The flash drive is not allocated what to do. The flash drive is not detected on any computer: reasons and solutions. The USB connector of the flash drive is dirty

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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 USB 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 on 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 service center.

Business - a flash drive, fun - hard!
Folk wisdom

⇡ Fix it immediately!

Repairing current gadgets is a thankless and often unprofitable task. There are fewer and fewer replaceable parts in them, the layout is getting tighter, and the prices (with equal functionality) are getting lower. An artisan cannot compete with industrial technologies. Still the repairmen mobile phones and laptops do not particularly complain about life (see articles of 2011 - and). The reason, as they themselves explain, is the fragility of the components - screens, housings, power circuits, a number of microcircuits, as well as unreliable connections. Flash drives - "USB whistles" and, to a lesser extent, memory cards - confidently follow the same path.

Almost every user has already experienced at least one flash drive failure, and many probably wondered: is it possible to fix it yourself? In the old days, when a fashionable gadget cost a third of the salary, this was suggested by the notorious toad, later - by simple curiosity. Indeed, with regard to faulty "key fobs", at least 50-60% of cases are treated with simple methods that do not require special training and equipment. Why not give it a try?

Today, repairs again become relevant with an increase in the capacity (and therefore, the cost) of flash drives, and most importantly, with a decrease in their reliability. The flash drive market is fiercely competitive with regular price wars. Manufacturers save every cent of the cost and do not care too much about the quality of their products (some exceptions are expensive flagship models). It is easier for them to include in the price a certain percentage of defects and replace failed devices under warranty. What will happen to the flash drive then - "the sheriff does not care."

Alas, warranty services are often unavailable for the user: either the documents are lost (how many people remember them, at least keep the check?), Or the place of purchase is far away, or the flash drive has external damage - clearly a non-warranty case. What can we say about gray imports and outright fakes (Internet flea markets are full of them - unscrupulous business, alas, is flourishing). In cases like this DIY repair can fix the matter and bring back to life a flabby keychain.

All flash drives, with the exception of monolithic structures, are of the same type and quite simple: a USB connector, a printed circuit board, on it there are a dozen or two strapping elements, a controller and from one to eight memory chips (on large-capacity models they are often soldered in pairs, like “ sandwiches "). Repair technologies are simple and accessible to anyone who has a soldering iron and a multimeter. Minimal electronics skills will also come in handy.

A successful renovation brings not only legal moral satisfaction, but also material benefits. The emerging "extra" drive allows you to more flexibly manage your data (for example, duplicate) and generally feel calmer. According to observations, reanimated devices live even longer than new ones - weak points have already been eliminated, and the owner treats them more carefully.

Very often, the owner of a broken flash drive is not interested in herself, but in the data recorded on it. Data recovery technologies (DR) are fundamentally different from repair as such, since you do not need to worry about the health of the entire device. Flash memory chips, on which information is stored, fail very rarely (1-2% of accidents). They are protected from the vicissitudes of fate both mechanically - by the body and the design of the flash drive itself (the chips are usually removed from the USB connector, the most tense node), and electrically - by the controller and strapping. The latter take on all the risks of interface interaction, including polarity reversal, voltage surges or static discharges. The same is true for memory cards.

Therefore, the "raw" data on the chips, as a rule, is saved, and the most reliable way is to unsolder all the chips, subtract them by physical level by using special device(programmer, or reader) and collect an image of the file system from the received dumps. The last stage is the most difficult, since it is required to reproduce the algorithm of the controller's operation. Manufacturers are not at all eager to reveal such things, so they have to carry out reverse engineering development - the notorious reverse engineering.

The results of time-consuming excavations fall into a database, sometimes called a decision system. Collective efforts have accumulated more than 3000 solutions that allow you to emulate almost any controller. For the assembly, specialized software is used, which is very expensive (about 1,000 euros) and not easy to learn. On the territory of the former USSR, as well as in many other countries, two software and hardware complexes have gained the greatest popularity: Flash Extractor from the Moscow company "Soft-Center" and PC-3000 Flash SSD Edition from ACE Lab (this Rostov developer is also known for its tools for repairing hard drives).

Reader from the Flash Extractor complex. Replaceable sockets allow you to connect microcircuits of all major types

It is clear that such technologies are the prerogative of specialists. But this is the only option in cases when the controller burned out or the service information on the chips was damaged. The flash drive is then not recognized at all or does not give access to data, and even replacing the controller with a knowingly serviceable one does not help (the effectiveness of this outdated technology is only 15-20%).

If the hardware problems do not affect the controller and the firmware, then after the repair the data becomes available again - two birds with one stone can be killed. True, such an advantageous "doublet" is possible only in the simplest cases, such as a blown fuse or other piping element. A bent USB connector or a broken board (typical breakdowns with which flash drives are brought in for repair), alas, do not apply to them. Often, in such situations, the firmware flies, and even after fixing the board, you will not get to the files.

