Memory card reader. my laptop has a built in memory card reader. My camera uses a sony memory

Question

my laptop has a built in memory card reader. My camera uses a sony memory stick and to transfer pics to my laptop I have to use an memory stick adaptor. I have done this many times before with no problems but now when I put the card into the computer the computer sees the card but says it is not formatted. If I put the card back into the camera it works fine. I have also tried putting a SD card from another camera into the reader and it works normally, no problems. I have tried restarting with no luck. any help would be appreciated.