Mirex 8gb is not detected. How to restore a USB flash drive if it is unreadable. How to Recover Deleted Files from USB Flash Drive: Step by Step Guide

How to recover an SD card or USB flash drive if the computer does not see them, does not read or write data? Flash drive problems are rarely caused by normal wear and tear. Most often, the reasons for problems with them are users ignoring the rules for safely removing the device, experimenting with various software in which these flash drives participate, as well as their initially lousy quality. Below we will consider a list of possible actions carried out in the Windows environment that can solve the problem, unless, of course, the reason lies in mechanical failure. And we, friends, will go from simple to complex.

Recovering SD cards and USB sticks in Windows environment

  • Note: below we will only talk about restoring the performance of flash drives, but not about saving the data stored on them. This is a separate topic, and on this account there is on the site, you can still use this program for. Most of the following methods for recovering SD cards and flash drives will lead to the loss of their data.

1. Hardware lock

SD cards, microSD adapters and flash drives can be hardware protected from writing data or even blocked for reading. On such devices there is a lock switch, which must accordingly be set to the "Unlocked" position.

2. Problems not related to the drives themselves

Problems with SD cards and flash drives can be caused by the Windows security policy. It is necessary to find out if access to removable drives (completely or in part of writing data to them) is blocked by the computer administrator. You also need to check the card reader or ports USB computer... If everything is in order with the latter, the card reader reads other SD-cards, but there are still problems with the flash drive, no matter how you connect it to other USB ports, let's move on.

3. Windows Explorer

Standard formatting by means Windows explorer can help in simple cases such as unsuccessful writing data to a USB flash drive. Or when a smartphone, tablet, camera or other device cannot cope with this operation for SD cards for some reason. In any of current versions Windows in the explorer window on the drive, call the context menu, click "Format".

We leave the original file system and first try to do a quick format.

If it fails, we repeat the operation, but with full formatting (uncheck the fast one).

4. Windows Disk Management

The formatting procedure can be attempted in Disk Management. To run this tool in the system search field, enter:

diskmgmt.msc

In the disk management window, focusing on the size of the drive, we are looking for it among the drives connected to the computer. And in context menu, called on it, start formatting.

You can choose right away full formatting.

If the flash drive has a partition structure like a hard drive, you must delete each of these partitions. This is done using the option in the context menu "Delete volume".

And then, in place of the resulting unallocated space, you need to create a single section. To do this, in the context menu on this very unallocated space, start the operation "Create a new volume" and follow the instructions of the step-by-step wizard.

5. Programs for low-level formatting

Standard formatting tools may not help complex cases, for example, when flash drives are displayed (in the same Explorer or Disk Management) as unrecognized devices with file RAW system... The latter means that either Windows environment does not understand the file system of the drive, or there is no file system as such in principle. Actually, this is what causes problems with a flash drive or SD card when it works on other devices, with other operating systems. In this kind of cases, you will be able to restore the USB flash drive. third-party Windows programs intended for the so-called low-level formatting.

In fact, low-level formatting is a procedure that is carried out either in the production environment of manufacturers of flash devices, or in serious narrow-profile services. All sorts of Windows software claiming this kind of operation actually does the usual full formatting, but with different mechanisms than the operating system uses. Such programs do a good job of dealing with flash drive problems if these problems occur at the file system level. Consider two of these programs.

HDD Low Level Format Tool

http://hddguru.com/software/HDD-LLF-Low-Level-Format-Tool/

Shareware portable program HDD Low Level Format Tool can format different types data carriers, in particular SD cards and USB sticks. After unpacking the archive with the program, launch it, agree to the license terms.

We choose free use.

Directly in the program window, indicate the problem drive and click "Continue".

We confirm the decision.

We are waiting for the completion of the operation and check the operation of the media.

SDFormatter

http://flashboot.ru/files/file/355

Completely free small program SDFormatter is another tool for the so-called low-level formatting. Works with both SD cards and USB sticks. Install SDFormatter into the system, run it, and indicate the problematic flash drive in the "Drive" column. Click "Format".

