laptop card reader won't read memory cards

I am running Windows Vista on my Dell laptopn that has a camera and a card reader built in. But if I try to insert the memory card in the slot then it will not get recognized at all in the laptop. If I plug it in and then we can hear the sound of a usb device which is being recognized by windows and also the safely remove icon shows up in the quick launch area, but card doesnt appear in Windows Explorer. When I go in to disk management then it shows up as a removable device but there are no letter assigned to it when we try to format it and if we try to format it then disk management says that there is some kind of error with it and I have to restart disk management or the computer, and even doing this it wont work. I have already tried to install the memory card drivers but that didnt work either. Is there anyone who can help me out?

Did you try to go to Start and then clicked on Computer and then the particular drive letter and then right click on it and then select Properties and then set up Autorun options and click apply and click OK. Check if the drive is able to get recognized in your computer now.

The memory card is not showing up anywhere on the list and therefore how am I suppose to setup anything for it.

Have you tried to remove and reinstall all USB controllers in your computer, if not then follow the below method:

1. Click Start, click Run, type sysdm.cpl in the Open box, and then click OK.
2. Click the Hardware tab.
3. Click the Device Manager button.
4. Expand Universal Serial Bus controllers.
5. Right-click every device under the Universal Serial Bus controllers node, and then click Uninstall to remove them one at a time.
6. Restart the computer, and then reinstall the USB controllers.
7. Plug in the removable USB storage device, and then test to make sure that the issue is resolved.

You can get more methods over here - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310575