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Why doesn't the flash drive work? Why doesn't the computer see the Micro SD memory card? Reflashing a damaged flash drive

Problems with flash drives are not uncommon. Some media only malfunction, which is easily fixed, while others do not work and need to be restored. In this article we will tell you how to restore a flash drive and restore functionality.

Formatting the drive

The disc does not open, it is impossible to read or write information? If the partition table is damaged, then formatting is enough to restore the media. The table will be overwritten, which will solve the performance problem. Sometimes formatting fails due to a virus or third-party software. In this case, scan with an antivirus and/or perform low-level formatting.

Recovering a flash drive using proprietary utilities

Some well-known and reputable drive manufacturers have proprietary applications for media recovery. For example, Transcend has a JetFlash Online Recovery utility, where recovery requires only 3 steps:

Connect the media to the PC
Run the utility
Wait for the recovery to complete.

Please check the availability of programs for restoring drives from other manufacturers directly with the media manufacturer via the feedback form on the official website.

Branded flash drive recovery utilities from Transcend

Controller firmware

Unsafe removal of the flash drive, without first shutting down the drive, often causes the controller to malfunction. The firmware crashes, which does not allow you to format the media, read or write data. In this case, re-flashing the controller helps.

Important! Reflashing the controller leads to the complete deletion of all data on the drive. If you need to save information, first use the appropriate utilities, for example R-Studio.

The firmware is performed in three stages:

Definition of the controller model.
Search for a program for firmware.
Direct firmware of the controller.

Let's look at all three stages in more detail so that you can flash the controller yourself.

Step 1: Determine the controller model

Windows Control Panel

Device Manager in Windows

In the new window, expand the “USB Controllers” list. Highlight "USB mass storage device" then open properties.

In Device Manager, expand “USB Controllers”

Right-click to open the properties of the item “USB storage device”

On the details tab, select “Hardware ID” from the drop-down list. In your case, the required item may be called differently. It is important to identify the VID and PID values.

In this case, the values are as follows: VID_AAAA, PID_8816, chip model – 1308. In your case, the information will be different.

With the obtained values, we proceed to the second stage.

Stage 2: Search for a program for firmware

The flashboot database will help you find the firmware utility. The site contains information on various drives, as well as the preferred software for flashing the controller firmware.

Enter the VID and PID details and then click the search button.

In the table, compare the data, including the chip model, media volume and manufacturer.

In this case, the card is from an unknown manufacturer, so it was not possible to find suitable software for the firmware. In your case, the outcome may be much more favorable. The Utils column will contain a description of the program and a download link.

If you have the program, you can start flashing the controller firmware.

Stage 3: Controller firmware

Usually a detailed description of the firmware installation is included with the software. An approximate algorithm of actions is as follows:

Remove the drive from the computer.
Run the program and confirm driver installation.
Connect the drive. The system will detect the new device and offer to install drivers.
After identifying the media, confirm the firmware process.
Upon completion of flashing and formatting the drive, remove the program from the PC.
Remove and reinsert the drive.
Perform formatting in the standard way.

Recovering a flash drive using third-party applications

Some third-party programs have tools for recovering removable media, as well as correcting various errors. For a list of such programs, see In a separate material you can get acquainted with programs for flash drive recovery

A USB flash drive is not recognized as a disk when connected to a computer or laptop? Can't you write anything on it? And you can’t even format the flash drive? In principle, all is not lost. Most likely the problem lies with the controller. But this can be fixed. And everything will take a maximum of 5-10 minutes.

The only caveat is that restoring the flash drive’s functionality is only possible if it has no mechanical damage (+ it appears in device manager). That is, if you disabled it not through “Safely Remove” (or something like that), then this can be fixed. At the very least, it’s worth at least trying to restore a non-working flash drive.

How to get your flash drive working again

Even if it seems that the USB flash drive has come to an end, you should not take it for repairs. And even more so throw it away. First, you can try to restore the damaged flash drive.

