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. More often, problems with them are caused by users ignoring the rules for safely removing the device, experiments with various software in which these flash drives are involved, as well as their initially lousy quality. Below we look at the list possible actions, carried out in a Windows environment, which 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

The cause of problems with SD cards and flash drives may be Windows security policy. 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 other USB ports, move on.

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, we 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 run this tool in the field system search enter:

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 choose right away 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 difficult cases, for example, when flash drives are shown (in the same Explorer or Disk Management) as unrecognized devices with 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, third-party Windows programs designed for the 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 with mechanisms different from those that apply 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.

For business - a flash drive, for fun - a hard drive!
Folk wisdom

⇡ Fix it immediately!

Repairing current gadgets is a thankless and often unprofitable task. There are fewer and fewer replaceable parts in them, the layout is ever denser, and meanwhile the prices (with equal functionality) are ever lower. A handicraftsman cannot compete with industrial technologies. However, the repairmen mobile phones and laptops don’t really complain about life (see articles from 2011 - and ). The reason, as they themselves explain, is the fragility of the components - screens, cases, power circuits, a number of microcircuits, as well as unreliable connections. Flash drives—“USB sticks” and, to a lesser extent, memory cards—are confidently following the same path.

Almost every user has already experienced at least one flash drive failure, and many have probably wondered: is it possible to fix it yourself? In the old days, when a fashionable gadget cost a third of your salary, this was suggested by a well-known toad, and later by simple curiosity. Indeed, as for faulty key fobs, at least 50-60% of cases are treated with simple methods that do not require special training or equipment. Why not try it?

Today, repairs are once again becoming relevant as the capacity (and therefore cost) of flash drives increases, and most importantly, with their reliability declining. The flash drive market is fiercely competitive with regular price wars. Manufacturers save every cent of cost and do not care too much about the quality of their products (expensive flagship models are some exceptions). It’s easier for them to include a certain percentage of defects in the price and replace failed devices under warranty. “The sheriff doesn’t care what happens to the flash drive later.”

Unfortunately, warranty services are often unavailable to the user: either the documents are lost (how many people remember them, or at least keep the receipt?), or the place of purchase is far away, or the flash drive has external damage - this is clearly a non-warranty case. What can we say about gray imports and outright fakes (Internet flea markets are full of them - unscrupulous business, alas, is thriving). In such cases do-it-yourself repair can fix the matter and bring a broken keychain back to life.

All flash drives, with the exception of monolithic structures, are arranged in the same way and quite simply: USB connector, PCB, on it there are a dozen or two strapping elements, a controller and from one to eight memory chips (on models large capacity they are often soldered in pairs, like “sandwiches”). Repair technologies are simple and accessible to anyone who has a soldering iron and a multimeter. Minimal skills in handling electronics will also not be superfluous.

Successful repairs bring not only legitimate moral satisfaction, but also material benefits. The “extra” drive that appears allows you to manage your data more flexibly (for example, duplicate) and generally feel calmer. According to observations, reanimated devices live even longer than new ones - weak points have already been eliminated, and the owner handles them more carefully.

Very often, the owner of a broken flash drive is not interested in the flash drive itself, but in the data recorded on it. Data recovery (DR) technologies are fundamentally different from repairs as such, since there is no need to worry about the functionality of the entire device. Flash memory chips, on which information is stored, fail very rarely (1-2% of emergency cases). They are protected from the vicissitudes of fate both mechanically - by the case and the design of the flash drive itself (the chips are usually removed from the USB connector, the most stressful part), and electrically - by the controller and harness. The latter take on all the risks of interaction via the interface, including polarity reversal, voltage surges or static discharges. The same is true for memory cards.

Therefore, “raw” data on chips, as a rule, is saved, and the most reliable way is to unsolder all the chips, read them at the physical level using a special device (programmer, or reader) and assemble a file system image from the resulting dumps. The last stage is the most difficult, since it is necessary to reproduce the algorithm of the controller. Manufacturers are not at all eager to disclose such things, so they have to carry out reverse engineering - the notorious reverse engineering.

