Flash drive recovery programs. Flash drive recovery: detailed and visual instructions How to eliminate bad blocks on a flash drive

Cure for Flash Drive! (soft repair BAD blocks)

Good day!
The reason for writing this article was my two Kingston flash drives.
One of them was not used for quite a long time and when I decided to use it, it turned out that it was impossible to write data to it! Using the HD Tune 3.5 utility, it was found that a decent portion of the surface was marked as unreadable! Attempts at formatting using Windows did not lead to anything, due to the fact that when formatting a flash drive, only service information is created. Low-level formatting was required, a utility for this was found without problems using Google. The format was produced and it started working.
A few days ago, when trying to copy sources from a second flash drive, a message was given that it was impossible to copy such and such files. Moreover, it was possible to delete these files! My first thought is that BAD blocks have appeared.
Checking the flash drive using HD Tune 3.5 did not reveal any BADs!

The reason for the unreadability of the files remained unidentified for several days, until I came across the HDD Scan 3.2 utility.

A surface test carried out with its help immediately revealed the presence of BADs, which actually explained the unreadability of the files! In addition, the reason for the dips in the speed of writing and reading files immediately became clear: these are sectors with an access time of more than 150 ms.

To eliminate them, we used a previously found low-level utility HDD formatting Low Level Format Tool.

After formatting was completed, a surface test was carried out using the same HDD Scan 3.2.

BAD blocks were eliminated, and we also managed to get rid of slow sectors, which eliminated dips in writing and reading speeds.

Conclusion.
Using the HD Tune utility to test the surface is not recommended; it produces incorrect results, so it is better to use other utilities, such as HDD Scan or similar.
To treat BAD blocks, you need to use low-level formatting utilities. In addition to eliminating defective sectors, it allows you to eliminate clusters with long access times, which ultimately eliminates dips in read and write speeds.
Using a similar method, you can return seemingly non-working flash drives to work, but it is worth remembering that you should no longer trust such media, the wear and tear process that has begun cannot be stopped and over time the number of bad sectors will grow and eventually the time will come when the media can no longer be used ! The time for complete failure depends on the intensity of use of the flash drive!
This technique and set of software can be used not only for flash drives but also for hard drives, both portable connected via USB and stationary with IDE and SATA interfaces.

Best regards – StrateG-1.

We express our opinion

Micro SD memory cards are quite popular due to their portability: you can use it in your phone, and if you insert it into an adapter, you can easily put it in your computer, digital camera and any other devices. Such memory cards are inexpensive, but they often break down. Micro SD suddenly stops responding and shows no data. In this case, do not rush to throw away the flash drive and buy another one, as you can restore it using basic Windows tools or third party programs. Bring your Micro SD flash drive back to life with the help of this article.

How to recover a Micro SD flash drive without third-party programs

Most the right way and the first thing you should do right away is to format the flash drive in Windows using an external USB adapter. The thing is that built-in adapters for Micro SD do not always cope with their task; it is best to buy a USB adapter for memory cards and use it or ask friends for a while.

Insert the USB flash drive into the adapter and then connect it to the computer. Wait until the device is detected by the system. It's okay if the type of flash drive is displayed incorrectly, because it is broken.

Right-click on it and select “Format”.

Select formatting options:

The file system must be Fat32.
The cluster size is 32 KB.
Check the box next to “Quick Format”.

Click “Ok” and wait until the procedure is completed. Remove the device when finished and insert again.
Of course, after formatting, all files from the flash drive will be deleted, but, nevertheless, its performance may return to normal.

How to recover a Micro SD flash drive using the program

This option is suitable not only for restoring the functionality of a flash drive, but also for recovering files from it. Try this procedure after formatting to recover all photos and files.

Download the Card Recovery program on the official website at https://www.cardrecovery.com. There are several options for one program available here to recover different files and memory cards.

Please note that the program is distributed only in a trial version. You will have to pay for the full one.
Installation is quite simple and straightforward: agree with license agreement and select the program installation directory.

Immediately open the program via Start or a desktop shortcut. First of all, insert your memory card into your computer.

Click “Next” and you will see the next step. Here you need to select the drive letter on which the flash drive is currently located. Expand the first list and select it.

Once you set the device letter, in the bottom line set the path to save the recovered files. It is in this folder that all photographs and other documents will appear.