The reason is in the users themselves: they try to work with a damaged flash drive by pressing the connector with their hand. And in vain - you still can't achieve a stable contact, but the controller is blocked from bouncing (it is tantamount to multiple connection and disconnection). The flash drive stops being detected, after which simple solutions no longer pass.

You have to choose whether you need "infa" or the drive itself. In the first case, the user is waiting for Professional restoration data (if they are worth it ...), and in the second - repair, most likely independent. It brings the flash drive to the state "like new", destroying everything previously recorded. So, repair and DR technologies are generally incompatible.

How do flash drives and memory cards break? Let's consider the main types of malfunctions, their causes and methods of elimination.

⇡ Popular mechanics

Mechanical faults are hard to miss. With regard to flash drives, these are housing defects, breakage of the cap and other moving parts, damage to the USB connector (the most common case), cracks and chips of the printed circuit board and radioelements on it. Flash drives do not like moisture, and if they are drowned or flooded, they do not work.

Exceptions are expensive and more rare protected models, where the internal volume is filled with silicone (they often bear the marketing names Extreme, Voyager, etc.). By the way, this same silicone makes it much more difficult to unsolder chips during hardware repair or data recovery - each output has to be cleaned with a scalpel. Monolithic structures stand separately: they are relatively resistant to water and (light) blows, but serious damage is definitely fatal.

This Corsair flash drive, which came "on the date", had to be literally ripped out of the silicone

A broken case, a missing cap, jammed moving parts may not affect the performance of the flash drive, but it becomes inconvenient and even difficult to use it, its service life is sharply reduced. With a bent, wrinkled, broken off USB connector (as with other contact violations), the flash drive is either completely inoperative, or it is recognized once and will not last long. A damaged board definitely requires repair, but it does not always lead to success - it is difficult to restore the inner tracks of a multilayer structure.

The cracked cap of the flash drive is one of the frequent breakdowns... In cheap models, this happens after a month or two of operation.

Unlike flash drives, for memory cards, mechanical damage is usually fatal: you don't have to take up repairs. A printed circuit board of paper thickness suffers from any serious impact - conductive paths are torn in it and contact with memory chips is broken. And the chips themselves can crack with the loss of all the "information". So only minor faults can be eliminated.

For example, SD cards have delamination of the halves of the case and (most often) the loss of the slider blocking recording. In the latter case, the card becomes read-only, nothing can be written to it (the slider itself is not a switch, it simply mechanically opens the write-inhibiting circuit in the card reader, so that recording is possible on some devices). An SD with a flaky or bent case can be difficult to insert into and, more importantly, remove from a slot. The use of force (tweezers, pliers, etc.) only makes the situation worse. There is also a possibility that the entire filling of the card will sooner or later fall out of the case - this will most likely finish off the device.

In the hands of an impatient user, the SD card did not last long

The cause of mechanical damage is most often the user's negligence. Flash drives are crooked and abruptly inserted into the USB port of a computer or laptop; already inserted, touch with a hand, foot, bag or mop. Outside the computer, "key fobs" are dropped on the floor, stepped on, sat down, run over by the wheel of a chair, and so on. Flash drives get into washing machine, in the street dirt and under spilled coffee, they are bathed in the seas and baths. I have seen drives that have been in dog's teeth.

Models with folding and sliding parts suffer from unnecessary transformation efforts. Moving parts by themselves are not very durable and will wear out quickly if they are made of cheap soft plastic. This is especially true for various clips - it can be difficult to insert such a "self-folding" USB flash drive into a port. Wear is greatly accelerated in dirty and aggressive environments (for example, in a pocket next to keys). Dust and moisture can easily penetrate into the USB connector, which is not protected by a cap, causing contamination and corrosion of the contacts (they are far from always gold-plated, as required by the standard).

The Kingston flash drive tries to fold when connected - the working position lock has been erased. You have to hold the slider with your hand

Piggy and Producers Policy. They treat cheap flash drives as a disposable product and save on everything. Hence - a flimsy case, a cap cracking in a week, a thin PCB board, a careless stingy soldering. More expensive models are usually made of better quality, and mechanically they are more durable. When buying, it is worth choosing them. True, if the money went to a pretentious design, then it is better to beware - a frail and slow filling can be in a glamorous case. By the way, these are mostly gift corporate flash drives - it is unwise to use them for business, problems will begin very quickly.

More about the choice. In life, the strongest flash drives are egg-shaped, not too compact in shape. Long and thin models break first. The more metal in the case, the better - metal gives not only strength, but also good heat dissipation. The cap is more reliable than the one that is held by friction over the entire area of ​​the USB connector - it will not crack in the area of ​​the retaining tabs. It is good when the cap is insured against loss by a cord or cable. Sometimes the removed cap can be put on the back of the flash drive - this is not so convenient, but better than nothing.

Fashionable in recent times an open connector (without a metal band, four contact plates are in sight) is unsuccessful in terms of reliability: it easily breaks and scratches, and most importantly, it is subject to destructive static. In addition, it is often combined with a monolithic design - sleek and compact, but not repairable. If, for example, a laptop falls off the table, then the connector of an inserted ordinary flash drive simply breaks out, but the monolith cracks in half, upsetting both the user and the repairman.