The results of labor-intensive excavations end up in a database, sometimes called a decision system. Through collective efforts, we have accumulated more than 3,000 solutions that allow us to emulate almost any controller. For assembly, specialized software is used, which is very expensive (about 1,000 euros) and difficult to master. In the territory of the former USSR, as well as in many other countries, two hardware and software systems have gained the greatest popularity: Flash Extractor from the Moscow company Soft-Center and PC-3000 Flash SSD Edition from ACE Lab (this Rostov developer is also known for its repair tools hard drives).

Reader from the Flash Extractor complex. Replaceable sockets allow you to connect microcircuits of all major types

It is clear that such technologies are the prerogative of specialists. But this is the only option in cases where the controller burns out or the service information on the chips is damaged. The flash drive is then not recognized at all or does not provide access to data, and even replacing the controller with a known good one does not help (the efficiency of this outdated technology is only 15-20%).

If hardware problems do not affect the controller and firmware, then after repair the data becomes available again - you can kill two birds with one stone. True, such a profitable “doublet” is possible only in the simplest cases, such as a blown fuse or other wiring element. Bent USB connector or a broken board (typical failures with which flash drives are brought in for repair), alas, do not apply to them. Often in such situations the firmware crashes, and even after fixing the board, you won’t be able to get to the files.

The reason is the users themselves: they try to work with a damaged flash drive by pressing the connector with their hand. And it’s in vain - you still can’t achieve stable contact, but the controller is blocked by chattering (which is equivalent to multiple connections and disconnections). The flash drive is no longer detected, after which simple solutions no longer pass.

You have to choose whether you need “info” or the drive itself. In the first case, the user can expect professional data recovery (if it’s worth it...), and in the second - repair, most likely independently. It brings the flash drive to a “like new” state, destroying everything previously recorded. So repair and DR technologies are generally incompatible.

How do flash drives and memory cards break? Let's consider the main types of faults, their causes and methods of elimination.

⇡ Popular mechanics

Mechanical problems are hard to miss. In relation to flash drives, these are defects in the case, breakage of the cap and other moving parts, damage to the USB connector (the most common case), cracks and chips of the printed circuit board and radio elements on it. Flash drives do not like moisture, and if they are drowned or flooded, they will not work.

The exception is expensive and rarer protected models, where internal volume filled with silicone (they often carry the marketing names Extreme, Voyager, etc.). By the way, this same silicone makes it quite difficult to unsolder chips during hardware repair or data recovery—every pin has to be cleaned with a scalpel. Monolithic structures stand out separately: they are relatively resistant to water and (minor) impacts, but serious damage is definitely fatal.

This Corsair flash drive, which arrived “on date,” had to be literally torn out of the silicone

A broken case, a missing cap, or jammed moving parts may not affect the performance of the flash drive, but it becomes inconvenient and even difficult to use, and its service life is sharply reduced. If the USB connector is bent, wrinkled, or broken (as with other contact problems), the flash drive is either completely inoperable or is recognized only once and will not last long. A damaged board definitely requires repair, but it does not always lead to success - it is difficult to restore the internal tracks of a multilayer structure.

A cracked flash drive cap is one of the most common breakdowns. In cheap models this happens after a month or two of use.

Unlike flash drives, mechanical damage to memory cards is usually fatal: repairs may not be necessary. A paper-thin printed circuit board suffers from any serious impact - its conductive paths are torn and contact with memory chips is broken. And the chips themselves can crack with the loss of all “information”. So only minor faults can be eliminated.

Thus, SD cards experience delamination of the housing halves and (most often) loss of the write-blocking slider. In the latter case, the card becomes read-only, nothing can be written to it (the slider itself is not a switch, it simply mechanically opens the write prohibition circuit in the card reader, so that writing is possible on some devices). An SD with a peeled or bent casing can be difficult to insert into and, more importantly, remove from the slot. Using force (tweezers, pliers, etc.) only worsens the situation. There is also a possibility that the entire contents of the card will sooner or later fall out of the case - this will most likely destroy the device.

In the hands of an impatient user, the SD card did not last long

Mechanical damage is most often caused by user negligence. Flash drives are inserted crookedly and abruptly into the USB port of a computer or laptop; those already inserted are touched by a hand, foot, bag or mop. Outside the computer, key fobs are dropped on the floor, stepped on, sat down, run over by the wheel of a chair, and so on. Flash drives fall into washing machine, in street dirt and under spilled coffee, they are bathed in seas and baths. I've seen storage devices that have been in dog teeth.