The instructions work for all USB flash drives: Silicon Power, Kingston, Transcend, Data Traveler, A-Data, etc. With its help, you can restore the file system and fix any problems (except mechanical damage).

So, the first thing you need to do is determine the parameters of the USB flash drive. Or rather, its VID and PID. Based on this information, you can determine the brand of the controller, and then select a utility that will help restore the damaged flash drive.

To find out these parameters, do the following:

Connect the flash drive to your PC or laptop and go to Start – Control Panel – Device Manager.
Find the "USB Controllers" section.
Double-click on it and look for the “USB storage device” item. This is your flash drive (let me remind you, it must be connected to the computer).
Right-click on it and select “Properties”.
In the new window, go to the “Details” tab.
In the “Property” field, select the “Equipment ID” (or “Instance Code”) item.
Look at the VID and PID values and remember them.
Next, go to the website http://flashboot.ru/iflash/, enter your values at the top of the site and click the “Search” button.
You are looking for the model of your USB flash drive (by manufacturer and memory capacity). In the right column “Utils” there will be the name of the program with which you can try to restore a non-working flash drive.

After that, all that remains is to find this utility by name or follow the link (if it exists) and download it.

Restoring Kingstone, Silicon Power, Transcend and other models is easy: just run the program and follow the instructions.

What to do if you have not found a suitable utility for your model? To do this, go to Google or Yandex and write something like this: “Silicon Power 4 GB VID 090C PID 1000” (of course, you should indicate the parameters of your flash drive here). And then look what the search engine found.

Never use programs that are not suitable for the VID and PID parameters of your controller! Otherwise, you will “kill” the flash drive completely, and you will no longer be able to restore it.

In most cases, recovery of a damaged flash drive is successful. And after that it will be detected when connected to a PC or laptop.

This is how you repair a flash drive yourself using a free utility.

And most importantly: in this way it is possible to restore a damaged flash drive in 80% of cases. While most specialized programs may not be able to cope with this task.

We are accustomed to the fact that the object of information recovery is most often the hard drive; For some reason, solid-state drives are considered a priori reliable. And if the data on the flash drive still turns out to be damaged, then they don’t even try to restore it. In this article we will try to debunk this belief.

USB flash drives have long been an integral companion of almost every PC user. They are very convenient, and the prices for these devices are constantly falling. Now, for example, you can buy a 4 GB flash drive for only 800 rubles.

However, there are no absolutely reliable things: just as in the case of other drives, flash drives sometimes start to “glitch”: files disappear, problems appear when copying or deleting files, and formatting becomes impossible. However, do not rush to throw away the flash drive - it is quite possible that it can still be brought back to life. Our article will talk about real examples of restoring the functionality of flash drives and memory cards.

Before moving on to listing recommendations, let us remind you that prevention is much better than surgical intervention. Regarding flash drives, there is a golden rule for every user - “make copies”! Never store information on flash drives that exists in a single copy. Make copies on the computer you are copying from. If you use memory cards in a camera, do not wait until the card is completely full: at the first opportunity, transfer the photographs you take to a hard drive or DVD. Do not forget that the cost of data recovery from a flash drive in specialized companies starts at 1,500 rubles. It's much better to make a copy, isn't it?

What to do if a flash drive or memory card stops working?

So, what to do if a flash drive or memory card stops working? First you need to decide whether the information from the flash drive needs to be recovered. If you don’t need it, then you should find a suitable formatting program: on the CD that came with the kit, or on the manufacturer’s website. If these methods are not available, then you can resort to standard Windows functions: open Control Panel - Administrative Tools - Computer Management - Disk Management, then find the flash drive partition, delete and format it. If none of the above methods help, you can turn to specialized forums for help. In this case, it will be very useful to indicate not only the name of the flash drive, but the brand of its controller, as well as the identification number of the VID vendor and PID manufacturer (the USBIDCheck utility will help here). VID and PID can also be found in Windows Device Manager.

