Recover flash drive using command line. What to do if the flash drive does not work. The main reasons for the failure of a usb flash drive

I am sure that you have such documents, photos or videos that you should never delete. If this happened, help. But what if the flash drive literally broke or stopped working? Why did this happen? Today I will answer these questions.

First of all, let's define terms. When they say "flash drive", they mean a device with a USB connector:

And what is inserted into phones and cameras is called memory cards:

But this is an unnecessary complexity that can be misleading. Both types of memory drives can be called flash drives. The cards have exactly the same parts (okay, a little more compact) as USB sticks. This identical devices. Yes, they look different, the method of data exchange between the device and the flash drive is different, but otherwise they are similar. The only difference is where they are connected.

And their sores are similar, and the treatment (data recovery) is the same. And it's not always easy. Remember:

The success of data recovery depends on the severity of the situation, the flash drive model and the amount of money in the owner's pocket.

You need to know that repairing and restoring data are two mutually exclusive situations. When pulling out information, you will have to gut the USB flash drive so that it will not work to assemble it back. But you will have the data.

What can break? And if it breaks, will it be possible to restore the files?

1. Memory chips with cells that store data.

Memory cells cannot be written to forever. Their read and write cycle resource is limited to hundreds of thousands of operations. Once the limit is exceeded, the cell will not be able to hold a charge. The files will become unreadable or their content will be corrupted. And if the loss of a couple of bytes in a text document threatens with just the absence of a couple of letters, then for photos, videos and archives any distortion is unacceptable.

The data is stored in such a chip. There may be several

To avoid data corruption, memory chips contain cells that are not used during normal operation. As soon as the memory starts to fail, the controller (more about it later) will prohibit work with the failed cell and substitute a spare one instead. Alas, there is not much spare memory, sooner or later the spare area will be completely used up. Then plan "B" will come into effect: the prohibition of data recording will turn on. Reading will not be lost, so you can safely copy files to your home computer or to another safe place.

But this is ideal. I met a similar situation only on memory cards. USB flash drives usually start to “fail”: saved files stop opening because they turn out to be damaged. What to do? Alas: no data recovery programs will help here!

So damage to the memory chip is fraught with irretrievable data loss. Fortunately, the read-write resource is quite large (hundreds of thousands of cycles). Even if you completely clog the flash drive every day and then delete everything, failure will occur no earlier than a year of operation. And MicroSD in phones is more resistant to this, because, as I wrote above, protection works and files can be copied to a safe place.

Much more often there are problems with the controller.

2. Controller(not a controller!) - a microcircuit that takes care of data transfer between memory chips and a computer, telephone or other external device.

Most often, problems arise with him. This is a complex component with its own memory and a set of electronic parts, in which anything can break. For example, the content of the controller firmware is often damaged and the flash drive is simply not detected when connected to a computer or becomes visible as a disk with a size of 0 bytes. Many USB flash drives can be repaired at home using flashing programs (in this case, the data will be lost!), But this trick will not work with miniature memory cards - they have a monolithic case (to put it simply, everything is inside one chip) that cannot be disassembled.

The controller cannot be repaired, but data can be restored. Contact data recovery companies - they will be able to connect to the memory chip bypassing the controller or transfer the memory to exactly the same donor flash drive.

3. Electronic "strapping". These are various electronic components (resistors, diodes, power stabilizer) scattered around the board.

Details are at the forefront, smoothing out power surges due to unexpected pulling of a flash drive from a port and other electronic interference, so very vulnerable. Things are especially bad with memory cards and monolithic flash drives: due to the tight layout, working parts are poorly cooled, and the risk of burnout increases. Memory cards, unlike monolithic USB flash drives, are even worse: they are inside a working device, which also heats up.

Depending on the flash drive model, you can either change the parts for new ones (and the flash drive lives for some more time), or connect directly to the memory chip to get the data. Of course, this requires people with the right skills and equipment.

Tip: in winter, when fluffy warm clothes become a trend, static electricity kills just this very “strap” once or twice. If you flaunt something that causes sparks when removed, before working with a computer and / or taking a flash drive in your hands, touch the unpainted part of the heating battery - the accumulated charge will go away and the equipment will be out of danger.