Models with folding and sliding parts suffer from unnecessary effort during transformation. The moving parts themselves are not very durable and wear out quickly if they are made of cheap soft plastic. This is especially true for various latches - inserting such a “self-folding” flash drive into the port can be difficult. Wear and tear is greatly accelerated in a dirty and aggressive environment (for example, in a pocket near your keys). Dust and moisture easily penetrate into a USB connector that is not protected by a cap, causing contamination and corrosion of the contacts (they are not always gold-plated, as required by the standard).

The Kingston flash drive tends to fold when connected - the working position lock has worn out. The slider has to be held by hand

Manufacturers' policies also play a role in this. They treat cheap flash drives as a disposable product and save on everything. Hence the flimsy case, the cap that cracks after a week, the thin PCB board, and sloppy, skimpy soldering. More expensive models are usually made better and are mechanically more durable. When purchasing, you should choose them. True, if the money was spent on an elaborate design, then it is better to be careful - the glamorous body may contain weak and slow filling. By the way, these are mostly gift corporate flash drives - it is unwise to use them for business, problems will begin very quickly.

More about choice. In life, the strongest flash drives are egg-shaped, not too compact. Long and thin models break first. The more metal in the case, the better - metal provides not only strength, but also good heat dissipation. The more reliable cap is the one that is held in place by friction over the entire area of ​​the USB connector - it will not crack in the area of ​​the retaining protrusions. It’s good when the cap is secured against loss with a cord or cord. Sometimes the removed cap can be put on the back of the flash drive - this is not so convenient, but better than nothing.

The recently fashionable open connector (without a metal band, four contact plates are in plain sight) is unsuccessful in terms of reliability: it easily breaks and scratches, and most importantly, it is subject to destructive static. In addition, it is often combined with a monolithic design - elegant and compact, but not repairable. If, for example, a laptop falls off a table, then the connector of the inserted regular flash drive simply breaks off, but the monolith cracks in half, upsetting both the user and the repairman.

Broken connector on regular and monolithic flash drives. In the latter case, there is no need to talk about repairs and even getting data is a big problem. The circled contacts will not help here

Mechanical repair has the goal of restoring the functioning and reliability of a flash drive, its content is quite obvious. At the “do-it-yourself” level, this means gluing or replacing the case, selecting a suitable cap, and the like. In many cases, cyanoacrylate superglue comes to the rescue, especially with an activator (hexane), which allows you to glue any plastic, including “resistant” polyethylene and polypropylene. For a loose or bent USB connector, the fasteners should be soldered, especially the ears on the sides (they take the bending load and come off first), and then the contacts themselves. Roughly straightening the connector in the opposite direction is not the best method: it often breaks nearby traces on the board, and repairs become very difficult, if possible at all.

On SD, instead of a lost slider, a piece of a match is easily glued in - although without the possibility of blocking, but few people use it. Contacts are cleaned with a cotton swab with a special product “Kontaktol” or, at worst, an alcohol-gasoline mixture. It is advisable to observe antistatic hygiene (grounding bracelet on your hand, conductive covering of the table and floor, etc.) or at least touch a grounded object before work. Remember that cards are static sensitive.

It’s a good idea to check the contact pads under a magnifying glass - their gilding can be very conditional or absent altogether. Worn, corroded, or discolored contacts (not uncommon on cheap cards stored in a humid environment) are a signal for decommissioning; such a card will not work reliably. This also applies to microSD→SD adapters.

⇡ Burnt out at work

Electrical malfunctions of flash drives are primarily the failure of the controller (“burnout”), as well as various defects of SMD wiring elements: filters, fuses, resistors, capacitors, stabilizer, quartz. These parts experience a break, breakdown, or deterioration of parameters (for example, a decrease in the output voltage of the stabilizer from 3.3 to 2.5-2.6 V, at which the controller no longer starts). This also includes problems with the board, including damage to current-carrying paths and poor contact of parts. Often during operation defects in factory assembly appear (incompletely soldered connections, cold soldering, corrosion from unwashed flux).