If a failed flash drive or memory card contains the necessary information, then you should determine the degree of its importance. If you are ready to sacrifice the amount of 1.5-6 thousand rubles, then it is better to take it to trusted specialists. If the data is not very valuable, then you should remember that using any programs to restore the functionality of flash drives can be dangerous, since they erase information during operation.

If possible, before starting work, make a sector-by-sector copy of the disk using utilities from Acronis, Paragon, etc. This ensures the ability to work not with a flash drive, but with information copied from it.

Sometimes a very simple method helps to restore data: Control Panel - Administrative Tools - Computer Management - Disk Management. Find the partition you need and try to scan with Scandisk. But most often, the programs EasyRecovery, GetDataBack, RecoverMyFiles, R-Studio, which have reading modes that allow copying data without changing the structure, can help in recovering files. If you are not well versed in these programs, it is better to first ask for advice on the forum. Never rush if your files are important to you.

Question answer

Question: The "Toshiba 8 GB" flash drive (controller AB 8028-K/L716/CE7106.0, iFLASH/ISF0032MUDC/0530 memory) is detected in Windows, but when you try to access it, the message "Insert the disk into the device..." appears. In properties: free 0; busy 0; file system - unknown. Formatting using Windows is not possible.
Answer: This controller requires the PDx8 v3.27 utility.

Question: Samsung flash drive 2 GB. Stopped formatting. Windows cannot complete formatting.
Answer: Try the HS2.0_Utility_Repair_2 utility.

Question: Imation Flash Drive Mini 4 GB. It is detected in Windows, but does not open, displaying the message: “Insert the disk into the device...”.
Answer: A program that solves this problem is located on the official Imation website for the South Asian region.

Question: Transcend JetFlash V60 2 GB flash drive (P/N TS2GJFV60). On most computers, it is either not detected at all (absolutely no reaction), or is detected only as a storage device (without appearing as a removable disk), or the LED simply lights up and, again, no reaction. However, it works fine on my home computer. I tried formatting in Windows - it didn't help. What's the matter?
Answer Note: Use this flash drive only with the USB ports of the motherboard. Unfortunately, many Transcend JetFlash flash drives do not work well when connected to the front connectors of a PC or on long extension cords.

Question: Transcend JetFlash-150 2 GB flash drive is no longer detected in Windows.
Answer: The proprietary utility JetFlash Recovery Tool v1.0.12 can help you. Just remember that after formatting you will lose all previously recorded data.

Question: Even the manufacturer’s software does not help “see” the Bench - Faraday flash drive in Windows. Help! Answer: Try using iCreat PDx16 utility.

Question: Flash drive xn-u518 (CBM2090) 8 GB made in China cannot be formatted by well-known utilities like Hard Disk Low Level Format, FORMAT_v2112 and Urescue_v1006.
Answer: The proprietary utility CBM2090UMPTOOL is suitable for you.

Question: Transcend MiniSD HC 4GB memory card available. I can’t format it on my phone or card reader.
Answer: Please use a card reader that supports High Speed HC format; Try formatting using Windows.

Question: The Kingston Data Traveler 2 GB USB flash drive was inserted into the USB port with inverted polarity, after which it is not detected in other computers.
Answer: Kingston's Data Traveler series are equipped with fuses. Take them to a service center to restore the polarity.

Question: MaxSelect 128 MB flash drive (Prolific PL-2515 controller) is no longer detected.
Answer: Procedure for resuscitation:
1. Install the EzRecover program
2. Connect the flash drive and install drivers for the Security Device, which can be found in the folder C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\).
3. Launch EzRecover and click Recover, after which a new “removable disk” with a capacity of 0 bytes should appear.
4. Download the proprietary utility for flash drives MaxSelect with the Prolific PL-2515 controller and format it, after which the size of the flash drive and the file system are normally determined. In some cases, the flash drive will work immediately after applying EzRecover.

