Step-by-step instructions for USB recovery flash drives in which I will try to answer the question in an accessible language How to recover a flash drive independently and without much effort.
Sometimes you help a person, and then he will tell everyone that you are so good and there are already crowds of people thirsty for help. This is roughly what happened when I restored several flash drives colleagues.
Now the people bear not only their own flash drives, but also flash drives your friends, acquaintances and relatives. Well, at least someone else would bring a bottle of beer or a cookie.
It’s not difficult for me to help, but when I suggest you learn how to do all this yourself, you refuse. Next time I’ll just sew them off. If you don't want to study, pass by.
I’ll finish with the lyrics here and move directly to the topic of the post..
If your flash drive stopped be determined like a disk, doesn't want to formatted, does not allow you to write down information or something else happened to it, BUT it has no mechanical damage, then you know that all is not lost. Most likely a glitch controller and you will have to tinker with it a little. This procedure takes approximately 5 minutes.
I’ll say right away that there is no universal programs For recovery all varieties flash drives. You will need to find exactly the one that can work with your controller. flash drives.
First we need to define VID And PID non-working flash drives.
Determine VID and PID for flash drive recovery
Stick it in flash drive into your computer and run device Manager. Start – Execute - mmc devmgmt.msc.
Then go to the section Universal Serial Bus Controllers.
We find ours in the list flash drive. Usually, everything flash drives have a name USB storage device.
Press the right button on the device and open Properties.
Go to the tab Intelligence.
Select the item from the drop-down list Instance code devices or Equipment IDs.
In this window we see PID And VID.
Finding a flash drive recovery program
We go to the website FlashBoot.ru and enter the received VID And PID.
Click on the button Search.
In the results we look for your manufacturer and model of the flash drive. I have Kingston DataTraveler 2.0.
The right column will contain the name of the program we need or a link to it.
All. Now search in Google program by name or download from the link provided. Launch and follow the instructions. Usually, in such programs for recovery There’s only one button, so you shouldn’t have any questions.
That's all!
If you have any questions, ask in the comments.
How to recover an SD card or USB flash drive if the computer does not see it, does not read or write data? Problems with flash drives are rarely caused by natural wear and tear. Most often, problems with them are caused by users ignoring the rules safe removal devices, experiments with various software in which these flash drives are involved, 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 cause lies in a mechanical failure. And we, friends, will go from simple to complex.
Recovering SD cards and USB flash drives in Windows
- Note: below we will only talk about restoring the functionality of flash drives, but not about saving the data stored on them. This is a separate topic, and there is something about this on the website; you can also use this program for. Most of the methods proposed below 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 completely blocked even 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
Politics may be the cause of problems with SD cards and flash drives Windows security. You need to find out whether access to removable drives is blocked (in whole or in part of writing data to them) by the computer administrator. You also need to check the card reader or ports Computer USB. If everything is fine with the latter, the card reader reads other SD cards, but problems still arise with the flash drive, no matter how you connect it to others USB ports, go ahead.
3. Windows Explorer
Standard formatting using Windows Explorer can help in simple cases such as unsuccessful writing of data to a flash drive. Or when for some reason a smartphone, tablet, camera or other device cannot cope with this operation regarding SD cards. In any of the current Windows versions In the Explorer window on the drive, call up the context menu and click “Format”.
We leave the original file system and first try a quick format.
If it fails, repeat the operation, but with full formatting (uncheck the fast box).
4. Windows Disk Management
You can try to perform the formatting procedure in disk management. To launch this tool, enter in the system search field:
diskmgmt.msc
In the disk management window, focusing on the size of the drive, we look for it among the disks connected to the computer. And in context menu, called on it, we start formatting.
You can immediately select full formatting.
If the flash drive has a partition structure like a hard drive, you must delete each of those partitions. This is done using the “Delete Volume” option in the context menu.
And then, in place of the resulting unallocated space, you need to create a single partition. To do this, in the context menu on this very unallocated space, launch the “Create a new volume” operation and follow the instructions of the step-by-step wizard.