This filter (circled in white) burned out due to a voltage surge. Treatment is standard - replacement with a similar one or simply soldering a jumper

Contact problems have become noticeably more numerous after the introduction of the European Union RoHS directive (it is aimed at eliminating lead, mercury and other harmful substances from circulation). Eco-friendly lead-free solders have proven to be difficult to use: they spread worse and wet the contact pads, have a higher melting point, and are less durable. High-quality soldering with them requires a high production culture, and small Chinese factories are no different in this...

In such cases, the flash drive most often shows no signs of life, but is sometimes detected in the computer as "Unknown USB device." In particular, this happens when the flash memory chips are in unreliable contact with the board (a frequent case lately is that the flash drive bends slightly in clumsy hands and one of the legs comes off). If the soldering is poor, the device can only work in a certain position, and only if you press the case with your hand (usually in the area of ​​the USB connector). It happens that defects appear only after warming up, but a cold flash drive works fine. Over time, the intervals of performance become increasingly narrower and eventually it comes to complete failure.

Electrical damage to flash drives and memory cards can also include water getting inside - problems are most often caused not by water itself, but by insufficient drying of the device before use. Once you supply power to a damp flash drive, the controller easily fails, the reason being leakage currents between the pins. Of course, prolonged exposure to water, especially sea water, can cause simple corrosion, but this is not fatal: it was reported that the memory card from a “drowned” camera started working after a year on the seabed.

The causes of electrical damage are unstable power supply, discharges of static electricity from the user’s body or PC case, as well as overheating of drive parts, primarily the controller (memory chips can withstand up to 100-120 °C and rarely “burn”). Overheating is caused by poor cooling in a cramped plastic case, prolonged active operation, or even just idling. Advice: remove the unused flash drive from the USB port, and the memory card from the card reader slot - depending on the OS driver, they can get quite hot, and this is hardly predictable.

A combination of several risk factors is especially dangerous. For example, with an increased voltage of 5 V, the flash drive heats up much more, and an intense data flow, especially for recording, can easily finish it off. The more productive (and more expensive) the model, the greater the risk of overheating under these conditions. This also applies to memory cards - there have been reports of damage to high-speed SD cards during serial photography or dumping movies.

Cheap desktop cases also shorten the life of flash drives: they contain USB ports on the front panel connected to motherboard an unshielded cable that collects all interference. This puts extra load on the connected device, which affects its operation - failures, slowdowns and increased heating. Failure under such conditions is quite likely, especially with ungrounded electrical wiring.

Increased mechanical loads, especially alternating loads (bent-unbent), as well as falls and impacts, contribute to the appearance of soldering defects. Although flash drives are considered shock-resistant drives, their circuitry usually contains a quartz resonator. And this (in standard SMD packaging) is a rather fragile part that cannot even withstand a fall from a meter height. If the quartz is cracked or detached from the contacts, the flash drive is recognized as "Unknown USB device" with zero VID/PID codes and is unusable. Bad controller contacts manifest themselves in the same way; Pure software glitches are also common (see below for details).

It is already required here hardware repair. You can’t do without a multimeter, a 25-30 W soldering iron with a thin tip and a technical hair dryer: you should ring connections, strengthen the soldering (warming the board with hot air often helps), restore damaged contacts or current-carrying paths - primarily those adjacent to the USB connector. Failed parts are replaced. We are talking about strapping elements - most often resistors (including zero values ​​that act as jumpers), quartz and a 3.3 V stabilizer.

Previously, flash drives often had power fuses and inductive noise filters in signal circuits broken. This was treated by selecting analogues or even banal shunts, and a broken discrete stabilizer was changed without problems (issue price 20 rubles). True, sometimes the board smoked when turned on, which means that the controller was the first to fail, and the replaced part worked as a fuse.

IN modern models Such elements no longer exist - manufacturers have “optimized” them. The controller takes all the hits. The stabilizer is also integrated there, so its breakdown (identified by the instantaneous and unbearable heating of the chip) requires replacing the controller, and with exactly the same model with the same firmware version (second or third rows of chip markings). Non-working quartz is identified by the absence of 12 MHz generation; For this you need at least a simple oscilloscope like the C1-94 commemorative for radio amateurs.