Question: Canyon 1 GB flash drive (CN-USB20AFD1024A) is “broken” into two parts: Public and Security. The proprietary utility does not allow you to delete the Security section.
Answer: You need to null the primary boot area of the MBR using the Flashnull utility. The U-Storage Tool 2.9 utility may also help.

Question: Kingston DataTraveler 512 flash drive (AU6981 E42-GDL-NP controller). Copying data is not possible and a write protection message appears.
Answer: You need to download the driver from the manufacturer's website and use the AU6980 utility to perform low-level formatting. Then use any DOS utility like PartitionMagic from under DOS to create a partition and format it. However, it is possible that not the entire capacity of the flash drive will become available.

Useful utilities

HDD Low Level Format Tool- a utility for low-level formatting of a hard drive, as well as external devices connected via USB (for example, flash cards). In addition, HDD Low Level Format Tool can provide S.M.A.R.T. information. Works with SATA, IDE and SCSI HDDs up to 281,474,976,710,655 bits in size from Maxtor, Hitachi, Seagate, Samsung, Toshiba, Fujitsu, IBM, Quantum, Western Digital. The program completely destroys data, performs low-level formatting and allows you to change the size of the drive up to 281,474,976,710,655 bytes. Works with external devices via USB and Firewire interfaces. It is possible to use Ultra-DMA mode
Low-level formatting is usually carried out in the following cases:
. if you received a completely new drive separately from the computer and it turned out to be unprepared for use;
. if there is a failure in track zero, causing problems when booting from a hard disk, but the disk itself is accessible when booting from a floppy disk;
. if error messages appear when writing information to the disk (another cause of this problem may be a faulty connector or cable);
. if you are returning an old disk to working condition, for example, rearranged from a broken computer. In this case, to ensure reliable operation, you need to test the disk to find and mark all sectors that are not writeable;
. if the disk was formatted to work with another operating system;
. if the disk has stopped working normally and all recovery methods have not yielded positive results;
. if you are using a drive with a different type of controller. Otherwise, problems may arise when accessing the hard drive.

JetFlash 120 Recovery Tool- a proprietary utility from Transcend for Jetflash recovery.

Flash Recovery Tool 1.0- flash drive recovery program.

FLASH DOCTOR RUSSIAN v1.0.2- a program for working with media (flash, hard drives). Uses a low-level disk formatting method, can create disk images and write them to media.

Flash Memory Toolkit 1.1- a utility for testing Flash drives. EFD Software is known as the creator of the enjoyable free HD Tune hard drive test. Its newest development, Flash Memory Toolkit, is a whole complex for servicing drives based on flash memory

EzRecover- USB Flash recovery utility, helps when the flash is detected as a Security Device, is not detected at all or shows 0Mb volume. In order for EzRecovery to see the flash drive, after starting the program and issuing an error message, you need to remove the flash drive and reinsert it again, and then everything is fine. Attention! After using the program, all data will not be saved to the flash drive.

HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool- a compact utility for formatting various flash drives.

F-Recovery- Recovers photo and video data after formatting or recording errors. Each type of card has its own version of the utility.
HDD Low Level Format Tool - the program allows you to perform low-level formatting of drives and Flash cards. Key features: supports S-ATA (SATA), IDE (E-IDE), SCSI, USB, Firewire interfaces supports drives from the following manufacturers: Maxtor, Hitachi, Seagate, Samsung, Toshiba, Fujitsu, IBM, Quantum, Western Digital supports formatting Flash cards when using a HDD card reader. Low Level Format Tool completely destroys data, performs low-level formatting and allows you to change the size of the drive up to 281,474,976,710,655 bytes. Works with external devices via USB and Firewire interfaces. It is possible to use Ultra-DMA mode. Formatting clears the partition table, MBR, and every byte of data. The program completely destroys any information, after which data recovery is out of the question.

LLFsetup- This utility allows you to convert the file system of a flash drive without losing data. F-Recovery for CompactFlash - The utility allows you to recover deleted photos and videos from CompactFlash cards after formatting or recording errors.

