USB file recovery help :S

crowther15

I think this is the right board to be messaging in...

Im looking for any help at all with a USB I have. Iv had it since I started college and havent used it in good while but over the years have stored some valuable stuff I made in college (Media student).

I went to back-up these files on my laptop recently but I keep being asked to reformat the USB first which I know basically means wipe the whole thing and lose all my files

Im hoping someone can help me on here as I really dont want to lose what I have on this USB. Iv tried the program Recuva but to no avail and was hoping someone on here can help me in any software I could try using or is it a lost cause?

Also the USB is a San Disk Cruzer M3 if I remember correctly... Any information would be highly appreciated.

FSL

You say you were a media student, it isn't formatted using a Mac format is it?

The Cruzer used to come with software which had to be installed and you had to enter a username and password to access it. I can't remember what it was called I had it on one but I uninstalled it and reformatted it as I wanted to make use of it as a bootable USB.

crowther15

FSL wrote: »

You say you were a media student, it isn't formatted using a Mac format is it?

The Cruzer used to come with software which had to be installed and you had to enter a username and password to access it. I can't remember what it was called I had it on one but I uninstalled it and reformatted it as I wanted to make use of it as a bootable USB.

No its never even been used on a Mac ever...

Yea it did come with a CD but it was never installed and its long gone by now ha It never stopped it working before though :S

FSL

Have you tried it in different USB ports and on other machines. USB sticks can sometimes be temperamental.

If you do manage to read it copy everything straight away.

CrinkElite

This post might be of interest to you.


http://windowssecrets.com/forums/showthread.php/136371-Corrupted-USB-flash-drive-best-way-to-recover

Happyman42

You could try something like Knoppix to see and remove the data. Saved my bacon a few times. There is a little fix to get it to display in English at boot up just type... knoppix lang=us
http://www.google.ie/#hl=en&sugexp=les%3B&gs_rn=1&gs_ri=hp&cp=11&gs_id=3d&xhr=t&q=Knoppix+in+English&es_nrs=true&pf=p&tbo=d&sclient=psy-ab&oq=Knoppix+in+&gs_l=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&bvm=bv.41642243,d.ZG4&fp=5d6406786c45cbbc&biw=1280&bih=617

crowther15

Every time I try to click into it, I get the error message:

"The volume does not contain a recognized file system
Pleas make sure that all required file system drivers are loaded and that the volume is not corrupted"

Anyone any ideas?

CrinkElite

Have you tried chkdsk.exe?

crowther15

CrinkElite wrote: »

Have you tried chkdsk.exe?

Yea I have it still saying it needs to be formatted when I try to :S

CrinkElite

Have you looked in "Disk Management" (Win7)
I suspect it just says RAW.


the link I posted above concerns a person with the same problem as yourself.

He seems to have sorted it with software he found at

http://www.squidoo.com/usb-drive-raw-recovery

I think it's a one day trial so if you install it tonight you better try it straight away.

I can't vouch for the software but it's a lead in any case.
(use at your own risk)

As Happyman suggested you could try burning a live linux distro just to see what Linux makes of what it can see.

yoyo

You could try a combination of Testdisk to rebuild the partitions if possible or PhotoRec to recover all the files if possible. Both these tools are free and very effective. Generally this error starts happening if the USB Key is taken out without following the "Safely Remove Hardware" procedure and ejecting the drive. It could also be the flash memory has failed

Nick

hearny

Another option would be using paid software:
http://www.easeus.com/datarecoverywizardpro/
Its excellent software and never lets me down when partitions show up as RAW.

If you like you can post the key to me and I will run a scan on it with the above software.

PM me if you want.