The program wants to be convinced of the seriousness of our intentions, we press “Ok.

Asks not to touch the drive while the operation is in progress.

Upon completion, we test the USB flash drive or SD card. If it does not help, we repeat the operation with the full sector rewriting settings (nothing more than full formatting). Click "Option", choose "Full (OverWrite)". And also click "Format" at the bottom.

If using the above methods failed to reanimate the flash drive, and it is still under warranty, you must stop at this stage. And do not take any more action, except to contact the seller with a request to replace the device. All the actions that are described below should be resorted to only when, in fact, there is nothing to lose. The instructions below apply to USB sticks, SD cards, and MicroSD cards. However, in the case of the latter, the probability of recovery is extremely small.

6. D-Soft Flash Doctor

D-Soft Flash Doctor carries out the so-called low-level formatting, and along the way also detects damaged sectors (cells). Well, and, accordingly, knows how to block and replace them with backup ones. The program can help when flash drives or SD cards have difficulty reading individual files hitting bad sectors. The program is free, portable. I didn’t find the official site, but it can be downloaded for free on the Internet.

In the D-Soft Flash Doctor window, the first step is to run an error scan.

In my case, there were no damaged (broken) sectors.

But if in your case, friends, the scan results are different, and bad sectors are found, we start the recovery process.

In the window for carrying out this operation, it is promised that the process will not last longer than 10 minutes, but in fact, reassigning bad sectors on a drive with a volume of more than 4 GB can take quite a long time. So it is better to start the recovery operation at night.

7. Re-flashing the memory controller

Programs for the so-called low-level formatting or their analogs, which in any other form claim to resuscitate all types of SD-cards and / or USB-flash drives, are powerless in the event of a controller software failure, when it needs to be flashed. This problem can have different symptoms, but more often it is either the computer does not completely see the drive, or it sees, it can even read the data, but cannot format it by any means. In particular, due to write protection, despite the fact that the hard drive is not locked.

Comfy.ua

First, follow the basic steps to eliminate common problems on the computer side. Connect your device via a different USB port. Doesn't help - restart your computer.

If the system does not respond at all to the connection of the flash drive, first read,.

Check the drive for programs that may interfere with its correct operation using.

Following the further instructions, you can restore only the operability of the flash drive itself, but not the information on it. If your USB device does not store important data, then feel free to continue.

If not, first try to recover information using. Then follow the steps below to repair the drive itself.

Use the manufacturer's USB flash drive repair program. Such utilities are available from Transcend, PQI, ADATA, and other USB drive developers. You just need to go to the manufacturer's official website, find the software you need, download it to your computer and use it according to the attached instructions.

If the manufacturer of your drive does not provide support software or it does not help, use third party program to repair flash drives. You will hardly find such a utility for macOS, this option is designed for Windows users.

This method can both help and harm the drive. If you are not sure, do not risk it.

The essence of the method is as follows: you need to find out the VID and PID parameters of your drive, find a program compatible with the flash drive and use it for recovery.

To find out the VID and PID, connect the drive to your computer, install the program and run it. In the program window, click on the name of the drive - below you will see the values ​​of the required parameters.

To find a suitable utility by VID and PID, copy their values ​​into the corresponding fields on the site and click the Search button. If the data on the model of your flash drive is in the catalog, then among the search results, along with your drive, you will see a link to download the program to repair it.

If none of the above helps and the drive refuses to work on other computers, then try returning it under warranty or contact a service center for help.

There are a lot of long materials on my site and it will be difficult for a person who is faced with a problem for the first time to tie the ends and understand how to start acting. Here I focused on the first stages, this definition controller and FID memory, since people are often confused at the very beginning, which creates the main difficulties.
For the hundredth time for especially gifted cherkanu a few words about the method VID-PID, in short - this method, not a method... VID and PID are most often identifiers of the manufacturer of the flash drive and have nothing to do with the filling. For smaller firms, they often remain original and in most cases indicate the chip manufacturer, but the model is extremely rare and, as a rule, not very accurate. Well, about what kind of memory is there, the flash drive is frozen or the view-pid will never tell you altogether. I think it will be unpleasant to sit for two days picking on vidpid, and then find out that the flash drive was faulty all this time.