UsbIDCheck (USB Bench - Faraday USB Test Utility)- A program to obtain information about all connected USB devices. Shows the idVendor and idProduct values to determine the device's controller type. A list by which you can determine the manufacturer of the device is in the archive with the program.

GetDataBack- a program for recovering information deleted from a hard drive accidentally or as a result of deliberate actions - in most cases it recovers data, including even after low-level formatting. GetDataBack allows data recovery both on the computer on which the program is installed and on a remote one, for example, on any computer on a local network; In addition, you can restore data on any removable storage medium. Another good feature of this program is that it works quickly.

RecoverMyFiles is a powerful tool to recover deleted files. Works with FAT12, FAT16, FAT32 and NTFS file systems, searches for deleted documents on the disk based on the structural features of a particular format (ZIP, DOC, JPG, etc.) Can recover documents, graphic files, music and video files, electronic mail. RecoverMyFiles can recover files that were deleted from the Recycle Bin, as well as those that were lost as a result of formatting the hard drive, reinstalling Windows, due to a virus or worm, unexpected computer shutdown, or program freezing. Recovering files from hard drives, flash cards of photo and video cameras, USB, Zip, floppy disks, etc. The program has many options for searching temporary folders, and it can even detect and recover files that were never saved. Can restore information even after formatting. Feature: ease of use due to the “wizard” that makes the recovery process very easy. File-systems: FAT 12, FAT 16, FAT 32, NTFS and NTFS5

F-Recovery for SD- If you accidentally deleted or formatted photos, video clips or audio files on the storage media or pulled it during a writing operation, don't worry - F-Recovery for SD can easily, quickly and absolutely reliably recover lost data.

F-Recovery for CompactFlash 2.1- allows you to recover deleted photos and videos from CompactFlash cards after formatting or recording errors

SIV (System Information Viewer) 3.35- a utility that shows a wide variety of and very detailed information about the system, local network and hardware. Provides information about a wide range of characteristics of the local computer and workstations: installed hardware and software, data from temperature and voltage sensors, information about the processor, memory, hard drives and much more.

There are a huge number of reasons why a flash drive does not work, and there are also many degrees of malfunction of your drive, depending on which the available number of repair methods for such equipment changes.

Why are flash drives so popular?

It's no secret that USB drives are extremely common these days. This is no longer just a means of storing data, but a full-fledged accessory that follows its owner everywhere. If literally 10 years ago only wealthy people carried flash drives with a capacity of up to 2 GB, today almost every modern person has a flash drive with a capacity of 16 GB or more. However, despite the fact that modern people are often faced with the fact that a flash drive does not work, not everyone tries to figure out why this happens and how to fix it later.

Advantages and disadvantages

Not everyone understands why USB drives have become so widespread these days, but this happened due to the huge number of advantages of such drives:

Compactness.
Absolutely silent operation.
Quite a large rewrite potential.
Impact resistance that far exceeds standard hard drives.
Reliable data storage for a long time.
Versatility and accessibility.
Sufficient data storage capacity.
Relatively low cost.

It is this popularity that has led to the fact that the flash drive does not work for many users, because the more people use such devices, the more such cases appear. It should be noted that, in fact, with all their advantages, such drives also have a number of disadvantages, which few people even think about. Quite often it happens that a flash drive does not work due to its breakdown or even complete unsuitability for further use. The user often does not think about the fact that it is possible to recover files from such drives, unless, of course, some extremely important data was lost. But in fact, in the vast majority of cases, instead of buying a new device, you can return an existing drive to work.

Why do they break?

There are many reasons why a flash drive does not work. What to do in each individual situation depends directly on why exactly such a device broke down. There are only three main reasons:

The flash drive was incorrectly removed from the computer slot.
The device has exhausted its potential (data can only be rewritten a limited number of times).
While the equipment was operating, a power surge or voltage surge occurred.

