SDHC card not reading on laptop

Hi guys, I have this SDHC card (8GB) that I know has over 400 pictures on it, but when I put the card into the card reader on my laptop (HP Pavilion dv6770se) it just shows 14 pictures that are not recognized by Windows (i can't view the pictures).
Also, when I click on properties, it says that 2GB is used on the card, but I can't view anything.

So, is the problem with the card or is the card reader the issue? I've also tried the card on a different laptop and the same thing happens, so that should mean the problem is the card not the card reader right?

And, last night I downloaded a bunch of demos for Recovery Programs and when I run them I am able to see the 400+ pictures, but to recover the pictures I'd to pay for the programs and I can't afford to buy any at the minute!

So, my question is there any way I can get the pictures back without spending money on programs???:

P.S. Sorry if I posted the this in the wrong section, didn't know where to post it

Since you tried in multiple computers with the same result then your assumption about the it being the card is correct. Your problem is probably in the card which I would not use again. I'm not into card readers and storage cards but I know that there are different types of cards and the card reader must be specific for the card so that is something to look into. However since it worked for most of the cards I'm assuming that you have the right reader. Have you tried copying the pictures to the computer instead of viewing them on the card?

Unfortunately recovery software is very expensive and it is not guaranteed to work. The only way around using the software would be to have specialized training. There are specialists that do this kind of thing but they are also expensive.

The problem could also be that the pictures weren't stored correctly in the first place in which case recovery is less likely to work.

townsbg thanks for getting back to me so quickly!

See the thing is when I first got the card it worked fine. And now I took a couple of pictures and they are being read by the laptop, but still no sign of the 400+ pictures, that's kinda bugging me now!

And I can't copy the pictures onto the computer as I can't see them, like, literally there is nothing there, its just empty.

Well that I don't know what to tell you. Data recovery is tricky, expensive, and something I don't know much about. But I wouldn't use that card because it might be bad and if you continue to use the card to take pictures you might overwrite the files. If it has a lock tab I would switch it on if you really don't want to lose those files. Did those recovery programs give any indications as to whether they would be able to recover those files? If so you need to decide if it is worth it for you to get the pictures back because that is probably the only way unless you know how to analyze binary. The files might not show up because they were never entered into the file system's table. If that is the case the OS wouldn't even know that something is there. I know that it is frustrating because I've been there except I lost files to a bad CD.

Ah, I don't know, I'm just gonna get a new card and print the pictures I want, see they work on the printing machine in pharmacies!!!!

Thanks for your help anyways.