4. Connector and housing.

USB flash drives and memory cards have different connectors, but the trouble is common: the contacts are damaged. Oxidation, erasure, just insufficient pressure - and now the flash drive is no longer detected when connected, and the phone does not see the memory card. The problem is solved by cleaning the contacts with an eraser or, if it is a full-sized USB connector, by a little compression so that the USB flash drive sits tightly when connected to a computer.

For large memory cards, the latch may break or the case may peel off, it is repaired with ordinary adhesive tape (wrapped the case and you're done). Contacts can also be wiped, but if the case is cracked, it's gone. I had no idea how fragile they were until I ruined the MicroSD by accidentally brushing it off the table. Falling on edge, the card just cracked.

I also often saw the consequences of finding a flash drive in the back pocket of jeans. The output is always the same:

Sometimes the expression "ass happened" should be taken literally. Photo from dannydullin.com

Repairing broken connectors is a fairly simple procedure for service center workers. After the repair, the flash drive can continue to be used further.

About software failures

In addition to hardware failures, there are software failures. Files in case program failures are fairly easy to recover. Usually free programs are more than enough. Then format the flash drive and use it further.

An easy way to determine the type of breakdown: if the flash drive does not manifest itself when connected to a PC or phone, the hardware is broken. And if it is recognized, but something is wrong with the files, the problem is software. Usually the algorithm of actions is as follows:

1. Pull out information using data recovery programs.

2. Format the flash drive (right-click on the disk in the folder "This PC" - Format - Start).

The only software problem that formatting does not solve is resizing the partition. Appears after installing a large flash drive in old cameras. The camera, unaware that such capacious flash drives exist, creates a partition that is smaller than necessary. It will help you to work with disk partitions. You can use Windows tools: Control Panel - Computer Management - Disk Management - right-click on the partition on the flash drive - Delete volume, then Create volume, you need to select FAT32 instead of NTFS. This will recreate the file system from scratch with the correct size.

Hardware failures

So, what to do if the controller burns out or the flash drive breaks in half, and there is important data there? How to restore them?

This is where the difficulties begin. Data mining methods can be divided into three conditional types. It all depends on what is broken and what type of flash drive - regular or monolithic.

1. Transferring memory to a working flash drive.

Specialists put a memory chip from a damaged flash drive on a donor of exactly the same model.

Ideal option: after repair, the USB flash drive connected to the computer is recognized as a regular removable disk, documents are easily and simply copied to a safe place. With memory cards, this trick cannot be done, the components are too tightly packed and cannot be soldered, or the case is completely monolithic. But the next option works.

2. Read memory directly.

To access the memory, you can do without a controller. Specialists connect directly to the pins of the memory chip and read its contents in a "raw" form, then, using specialized data recovery software, they get the files.

But that doesn't always work out that way. Sometimes there are several memory chips and / or the controller works according to its own algorithms, which only the manufacturer knows about.

3. Data recovery from monolithic devices.

It will not be possible to quickly connect to the memory of MicroSD cards and some models of SD and USB flash drives, you need to do difficult work at least to access the memory chip pins. Retrieving data requires expensive equipment that most labs don't have, and a lot of time. Therefore, prices bite. The minimum price for restoring monolithic flash drives, which I found on the Internet, is 12 thousand rubles.

Connecting to a memory chip on a monolithic flash drive. Photo courtesy of gillware.com

Working with monolithic flash drives is a complex and painstaking process that does not always end in success.

Why are monolithic flash drives bad? The fact is that instead of the good old board, a thin substrate and parts soldered with wires less than a hair thick are used there. All this good is filled with varnish. It turns out a monolithic structure, it cannot be disassembled. Specialists under a microscope peel off layer by layer, and then, when the tracks become visible, they are soldered to the desired contacts. This is a temporary measure, after pulling out the data, the flash drive is sent to the scrap.

Photo from blog.acelaboratory.com

An important point: when restoring monolithic flash drives, a donor is often needed. To understand which contact is responsible for what, you need to look with the help of a logic analyzer and, possibly, an X-ray machine, how exactly the same undamaged flash drive works.

Monolithic flash drive under X-ray. Photo from habrahabr.ru

Such work requires appropriate payment, so not everyone can afford to pay for data recovery from monolithic flash drives. If I were a laboratory employee with a similar service, I would insert an advertisement here, but I do not work in this area, so I will tell the victims one thing: I sincerely sympathize. It is especially sad when a flash drive from an unnamed Chinese manufacturer breaks down. Maybe I don’t know something and nameless flash drives are like two peas in a pod, but something tells me that this is not so.

