Format = Erase. So, if you want to view the files on you computer, don't format the card.
You are not saying how the Micro SD Card is connected to the computer. Or from where the card came from?
Put the SD card back on the Phone or whatever device it came out of and try to view the files there.
If that works, plug a USB Charging cable into the device and plug the other end into your PC. It should come up as another drive on the computer and you can view and copy files off of it to the computer.

 

Sorry for my delay. Got called away.

Okay.

Card is being read via USB card reader. The data on the card are videos from a dashcam.

The dashcam is old. Maybe even destroyed. I can plug it into my laptop but it is not registering on my laptop. So when I insert the micro SD dard in the dashcam, no files appear on my computer to open.

Thanks.

 

The dashcam is old. Maybe even destroyed. I can plug it into my laptop but it is not registering on my laptop. So when I insert the micro SD card in the dashcam, no files appear on my computer to open.

You still haven't told us the make and model # of the Micro SD Card Reader?
So, are you saying the dashcam does not turn on at all? If it turns on can you view the files on the micro SD Card inside the Dashcam?
The Adapter plugged into the USB port, press the Windows key + X and choose Device Manager. If there is any devices with Yellow marks, Right click it and Uninstall it. Then Unplug the USB Cable for the adapter and restart your computer. Back at the desktop, with the card in, plug the USB part of the adapter into the computer end, preferably into the Back USB port (desktop) it should come up as a new drive. If not, press Windows key +X and choose Disk Management, in the lower pane is the Card Reader showing?
Do you have a standard SD Card reader on your or someone's else's laptop? If so, you can get an Micro SD to Standard SD adapter to insert into any standard SD card Reader.

Have you contacted the manufacturer of the SD card adapter support site? If you can view the files on the device, does the device have a Backup to PC app you can use

 

1. Make and model # of the Micro SD Card Reader. I don't know. The logo has been rubbed off from use. It's a couple of years old. See attached pic.

2. "So, are you saying the dashcam does not turn on at all?" Correct.

3. "The Adapter plugged into the USB port," Do you mean to put the micro SD card into the Adapter, then put the Adapter into the SD Card Reader?

Sorry to ask you to spell this out for me; this stuff is not shorthand for me yet.

 

If I were you, I would skip the USB card reader and instead, get a Micro SD to SD adapter and use that in the SD card reader of your laptop. If Windows still says the card needs to be formatted, the card is probably damaged as well, or it has an encrypted filesystem that only the dashcam can access. You can try running a data recovery program such as Stellar Data Recovery available here Data Recovery Software, Tools & Services – Stellar Data Recovery (there are many other data recovery programs you could try, this is just an example and not an endorsement or recommendation) and run a deep scan for lost files.