Just like a hard drive, a USB flash drive stores all its data in the memory & the operating system can, later on, fetch this data when required to be accessed. There are two main reasons that may turn your USB drive data inaccessible. Such as if the drive is unmounted improperly from the port, it can lead to data corruption. Another reason can be invalid data in the Master Boot Record (MBR) or Partition Boot Record (PBR) or directory structure on the USB drive. So, let’s explain how to perform a flash drive data recovery.
There are two main reasons why your USB may not be working. Hardware issues or Logical issues. We will discuss both.
Flash drive data recovery from logical issues:
If there are some logical/software errors with the USB drive, you can easily fix it. You need to repair the file structure so that the USB flash drive can be used again. This is how you can scan the problems using windows.
Flash drive data recovery Solution 1:
Insert the USB drive into the USB port of your system
Go to My Computer>Removable Disk Icon.
Right click the Removable Disk Icon and open its Properties.
Click on the Tools tab and then click on Check button.
You will be given two check disk options “Scan drive (recommended)” and “Scan and repair drive”.
Click on “Scan and repair drive“. This will initiate the scanning process and repair the errors.
Note: If you are using Windows 7 then after clicking on tools, click on “Check Now… ”
You will be given two check disk options “Automatically fix file system errors” and “Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors”. Check both check boxes.
Click Start. This will initiate the scanning process. Click Close after the scan process is completed.
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Flash drive data recovery Solution 2:
First of all, insert your USB drive in computer and press Windows button and type.
Open CMD with administrative permission.
Now there type Chkdsk G: /r.
Note: G is the drive letter and which can be different on your computer.
Now the verifying process of files and folders will start and you will be able to see the process (in percents) there.
When the process completes it will ask you for Convert Lost Chains into Files, simply answer yes.
That’s it, your files will be automatically displayed in your Drive storage.
My USB drive is Undetectable. How do I fix it? Try This:
Go to start>control panel> Device Manager
Expand the list next to “Disk Drives” option.
Flash drive data recovery from Physical issues:
If you have a physical error such as a broken connector, circuit board, NAND memory chip of the drive, then the hardware needs to be replaced to repaired. Doing-it-yourself can lead to even worse situations. Better you get help from the experts in this area. You can hire any of the companies that are specialized in recovering the USB drive from physical corruption. They will easily get your hardware repaired using the special hardware and tools they have.
A common indication of the physical errors is some kinds of error messages or troubles that you after connecting the USB. Common error messages are “Please Insert Disk into Removable Disk” or “USB Device Not Recognized or Malfunctioned“, “you need to format the disk before using it”, RAW partition, dead or unresponsive drives, and damaged controller chips and/or circuit boards.
If the silver USB connector is broken or the circuit board is damaged it leads to power supply cut-off to the USB. In such case, soldering and circuit repair are required. It’s not advised to do it yourself as if anything goes wrong, you may permanently lose access to your USB. It’ll reduce the chances of getting your data successfully recovered or sometimes impossible. To deal with above physical errors, specialized equipment and expertise are required. So better you hand over it to some professional and let him deal with the chaos.
If none of the remedies proves helpful for you, you can contact our technical experts and get help with your Flash drive data recovery within 24 hours.
Inspired By: Microsoft
Hi, thank you so much for these information. There have been a need for this type of post lately, and i am happy to read one like this. I have been using acethinker disk recovery, a tool that restores lost files, but i have never tried doing it manually because I am scared, lucky me I read this article. Thanks so much.
You are most welcome.
Hi Jing, your article seems quite informative, do you know anything about how to restore corrupted files due to unsafe removal of USB on a MAC?
My final assignment is due next week and I’ve just lost 60+hours of work.
Regards,
Jack