1GB memory stick appears corrupt. Any data recovery options?

[DirtyElf]

I have an older 1gb usb thumb drive that I used to transport data to and from home and work. This morning when I plugged it into the PC it came up like it was installing drivers for the device, and said it failed to install almost immediately. I thought this was strange, so I removed it and reinsterted it. This time it said it was installing drivers for a much longer time and finally said it installed drivers. I let out a sigh of relief and went to find it in My Computer. It wasnt there. Oh no... :shock: In the device manager it is listed as "USB MEMORY BAR USB Device" and in devices and printers it is listed as "SM324BC Memory Bar". The status of the device is listed as "Needs Troubleshooting". Also in the device manager under portable devices the "WPD FileSystem Volume Driver has a warning (!) and the device status is "This device cannot start. (Code 10)". If I pull up the computer management and go to disk management it appears to be listed as Disk 1 Removable and shows all space as unallocated. If I go to My Computer it shows up as a removable device as (E: ) however, eventually the window will time out and tell me to insert a disk into drive (E: ).

Stupid me, did not back up the files from this weekend and I did a considerable amount of work. I would like to be able to recover the data if possible. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thank you for your time.

 

[computergeekguy]

As for me and recovery programs I purchased a copy of bad copy pro. It's a nice program but im sure you would like a free version.

Just from searching the web I found a program called "MiniTool Power Data Recovery Free Edition"

Here is a download. Thank you for downloading MiniTool Power Data Recovery Free Edition from CNET Download.com

I have heard that if windows cant recognize it than chanses of recovery are low. But we can always give it a shot right?

Edit: Hmm I just read somthing that says you can use bad copy pro to fix flash drives without buying it. Edit: Hmm, Not as sure now.

Go ahead and try bad copy pro. I personally have had good experiences with it.

http://www.jufsoft.com/badcopy/download.asp

And instructions on how to use it.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4861432_recover-flash-drive.html

Yet another edit: The link says free evaluation version. In my case it would see if it could recover the files first. If it could than you would buy the program and it would save them, if it cant recover them than there is nothing anyone can do.

You don't have to buy it. It will just say weather or not it is recoverable or not. If it is recoverable we will look for a free solution for you.

Sorry i made this so complicated.

 

[whs]

Try Recuva: Download Recuva 1.50.1036 - FileHippo.com -- download button on the first line.

 

[DirtyElf]

i tried recuva at lunch with my laptop. it seems to not recognize the usb stick as a drive for recovery. whenever any program (device manager, recuva, My Computer, etc...) tried to access this drive everything slows to a crawl. im wondering if i should try to format it (and definitely erase all the data) first. it sounds like these programs can recover data after formatting

i will give bad copy a try when i get home, not able to install programs here at work

 

[computergeekguy]

DONT FORMAT!! That only makes things harder to impossible.

Just try the programs as they are and see what happens.

It is true the programs were made for accidental deletion/corruption but we don't want to purposefully put ourselves in that position.

 

[DirtyElf]

what if i cant get a recovery program to recognize the disc?

 

[whs]

Did you try a live Linux CD or stick. Linux is often more forgiving than Windows and can access data that is hidden from sight in Windows.

 

[DirtyElf]

i dont have a linux pc... maybe i could install in on my laptop

 

[whs]

You do not need a Linux PC. If you do not have a live Linux CD, use this:

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/287439-emergency-kit-save-your-files-dead-os.html

 

[DirtyElf]

with the thumb drive inserted into the computer it will show up in My Computer but a green progress bar keeps going across the address bar...

when i try to launch recuva nothing happens... when i launched bad copy the drive letter showed up, but when i selected it and hit next... it seems to have frozen and is now not responding

im guessing there isnt much hope

i'll try the linux tomorrow

 

[computergeekguy]

Sorry Bad copy pro isn't working. By the way bad copy pro has several recovery modes depending on how bad the thumb drive is. You should try all of them. If it crashes on all the modes than I don't know what to do.



Edit: You want mode #2 Here is a picture explaining what the modes are for.

 

[DirtyElf]

before i left for work this morning i set it to run rescue lost files mode (it takes a while because it locks up when i click next)

 

[computergeekguy]

It will take time. I used it to recover files from a scratched, old, not properly taken care of floppy disk. The boot sector of the floppy was scathed so windows wouldn't even try to open it. It must scan every sector to see if it can find anything. It is slow but the most sure way to see if it can do somthing.

If it cant find anything in this mode than I would most likely assume the flash drive is unrecoverable.

 

[DirtyElf]

ok, sounds like it should be able to come up with something unless the data was basically destroyed...

what could have caused the data to be so corrupted? I typically use the remove devices command to remove the stick, but in my haste I could have just pulled it out... i would definitely have made sure to save and close everything out before removing it... im not that careless.

 

[computergeekguy]

It might not have anything to do with the integrity of the data but rather a physical flaw in the chip itself. Say it were dropped or a connection broke or a wire got cut. In that case there is nothing i can do as the circuit is broke. But if something else is the trouble like your read write sessions have been used up than i should still be able to read the data and copy it off of there. It all depends on what the problem is.

 

[DirtyElf]

after bad copy pro finally started responding, i clicked start and the window has been not responding for hours now... ill let it go over night and see what happens

im afraid that this thumb drive is beyond repair....

 

[DirtyElf]

the scan from bad copy pro has been running (supposedly) for about 12 hours now

it has scanned 300 sectors of over 1000000... at this rate it could take over half a year!

 

[computergeekguy]

I am sorry that it is running so slow. There is one more thing that i can try to suggest to you before I have no more ideas.

You can open second bad copy pro. As to not interrupt the first one. They will both run.

Instead of choosing the pen drive option try the memory card option. Unselect the option that says search and recover movies and pictures only. Than run that one. If it is still as slow as the the other running bad copy pro or it crashes than the card is no good in my opinion.

Here is a picture of me scanning one of my own flash drives. With 2 bad copy pros running at the same time.

 

[computergeekguy]

Ok I got a new plan if bad copy pro isn't going to work.
This is going to be done in CMD. You will need to download this.
TestDisk Download - CGSecurity
It will be a ZIP file.
Extract the zip to your desktop (or wherever you want to put it).
Create a folder in your newly unzipped folder called recovery.
Run photorec_win.exe. All you need to do is double click it and it will run.
When you double click it will look like this.

Choose your flash drive or the drive letter it should be. In my case the flash drive is jetflash transcend.


Then you will get this screen.

Choose No Partition


Now it will look like this.

Choose Other.


Next image.

scroll down to the recovery folder that i told you to create and press enter.
You will now be in the recovery directory. Press C for correct.


You should now see this image.

It is now attempting to save your files. It will spit ALL of your files into the recovery directory. Your files will not have the correct name so you will need to open each one to see what it is and rename it to what it should be.

If at anytime during the restore process you need to stop press the S button.

I hope this helps.
Good luck

 

[DirtyElf]

i think the problem is with the thumb drive, not the programs... whatever machine i put the thumb drive in slows to a crawl... any program or utility that tries to access the drive will lock up for sometimes hours. but pull out that thumb drive and its back to being zippy

for instance it took my machine (in machine specs below) about 10 mins to open disk management with the thumb drive inserted. pull it out, and boom it loads in a second.

when i get home i will check the progress of the bad copy pro scan and see if it is going any faster