5. Programs for low-level formatting
Standard formatting tools may not help in complex cases, for example, when flash drives are displayed (in the same Explorer or Disk Management) as unrecognized devices with a file RAW system. The latter means that either Windows environment does not understand the drive’s file system, or file system no 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 such cases, they will help you restore the flash drive. third party Windows programs, intended for so-called low-level formatting.
In fact, low-level formatting is a procedure that is carried out either in the production conditions of flash device manufacturers, or in serious specialized services. Various types of Windows software that claim to perform this kind of operation actually perform a regular full format, but using mechanisms that differ from those used by the operating system. Such programs cope well with flash drive problems if these problems arise at the file system level. Let's look at two of these programs.
HDD Low Level Format Tool
http://hddguru.com/software/HDD-LLF-Low-Level-Format-Tool/
Shareware portable HDD program Low Level Format Tool can format different types storage media, in particular SD cards and USB flash drives. After unpacking the archive with the program, run it and agree to the license terms.
We choose free use.
Directly in the program window we indicate the problematic drive and click “Continue”.
We confirm the decision.
We wait for the operation to complete and check the operation of the media.
SDFormatter
http://flashboot.ru/files/file/355
A completely free small program called SDFormatter is another tool for so-called low-level formatting. Works with both SD cards and USB flash drives. Install SDFormatter into the system, launch it, and indicate the problematic flash drive in the “Drive” column. Click “Format”.
The program wants to make sure that our intentions are serious, click “Ok.
He asks not to touch the drive while the operation is being performed.
Upon completion, test the flash drive or SD card. If this does not help, repeat the operation with the settings for complete overwriting of sectors (nothing more than full formatting). Press “Option”, select “Full (OverWrite)”. And also click “Format” at the bottom.
If using the above methods it was not possible to revive the flash drive, and it is still under warranty, you need to stop at this stage. And do not take any further action except contact the seller with a request to replace the device. All the actions described below should be resorted to only when, in fact, there is nothing to lose. The instructions below apply to USB flash drives, SD and MicroSD cards. However, in the case of the latter, the likelihood of recovery is extremely low.
6. D-Soft Flash Doctor
D-Soft Flash Doctor performs so-called low-level formatting, and at the same time also detects damaged sectors (cells). Well, and, accordingly, knows how to block them and replace them with backup ones. The program can help when flash drives or SD cards have difficulty reading separate files that fell on damaged sectors. The program is free and portable. I did not find the official website, but it can be freely downloaded on the Internet.
In the D-Soft Flash Doctor window, the first thing you need to do is run a scan to detect errors.
In my case, there were no damaged (broken) sectors.
But if in your case, friends, the scan results are different and bad sectors are detected, we start the recovery process.
The window for performing this operation promises that the process will not last longer than 10 minutes, but in fact, reassigning bad sectors on a drive with a capacity larger than 4 GB can take quite a long time. So it is better to run the recovery operation at night.
7. Flashing the memory controller
Programs for so-called low-level formatting or their analogues, which in any other form claim to be able to resuscitate all types of SD cards and/or USB flash drives, turn out to be powerless in the event of a software failure of the controller, when it requires flashing. This problem can have different symptoms, but more often it is either the computer does not see the drive completely, or it sees it and can even read the data, but cannot format it by any means. In particular, due to write protection even though the drive is not locked by hardware.
Cure for Flash Drive! (soft repair BAD blocks)
Good day!
The reason for writing this article was my two Kingston flash drives.
One of them was not used for quite a long time and when I decided to use it, it turned out that it was impossible to write data to it! Using the HD Tune 3.5 utility, it was found that a decent portion of the surface was marked as unreadable! Attempts at formatting using Windows did not lead to anything, due to the fact that when formatting a flash drive, only service information is created. Low-level formatting was required, a utility for this was found without problems using Google. The format was produced and it started working.