If you need more comprehensive information, then after reading this manual, I recommend that you go to the section with articles () and get acquainted with some of them.

You can also write to me on the forum (), registration is extremely simple - clicks register, enter login, soap, password and answers to Control questions... I ask you earnestly, when contacting the forum, carefully choose the appropriate section for the question and, if possible, follow if there is a template (). So, for example, if you know the manufacturer of the controller installed in your USB flash drive, then write in its section.

BRIEF PROCEDURE

Let's consider step by step what needs to be done to achieve success in our business. I ask you to pay special attention to the first point, because many users underestimate it, but in vain!

LOOKING FOR

If the USB flash drive cannot be detected by the computer, we try to perform the following methods in the exact sequence presented until it is correctly recognized as a device.
- to restart a computer;
- connect through the back USB-port motherboard or change the port to the extreme;
- clean the registry using the program USB Oblivion, do not forget to disable all USB devices and install the ‘ Do real clean (simulation otherwise)‘;
- transfer the flash drive to, try several different combinations (5-6 minimum), both on the controller and on the flash memory;
- in case of unstable operation of the operating system, check the USB flash drive on another computer, simultaneously driving it into test mode;
- if none of the above helps, then 99.9% of your flash drive has hardware problems. Before connecting it to the port, you can try to press on the memory and controller chips with your fingers so that they adhere more tightly to the surface of the printed circuit board and connect and hold in this state until the effectiveness of the attempt is ascertained. If this does not help, then without a soldering iron and special knowledge this is indispensable, as a rule, it is easier to throw out such a device.

Do not forget between attempts to juggle the USB stick in the port, they love it very much.

DETERMINING WHAT'S INSIDE

Let's say your flash drive is visible as a device, but this does not guarantee its hardware serviceability. Its incorrect display in production utilities is a serious reason to consider the USB flash drive half-dead. In this case, it is recommended to transfer it to the test mode, and if there are already problems with correct identification, then the firmware will not help you by 98% of the current.

A bit of theory:
Most flash drives are recognized by three free programs distributed on the Internet: ChipGenius, and ChipEasy.

ChipGenius- knows the largest number of controllers, the main advantage is that sometimes it also processes hanging flash drives. By the way, at the same time, this is also its disadvantage, since a person may think that the device is working properly and will not think of translating it into a testmod.

Flash Drive Information Extractor (usbflashinfo)- domestic development, which is why it is mainly focused on controllers that are installed in flash drives sold in our country. For fakes (fake flash drives and flash drives gifts), better fit of course chipgenium. But for those controllers that she knows, it gives out the most complete information. So in the case of correct working out with a flash drive, the report of this utility is most preferable.
I am familiar with the following pieces of iron: Phison, Alcor, USBest, iTE, SkyMedi (not all), SMI, SSS, YS8231 and the like Appotech, Innostor, and also recognizes ChipsBank (not all), SanDisk (a company, but not a model and others), U3 are different, some iCreate (but their memory is not able to).

ChipEasy- in recent years, it has hardly been updated, therefore, it is ineffective, I do not see much sense in using it.

You can download all these three utilities here -. Only the most recent versions should be used, and not the one that is closer to you.
Detailed background information on this issue you can glean from the article -

So, let's conduct a quick programmatic examination of the patient. We connect the USB flash drive to USB port and scan it one by one using the program Flash Drive Information Extractor and ChipGenius.