When the flash drive of the Chinese brand XEDIAN died as a wife, I began to examine it (the flash drive, not my wife) in the hope that it had official contacts. These pins simplify memory access and therefore reduce the cost of the recovery process. There were no contacts, but under the top layer of paint I found the inscription "SanDisk Extreme Plus 32 GB". It was applied crookedly, which indicates a fake, and there are no externally similar memory cards on the SanDisk website. Rhetorical question: how much will it cost to recover data from a flash drive from a Chinese manufacturer that stamps its nameplate on fake memory cards? It is difficult to find a donor, because different models are hidden under a card with that name, judging by the photos and reviews on Aliexpress. This is the case when a recovery attempt can cost a pretty penny and is unlikely to be successful.

Why do flash drives break?

They plugged a USB flash drive into the computer, it is not detected and cleaning the contacts did not help? This does not mean, that you are unlucky. Any Technique tends to break if you use it. Marriage, power surges, temperature changes, hands from the wrong place - everything can be the cause of a breakdown. You just have to accept it and move on. Well, or look for service centers with data recovery services.

So that there is no sadness, in advance make backups. Many have already forgotten about the existence of DVD, but this is a good way to store archival photos, videos and other digital data dear to the heart. Or buy an external hard drive.

Phone owners: you can install Yandex.Disk, enable auto-upload of photos to the cloud and you will never lose memorable records. Only 10 GB is available for free, but until July 3

Flash cards have long established themselves as a reliable and compact storage medium, but even they sometimes fail. Fortunately, in most cases, all problems with flash drives can be solved independently at the program level, using special utilities. In this article, we will describe in detail how to restore flash drives from various manufacturers (such as transcend, kingston, silicon power, etc.) without resorting to expensive service centers - at home.

What could happen to the flash drive, why does the computer not see it?

Problems due to which a laptop or computer does not detect a flash drive can be completely different. Recovery of flash drives may be necessary for the following reasons:
- The USB port on the front of the system unit is not connected.
The main cause of all problems. Often, users insert a USB flash drive into the port that is located in front of the computer, because it is quite convenient. But there are situations when, during assembly, this port is inadvertently not connected to the motherboard. The result will be non-working connectors in front - both a USB port and, for example, a headphone input.
- Faulty flash drive.
The second most popular reason. Flash drives also have their own expiration date, after which they inevitably break. The main problem is burnout.
— Virus.

Unfortunately, in our time it is almost impossible to completely avoid infection. When copying data from a computer containing a virus, the situation can develop in two ways:
a) the contents of the flash drive are not visible;
b) the flash drive itself is not visible.

Another option is that the infected computer simply will not detect the flash drive.
- Problem with drivers.
An extremely rare problem, but it's still worth checking this possibility.
— Conflict of different file systems.

There are times when the FAT file system is installed on a flash drive, and NTFS on a laptop or computer. These file systems may conflict, as a result of which the computer will not see the flash drive.
- Inoperative USB port.

There is a possibility that the port to which it is connected is faulty, and not the flash drive.

How to restore the file system of a flash drive?

One day, your flash drive may stop working, and when you try to open the contents, you will see the message “No access. The file or folder is corrupted. Reading is impossible. In this case, you will not be able to copy data from it or do anything else.
If you open My Computer and call the context menu of the flash drive, you will see that the file system will be an unusual RAW, and not the familiar FAT or NTFS.

Recovery of a usb flash drive can be done with the program. In the free version, the user has the ability to recover files up to 1 gigabyte in size.
After you launch the program, select the disk and files from which you are going to recover files. You should select a flash drive. will show all folders and files located on it. Select all the files you want to restore and click the blue Save Files button. The utility will specify where to save the recovered files and once again ask you not to write the data again to the same USB flash drive from which the recovery is being performed.

After that, copying will be carried out. The duration of the process will depend on the size and number of files.
After the operation is completed, you will see a corresponding informational message.
Check all data for readability. If everything went well, format the USB flash drive and copy the data to it.