In fact, this is not a complete list of why a flash drive does not work. What to do in certain situations is already discussed in more detail by specialists in individual cases, and you just need to know how you could fix a broken device yourself or make sure that specialists can fix it later.

In the vast majority of cases, the controller in the flash drive initially breaks down. Determining the failure is often quite simple - you insert the device into a certain slot, but instead of displaying a separate disk to which you can copy some information, the system says that you need to completely format the new disk, the device is inaccessible, or you you notice that the drive has been formatted in RAW format.

"Only for reading"

It often happens that the flash drive on your phone or computer does not work, and when you try to access the device, an error pops up with the message “Read only”. This malfunction is due to the fact that the drive is gradually beginning to expire, as a result of which the controller switches the equipment to the so-called memory self-protection mode, which excludes the possibility of recording in order to maintain the physical structure of the device in a normal state. But at the same time, a situation often occurs that blocking occurs for a more banal reason - the controller in your device is simply broken, so the flash drive does not work in the car, at home or anywhere else.

Of course, this is unpleasant news for those who want to repair the device itself, since in principle this will no longer be possible, and the only thing that can still be done is to restore information from the drive, which is what many people do.

What to do if the device is broken?

As mentioned above, in order to determine what exactly needs to be done in a given situation, you first need to understand why the flash drive on the computer does not work. In particular, there are two options:

Recovering information from a storage device.
Repair of the device itself.

It is often necessary to choose among these options for the reason that in some difficult situations, when restoring information, the device remains unusable in the future, while during repair all the information stored in the drive is lost.

Guarantee

When you buy a flash drive in an official store, in any case, you should be provided with a specialized warranty card, which states the conditions and, of course, the terms in which you can get a free repair or exchange if you suddenly discover that the micro flash drive does not work. If the USB drive breaks down during this period of time, then you have every right to take it back to the store and demand an exchange for a new device for free. At the same time, you must initially understand that no one will restore information from your drive, they will simply provide you with a new one, since there is no point in the store carrying out repairs, much less carrying out recovery from your device.

Repairing physical faults

Assuming that the device itself was not severely damaged, and you roughly understand why the malfunction occurred and you can sacrifice data, then in this case the first thing you should do if the USB flash drive does not work is to format it. However, you should make an informed decision: are you really ready to lose your data, or would you still like to recover it? If you nevertheless decide that the files that the device stores are really important for you, then in this case, in the event of physical damage, you will need to contact the company so that they can return the information to you using special equipment. However, as already mentioned, after this you will no longer be able to use the flash drive.

How do specialists restore?

In principle, it is recommended to contact specialized companies if you are faced with a situation where the flash drive does not work. How to restore will be decided by the appropriate specialist, however, in the vast majority of cases, especially when it comes to physical damage, specialized equipment is used to restore printed circuit boards or the memory chip is completely removed from the board, and the data will be extracted directly from it.

What is needed for repair?

If you do decide that you can risk the data on the device if the flash drive on the computer does not work, you will need to have the following tools:

Soldering iron.
Old USB cable.
Pliers or wire cutters.
A small flathead screwdriver.
Magnifying glass.

It’s worth noting right away that you can carry out repairs yourself only if we are talking about a broken connector. If for some other reason the micro-flash drive does not work, only a qualified specialist who has experience in this field and specialized diagnostic equipment will understand what to do.

How to repair?

Initially, you should use a screwdriver to free the drive from the protective case by unscrewing the cover from it. Now you should take a magnifying glass and look at the printed circuit board with it in order to determine why the flash drive is not working. If there is any damage to the contact pads, you will no longer be able to deal with the problem on your own.

Use wire cutters to cut the end of the cable, but you should bite off the female end if you are not talking about a male-to-male plug. Now strip approximately 0.6 cm of each of the wires inside the cable. If you don't have extra cable, you can try soldering pieces using an electrical wire to each of the prongs for the broken connector. This way you can make your own mini cable.