; usbflashinfo790548:
Volume: K:
Controller: Phison PS2306
Possible Memory Chip (s): Not available
Flash ID: 2C847863 A9
Chip F / W: 01.02.10
Firmware Date: 2014-05-22
ID_BLK Ver .: 1.2.74.0
MP Ver .: MPALL v3.80.00
VID: 13FE
PID: 5400
Manufacturer: UFD 3.0
Product: Silicon Power32G
Query Vendor ID: UFD 3.0
Query Product ID: Silicon Power32G
Query Product Revision: PMAP
Physical Disk Capacity: 31633440768 Bytes
Windows Disk Capacity: 31624626176 Bytes
Internal Tags: 2Q6P-S74A
File System: FAT32
Relative Offset: 1024 KB
USB Version: 3.00 in 2.00 port
Declared Power: 300 mA
ContMeas ID: 3DDA-11-00
Microsoft Windows XP SP3
Program Version: 7.9.0.548

; ChipGenius_v4_00_0030.exe:
Description: USB Mass Storage Device (UFD 3.0 Silicon-Power32G)
Device Type: Mass Storage Device

Protocal Version: USB 2.10 - Hint: This device can run faster when plugged to a USB3.0 port
Current Speed: High Speed
Max Current: 300mA

USB Device ID: VID = 13FE PID = 5400
Serial Number: P1401468070B556EA15C9623

Device Vendor: UFD 3.0
Device Name: Silicon-Power32G
Device Revision: 0100

Manufacturer: UFD 3.0
Product Model: Silicon-Power32G
Product Revision: PMAP

Controller Vendor: Phison
Controller Part-Number: PS2251-06 (PS2306) - F / W 01.02.10
Flash ID code: 2C847863 - Micron

This is approximately how the report of any flash drive, the controllers of which know the utilities, should look like.

As an example, I will show how other firms are defined. usb-controllers, in short form (up to values VIDPID).

Controller: Alcor AU6985 / AU6992 / SC508 (FC8508)
Possible Memory Chip (s):
Hynix H27UBG8T2MYR
Hynix H27UBG8T2M
Memory Type: MLC
Flash ID: ADD79425 4441
Flash CE: 1
Flash Channels: Single
Chip Code: 0xD004
Chip F / W: E402
Group: 92
Controller: Silicon Motion SM3260 ADS
Possible Memory Chip (s):
Samsung K9PFGY8U5A
Samsung K9PFGY8U7A
Samsung K9HDGY8U5A
Memory Type: MLC
Flash ID: ECD7947A 54C3
Flash CE Summary: 8
Chip F / W: ISP 120801-AD-
MP: L0828V1
MPTOOL Ver .: 2.03.90
PTEST Date: 2009-12-03
Controller: Innostor IS903 A5
Possible Memory Chip (s):
Micron MT29F512G08CKCAB * 2
Memory Type: MLC
Flash ID: 2CA4E53C A5
Flash CE: 2 + 2
Flash Channels: Dual
Chip F / W: 1.08.41.00
Controller: Appotech DM8261
Possible Memory Chip (s):
SanDisk SDTNPMAHEM-008G
Memory Type: MLC
Flash ID: 45DEA482 7656
Flash CE: 1
Chip F / W: V1.0.00
Firmware Date: MAR 11 2013 19:55:25

Here we are primarily interested in the controller model and the flash memory identifier ( FlashID = FID). For Alkorov, I also highlighted its code, which will be useful to you when working with chips 98th group (AU6989SN, AU6989AN and others)... If the value FID`but has a value that does not exist in nature, then the drive is not working properly and at least a test mode is needed.

SELECTION OF UTILITIES

An experienced user, as a rule, will simply go to the page with utilities for a particular company with controllers and there, based on experience, will select the necessary utilities. As a last resort, it will sort out a couple that fit certain templates.

For example, take one of the flash drives listed above in the table, namely the one on the chip from Alcor.