A pleasant exception is new models of flash drives with USB interface 3.0. The high-speed device consumes significant current (up to 900 mA according to the standard, in reality 150-250 mA at idle and 300-600 mA under load), so the designers returned to a discrete stabilizer, this time of the pulse type, as well as choke filters. With such element base Flash drives have become more repairable.

In most cases, it is not practical to replace flash memory chips - they are relatively expensive, and after soldering the flash drive requires a full software repair, which may not work out if you don’t have enough experience or the right software. The controller is also a peculiar thing: such microcircuits are not sold at retail (you won’t order a batch of 1000 pieces), so you can only get serviceable copies from donors. It is quite stupid to disassemble a working drive, so you are left with flash drives that died for another reason. Considering the current variety of controllers (each model is available in several modifications, which are often incompatible with firmware), a lot of donors will be required - at least several dozen. It is unlikely that a non-professional repairman will have such deposits.

A burned controller is physically damaged, but this is a rare case. Hardware faults are usually invisible from the outside.

Let’s not forget about the technological difficulties - for an amateur they can be significant. It is not so easy to solder 64 or 48 pins with a pitch of 0.4-0.5 mm (typical packaging of controllers and memory chips, respectively) on the fly, without distortion, “snot” and miscontacts, especially if the tools are not the best. This is also why hardware repairs in most cases are limited to replacing piping elements.

As for wet flash drives, including “drowned” ones, a three-stage technology developed for mobile phones is applicable to them. The board is first washed from salts and dirt in clean, preferably distilled water, then immersed in isopropyl alcohol (it has a concentration of 99.7% and actively displaces water from capillary slits, such as those found under microcircuits) and finally dried with warm air. Do the same with the body parts. Final drying before assembly should take several hours.

By the way, the first to use absolute alcohol as a desiccator was D.I. Mendeleev. In 1890, he proposed replacing the drying of pyroxylin (the base of smokeless gunpowder) by dehydrating it with alcohol, which is completely safe. Since then, throughout the world this stage of gunpowder production has been carried out only according to the Mendeleev method.

Naturally, all such work is preceded by disassembling the flash drive, which in some cases requires subsequent mechanical repairs (there are structures assembled with glue or fragile disposable latches). The variety of models makes their classification difficult. In most cases, the body consists of two halves or has the form of a sleeve into which the filling is inserted. Parts are held in place by a screw (better), friction, or hidden latches (worse). In any case, if you cannot gain access to the board, then further repairs are contraindicated.

Elaborate, unusual models are more difficult to understand than their ordinary counterparts

In the second part of this material, we will introduce you to software problems with flash drives and methods for solving them, and also give some tips on how to avoid flash drive failure. Coming soon to your screens!

Read, what to do if Windows does not display the connected device. How to restore functionality to such a device if this is the reason. A flash drive or any other USB drive should be automatically detected by the computer and displayed in Explorer and the “This PC” folder after connecting to the USB port.

Content:

Diagnosis of the problem

The first thing you need to do if connected USB disk does not appear in the file Windows Manager, you need to check the tool Disk Management.

To open Disk Management in Windows 8/10, right-click on the menu Start and select "Disk Management". In Windows 7, press the combination Windows keys+ R to open dialog box "Run" and enter the command in it diskmgmt.msc.

Check the list of drives in the window Disk Management and find the USB drive that is not detected. It should appear here even if it is not in the folder "This computer", and match in size. Sometimes it is defined as "Removable device", but not always.

If you do not see your disk or flash drive even in Disk Management, then try the following:

• Turn on the disk, if there is such a function. Some external hard drives have a separate power cable or are turned on using a separate key dedicated to this.
• Connect your device to another USB port. Disconnect the flash drive from this USB port and connect to another. Perhaps one of the USB ports on your computer has failed.
• Connect the device to your computer without a USB hub. If the flash drive is connected to the computer via an extension cord or USB hub, try disconnecting it from it and connecting it directly to the computer. Perhaps the reason is in the hub.
• Try another computer. Connect the flash drive to the USB port of another computer and see if it is recognized by it. If the device is also not detected by another computer, then most likely the problem lies with it.