Now each of the wires should be soldered to the contact pads. It is worth noting that the wires must be connected in the correct order from left to right - black, green, white and then ultimately red. If you used your own wires instead of a cable, then simply solder each individual wire to the appropriate pads, regardless of color. Now you just need to connect the other end of the cable and connect the device to your computer. If the device is detected, you can be happy with the repairs done.

If you tried to connect, but the flash drive is still not recognized, then the problem lies in something else, and a layman will not be able to determine this problem with the naked eye. That is why you should either think about enlisting the help of qualified specialists who can restore data or even the functionality of the drive, or you can simply throw away the device and think about which one to buy next.

Do you have a USB drive that stores important personal files and business data, but it is damaged? Don't worry as this problem can be solved with a few simple steps.

How to recover data from a USB drive if there is a situation where the computer does not recognize it

Since the flash drive is not shattered, you still have a chance to recover the files written on it. There is nothing stopping you from correcting the error and reusing the device. This kind of damage is called logical.

If the USB drive is not recognized by your computer, check it in Disk Management. Then assign a letter or change the connection port. Many people hope to fix a damaged flash drive without losing data, but how?

Try using MiniTool Power Data Recovery.

Step 1. Go to Disk Management:

In the “Start” menu, left-click on “Control Panel”.
In the Control Panel window, select the System and Security section.
Left-click on the “Administration” section.
In the “Administration” section, double-click with the left mouse button on the “Computer Management” section.
In the window that opens, click on “Disk Management” (double-click). This is to see if you can find the damaged USB drive.
After detecting it, run MiniTool Power Data Recovery.

Important! The flash drive must be connected to the computer, otherwise it will not be possible to recover the data.

Step 2. In the main interface of the program, double-click on the “Recover damaged partitions” function.

Step 3. In the list of partitions, select the USB drive you want to restore. Then, to search for lost/deleted files, click the "Full Scan" button in the lower right corner.

Step 4. Wait for the scanning process to complete and select the files needed for recovery.

Step 5. Confirm the request, and then click the "Save" button. This will transfer your important data to another drive.

If you are careful enough, you will find that general information about the found files is displayed in the lower left part of the program interface. In addition, the size and number of data selected for recovery are also shown here. Thus, the resulting picture will allow us to judge:

the number of files that the utility can resuscitate;
whether their size will exceed the 1 GB limit.

If the files are larger, you will have to export the scan result manually. Unfortunately, to do this you need to purchase the full version of the program.

Error messages indicating a damaged USB drive

When trying to access a broken flash drive, the following error messages may appear:

As an advanced computer user, you should be familiar with Windows built-in disk management tools and CMD (command.exe). Regardless of who you choose to rely on when you get into sticky situations, the following techniques will be of great help. Learn how to properly recover a USB drive using the Command Prompt and Disk Management tool.

Warning! Please do not use these 2 methods if you are not quite sure what to do when you have not yet finished the process of recovering files from a flash drive. All subsequent operations are performed on Windows 10 64-bit.

Method 1: Check and fix your file system using the command line

Step 1. Connect the broken USB drive to your computer, then run “cmd.exe” using the following methods:

Step 2. How to perform a restore :

Method 2: Recover using Disk Control Panel

Step 1. Preparation . Open Windows Explorer and locate the USB drive, if it is not there then open Disk Management.

Step 2. How to perform a restore :

How to fix a flash drive that the system can't read

After you have tried all the above data recovery methods or troubleshooting methods on your USB drive, it may still fail. The flash drive can also be physically damaged. We provide you with recommendations for troubleshooting these types of problems. As a result, you will save on expensive repair services.

Step 1. Prepare the tools necessary to repair a broken connector:

Step 2. Open the case of the broken device using a flathead screwdriver.

Step 3. Use a magnifying glass to examine the PCB and solder pads.

Important! If during the inspection you find that the circuit board is damaged or the solder pads have been removed, then seek professional help. Otherwise, continue.

Step 4. Cut the thick end of the cable where it connects to the device.