On the menu FILES we find the manufacturer and there we are already searching for the controller model. If you do not know which page to look for, you can fill in the controller model in the site search, the search bar is located in the upper right corner. We drive in turn, for example - AU6985 or AU6992 or SC508 or FC8508... So I, for example, went to the utility AlcorMP_UFD 13.02.05.MD (AU6990,92,96,98), numbers in brackets 92 that point to the controller AU6992... From different versions AlcorMP, I chose the last one, in the description of which there is a number 92 ... If for some reason it did not fit, you can check a few more early versions or go to another utility like FC MpTool 04.03.40 (AU6990,92,96,98).

If manual selection is difficult for you or it simply did not give an effect, then you can go to the google method.
You can Google your hardware in the following formats:

AU6985 ADD79425
AU6992 ADD79425
SC508 ADD79425
FC8508 ADD79425

AU6985 H27UBG8T2M
AU6992 H27UBG8T2M
SC508 H27UBG8T2M
FC8508 H27UBG8T2M

If the hardware is less common and the search fails, then move on to more general cases:

AU6985 MLC-4K
AU6992 MLC-4K
SC508 MLC-4K
FC8508 MLC-4K

AU6985 Hynix 41nm
AU6992 Hynix 41nm
SC508 Hynix 41nm
FC8508 Hynix 41nm

The Internet is large and therefore I would advise you to first check if there is any information on the portal itself USBDev, for this we will add additional search parameters.

AU6992 ADD79425 site: site

Search engines (google, yandex, ...) will search only on my site and the search will be more complete, since in this case the filters that may have been imposed do not work search system to some of my pages.

FIRMWARE PROCESS

I will not dwell here especially, the procedures for all utilities, as a rule, are similar. Just a few words:
- Whenever possible, use only the rear USB2.0 ports of your computer.
- Recommended to use Windows XP 32bit... In most cases, it is quite suitable 32-bit Windows7... Using other OS versions, as well as 64-bit is not as efficient and can end up in unreasonable mistakes. Although a lot of software released in recent years, one way or another, already supports Windows 7 64bit.
- The use of utilities that do not support your controller, as a rule, is absolutely safe, since they stupidly will not see the USB flash drive. But those who seem to support, but everything is not fully debugged, can lead to a freeze of the flash program.

NOTES

If you are not sure of your capabilities and do not want to stumble over your own rake, you should not change the original values ​​of identification information ( VID, PID, Vendor, Product and so on) hammered into it. In most distributions located on the site, the originals are crammed, and what you have crammed in yours, for example, Kingston, is a leftist!
Controllers Sandisk cannot be restored and should not be expected.
For ITE IT1181A1BA, it is not yet possible to determine the FID using polls.
With controllers SiliconGOAppotech a complete mess, both with identification and in general.
During treatment Alcor-chips with L74- memory, working in dual-channel mode, full recovery, possibly only with the help of online utilities from Trusntsend.
For USB2.0 SMI-controllers ( SM3257ENAA, SM3257ENLT, SM3257ENBA) installed with cheap modern memory that way 2012-2014, which comes in many flash drives such as Transcend and Silicon-Power, you need to sew a sorting utility Dyna Mass Storage Production Tool.
Company Kingston never produced USB sticks on controllers Alcor, Micov, Chipsbank, Appotech, SMI... If you find exactly these in yourself, then be sure that these are fakes.

Hello everyone ... Today we will talk about how you can restore a damaged USB flash drive. Due to its versatility, ease of handling and compact size, removable flash drives or flash drives have become widespread.

Unlike morally obsolete optical discs, flash drives allow you to store more information. They have a higher data rewritability and shelf life. And better protection from external damage.

Alas, while flash drives are considered quite reliable devices, they are not perfect. There are many reasons why a flash drive can fail. Physical breakdown of components. Failed controller. Damage to the file system due to removal of the device at the time of writing. The development of the potential of memory cells - all this can lead to the fact that the flash drive becomes unreadable or simply ceases to be recognized by the operating system.

When connecting such a flash drive, the user may receive various errors. For example, "USB device not recognized", "No access to disk", etc. However, this does not mean that the drive itself and the data written to it are irrevocably damaged.

