1. Nuvi 255w System Software Missing

I´m new here and new to the gps world. I bought a Garmin Nuvi 255W a few months ago and my son in law was going to put a new map onto a SD card for me and acccidently formatted the Nuvi instead of the SD card. I had downloaded a update of the USA map that came with the Nuvi so I was able to reinstall that map but I know that the basemap is missing.

Does anyone know what files come with the Nuvi from the factory.I'm not sure but the Nuvi doesn't seem to work as smoothly as it did first not talking about the picture isn't the same with the missing basemap. Thanks foe any and all help. GeoC320 wrote:Garmim got me almost back to normal. They E-mailed me 2 files. One was the wrong one for my 255w.

There appears to be 2 versions of 255Ws. Then once it finished it reset itself.

Nuvi 255w System Software Missing

First time the map came up it was zoomed out showing the entire US with my car in IL. All my favs were gone. Thank gawd I had a backup that wasn't too old. Once I determine what's missing I'll make a new backup.Hello, I have the exact same problem as yours. Is there anyway I can contact you to find out more information about the solution?

Hi, yeah old thread indeed. My aunt had her GPS since it came out. She basically use only 1 time. She is an elderly. She could never figure out how to use it or update the GPS.

She did a booboo recently by trying to use it again and she formatted the GPS.She call Garmin and sadly they said they could not help her at all.Is there a way to maybe get the original files or at least something to make it work again?The GPS does boot but there is no map or anything on it.Your time is appreciated.thank you. Without a backup, it won't be easy, but if the nuvi still boots up to the 'Where to' menu and goes into mass storage mode when connected to the computer (shows as a drive), it is possible if you can find someone else with a nuvi 255W who is willing to share a backup with you. Just restore all the files EXCEPT the map files (everything except the Garmingmapprom.

or Garmingmapsupp. files). The map files cannot be copied from another device because they are locked to a specific serial number.If you get this far, you can then either buy a downloadable Garmin City Navigator NA map OR use a free map from OpenStreetMaps. The Garmin City Navigator map will be more functional than the OpenStreetMap, but it is questionable whether the cost of City Navigator could be justified on a device this old. It would make more sense to just buy a new, used or refurbished low end device which you should be able to find for about the same or lower cost than the downloadable map. Similar to recent posters, my 255W is now not recognized by the PC either by File Explorer or Garmin Express.

Problem arose when I put an SD card into GPS in order to get the complete map installed and allowed GE to do a map update. GE completed the update and said an error occurred. The GPS has the complete map installed on the SD card and works fine as a GPS using that - but it can't be updated now since GE essentially seemed to wipe the internal drive clean.

File Explorer just shows the drive as a removable drive with 0 bytes used and 0 bytes free. Note - to be clear, GE created the problem - I did not try to format anything.I have what appears to be a complete backup from 2 years ago. How can I try to get the 255W to be recognized by the PC - is it as simple as just doing a format using File Explorer? Do I then just copy the backup files back to the internal drive? Does it matter that the backup files may contain v7.6 while the GPS is running v7.8?I did talk with Garmin support who was willing to try to help me with basic steps that were unsuccessful in getting the Nuvi back to being recognized. Need some more advanced help that I hope to receive from the experts here. I know the device is old but it is still useful, especially if I can get it back to continue to be updated.

Thanks in advance. Sorry for the delay in responding - work and holiday commitments got in the way. Appreciate the input so far and am providing additional info.Alandb - can't run Chkdsk. Get the message 'The disk check could not be performed because Windows can't access the disk.' I've seen mention of pre-boot mode and Cure3 elsewhere but the directions are not very clear how to use it. Am thinking that's what I need to try next but need to figure it out unless someone has first hand experience to guide me through process.sussamb - nuvi is not mounting, that appears to be my first problem.Thanks.