Click “Next” again to begin. If the program itself was unable to indicate the amount of memory on the device, write it down manually.

Confirm the restoration and click “Yes”.

Wait while the scan completes. During the process, all lost files will be found, as well as problems with the flash drive. As soon as the line is completely filled with green, the scanning was successful. In the lower window you will see everything that was recovered.

The program will tell you how many files were found.

Click “Next” to view them.

Check the boxes next to those that need to be restored. Click “Next” again. The recovery will take several minutes, depending on the capabilities of your computer.
Now you can again use the Micro SD flash drive and files recovered from it.

No computer owner can imagine life without removable storage media. There is a lot of information, why overload your computer with all sorts of data if you can save everything on a flash drive? All the more unpleasant is the moment when very necessary information suddenly appears on the media.

Bad sectors are sectors of the storage medium that, due to damage or system failures, the computer cannot read.

There are two types of bad sectors:

logical. Data replay error occurs as a result of system failures. Such incidents can be corrected and after correction the computer will read everything;
physical. The readable area of the card is so damaged that it is impossible to read information from it.

It is important to understand what led or could lead to such an incident.

Where do they come from?

The reasons that the computer does not like certain areas on the flash card lie in:

system failures;
viral infection;
physical damage (crack, scratches);
incorrect completion of work with the media (roughly pulling it out of the port as soon as the card is no longer needed);
the initial presence of defects on the machine heads.

All these incidents lead to the fact that operating system instead of the sector contents, it receives an adjustment error code. From this moment on, the volume is closed to her; she ceases to perceive it as a potential repository of information.

Is it always possible to restore them?

Logical broken areas can be corrected. If the failure is caused by physical wear and tear or serious damage to the media, then even repairing the flash card is often useless.

In any case, you should still try to restore the bad sector. For this there are internal and external applications of the system, for example:

conductor;
Check Disk;
Hetman Partition Recovery;
Jet Flash Recovery Tool;
Storage Format Tool;
PartitionGuru.

All external utilities can be downloaded from the Internet for free. They are easy to use, which is facilitated by the Russian interface. Hetman Partition Recovery is the most popular - according to user reviews, this utility revives data on an almost completely “dead” drive. Each program is accompanied by instructions. After launching, the utility scans and evaluates the condition of the media, then eliminates damage - of course, only those that are possible.

After this, all that remains is to restart the computer. The drive operates in satisfactory mode.

Remedies

Windows Explorer

Usually, the system, having noticed a “guest”, offers to check and restore it. This also happens in Windows (starting with Windows 7). Just insert removable media to the port, then a notification will appear that the operating system has noticed the device and for some reason does not like it.

However, the PC does not always offer such a service right away. For many reasons (outdated version, data overload), it may not respond immediately. In this case you can:

If after this the work of the removable media becomes satisfactory, you can simply return to it. As a last resort, you should restart the computer. However, this service is only good for minor damage.

Check Disk

The built-in Check Disk application will detect damage on the flash card and, if possible, fix it. Of course, not everything either, but in many cases it turns out to be a good help.

It's also very easy to use:

On a note!“E:” - indicates the identifier of the flash drive; you can insert another identifier instead of it.

Next, the system itself will assess the condition of the removable drive and revive the damaged areas. True, only logical ones. And that's not all. After completion of the work, the system will provide a report on what broken areas were detected and whether they were able to be revived.

After rebooting the machine, the removable media should start working in the same mode as before the damage. In other cases, it is better to use other utilities, such as Hetman Partition or Partition Guru.

Hetman Partition Recovery

Hetman Partition Recovery utility can find and repair damaged or deleted files regardless of the method. For this:

Go to the official website of the utility developers, select the file download option and click “Download file”.
The Google Chrome browser will prompt you to select a folder to download the file on your computer, we recommend selecting the “Downloads” or “Desktop” folder, click “Save”. Sometimes the file is downloaded automatically.
Run installation file programs from the "Downloads" folder or from the bottom bar of the browser for downloads by double-left clicking the mouse.
The usual “Setup Wizard” will open, read the information and click “Next”.
Click the “I Accept” button and read the terms of the license agreement if you wish.
Click Next.
Check the required boxes and click “Install”. Wait for the installation process to complete and the program to start automatically.
After starting the program, the “File Recovery Wizard” window will appear, read the text, click “Next”.
Select with the left mouse click. The utility will provide two scanning options, we recommend choosing “ Full analysis", marking the appropriate item, click "Next".
After completing the scanning process, click on the “Finish” button.
Drag the necessary files into the recovery field, click on the “Recover” option.
Check the box to save files and click Next.
Wait for the process to complete and go to the selected drive to view the recovered data.