If the flash drive does not have gross physical damage, in most cases it can be restored. The most common problems in the operation of flash drives will be described below. And also I will try to restore the damaged USB flash drive. different ways if one does not help, the other will help. So, let's begin...

The flash drive is recognized by Windows, but its file system is designated as RAW

The prognosis in such cases is usually the most favorable. Logical errors are the most common reason for converting the file system of a flash drive to RAW. In this case, the medium is recognized by the OS. However, its contents are not available, and when you try to open it, the system prompts you to format it.

Indeed, formatting can restore a damaged USB flash drive, but this method is unacceptable if it contains important files. Here you can go in two ways: restore the damaged file system or the data itself, using programs for recovering deleted files such as Transcend RecoveRx or.

After recovery, the USB flash drive can be formatted in any way convenient for you. To reconstruct the file system, we use the standard Chkdsk utility. Run command line as administrator and run the following command in it: chkdsk T: / f

Letter T in this example has a flash drive, you will have your own letter. In most cases, this simple trick will allow you to restore access to the media. However, it may also happen that when you run the command, you will receive the message "Chkdsk is not valid for RAW drives." In this case, we perform data recovery in the first way, and then format the USB flash drive.

The flash drive is recognized by Windows, but there is no data access

If the media is recognized, but shows the wrong capacity, when you try to view the contents, you receive the errors "No access to disk", "Insert disk" and so on, most likely there is a firmware (firmware) corruption.

Such breakdowns are most often caused by power failures, unsafe removal of the device from the USB port. Also, the cause of the errors described above can be failures and damage to the flash memory itself. In such cases, when trying to format the drive, the message "The disk is write-protected" appears.

The case is more complicated than with the RAW file system. However, with the right approach, a non-working drive can be recovered. For these purposes, apply special programs class MPTool, allowing you to perform the so-called low-level formatting.

Since all these tools are strictly specialized, for each flash drive model and controller type, you need to use its own "native" utility. And to do this, at least you need to know the device ID (PID) and manufacturer ID (VID).

Connect the USB flash drive to your computer, open the Device Manager, in the category of storage or portable devices, find the connected drive in the USB controllers category and open its properties.

In the list of properties, you need to find the parameter: Device ID or Device Instance Code. In the Details field, you will see a line containing the VID_XXX items; PID_XXX, where XXX is the manufacturer ID and the device ID, respectively.

If you do not have the specified parameters, use the utilities to obtain complete information about the removable media: Flash Drive Information Extractor.

Or CheckUDisk

After receiving information, go to the specialized site Flashboot, enter the received VID and PID in the corresponding fields and search. You will receive a list of recovery utilities for your drive.

If the utility that exactly matches the VID and PID of your flash drive does not appear, be guided by the manufacturer of the removable device. It is not possible to give a consistent instruction on the use of each utility. Since they are all different from each other. The main thing when using them is to clearly follow the instructions of the wizard.

However, you can use universal by software to recover flash drives, for example, D-Soft Flash Doctor... This free program is not tied to a specific manufacturer and controller type. And therefore it can be used to treat flash drives of various types.

Additionally D-Soft Flash Doctor disk imaging, scanning for logical errors are supported. Using the utility is simple, you just need to select a non-working flash drive in the window and click the "Restore media" button.

The flash drive is not recognized by the system

In the cases discussed above, the flash drive, although not readable, was still recognized by the system. But what if Windows cannot recognize the connected drive? It does not appear in Explorer, nor does it appear in Disk Manager. And the only indication of the connection is the window with the notification "The USB device is not recognized."

And also an item marked with a yellow warning icon in Device Manager.

The error in this example can be caused by both software problems and physical damage components of the flash drive. It is important here to exclude hardware breakdowns. Since this almost always means that the flash drive will either have to be handed over for repair, or simply replaced.

First of all, try connecting the problematic drive to a different USB port, or better yet, to a different computer. If the error does not occur, you need to look for the reasons on your computer. Most often, such reasons are damaged or incorrectly working external storage drivers.