Broken connector for regular and monolithic flash drives. In the latter case, there is no need to talk about repairs, and even to remove data is a big problem. Circled contacts won't help here

Mechanical repair is aimed at restoring the functioning and reliability of the flash drive, its content is quite obvious. At the do-it-yourself level, it is gluing or replacing the body, selecting a suitable cap, and the like. In many cases, cyanoacrylate superglue comes to the rescue, especially with an activator (hexane), which allows you to glue any plastic, including "stubborn" polyethylene and polypropylene. For a loose or bent USB connector, the fasteners should be soldered, especially the ears on the sides (they take the bending load and come off first), and then the contacts themselves. Rough straightening of the connector in reverse side- not the best method: often, nearby tracks on the board are torn, and repairs are greatly complicated, if at all possible.

On SD, instead of the lost slider, a piece of a match is easily glued in - however, without the possibility of blocking, but few people use it. Contacts are cleaned with a cotton swab with a special agent "Kontaktol" or, at worst, an alcohol-gasoline mixture. At the same time, it is advisable to observe antistatic hygiene (grounding wrist strap, conductive table and floor covering, etc.) or at least touch a grounded object before work. Remember that cards are static sensitive.

It is not out of place to check the contact pads under a magnifying glass - their gilding can be very conditional or absent altogether. Worn, corroded, discolored contacts (not uncommon on cheap cards stored in a humid environment) are a signal for decommissioning, such a card will not work reliably. This also applies to microSD → SD adapters.

⇡ Burned out at work

Electrical malfunctions of flash drives are, first of all, the failure of the controller ("burnout"), as well as various defects in SMD piping elements: filters, fuses, resistors, capacitors, stabilizers, quartz. These parts have an open circuit, a breakdown, a deterioration in parameters (for example, a decrease in the output voltage of the stabilizer from 3.3 to 2.5-2.6 V, at which the controller no longer starts). This can also include problems with the board, including damage to current-carrying tracks and poor contact of parts. Often during operation, factory assembly defects appear (incompletely soldered joints, cold soldering, corrosion from unwashed flux).

This filter (circled in white) burnt out from a surge voltage. Standard treatment - replacement with a similar one or simply soldering a jumper

Contact problems have become noticeably more after the introduction of the European Union RoHS directive (it is aimed at removing lead, mercury and other harmful substances from circulation). Eco-friendly lead-free solders turned out to be capricious in use: they spread worse and wet the contact pads, have an increased melting point, and are less durable. High-quality soldering with them requires a high production culture, and small Chinese factories just do not differ in this ...

In such cases, the flash drive most often does not show signs of life, but sometimes it is defined in the computer as Unknown USB device. In particular, this happens when the flash memory chips are in unreliable contact with the board (a frequent case lately - the flash drive will bend slightly in awkward hands, and one of the legs comes off). With poor soldering, the device can work only in a certain position, and then if you press on the case with your hand (usually in the area of ​​the USB connector). It happens that defects appear only with warming up, and a cold flash drive works fine. Over time, the uptime intervals get narrower and eventually it comes to complete failure.

TO electrical damage Flash drives and memory cards can also be counted if water gets inside - the problems are most often caused not by it itself, but by insufficient drying of the device before use. It is worth supplying power to a damp USB flash drive, and the controller easily fails, the reason is leakage currents between the terminals. Of course, prolonged exposure to water, especially sea water, can also cause banal corrosion, but this is not fatal: it was reported that a memory card from a camera-"drowned" earned after a year of being on the seabed.

The causes of electrical damage are unstable power supply, static electricity discharges from the user's body or PC case, as well as overheating of drive parts, primarily the controller (memory chips can withstand up to 100-120 ° C and rarely "burn"). Overheating is promoted by poor cooling in a cramped plastic case, prolonged active work, or even just idling. Tip: remove an unused flash drive from the USB port, and the memory card from the card reader slot - depending on the OS driver, they can get quite hot, and this is poorly predictable.

A combination of several risk factors is especially dangerous. For example, for increased voltage 5 The flash drive heats up much more strongly, and an intensive data stream, especially for writing, can easily finish it off. The more productive (and more expensive) the model, the greater the risk of overheating under these conditions. This also applies to memory cards - there have been reports of damage to high-speed SDs during burst photography or dumping movies.

Low-cost desktop cases also shorten the life of flash drives: in them, the USB ports on the front panel are connected to the motherboard with an unshielded ribbon cable that collects all interference. This puts an extra load on the connected device, which affects its operation - failures, decelerations and increased heating. Failure in such conditions is quite likely, especially with ungrounded electrical wiring.

