accidentally formatted garmin 1450. please help!

First off, when/if you get your nuvi back up and running, make a backup of the nuvi to your computer, a recordable DVD or something like that.

A search here and elsewhere on the web for undelete and unformat should offer some options. The sooner you run the fixes and the less you've tried tinkering before trying to unformat or undelete the nuvi, the better your chances. There are free unformat software options available if you look for them.

Short of that, you could call Garmin's Customer Service and see what they can do for you.

Here's one more thread from this forum:

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/33808

Note that if this is more than you feel capable of doing, you can contact Jim (username on POI Factory: sharcnet--see his post in the thread from 7/26/11) and have him do it for a fee. Remember though, the more you've tinkered after the accidental format, the more problems you create.

thanks. i managed to get a firmware update which restored all the files I needed. I will back my garmin up so this doesn't happen again.

How did you manage that, firmware update doesn't restore map files and the unit won't boot without maps.

Since you said you formatted the Nuvi, all files were removed.

I never knew that. I realize that the Nuvi isn't of much value without maps, but what would keep it from booting if there are no maps to display?

On my 755T and 855, I have the CN NA maps on the SD cards. On these older models, SD maps are named gmapsupp.img, so I have no gmapprom.img on the unit itself. I am able to remove the SD card and the units both boot fine with no gmapprom.img.

I do of course have the base map gmapbmap.img on the unit. I don't know what would happen if I removed that (and I don't intend to risk it by trying)!

I've also heard what mu... states in that a mapless nuvi will not boot completely since it can't get past the "Loading maps" graphic. I have no firsthand experience with this since I haven't tried booting a nuvi with no maps.

But I think that any map will do, and the standard minimalistic basemap (gmapbmap.img) is sufficient for booting to complete.

But if mu... is correct and if azn... is correct (that a formatted nuvi can be restored by a firmware update, presumably using WebUpdater, myGarmin, or one of the "perry" files), it'd mean that the restoration included the basemap file which is a bit of a surprise to me.

BTW, the basemap file is not anything sacred. Due to an odd situation with a new special map file:

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/36274

I have disabled the standard Garmin basemap and named the Coconino NF MVUM map as gmapbmap.img on my nuvis. When City Navigator is unselected, then the basemap (my current MVUM map) is displayed; while when City Navigator is checked, I see both the MVUM and City Nav maps displayed.

It's not that the device won't boot without the detail map. More often than not it will throw up an error message saying there are no maps that support routing and the nüvi cannot be used without them. This would apply even if all the maps were removed, say in an accidental format.

That's exactly what happened to me. When updating my Nuvi 660 map I had a power failure and the computer shut down. The map got corrupted and the Nuvi would no longer boot past the Loading Maps screen.
Worse than that, Windows would not recognize the Nuvi so I couldn't even install the backup.

Tried putting backup map on SD card and renaming it gmapsupp.img but it didn't work since apparently the Nuvi didn't recognize the SD card.

It is possible someting in the software also got corrupted thus the Map Loading freezing occurred.

After some searching on other forums I got instructions that I can't remember to get it operational again.

Yup the firmware update fixed ALMOST everything. I was able to get a free basemap from the garmin website. I found a link to it from another website. I don't remember which, but it directed me to a page on the garmin site for an old product that is no longer in production. Instead of the US base map, it was a world base map. Using that map worked perfectly fine. =)

Ahh, you downloaded the QUE 3600 world basemap. The 1450 supports DEM (Digital Elevation Model) data and the 3600 basemap doesn't have it. The current worldwide map isn't available from Garmin, but another Garmin user uploaded their copy here.

It works fine. I have it in my 1300.

Yes the QUE 3600. That's exactly what I have. Thanks for the link to this better basemap. I didn't know anything like it existed. I'll be updating my garmin shortly. I really appreciate your help. =)

What happened to the detailed maps that we need to update every quarter? Did you get that back?

Regardless of whether it is a free update or map subscription, within the first year of ownership (based upon the first satellite fix) he should be able to download the detail map from Garmin's servers. After that, the only way he can download a map is by having a lifetime map subscription or purchasing a one-time map update.

There are of course other avenues to acquiring Garmin maps, but we don't talk about them.

i have format my GPS to but i can not get it up at all and my pc will not show as a file!! can you halp me??