Several minutes later there were no pictures again and then the screen read that the 'memory card cannot be used and may be damaged'.

This is a very strong indication that your memory card may be damaged. That probably means throw it out and buy a new one. They aren't that expensive these days.

Even if you can get the card to work again, it's not worth continuing to use a card that you already suspect has problems. A card that has had problems in the past is much more likely to have problems in the future, even if you believe the problem is gone.

It's a fact of life that some SD cards fail at random times, and sometimes this means they'll fail when they're quite new. Count yourself lucky that you haven't lost a bunch of irreplaceable photographs that were on it.

Before you throw it in the trash, however, a few simple troubleshooting steps:

• Try another SD card in the same device. Same problem? Then it's probably the device, not the card.

• Try the problem SD card in a different device. Any problems? Then it's probably the card. A lack of problems does not rule out the card having problems, though.

• Check for dust/dirt/fluff in the SD card slot of the device (camera) and on the SD card's contacts (avoid cleaning them unnecessarily especially with dry fabric, as static electricity is harmful to them).