A few days ago, when trying to copy sources from a second flash drive, a message was given that it was impossible to copy such and such files. Moreover, it was possible to delete these files! My first thought is that BAD blocks have appeared.
Checking the flash drive using HD Tune 3.5 did not reveal any BADs!
The reason for the unreadability of the files remained unidentified for several days, until I came across the HDD Scan 3.2 utility.
A surface test carried out with its help immediately revealed the presence of BADs, which actually explained the unreadability of the files! In addition, the reason for the dips in the speed of writing and reading files immediately became clear: these are sectors with an access time of more than 150 ms.
To eliminate them, we used the previously found HDD Low Level Format Tool.
After formatting was completed, a surface test was carried out using the same HDD Scan 3.2.
BAD blocks were eliminated, and we also managed to get rid of slow sectors, which eliminated dips in writing and reading speeds.
Conclusion.
Using the HD Tune utility to test the surface is not recommended; it produces incorrect results, so it is better to use other utilities, such as HDD Scan or similar.
To treat BAD blocks, you need to use low-level formatting utilities. In addition to eliminating defective sectors, it allows you to eliminate clusters with long access times, which ultimately eliminates dips in read and write speeds.
Using a similar method, you can return seemingly non-working flash drives to work, but it is worth remembering that you should no longer trust such media, the wear and tear process that has begun cannot be stopped and over time the number of bad sectors will grow and eventually the time will come when the media can no longer be used ! The time for complete failure depends on the intensity of use of the flash drive!
This technique and set of software can be used not only for flash drives but also for hard drives, both portable connected via USB and stationary with IDE and SATA interfaces.
Best regards – StrateG-1.
We express our opinion
Bad sectors are an integral part of our digital life. Many of us are already accustomed to such failures that occur from time to time, but for a new user who sees an error message when connecting a removable drive to the computer, this can lead to panic. Removable drives store a small amount of data on each of their sectors and sometimes it happens that one of them gets damaged. Such sectors are called broken.
In this article, we'll walk you through the steps required to fix bad sectors on a flash drive or any larger storage media connected to your computer. This method will require the use of a device with the Windows operating system installed on it.
Logical- storage space that is not working properly. operating system in attempts to read sector data, it receives an adjustment error code that does not match the content. Then the system marks it as broken and stops using it for storing information. Such drives can be restored by rewriting the disk (low-level formatting).
Physical— media space that is physically damaged. Such damage cannot be repaired.
So, how to fix bad sectors in removable storage? Fortunately, there are several ways to help you cope with this crisis situation.
Removing bad sectors using Windows Explorer
The first and most important way to troubleshoot the problem is Windows Explorer. An easy-to-use interface allows you to check media connected to your computer for bad sectors and eliminate them.
Note: We used Windows 10 to run the disk analysis utility. The Windows 8.1 user interface is similar, but may differ from Windows 7.
Troubleshooting steps:
Recovering bad sectors using CMD in Windows
If the UI-based utility does not resolve the issue, try using the command line Windows string. Check Disk is used to perform an operation to check the connected media for errors. To open CMD in Administrator mode, click right click mouse on the “Start” button and select “ Command line(administrator)".
Use the following command to check the drive:
chkdsk C:
Here C is the path/drive letter assigned to your media. You will need to write the symbol corresponding to your drive (in our case it is E). Open My Computer to see the correct drive letter.
To correct errors on the media, enter the following:
chkdsk /f E:
The command will help you find and fix bad sectors:
chkdsk /f /R E:
The Check Disk utility will restore for you any “logical” bad sector present on the removable drive. Restart your computer when the recovery process is complete.
The above methods will work for SD cards, MicroSD (connected with an adapter) and external/internal hard drives.
If you need to first recover and save information, the Starus Recovery recovery tools will help you. You can download and try programs for recovering deleted data on a removable storage device completely free of charge! The functionality of each program has a preview window. This function will help make sure that a particular file is not damaged or overwritten, which means it will be successfully restored.