The American company SanDisk is primarily known for the fact that it produces memory cards for various electronics: cameras, players, phones. It occupies a considerable part of this niche and owns a large number of various developments and patents. For example, CompactFlash memory cards were developed by SanDisk employees. The SD format was developed jointly with Matsushita Electric and Toshiba.
In parallel with memory cards, fast and convenient flash drives are also produced. Their distinguishing feature is a bright design with black and red elements. Most likely, you will never need to restore a Sandisk flash drive. The company produces very reliable memory chips, but no electronics is immune to various errors due to frequent use, power surges and improper operation.

Often you can encounter errors related to writing-reading, incorrect device detection, incorrect memory size detection, bad blocks and other malfunctions, which are typical for all drives of this class. You can solve them with the help of a specially designed program for repairing and restoring SanDisk flash drives. It was designed just for such cases. The chance of data recovery, although not 100%, is quite large.
You won't need any additional utilities or instructions. You just need to connect the flash drive, download the program to restore the flash drive, and run it.
With the right selection of repair programs, you can repair almost any flash drive. SanDisk is one of the most reliable manufacturers, so with it you rarely have to think about malfunctions.

Access to files on a flash drive (USB drive) can be broken for several reasons.

careless removal;
incorrect removal of the drive from the computer;
physical damage;
viral infection;
resource exhaustion.

All reasons, except for the last one, are the result of inattention or inaccuracy of users. Most of them, in particular, simply pull the flash drive out of the computer's connector, ignoring the recommended safe removal procedure. This may damage the built-in firmware (firmware). BUT resource exhaustion is due to the fact that the number of write/delete cycles on any media is not infinite and, if it has reached the limit, then recovery is impossible, and you have to buy a new device.

Recovery methods

How to recover corrupted files from a flash drive? In most cases, this can be done in whole or in part.

Usually, when files seem to be deleted, they continue to be in their place, the path to them becomes inaccessible.

This situation persists until new entries on the flash drive, which can erase the old information. Therefore, you need to exclude new write attempts. Formatting the USB drive will further exacerbate the problem.

If you have problems opening on a USB flash drive, first of all, you need to restart your computer. If there is no effect, you need to consistently resort to the following methods to restore data:

in-system disk troubleshooter;
elimination of the consequences of a virus attack;
specialized programs.

Intrasystem tool

Windows' ability to check and automatically fix simple disk problems can also be used for a USB drive. To do this, follow these steps in sequence:

Elimination of the consequences of a virus attack

For reliable operation of the system, some important system files are assigned the Hidden attribute. Thus, they become invisible and protected from careless user actions.

In some cases, viruses that have entered the system do the same with the files on the USB drive, hiding them in the same way as the system ones. To check, you will need to do the following:

If, after opening the flash drive icon of the “Computer” window, translucent icons of previously invisible files became visible, then you should get rid of viruses. If after this the restoration did not occur, and the icons did not take on their normal form, then you need to manually remove the “Hidden” attribute. To do this, on the same icon:

Recuva Program

If the previous manipulations were unsuccessful, then you will have to resort to the help of specialized programs. As an example, consider from Piriform (known for its widespread Ccleaner program). The sequence of actions after installation is as follows:

Run the program;
In the window that appears to restore corrupted data in dialog mode, it is recommended to click "Next"; for advanced users, the "Do not open the wizard at startup" mode is provided;
In the next window, you need to select the type of files to be restored;
Then you should click "Browse" and specify the flash drive as the location;
In the next window, before clicking "Start", it is recommended to check the box "Enable in-depth analysis": in this case, the recovery will take longer, but the results will be better.
When finished, the scan results will be displayed in color. In most cases, media information is restored better than others. A green circle indicates that the file can be completely restored, and a red circle indicates that it is hopeless. A file marked with a yellow icon can be partially restored. For text documents, this is an acceptable option.
After that, it remains to check the boxes next to the files, specify the location for recording (any, except for the flash drive!) And click "Restore".

Photos are often stored on a flash drive. If they could not be completely restored, then you can try opening them in the standard built-in Paint program, and then resaving them. Experience shows that this simple program is less critical to damaged images.. And for viewing partially defective video data, it is best to use the VLC player for a similar reason.

Recovery of USB flash drives has its own characteristics. The good news is that these devices, unlike SD cards, are repairable. Therefore, if it is impossible to exchange a flash drive under warranty, why not take advantage of a 60-70% chance to repair it.

The article will consider various cases, typical problems associated with the breakdown of flash drives, and options for solving them.

Recover data or repair flash drive?