The manifestation of soldering defects is facilitated by increased mechanical loads, especially alternating ones (bent-unbent), as well as falls and shocks. Although flash drives are considered shock-resistant storage devices, they usually include a quartz resonator. And this (in typical SMD cases) is a rather fragile part that cannot even withstand a fall from a meter height. When the quartz is cracked or separated from the contacts, the flash drive is recognized as "Unknown USB device" with zero VID / PID codes and is unusable. Bad controller pins show up in the same way; purely software glitches are not uncommon (see below for details).

Hardware repairs are already required here. You cannot do without a multimeter, a 25-30 W soldering iron with a thin tip and a technical hair dryer: you should ring the connections, strengthen the soldering (heating the board with hot air often helps), restore damaged contacts or current-carrying tracks - primarily those that adjoin USB connector. Failed parts are replaced. We are talking about piping elements - most often resistors (including zero ratings that play the role of jumpers), quartz and a 3.3 V stabilizer.

Previously, the power supply fuses and inductive noise filters in signal circuits often broke off on flash drives. This was treated by selecting analogs or even banal shunts, and the punctured discrete stabilizer changed without problems (the issue price was 20 rubles). True, sometimes the board smoked when turned on, which means that the controller was the first to fail, and the replaced part worked like a fuse.

There are no such elements in modern models - the manufacturers have “optimized” them. All impacts are taken over by the controller. A stabilizer is also integrated there, so that its breakdown (recognized by the instant and unbearable heating of the chip) requires replacing the controller, moreover, with the exact same model with the same firmware version (second or third rows of chip marking). Inoperative quartz is recognized by the absence of 12 MHz generation; for this you need at least a simple oscilloscope of the C1-94 type memorable to radio amateurs.

A pleasant exception is the new models of USB 3.0 flash drives. The high-speed device consumes a significant current (up to 900 mA by the standard, in reality 150-250 mA in idle and 300-600 mA under load), so the designers returned to a discrete stabilizer, this time of a pulse type, as well as choke filters. With such an element base, flash drives have become more maintainable.

In most cases, it is impractical to replace flash memory chips - they are relatively expensive, and after soldering the flash drive, a full-fledged software repair is required, which may not work if you do not have sufficient experience or the necessary software... The controller is also a peculiar thing: such microcircuits are not sold at retail (you will not order a batch of 1000 pieces), so you can get serviceable copies only from donors. Disassembling a working drive is pretty stupid, so there are flash drives that have died for another reason. Considering the current variety of controllers (each model is available in several modifications, which are often incompatible in firmware), a lot of donors will be required - at least several dozen. It is unlikely that a non-professional repairman will find such deposits.

The burned-out controller was physically damaged, but this is a rare case. Hardware faults are usually invisible on the outside.

Let's not forget about technological difficulties - for an amateur, they can be significant. Soldering 64 or 48 pins with a pitch of 0.4-0.5 mm (typical packaging of controllers and memory chips, respectively) is not so easy on the fly, especially if the tools are not the best. Also, therefore, hardware repair in most cases is limited to the replacement of piping elements.

As for wet flash drives, including "drowned" ones, a three-stage technology developed for mobile phones is applicable to them. The board is first washed from salts and dirt in clean, preferably distilled water, then immersed in isopropyl alcohol (it has a concentration of 99.7% and actively displaces water from capillary slots, available, for example, under microcircuits), and finally, it is dried with warm air. Do the same with the body parts. Final drying before assembly should take several hours.

By the way, the first to use absolute alcohol as a desiccator was D.I. Mendeleev. In 1890, he proposed replacing the drying of pyroxylin (the base of smokeless powder) by dehydrating it with alcohol, which is completely safe. Since then, all over the world, this stage of the production of gunpowder is carried out only according to the Mendeleev method.

Naturally, all such work is preceded by the disassembly of the flash drive, which in some cases requires subsequent mechanical repair (there are structures assembled with glue or on fragile disposable latches). The variety of models makes it difficult to classify them. In most cases, the body consists of two halves or looks like a sleeve where the filling is inserted. The parts are held in place by a screw (better), friction or hidden latches (worse). In any case, if you are unable to access the board, then further repairs are contraindicated.

Pretentious, unusual models are more difficult to understand than their ordinary counterparts

In the second part of this material, we will introduce you to programmatic problems flash drives and methods for solving them, as well as give some tips on how to avoid breaking the flash drive. Coming soon on your screens!

USB drives have long taken the position of a faithful companion in everyone's life. modern man... Movies, music, photographs, business documents - all this wanders from computer to computer with the help of a small key fob. Flash drives have successfully supplanted unreliable floppy disks in the world of information carriers and are gradually taking away "bread" from optical discs and even hard drives.

However, despite the fact that a flash drive is much more convenient and reliable than the above-described media, few people are insured against problems with it today. USB drives also fail. In this article, we will describe the main reasons for the failure of flash drives, as well as consider the most effective and simple methods their recovery.