Solving the problem

If the problem options described above do not apply to your case, then your problem can most likely be solved using one of the methods described below. Depending on what you find in Disk Management, there are options for solving the problem that has arisen with identifying an external storage medium.

If Windows sees the disk, but cannot read it, then this means that it has a file system that it does not support. In this case, the operating system will prompt you to format the disk before using it. But don't rush to do it! This will destroy all your data.

If other computers see the flash drive, but yours doesn’t

If other computers detect your USB drive, but yours does not, then most likely there is a problem with the device drivers.

To check this, open Device Manager and look for Disk devices And USB controllers . See if there are any devices marked in yellow in these sections exclamation point. If there is such a device, right-click on it and select Properties. The properties will contain information about the error and driver status.

To fix the driver problem, right-click on the device, select Properties / Driver / Update.

If the disk is visible in Disk Management

If the disc is visible in Disk Management, but it does not have a letter, then it is for this reason that it may not be displayed in Windows Explorer. In order for the system to start displaying it in Explorer, such a drive must be assigned a letter.

To do this, right-click on it and select "Change drive letter or drive path". If there is no such item in the pop-up menu, this may be due to the absence or unsupported file system type of the storage medium.

In the menu that opens, you will see that the drive does not have a letter assigned - assign it. To do this, select Add / / Ok.

If the disk is visible in Disk Management, but it is not allocated

If the disc is visible in Disk Management, but it is not distributed, which means that it is not formatted. In order for such a disk to become operational, right-click on it and select "Create Simple Volume".

Select the maximum suggested partition size and assign a drive letter suggested by the system. After this, the disk will be normally detected by the system and ready for use.

If the disk is visible in Disk Management but cannot be formatted

If for some reason the disk cannot be formatted, then to restore its functionality, you can completely erase it and then re-create the partition.

Note. As a result of such manipulation, all data from the disk (as well as flash drives or memory cards) will be permanently deleted. Therefore, worry about their safety in advance - scan the disk or flash drive using Hetman Partition Recovery, and save your data in a convenient place.

To clean the disk, open Command line as administrator and clean it up using the command diskpart – "clean".

Greetings to all blog readers!

Probably most people who work with a computer more or less often have a flash drive (or even more than one). Sometimes it happens that a flash drive stops working normally, for example, due to unsuccessful formatting or as a result of some errors.

Quite often, the file system can be recognized in such cases as RAW, the flash drive cannot be formatted, and it cannot be accessed either... What to do in this case? Use this small instruction!

These instructions for restoring the functionality of a flash drive are designed for a variety of problems with USB media, except for mechanical damage (the manufacturer of the flash drive can, in principle, be any: kingston, silicon-power, transced, Data traveler, A-Data, etc.).

And so... let's get started. All actions will be described step by step.

1. Determining the parameters of the flash drive (manufacturer, controller brand, amount of memory).

It would seem that it is difficult to determine the parameters of a flash drive, especially since the manufacturer and amount of memory are almost always indicated on the flash drive body. The point here is that USB drives of even one model range and the same manufacturer can have different controllers. A simple conclusion follows from this - in order to restore the functionality of the flash drive, you must first accurately determine the brand of the controller in order to choose the right utility for treatment.

A typical type of flash drive (from the inside) is a board with a microcircuit.

To determine the brand of the controller, there are special number-alphabetic values ​​specified by the VID and PID parameters.

VID - vendor ID
PID - Product ID

They will be different for different controllers!

If you don’t want to kill the flash drive, then under no circumstances use utilities that are not intended for your VID/PID. Very often, due to an incorrectly selected utility, a flash drive becomes unusable.

How to determine VID and PID?

The easiest option is to run a small free utility CheckUDisk and select your flash drive from the list of devices. Next you will see all the necessary parameters to restore the flash drive. See screenshot below.

VID/PID can be found without using the utility.

To do this, you need to go to Device Manager. In Windows 7/8, this is conveniently done through a search in the control panel (see screenshot below).

In the device manager, the flash drive is usually marked as “USB Mass Storage Device”, you need to right-click on this device and go to its properties (as in the picture below).