The host is infected with a virus

Sometimes the reason lies in the fact that the removable disk was damaged by “saboteurs” who arrived from the Internet. Such a threat lurks, for example, on photo hosting sites.

An inexperienced user can also cope with this. Free antivirus cleaners will come to the rescue, for example:

Dr. Web Cureit;
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware.

It’s easier to use Doctor Web, which can also be downloaded from the Internet. This service is good because the virus database is constantly updated and the defender program keeps up with viruses in its development faster than many other analogues.

If the reason for the appearance of broken areas was related to viruses, this will become clear from the report.

Thus it turns out that bad sectors on a removable drive is not a fatal problem; in most cases it is possible to fix it. In some cases, you will have to contact a service center to restore the flash card.

Video - How to check a flash drive for errors and fix them?

Do you have an inoperative USB flash drive or other storage device and are you wondering what program to choose for recovery?

We reviewed the most popular utilities. Which of the above programs is suitable for you and will restore a flash drive with a 100% guarantee?

A one-of-a-kind program will help you extract all the data. Hetman Partition Recovery. It is loved by both beginners and professionals for its convenience, speed and advanced information recovery algorithm. Your files will be found and copied even when the media’s FS is no longer accessible or is damaged.

JetFlash Recovery Tool - then proprietary utility, which has the maximum simple interface and support for working with Transcend, JetFlash and A-DATA drives. Controlled by just two buttons, you will definitely like it. Do not forget that cleared data cannot be restored, so pre-saving information from a flash drive will not be superfluous.

If you have a need to constantly have a universal program with you, which is convenient to use both on home computer, and beyond, we recommend D-Soft Flash Doctor, its platform does not require pre-installation, it launches instantly on any PC. The software is suitable for repairing, unlocking,
restoring the volume of the flash drive and its performance.

If you need to recover SD cards, we recommend downloading F-Recovery SD, which has an effective set of simple options for working with damaged flash drives from digital cameras and other portable devices. From the point of view of a professional approach to Flash drives, it will be interesting to use the Flash Memory Toolkit; the application contains a whole range of additional functionality that can test flash drives; in addition, the program works with any version of the Microsoft OS.

Recognize maximum quantity various types Flash Drive flash drives, among the above utilities, and the format and recovery utility can also quickly restore the performance of drives USB Disk Storage Format Tool, which has a very clear and user-friendly interface. Repair program USB flash drives Disk Storage can quickly recover data from damaged partitions hard drive even if problems with the flash drive firmware are detected.

If no flash drive recovery program has helped, we recommend checking the status of the memory controller using the ChipGenius utility. The program works with USB, micro SD, SD, SDHC and USB-MP players from Kingston, Silicon Power, Transcend, Adata, PQI. Further actions to correct errors and restore lost data are only appropriate if
The flash drive is detected in Chip Genius.

Flash drive recovery is possible in almost all cases. The recovery methods listed below are intended to eliminate software failures; if the flash drive is sunk, broken, or melted, then software data recovery methods will not help. Therefore, at the very beginning it is necessary to determine the type of failure. To do this, insert the drive into the USB connector and look at the indicator or at the list of connected devices in the “My Computer” section:

If the device appears, but the files are not visible or inaccessible, then there is a malfunction that is often resolved using special programs and you can proceed to selection;
The light has gone out and will not start (or the device not displayed) — there is a physical breakdown;
Flash drive appears as a 0 MB disk. Not the most popular type of malfunction, but if this is what you have, then feel free to skip the main part - a quick solution to this problem is described at the end of the article.

Selection of a special program

There are a number free programs, through which you can bring the flash drive back to life. To select the right program, you must first determine the VIP and PID.

Determining VID and PID

VID and PID are identifiers that determine the type of controller installed in the flash drive. Using these identifiers, software for working with the device is selected. Programs are developed under different types controllers.