Go to the device manager and find your USB flash drive among the devices. Since she will be marked in yellow exclamation mark, it will not be difficult to do this. If your flash drive is in the Unknown Devices category (which is most likely), try updating its driver. Using the context menu.

If the driver update fails unknown device you will have to use one of the programs to search for drivers on the Internet, for example DriverPack Solution... If a non-working flash drive finds itself in the "USB Controllers" category, open its properties and, having switched to the "Driver" tab, click the "Rollback" button.

Updating / reinstalling drivers failed? Try another option - manually clear the registry keys that store device entries.

Using the method described above, find out the VID and PID of your flash drive, then open and expand the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / SYSTEMCurrentControlSet / Enum / USB branch. In the last directory, find the subfolders. In the names of which there will be specific VID and PID and delete all their contents.

Do the same with the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / SYSTEM / CurrentControlSet / Enum / USBSTOR branch, and then restart your computer. What if none of the above methods helped? The most reasonable thing in this case would be to take the flash drive to the service. Where experienced specialists will help you establish the causes of the malfunction of the gadget ...

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

USB flash drives have long been an indispensable companion for 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, absolutely reliable things do not exist: just as in the case of other drives, flash drives sometimes start to "glitch": files disappear, problems appear when copying or deleting files, 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 performance of flash drives and memory cards.

Before proceeding to the listing of recommendations, let us recall that prevention is much better than surgery. With regard to flash drives, there is a golden rule for every user - "make copies"! Never store information that exists in a single copy on flash drives. Make copies on the computer you are copying from. If you use memory cards in the camera, do not wait until the card is full: at the first opportunity, dump the taken photos to the hard drive or DVDs. Do not forget that the cost of recovering data from a flash drive in specialized firms starts at 1,500 rubles. Much better to make a copy, isn't it?

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

So, what to do if a flash drive or memory card stopped working? First you need to decide whether the information from the flash drive needs to be restored. 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 section, delete and format it. If none of the above methods helps, 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 the 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 necessary information, then the degree of its importance should be determined. If you are ready to donate the amount of 1.5-6 thousand rubles, then it is better to refer it to trusted specialists. If the data is not very valuable, then it should be remembered that using any programs to restore the performance of flash drives can be dangerous, since in the process they erase information.

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

Sometimes a very simple way helps to recover data: Control Panel - Administrative Tools - Computer Management - Disk Management. Find the section you need and try to check with "scandisk". But most often, EasyRecovery, GetDataBack, RecoverMyFiles, R-Studio programs can help in recovering files, which have read modes that allow copying data without changing the structure. If you are not familiar with these programs, it is best to first ask for advice on the forum. Never rush if the files are dear to you.

Question answer

Question: USB flash drive "Toshiba 8 GB" (controller AB 8028-K / L716 / CE7106.0, memory iFLASH / ISF0032MUDC / 0530) is detected in Windows, but when trying to access the message "Insert disk into device ..." appears. In properties: free 0; busy 0; file system - unknown. Formatting Windows tools impossible.
Answer: This controller needs PDx8 v3.27 utility.

Question: USB flash drive Samsung 2 GB. Has ceased to be formatted. Windows cannot complete formatting.
Answer: Try the utility HS2.0_Utility_Repair_2.

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

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

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

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

Question: USB 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 will suit you.

Question: There is a 4GB Transcend MiniSD HC memory card. I can not format in the phone and in the card reader.
Answer: A card reader that supports HC High Speed ​​Format should be used; try to carry out formatting by means of Windows.

Question: USB flash drive USB Kingston Data Traveler 2 GB hit USB port with inverted polarity, after which it is not detected in other computers.
Answer: The Kingston Data Traveler Series are fused. Take to a service center to restore 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 the drivers for Security Devices, which can be found in the C: \ WINDOWS \ system32 \ drivers \) folder.
3. Launch EzRecover and press Recover, after which a new "removable disk" of 0 bytes should be found.
4. Download the proprietary utility for flash drives MaxSelect with the Prolific PL-2515 controller and perform formatting, 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: Flash Canyon 1 GB (CN-USB20AFD1024A) "split" into two parts: Public and Security. The proprietary utility does not allow you to delete the Security section.
Answer: You need to zero the MBR primary boot area using the Flashnull utility. U-Storage Tool 2.9 can also help.