They are not the same thing, although the concepts are related.

The main task that the repair solves is to restore the performance of the flash drive so that it:

was identified as a storage device in Disk Management,
was correctly defined in Explorer,
read and write data.

As a result of repairing a usb flash drive, it is easy to lose all the data on it, while it will be available for writing and reading.

File recovery is possible only on a working USB flash drive.

The main reasons for the failure of a usb flash drive

How to understand that a USB flash drive needs repair:

When a flash drive is connected, the LED on its case does not light;
The device is not recognized on another computer / laptop;
The flash drive is defined as an unidentified usb device.

Damage to a USB drive is easy. Like any physical device, flash memory is subject to external influences (shock, thermal effects, water ingress, etc.). In addition, there are a number of software errors due to which the flash drive does not work.

Damaged USB connector pins

Often, the problem lies in a damaged contact between the controller and the USB connector.

How to check. To check the flash drive for this problem, test it on another computer. Alternatively, insert another USB flash drive (if available) into the USB port of the same computer.

If other flash drives are readable on a PC without problems, the problem is probably in the current storage medium.

If you are unable to read data from a flash drive only on this computer, the problem may be in the USB sockets of the PC or laptop motherboard.

How to fix.

Here is a link to a third-party guide on how to repair a usb connector: Repairing a usb connector on a laptop yourself.
If you don't want to mess around with wires, it's better to send a PC or USB flash drive with a broken usb port in for repair. The approximate cost of replacing usb is $ 20 - 50.

Hardware-mechanical problem: damaged controller

Most often, everything rests on the flash drive controller, which is the main link in the operation of the drive. The controller contains important microcircuits, and disconnecting a contact or burning out a leg will make data recovery on a flash drive very problematic.

How to fix a flash drive.

Replace the controller yourself (which is unrealistic at home).
Take the USB drive to the service - however, repairing the flash memory will cost decent money. You will not find a controller for a USB flash drive on sale. In the laboratory, they can find a donor flash drive and “replant” the faulty controller.
If the data stored on a flash drive is vital and you would like to recover it, the laboratory can use an expensive software and hardware system to extract data bypassing the hardware controller.

The cost of services can be found directly from specialists in a company that repairs flash drives in your city. It can start from $30 and go up to $500-1000.

Flashing a damaged flash drive

The USB flash drive contains firmware - microcode with service data. If the firmware of the usb flash drive is damaged, it will inevitably stop working.

How to fix. Such a flash drive cannot be formatted with the usual universal software like SDFormatter., It will need a complete “trepanation” - flashing. This will require a proprietary utility from the manufacturer.

However, you can only reflash a flash drive by learning the name of the controller. The difficulty lies in the fact that manufacturers, as a rule, use different types and models of controllers and can implement not only their own, but also other people's developments. Therefore, it is not always possible to immediately determine the type of flash controller.

Fortunately, there are special programs that allow you to determine the type of VID & PID * for Transcend, Silicon Power drives, etc .; we will list them with reference to the installers.

(* VID is manufacturer ID, PID is device ID.)

After the warranty repair, all the photos on the smartphone and on the SD card disappeared.

Answer. A very vague question. Was there a warranty repair of what - a mobile device or a memory card? All your claims against the performers are governed by your contract.

As for data recovery on an sd card, use specialized applications, which, in fact, this site is dedicated to.

A 2GB flash card from an old Nokia phone, the phone sees the flash drive perfectly, the tablet and other phones do not see it. Other people's flash cards my equipment sees.

Answer. If other flash cards do not open on your, as you say, old Nokia, then most likely because the phone simply does not support new technologies. Read the documentation and specifications for your device. Maybe it's time to upgrade your hardware?

My 32GB micro flash drive broke in half. How can I recover information on this flash drive, tell me, please, where and who can help me, how to fix the flash drive?

Answer. Alas, this flash drive cannot be repaired or somehow reanimated. If the firmware “flew” on your flash drive, then you could give some chance for recovery. As for physical damage, it all depends on the damage. If the flash memory chips are intact, you can read the data through a PC 3000 Flash reader, etc.

The only possible solution (if the files are not of particular importance) is to purchase a new microsd card.

The flash drive does not open, does not appear as a removable disk, does not appear in the device manager. Physical impact is excluded, because. There are three such flash drives, different people worked with them.