The main types of breakdowns in USB drives

1. Mechanical damage - the occurrence of cracks and other visible defects that violate the integrity of the microcircuits and, accordingly, leading the drive to complete loss performance. Mechanical damage can also include deformation of the connector itself. This type malfunctions can be called the most unpleasant, since as a result of the hopes for the restoration of the operation of the flash drive, they tend to zero. However, it is still worth trying to bring her back to life - some defects may be non-critical. It's just that the built-in firmware, one way or another, locks the medium in order to prevent the loss of data from it.
2. Firmware malfunction - you know there is a safe removal of the removable disk, right? But many regularly ignore this procedure, simply pulling the USB flash drive out of the connector. The full-fledged operation of the drive is carried out by the built-in microprogram (firmware). And if, in most cases, it is ready to forgive the disrespectful attitude towards itself on the part of the user, then at some point, if it is removed incorrectly, it can fail, while blocking the operation of the entire removable disk. In this case, the recovery procedure is more than possible - the USB stick remains physically healthy. It is only necessary to restore the normal functioning of the firmware, for which the utilities developed by the manufacturer of USB-drives are usually used.
3. Exhaustion of the drive resource - the flash drive has a certain resource for the number of file write / delete cycles. And this is fraught with the fact that over time the drive will simply be unable to store the information written to it. Exhaustion of the resource is a problem, as a result of which it will probably be impossible to restore the USB flash drive. Perhaps, having given it for repair, but in this situation it is much easier to buy a new keychain.
4. Electrical damage - as a result of unstable power supply or due to moisture inside the flash drive, it is possible to short circuit the internal electrical circuits or failure of individual microcircuits. In this case, you can try to restore, but no one will give you a 100% guarantee of the successful completion of the procedure.

In general, it is worth trying to restore in any of the cases described above. You will not spend a lot of time, but you can save more on purchasing a new flash drive. It is worth understanding one more point - never store your data on only one drive (this applies not only to flash drives). Try to create an additional backup on your computer or cloud storage... This will greatly facilitate the procedure for their recovery in case the main drive is out of order.

Recovering Drives with JetFlash OnLine Recovery

If you are the lucky owner of drives manufactured by the well-known Transcend company, then you are incredibly lucky! You can safely skip all the steps described above - your attention is provided with a convenient and simple tool for restoring the performance of your flash drive. All you need for this purpose is a stable and fairly fast Internet connection throughout the entire duration of your work with the program.

The utility is called JetFlash Online Recovery. You can try it not only for Transcend products. But whether she wants to work is another question. Again, it will not be superfluous to try. The beauty of Online Recovery is that the user does not need to find out the VID, PID, brand of controller and memory chip, install optimal settings etc. All this is done automatically. Drive data and methods are verified and installed over the Internet. This is why having a stable connection is so important.

The algorithm of actions does not cause any difficulties. First of all, you need download and install OnlineRecovery on your computer. After that, connect the USB flash drive to your computer and run the utility. In the main application window, set the amount of memory that your drive has. The next step should be to set the recovery parameters for the flash drive - with saving data (the option "Repair drive & keep existing data" - another advantage lies in this feature) or without it ("Repair drive & Erase all data"). It is worth paying attention to the fact that even if you choose the first item, there is no guarantee that absolutely all data will be saved.

After setting the necessary settings, click the Start button and wait until the USB flash drive is formatted. When finished, press the Exit button, remove the drive from the USB port and reinsert it. If the flash drive is still undergoing recovery, its work will be resumed.

In the event that JetFlash Online Recovery was unable to restore your flash drive to work, you can try to do it manually using a specially designed for specific model drive. This process is more laborious and can even cause a state of some stupor in a beginner. But the options are few, so knowing how to do this also does not hurt.

Defining a USB flash drive recovery utility

Data recovery problem is that USB sticks are produced by different manufacturers... Accordingly, each of them can use slightly different technologies and adapt certain software for servicing flash drives. There is no single application that would allow recovering damaged removable media (there is some unification for Transcend products, but we will consider this issue as a separate item later) - it will have to be selected individually.

The popular Web resource Flashboot.ru allows you to determine the program suitable for a specific flash drive. To search system site has found the utility for you, you need to know the basic parameters of the drive - the manufacturer's name, the name of the flash drive model, VID and PID. With this information on hand, you can easily find an effective media recovery tool.

The manufacturer's name can be easily identified by reading the logo on the body of the flash drive. To determine the remaining parameters, you can use additional software.

Convenient means of obtaining the necessary technical information about drives are programs such as ChipGenius and ChekUDisk. In principle, you do not need any supernatural abilities from such programs, so you can use any of them.

To determine the VID and PID using the first utility, run the ChipGenius program (no installation required) and connect your USB flash drive. In the list of USB devices, find the item "+ USB HID-compatible device" and click on it with the left mouse button. The bottom of the window displays detailed information about the drive, where the VID and PID information will be located in the PnP Device HD line.

ChekUDisk works the same way. In this case, the information will be displayed in the VID & PID line in the format "Vid_0000 & Pid_0000". You should be interested in what comes after the underscore character.