Question: USB flash drive Kingston datatraveler 512 (controller AU6981 E42-GDL-NP). Data copying is not possible and a write-protect message appears.
Answer: You need to download the driver from the manufacturer's website and use the AU6980 utility to do 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 volume of the flash drive will become available.

Useful utilities

HDD Low Level Format Tool- utility for low-level formatting hard disk, as well as external devices connected via the USB interface (for example, flash cards). In addition, HDD Low Level Format Tool is able to display S.M.A.R.T. information. Works with SATA, IDE and SCSI HDDs up to 281 474 976 710 655 bits manufactured by 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. There is a possibility of using Ultra-DMA mode
Low-level formatting is usually performed in the following cases:
... if you received a completely new drive separately from your computer and it turned out to be unprepared for use;
... if a failure occurs in track 0, causing problems when booting from the hard disk, but the disk itself is available when booting from a floppy disk;
... If error messages appear while writing information to disk (another cause of this problem may be a faulty connector or cable);
... if you are returning to working condition old disk, 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 valid for writing;
... if the disk was formatted to work with another operating system;
... if the disk stopped working normally and all recovery methods did not give positive results;
... if you are using a disc with a different type of controller. Otherwise, problems may arise when accessing the hard disk.

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

Flash Recovery Tool 1.0- a program for restoring the performance of flash drives.

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- utility for testing Flash drives. EFD Software is known for creating an enjoyable free test hard drives HD Tune. Its newest development, Flash Memory Toolkit, is a whole complex for servicing drives based on flash memory.

EzRecover- Recovery utility USB Flash, it helps when the flash is defined as Security Deviсe, 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, remove the USB flash drive and insert it again, and then all the way. Attention! After using the program, all data on the flash will not be saved.

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

F-Recovery- Recovers photo and video data after formatting or writing errors. Each card type has its own version of the utility.
HDD Low Level Format Tool - the program allows for low-level formatting of drives and Flash cards. Key features: Supports S-ATA (SATA), IDE (E-IDE), SCSI, USB, Firewire, supports drives from the following manufacturers: Maxtor, Hitachi, Seagate, Samsung, Toshiba, Fujitsu, IBM, Quantum, Western Digital supports formatting Flash cards when using the 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. There is a possibility of using Ultra-DMA mode. Formatting clears the partition table, MBR, and each data byte. 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 write errors.

UsbIDCheck (USB Bench - Faraday USB Test Utility)- Program for obtaining information about all connected USB devices... Shows the idVendor and idProduct values ​​to identify the type of device controller. The list by which you can determine the manufacturer of the device is in the archive with the program.

GetDataBack- a program for recovering information, accidentally or as a result of deliberate actions deleted from the hard disk - in most cases 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 of the computers local network; in addition, you can restore data to any removable media. Another good feature of this program is fast work.

RecoverMyFiles is a powerful tool for recovering 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, email... RecoverMyFiles can recover files that have been deleted from the recycle bin, as well as those that were lost as a result of formatting the hard drive, reinstall Windows, due to the influence of a virus or a worm, an unexpected shutdown of the computer, "freezing" of the program. Recover files from hard drive, camera flash cards, USB, Zip, floppy disks, etc. The program has many options for searching temporary folders, and it can even locate and recover files that have never been saved. Can recover information even after formatting. Feature: ease of use due to a "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 sound files on a storage medium, or pulled it during a write operation, don't worry - F-Recovery for SD can easily, quickly and absolutely reliably recover your lost data.

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

SIV (System Information Viewer) 3.35- utility showing the most diverse 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 equipment and software, data from temperature and voltage sensors, information about the processor, memory, hard drives and much more.