Answer. You didn't specify the type of memory you're working with. In any case, if a flash drive or sd card does not open, I would advise you to check the operation of the flash card on other devices. Test it on other phones or devices to which it can be connected. If it's an sd card, try connecting it to your PC via a card reader.

Check if the attached device is detected in Device Manager. If yes, use any disk partitioning program or regular Windows tools, or proprietary software available on the flash drive developer's website to format the flash drive in NTFS or FAT.

During the formatting of the flash drive (transcend), the flash drive was pulled out from the PC. It was clear that she would no longer work, the check confirmed this. The computer does not detect the flash drive, the indicator blinks all the time, it is not in "my computer", it is in the device manager, it says that it is working fine, it is defined as a storage device. Help to restore the transcend flash drive!

Answer. Probably, the file table on your flash drive has been damaged. You can still restore the operation of a flash drive if you create a partition on it and format it. You can reanimate a flash drive, as already mentioned, using specialized utilities like Acronis Disc Director and so on, but it is best to use the TestDisk application to partition and restore a transcend flash drive.

The flash drive was encrypted in TrueCrypt, I reinstalled the OS, I mount the flash drive, the files are displayed, but when I try to open them, I get an error - access denied. Can you tell me if it is possible to save information if the flash drive is not detected after encryption?

Answer. You will need a client program to work with Truecrypt. Alas, the site truecrypt.org is currently unavailable, and the project itself is closed. So try to find the app somewhere on the internet. After that, when opening files, you will be required to enter a password to access your files.

The flash drive has been reset and the system requires to format the flash drive, but I need to save very important and expensive files. Help!

Answer. In no case do not agree to format your flash drive! Instead, use data recovery software and try to restore the missing partition on your storage device. You can safely copy all the saved information to your hard drive and then search among these blockages for exactly what you need.

There is a flash drive JetFlash Transcend 8GB. Has ceased to be determined by the system. I formatted it with JetFlash Online Recovery and it deleted all data from the flash drive. Is it possible now to recover the Transcend flash drive, that is, the data on it?

Answer. To recover a Transcend flash drive, the Unformat program is suitable. The chances of recovery depend on the depth of formatting. Anyway, use the deep scan option. Alternatively, try Recuva with a similar scanning option.

Despite their manufacturability and a number of undeniable advantages over optical storage media, USB flash drives are still at risk of failure. When a user is deprived of confidential data, exclusive photos or a single copy of an electronic key, it's time to think about the meaning of the word "catastrophe". However, even with the most unfavorable events, there is always room for hope. In our case, the resuscitation of a flash drive acts as the latter. For all the dejected and those who once scorned the elementary rule of safely removing the device, a pleasant miracle awaits. Really working recovery technologies will become available and understandable to you immediately after you read this life-saving set of information. Stop trembling and get rid of excitement - your flash drive will work again!

Memory that fails people

In order for the resuscitation of a flash drive to become a successful recovery process, it is necessary to understand what exactly caused the digital sabotage that occurred, and you should also know exactly the model of the memory device (it is often enough to have information about the manufacturer). Perhaps it will help you to relieve yourself of some guilt by the fact that the reliability and safety of data storage promised by the manufacturer on storage devices such as USB Flash drivers are more relative concepts than a proven truth. This can be confirmed by a number of reasons that significantly affect the efficiency and long-term use of the specified storage units.

Main technological limitations

There are a few more specific restrictions. However, in the context of this article, mentioning them will simply be redundant information - we will miss the terminology that is difficult to perceive ...

Under what conditions does resuscitation become inevitable?

In the process of using a Flash drive, an often unlucky user makes a fairly common mistake for a beginner - he removes the storage device, so to speak, on the go, forgetting that it must first be disabled using the OS software tool. This ultimately leads to the complete or partial inoperability of the flash drive, which is expressed as follows:

The storage device is recognized by the OS as unknown.
The file system of the Flash drive has been changed to RAW.
When you open the flash drive, the folder is empty.

Otherwise, there is a certain tendency to standardize risk factors, since mechanical damage or critical exposure to water will negatively affect absolutely any electronics.

Resuscitation of a USB flash drive, or Ways to restore it

Depending on the above "symptoms of electronic illness" there are several algorithms of action. It is worth noting that some recovery methods may either not work at all, or give a positive result only after a certain time. However, if you follow the described recommendations, your chances of success are incredibly high. Believe in luck, and she will certainly smile at you!

