card. Turn the camera off and then you can safely remove your memory card.

3)Removing your memory card from your computer: If you are using card sockets in your computer or are using an auxiliary memory card reader via a USB port, you should always use your computer's functions to power down your card reader or USB device to safely remove the memory card or card reader. It makes no difference if you are using a Windows based system or an Apple Computer. Be sure to follow the proper procedure to power down or eject your memory card or card reader to avoid any damage to your memory card or the files contained on it.