In the “details” tab, select the “Equipment ID” parameter - the VID/PID will appear in front of you. In my case (in the screenshot below) these parameters are equal:

2. Search for the necessary utility for treatment (low-level formatting)

Knowing VID and PID we need to find special utility, suitable for restoring our flash drive. It is very convenient to do this, for example, on the website: flashboot.ru/iflash/

If suddenly nothing is found on the site for your model, it is best to use a search engine: Google or Yandex (query like: silicon power VID 13FE PID 3600).

In my case, the Formatter SiliconPower utility was recommended for a flash drive on the flashboot.ru website.

Do you have a USB drive that stores important personal files and business data, but it is damaged? Don't worry as this problem can be solved with a few simple methods.

How to recover data from a USB drive if there is a situation where the computer does not recognize it

Since the flash drive is not shattered, you still have a chance to recover the files written on it. There is nothing stopping you from correcting the error and reusing the device. This kind of damage is called logical.

If the USB drive is not recognized by your computer, check it in Disk Management. Then assign a letter or change the connection port. Many people hope to fix a damaged flash drive without losing data, but how?

Try using MiniTool program Power Data Recovery.

Step 1. Go to Disk Management:

1. In the “Start” menu, left-click on “Control Panel”.

   

2. In the Control Panel window, select the System and Security section.

   

3. Left-click on the “Administration” section.

   

4. In the “Administration” section, double-click with the left mouse button on the “Computer Management” section.

   

5. In the window that opens, click on “Disk Management” (double-click). This is to see if you can find the damaged USB drive.

   

6. After detecting it, run MiniTool Power Data Recovery.

   

Important! The flash drive must be connected to the computer, otherwise it will not be possible to recover the data.

Step 2. In the main interface of the program, double-click on the “Recover damaged partitions” function.

Step 3. In the list of partitions, select the USB drive you want to restore. Then, to search for lost/deleted files, click the "Full Scan" button in the lower right corner.

Step 4. Wait for the scanning process to complete and select the files needed for recovery.

Step 5. Confirm the request, and then click the "Save" button. This will transfer your important data to another drive.

If you are careful enough, you will find that general information about the found files is displayed in the lower left part of the program interface. In addition, the size and number of data selected for recovery are also shown here. Thus, the resulting picture will allow us to judge:

• the number of files that the utility can resuscitate;
• whether their size will exceed the 1 GB limit.

If the files are larger, you will have to export the scan result manually. Unfortunately, for this you need to purchase full version programs.

Error messages indicating a damaged USB drive

When trying to access a broken flash drive, the following error messages may appear:

As an advanced computer user, you should be familiar with the built-in controls Windows disks and CMD (command.exe). Regardless of who you choose to rely on when you get into sticky situations, the following techniques will be of great help. Learn how to properly recover a USB drive using command line and disk management tool.

Warning! Please do not use these 2 methods if you are not quite sure what to do when you have not yet finished the process of recovering files from a flash drive. All subsequent operations are performed on Windows 10 64-bit.

Method 1: Check and fix your file system using the command line

Step 1. Connect the broken USB drive to your computer, then run “cmd.exe” using the following methods:

Step 2. How to perform a restore :

Method 2: Recover using Disk Control Panel

Step 1. Preparation . Open Windows Explorer and locate the USB drive, if it is not there then open Disk Management.

Step 2. How to perform a restore :

How to fix a flash drive that the system can't read

After you have tried all the above data recovery methods or troubleshooting methods on your USB drive, it may still fail. The flash drive can also be physically damaged. We provide you with recommendations for troubleshooting these types of problems. As a result, you will save on expensive repair services.

Step 1. Prepare the tools necessary to repair a broken connector:

Step 2. Open the case of the broken device using a flathead screwdriver.

Step 3. Use a magnifying glass to examine the PCB and solder pads.

Important! If during the inspection you find that the circuit board is damaged or the solder pads have been removed, then seek professional help. Otherwise, continue.

Step 4. Cut the thick end of the cable where it connects to the device.

Step 5. Take a cutter and strip approximately 0.6 cm (0.25 in) of all four wires.

Step 6. Carefully solder them onto the four pads.

Step 7 Connect the other end of the USB cable to your computer and check the situation.

If this difficult method worked, then congratulations! In any case, it is better to seek help from specialists.

Read useful information With practical advice in a new article -

Video - How to recover a flash drive

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