Method number 1. Resolution of the situation

A single copy of archival information is a significant reason to try to extract data hidden in the digital depths. The main rule in such a situation is to do nothing at all with the Flash drive until the recovery process begins (meaning attempts at rash experiments: formatting, writing, etc.).

You will need a special program. Resuscitation of a flash drive (the process of recovering data on it) will be carried out using R-Studio software. Why this particular program? It is free and, despite its simplicity, quite effectively returns lost (even formatted!) information from digital non-existence. Among the "free" software - this is the best tool for data recovery.

After you have downloaded and installed R-Studio, it is recommended to close all active applications before starting the software.

On the left in the main window of the program, select your USB drive.

Then activate the "Scan" tab.

In the next window of the program, in the block where it is written, specify the initial value "0" in the "Start" checkbox, and in the area below "Size" - the nominal capacity of the flash memory being recovered.
Make sure Known Files is checked.
Then boldly click the "Scan" button.
After some time, the program for resuscitation of the R-Studio flash drive will complete the recovery process and require some actions from the user.
In particular, you must again indicate your USB drive in the area on the right and use the right mouse button to call the context menu.
Select "Show content..." from the list. A list of reanimated files will appear on the right, among which you will definitely find lost data.
Right-clicking and selecting "Restore" is the penultimate stage of digital reincarnation.
The final is the choice of a directory for saving.

As a rule, such a program for resuscitation of a flash drive is used once, because after some stress the user becomes prudent and in the future always duplicates valuable information on the computer's hard drive.

Method number 2. Software failure

When a flash drive is incorrectly detected by the OS or the operating system refuses to work with the device, a specialized utility for resuscitating the flash drive can help. Depending on the type of controller involved in the storage device, an individual firmware is used that works with specific control chip identifiers. Due to the specificity of this method, a step-by-step plan of action is offered to your attention.

Step #1. Definition of VID and PID controller

Enter the start menu.
Hover the marker over the "Computer" section and long-press the right mouse button to call up the context menu - select "Device Manager".
In the list of displayed system components, stop your choice on the item "Universal serial controllers ...".

Note: It doesn't matter at all when resuscitation of a flash drive, Transcend USB drive, or any other modification of a storage device requires identification of identifiers. Literally for all types of Flash-memory, the described scenario will be identical.

So, the next step is to open the branch of the section "Controllers of the universal ...".
Among the displayed devices, select "Storage ...", which, in general, is the designation of your flash drive.
Using the same manipulation (right button + long press), call the pop-up menu, in which activate the "Properties" item.

In the window that opens, go to the "Details" tab, where in the checkbox you need to set the parameter - "Hardware ID".
As a result, in the area below you will see the information you are interested in in the form of numerical and symbolic values, which is the required component to determine the appropriate utility.

Step #2: Finding the Best Firmware

The resuscitation of a Kingston flash drive is implemented using the same low-level utility, because there is simply no more efficient and safer option today! The search algorithm for the required software corrector is quite simple: type in the copied Vendor ID (VID) and Product ID (PID) identifiers into the search box and download the found utility. But the most acceptable option is to contact the official website of the manufacturer in the technical support section.

Nevertheless, there are a lot of various Internet resources, the specialization of which is precisely related to this kind of recovery issues. The incredibly popular iFlash service has a truly amazing base of low-level utilities. The best software solutions, most of which are from flash drive manufacturers - and all this is completely free! Spending just a few minutes of your time, you will certainly get a positive result in the form of the necessary software.

Method number 3. Effective resuscitation

Transcend flash drives, however, like many others, can be returned to electronic life by using the universal Flash Memory Toolkit program or the no less functional HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool. These are the best digital resuscitators today. However, let's make a reservation: such software solutions are aimed at the total restoration of memory types, that is, directly through the inevitable formatting process. So if all your attempts to get the lost data out of the digital abyss were in vain, and the price of information is not so significant as to contact a specialized center, then it is likely that the performance of the flash drive itself will be a consolation prize for you.

Conclusion

As you understand, the incredibly multifaceted flash drive recovery process was presented in a fairly capacious version. At the same time, the question of which utility is better can be unequivocally answered with a short phrase: “The one that works!” However, relying on the material of the article, you will definitely achieve the desired result. Good luck and absolute reliability in data storage!