I have a friend's usb that is suddenly asking to format. He wants me to recover if I can the info from the USB. Any suggestions how to go about this?
How to Fix "USB Drive Not Formatted” Error?
Trying the CMD tells me it is RAW and cannot do a chkdsk.
Device manager says the drive is there.
Before you start messing around with recovery options - which can compromise any attempts to access data ...
Create a Linux distro (Mint or Puppy) boot usb drive.
Boot a computer into that usb and run the Linux system (it runs in the memory - DO NOT INSTALL)
Insert the problem USB and examine.
This will tell you whether it's Windows playing its silly games, or whether anything is recoverable. And you can recover to another device from the running Linux system
Bad news - I suspect the drive is borked. Be prepared for worst case scenario.
USB - flash drive? If so, bit late now, but ... USB flash drives should NEVER be used as a storage device. Great for moving (copies of) files from one device to another, but notoriously unstable and unreliable as a storage device.
Ok, I will try that. I will report back.
Does Mint need a free USB? Does it format it when using it?
USB - flash drive? External HDD ? Manufacturer/Model no/name, Capacity???????
A drive can become RAW for various reasons. Lost partitions- requires partition recovery. Corrupted Volume Boot record - requires writing of the backup/ rebuilding Volume boot sector. Corrupted MFT - in most cases requires data recovery with commercial software. Not a partition loss, Not a corrupted VBR, Not a corrupted MFT - run check disk but only after ascertaining for sure that it is Not a partition loss, Not a corrupted VBR, Not a corrupted MFT
Do not try anything blindly. A step by step procedure is required for ascertaining what is wrong and take corrective action.
Post complete details of the storage device. USB is not a drive or disk
Post a screenshot of Windows Disk Management with only the faulty disk connected.
Post a screenshot of how that disk looks MiniTool Partition Wizard Free.
That will decide what course of action is required.
Going forward, for those insisting on using USB flash drives as storage for school or college material, always use twin USB flash drives, copy material onto each one during each session. As others indicated, such devices are much better suited for "sneaker-netting" and much less suited for storage devices. Even my "sneaker-netting" sometimes has me using twin devices for important cannot-lose material going from point A to point B. Just ran R-T&T's R-Undelete on a USB flash drive with deleted files, recovered those not overwritten, however, it was still FAT-32, not RAW. I do not know if R-Undelete works on RAW USB devices.
Ok, here is some more info. Thanks for the replies :
1) Does not show up using Crystal Disk info
2) Standard properties
3) Disk management :
4) Minitool :
Let me know if I forgot anything.
Please post full screenshots including the disk volume list and disk map.
What is the disk map?
I will let him know. I have learned my own lesson and do backups all the time, but this is a friend and people don't like to be told what to do.
Just post full screenshots of Windows Disk Management and Partition Wizard like the ones below.
"...but this is a friend and people don't like to be told what to do..." If this idea includes backup/restore operation suggestions, there will be more such situations as RAW devices, unrecoverable folders & files, and so on. I hope the OP is not going to do lots of this work for free. Many a freelancer found out the many pitfalls and few benefits of working for free, or next to nothing, or heavy discounting, for family or friends.
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