After that, go to Flashboot.com and open the iFlash tab. In the VID and PID fields, enter the corresponding data, defined by you using the programs described above, and click the "Find" button. A list of drives will open, among which you will need to find the model of your flash drive. The last column of the table will display the name of the utility for working with your USB drive.

Now you need to download and install the recommended program for use. Everything is very simple here. On home page all the same service Flashboot.ru has a tab "Files". Go into it and copy to the field search query the name of the utility you are looking for. Click on the link found, download and install the utility for working with a USB flash drive.

The further order of work depends on the specific program. In general, they all have a very intuitive interface (which usually boils down to pressing one button), so it will not be difficult to understand how to work with them.

Utilities for working with a USB flash drive, as a rule, carry out low-level formatting, or flashing, drive. This step allows you to bring the built-in firmware to life and bring the flash drive back to life. In the event that it does not have serious damage to its structure. In addition, formatting is fraught with the fact that all data that was stored on the drive will be lost. And even data recovery tools after formatting, for the most part, will be powerless here.

Before starting to work with this or that utility, please also pay attention to not all the recommendations that are usually attached on the download page on Flashboot.ru and in the search results on iFlash. This will greatly facilitate your further communication with the utility.

This method is mostly universal and is suitable for recovering almost any available USB storage device. There is only one drawback here - a motley patchwork quilt of models, names of controllers and memory chips can confuse an inexperienced user. There can be only one recommendation here - carefully read all the attached information.

After restoration ...

A low-level formatting procedure designed to return a USB flash drive to a "healthy look", as a rule, leads to the loss of all files and data stored on it. We have already mentioned this, but it will not be superfluous to draw your attention to this fact again.

After the recovery is complete, you can try to extract the data as after normal formatting. We described this in a separate article on our website. It also does not give any guarantees about whether it will be possible to restore the memory of the flash drive (more precisely, what occupies this memory). Usually low-level formatting will erase data completely. But there are still good chances.

Recovering damaged files

Hello. Your the computer does not see the USB flash drive , memory card or hard drive and you are wondering what to do? Surely every computer user has a similar situation, or even more than one.

Today I will help you with this question. I'll tell you what problems there are with displaying usb devices and the possibilities of solving them. By the way, the last article was about data recovery from a USB flash drive. If you are interested, then replenish the baggage of your knowledge.

Your computer does not see or does not detect a USB flash drive, hard drive and memory card. let's consider possible reasons the situation. At the end of the article, do not forget to watch a visual video lesson on how to make a flash drive or hard drive work.

Small outline of the article

• Device definition


• Power indicator


• Front usb ports


• Lack of power


• Usb disabled in bios


• USB device not recognized


• Outdated drivers


• Viruses


• Different file systems


• Conclusion

Determine the device

The first step is to determine exactly how the computer does not see your usb drive. From this answer, it will be clear whether it is possible to recover data from a flash drive or not.

To do this, go to the Windows Device Manager.

In order to enter it, you need to click right click on the shortcut of my computer on the desktop or in the start menu, go to properties, click on the device manager.

Then select disk devices.

We got into the device manager and the disk devices tab. If your flash drive or memory card is displayed in this list, then with a high probability you can recover data on them. If the flash drive is not there, then most likely the memory card controller has burned out. I recommend trying to connect your usb device to other computers.

If nothing changes and the flash drive is also not visible, then most likely the matter is in the faulty controller. From such a usb device, you will pull out the data, you can of course contact special institutions that are engaged in this (they are not in all cities), but they will charge you a tidy sum for the work. So think about whether you need it or not.

Your flash drive is visible as a device, but it does not appear in my computer or explorer, or asks to be formatted. To do this, you need to go to disk management. To get into it, you need to follow these steps. Here are screenshots for clarity:

The device is displayed, writes its volume and file system- it is ready to work and functions normally.

The device is displayed, shows its size, but does not display the file system and writes "not defined". In order to use it, you need to right-click in the undefined window and select format. You can check the box quick format and click OK. After the device is formatted, it should work normally.

Displays as a removable device, writes no media, and does not show the file system. All these parameters indicate that this device faulty, there are internal or external damage to the controller. With such a flash drive, you can read information without special expensive equipment.

Power indicator

When connecting a flash drive to a computer, a small indicator on the usb device should light up. If it caught fire and started blinking, then everything is fine with the flash drive, but not with the operating system, you need to look for the reason in it. If the flash drive indicator does not light up, then the problem may be in the device itself or in the connected port of the computer.

Front usb ports

There have been cases when a USB flash drive is connected to a computer through the front usb ports, but the flash drive does not work. Perhaps these front usb are turned off or forgot to connect them to the motherboard.

Not enough power

Lack of food mainly occurs when connecting hard drives through the front USB ports of the computer, hubs and hubs. It is best to connect such devices directly to the usb connectors on the motherboard, that is, on the back of the computer. If you are using a usb hub or hub, then disconnect unnecessary devices, maybe this will help. Also, the reason may be in a low-power computer power supply.

