Here’s a common scenario: you insert or swap and SD card in your laptop and… nothing happens. Sometimes Windows decides to ignore the SD card for reasons unknown (well, the true reason is it’s Windows). Here’s a possible way around this little annoyance.

Open the Device Manager: Hold the “Windows” button and press “R”; then type “devmgmt.msc” (no quotes). Something like this should pop up:

Scroll down to “SD host adapters”. Expand the drop-down selection. Right-click on “SDA  Standard Compliant SD Host Controller” (or whatever) and select “Disable”.

Answer “Yes” to whatever redundant question that comes up. Now right-click on the same device and select “Enable”. Open Windows Explorer and, hopefully, your SD card will now reappear. Saves you the trouble of rebooting your PC…