To determine VID and PID you need to:

Program selection

You should use the obtained information about controller identifiers to find the best compatible program. For this:

The service will automatically find compatible software for working with the flash drive. You need to select an entry with the same manufacturer as your flash drive and click on the link. If the link does not work, you can enter the name of the program in search bar browser and download through the developer’s website.

In some cases, searching by VID and PID does not bring results. The site does not display a compatible controller software. Then you need to select a program to work with the flash drive manually. Some of them are universal, suitable for restoring most cards. Such programs will be discussed below.

Recovery using built-in Windows utilities

CHKDSK utility

The utility is suitable for the simplest cases when file system data fails without disrupting the cluster layout. When trying to display existing files when there are bad sectors, the computer will often simply hang, so there is no need to try to open the device. Instead, let's use the command line by doing the following:

Look at what letter the system identifies the drive under (in our case, G).
Run command line. To do this, press the Win and R keys or use the “Start” button to open the “Run” window, write the line cmd in the input field, and click Ok.
In the command prompt window, enter G: /f (under the letter G, in our case, the system identifies the flash drive).

This will launch the CHKDSK program to check for file system errors, the /f key will give it the command to automatically correct the problems found. Upon completion of the utility, you will most likely successfully restore the flash drive without losing data.

Windows DiskPart utility

The Diskpart utility is launched via the command line. You can launch the command line by searching in the Start menu. To restore the flash drive you will need the following commands:

To work with the utility, you will need administrator rights on your computer. It should also be run as an administrator. Otherwise, some commands may not work.

Other recovery programs

Fortunately for owners, restoring data and performance of flash drives is much easier than for hard drives or microSD drives. Below are several effective programs that will make a “dead” flash drive work.

SDformatter

What it can do:

Format devices if the system fails;
Restoring functionality due to software, virus damage or improper cleaning in the past;
Flexible settings for working with a flash drive.

Suitable for Windows and MacOS. Disadvantage: there is only an English interface. Not compatible with all types of removable storage devices.

PC Inspector Smart Recovery

The program is suitable for working with any storage media, including HDD and removable cards. PC Inspector Smart Recovery is distributed free of charge, you can download it. There is a Russian interface.

PC Inspector Smart Recovery can recover files of most existing extensions, including rare ones. The program itself has a convenient hint system, which is aimed at helping users during recovery. The software even recovers data for which header lines have been deleted. The program can clean and format data on storage media different ways. The user is offered flexible parameter settings and extensive functionality.

RecoverRx

The program was developed by the removable storage manufacturer Transcend. It is free, there is a Russian language. You can download it. Designed specifically for working with removable devices, including players, phones, microcards, SD and flash drives.

RecoverRx can:

Recovers data. Helps to return deleted files of most formats: text, audio, video, applications.
Formats. Safely clears the disk of all data without affecting its performance.
Protects. With RecoveRx you can set a password for the device memory. Deleting data will only work if you enter this combination. The function is only compatible with Windows OS.

The program is simple and easy to use. The main window offers a list of all connected devices. The user needs to select a flash drive and the function he wants to use.

The system detects a USB drive as a disk size of 0 bytes

If the system detects a flash drive with a size of 0 bytes, the file system fails with a violation of the cluster layout. If you want to restore data, then it is better to use the instructions above, but if you need to return the flash drive to working capacity, then it is much simpler and quick way without use additional programs- formatting.

For this:

Why do crashes occur?

Problems with flash cards arise for various reasons:

Wrong selected file system when formatting;
The flash drive was cleaned incorrectly, the operation was interrupted before formatting was completed;
The device was repeatedly forcibly disconnected from the computer while it was working, without software removal;
The device memory is infected with a virus;
The memory has been overwritten many times without formatting, and the sectors are damaged.

Serious memory problems with flash drives are rare. Common problems include incorrect formatting and virus infections. If you overwrite information in the card's memory, it is recommended to format it.

Careless, careless handling can lead to damage to even the most durable device. Cards do not have moving elements, as in HDD drives, but they are also prone to malfunctions. You can avoid many problems with flash drives if you store them in dark, dry places, carefully remove them from the computer, and continue formatting and processing files so as not to cause a critical error.

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