Usb disabled in bios

This problem is rare. Mainly in computer clubs and similar entertainment establishments. What is it for? In order for a person not to introduce viruses and download various programs and unnecessary information on the computer. It is rather a protective measure. If this home computer, then you need to go to the BIOS settings and check the box to enable the launch of usb devices in the motherboard.

USB device not recognized

The usb device is not recognized and when the USB stick is connected, the operating system gives it a letter already in use (the used volume label). This does not always happen, there are other cases. In order to fix this, you need to go to the computer control panel.

I showed how to enter it above, or you can call the Run window - the keyboard shortcut on the Win + R keyboard (the checkbox between Ctrl and Alt plus the letter R) and type the command diskmgmt.msc. Go to disk management, find desired device- USB flash drive, right-click on it and select Change drive letter or drive path. In the window that appears, you can add or change this letter.

Outdated drivers

It is possible that you have outdated drivers - update them. To do this, you need to find out which company is the manufacturer and model of your motherboard. Usually written on the box with the packaging, if you saved them of course. If not, use Everest or Aida. With the help of them you can find out the model of your motherboard and much more. useful information about your computer. After everyone has found out, you need to go to the official website of the manufacturer, find the right system board and download drivers for the chipset and usb device if there are any.

Viruses

There have been cases when the computer does not recognize the USB flash drive due to viruses that have appeared in your operating system. To do this, I recommend using good antivirus software and do a full virus scan at least once a month. If you do not have it, then you can use free antivirus Kaspersky Yandex version, or purchase a paid product.

Different file systems

This is common, but very rare. Your computer does not see the USB flash drive due to a conflict between the file systems of the computer and the USB flash drive. Most flash drives work in two file systems FAT and FAT32, and hard drives to NTFS.

You can try to format your flash drive in another format such as FAT32 or NTFS. Perhaps after that everything will work fine.

Useful information. On a USB flash drive in FAT and FAT32 format, you can upload information in one file no more than 4 Gigabytes, and much more on the hard drive. Therefore, if you encounter such a problem, be prepared for this and keep in mind.

And look at dessert small video a lesson on how to make the computer see a USB flash drive and a hard drive. For a comfortable and enjoyable viewing, I recommend watching this video in full screen, that is, in full screen mode.

The computer does not see the USB flash drive and hard drive

Hello dear friends! One of our visitors had a very interesting problem after switching to a new one. operating system Windows 10.

The problem was that when connecting any portable devices such as a USB flash drive or hard drive, Windows simply did not see it.

It should be noted that this problem also happens with early versions OS Windows 7/8 / 8.1.

Today we will try to understand this problem and help not only our friend, but also everyone else who has a similar situation.

Windows does not see the USB flash drive - reasons

So, let's first figure out what could have caused this problem.

There are four reasons in total:

• In Windows, the USB port driver is crooked or the driver is disabled;
• Inoperative / faulty USB port in the case itself;
• Crooked installed drivers the flash drive itself;
• The flash drive is simply broken (its physical body is damaged);
• The flash drive was formatted incorrectly.

Let's deal with each of the reasons separately.

Port driver problems

Of course, first it is worth checking what exactly the reason is hidden: in a USB flash drive or in a computer.

To do this, you should try several different ports. If, after connecting to at least one of them, the flash drive is displayed, then the problem is in the PC. If not, then the problem is with the flash drive itself.

You can also verify this by going to disk management. You can enter this section of the control console by pressing the Win + R key combination and entering this code without quotes into the window that appears: “diskmgmt.msc”.

If, after opening Disk Management, you see that the removable disk is displayed in the program, then most likely the problem is with the media itself.

Be sure to also try to connect the USB flash drive to another computer.

What to do if no port can see the USB flash drive?

Make sure the ports are enabled and the drivers are installed correctly.

To do this, open the Taskbar, find Hardware and Sound there, and in the "Devices and Printers" section, select Device Manager (there is another way: Win + R and enter devmgmt.msc).

After opening the Device Manager, we are interested in the tab “ USB controllers”. This will show all the devices in your PC that are responsible for the perception of the connected USB device.

If at least near one of the icons you see a circle with an arrow downward, then this means that this device is not turned on.

Click on it with the right mouse button and select “Engage”. For example, as a Bluetooth radio module.

If you see that there is a yellow triangle next to the icon, it means that the driver is not working properly or it is missing altogether.

In this case, you will have to use the regular driver update and installation assistant.

You should try updating your drivers first. To do this, right-click and select "Update drivers ...".

If the program says that the drivers were not found, then you will have to look for the drivers yourself on the website of your motherboard manufacturer.

If, after all the above steps, you find that one of the ports still does not work, then the problem is probably that the port has simply moved the contacts from the motherboard (the result of careless handling of the computer).

In this case, you will have to take the computer to a service center or a technician to solder a new USB port for you.

Problems with flash drive drivers

Now we turn to the point of the curves of the flash drive drivers. Here it is worth doing the same as with the USB port.

You can also update the driver from the subsection "Disk devices."

But first, try formatting the USB stick. It can really help.

WARNING that all information on USB stick will disappear (erased), so that all actions you perform at your own peril and risk.

So, go to disk management (recall: Win + R> diskmgmt.msc). Click on the removable disk with the right mouse button and select “Format ...”. We select the FAT32 file system, and the default cluster size.

In the volume label field, you can enter anything: this will be the name of your flash drive in the future.

If quick formatting does not help, try unchecking this checkbox. The process will take longer, but deeper.

Now let's move on to reinstalling the flash drive drivers.

Immediately, without hesitation, go to the official website of the manufacturer of your flash drive and download the driver for it (usually there are drivers on the Support tab).

When you start the driver installation, you may be prompted to uninstall it first (or maybe reinstall it right away). First, do this, and then reinstall the driver with the same program.

Checking the Drive for Errors

This can be done using the built-in capabilities of the operating system.

Click on the USB drive with the right mouse button and go to the "properties" section.

Go to the "Service" section and click "Check".

Set two checkboxes and click "Run".

After completing the check, click "Close".

Find out the VID / PID of your flash drive

If the computer still does not recognize the USB flash drive, then most likely there is a problem with the data located on it.

When a new device is connected, the computer saves all the data about it in the registry, but sometimes registry cleaners try to fix an already working registry.

We should delete the value of the USB stick in the registry. To do this, press Win + R and enter regedit in the field.

Press Enter and the registry menu pops up in front of us.

We are looking for these two branches in the registry:

1. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Enum \ USB;
2. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Enum \ USBSTOR.

In these branches, delete all folders with VID / PID in their names. VID is the manufacturer ID and the PID is the device ID.

If you know the VID and PID of a particular broken flash drive, then you can delete only the corresponding folder.

Deleting these folders will have no effect on USB operation drive, but the computer will try to read its data again when connected.

You can find out the VID / PID of your Flash memory using a Chinese program like ChipGenius or its simpler counterpart CheckUDisk.

These programs are able to detect device data even if it is not recognized by the computer.

Mechanical damage and ways to eliminate them

If this did not help you, and the Flash drive is not recognized by any of the ports or computers, then the matter is probably that the device is simply broken.

This is due to careless handling of him (everyone likes to pull him out of the port abruptly).

You can fix the device if you have seen the board of any item at least once in your life.

If you have no idea what it is like inside a flash drive, then I advise you to contact a special workshop.

Many of these workshops are equipped with special devices that allow you to get the memory of a Flash drive (correctly called a "memory chip") and thus read the data.

Well, if you have at least some idea of ​​the repair, then you can proceed. We will repair the USB “plug”.

You will need a soldering iron, wire cutters, knife and screwdriver. A magnifying glass would also be useful, because everything on the board is very small.

So, first, unwind the device and take out its contents. Take a close look at the board.

If you see at least one scratch, then you can immediately carry it to a special workshop, because there will be no point in repairing it.

If you did not find any irregularities, then you can move on.

Now you should take the old unnecessary wire with a USB plug. Cut the wire a few centimeters from the plug. There will be 4 veins.

Strip them about half a centimeter each. Solder the wires to the board. To do this, place the USB flash drive so that its plug is facing you, and the two square holes in the plug are facing up.

Now we solder the wires to the contacts in a strict order from left to right: black, green, white, red. If you solder wrongly, the device will burn out.

Now insert the soldered plug into the computer, and if the computer detects the USB flash drive, then instantly back up your data.

In the future, you will no longer be able to use this drive and you will have to buy a new one.

If the computer does not recognize the device, then in this case it should also be taken to the master.

D-Soft Flash Doctor

Another reason may be that the USB drive was not formatted correctly or formatting was interrupted.

In this case, the computer will recognize the device, but will ask you to format it.

This is where the D-Soft Flash Doctor can help. The software is very convenient, does not require installation, and you can find it on the Internet. The program is absolutely free.

Flash Doctor looks for errors on Flash storage bypassing his drivers and fixing them.

Also, the utility can write disk images (in the event that you need a bootable USB flash drive).

In fact, this utility does the formatting of the drive, but, as it were, mistaking it for a regular Plug'n'Play device. After formatting, the device should work.

Recovering lost files

If for some reason you accidentally deleted files from your flash drive, then several programs can help you. One of them is Undelete360.

She knows how to recover files, but only if the USB drive has not been formatted.

Another program, CardRecovery, can only recover files from flash drives. You shouldn't expect more from her.

Another ode to the program is PhotoRec. It can only be used by professionals, as it is completely based on the Command Line.

But there is also a plus-the program works very quickly and restores any formats.

And finally, everyone's favorite data recovery giant is Piriform's Recuva.

The program is pleasing to the eye and even a novice PC user can understand it. In addition, it is free and there is a Russian version.

If nothing helped you, then there is only one thing to do - throw out the USB flash drive and forget about it, because after so many attempts to restore it, it will cost more to carry it for repair than to buy a new one.

We hope this tutorial helped you. And one more tip: always create backups data from USB drives... Until next time!