Please Help Data Loss from USB Memory Stick

DowntonMini

DowntonMini

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Mark Gameson
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Hi Guys

I have bben enditing a load of photos taken out at a chairty Mini run and savinf them to a USB stick as I have been using 2 computers to do the editing I've just tried to save one of the files and got a message saying drive avalible now the USB is not being reconised by the computers. I fear I have lost all my work which I hope is wrong. I have all of the original files on the computer so could start again but I really don't want to have too.

Any advise greatly appricated....
 
Try closing down your computer, re-booting and re-trying, sometimes if you pull the stick out too quickly it can cause recognition issues ... may resolve it.
 
gramps said:
Try closing down your computer, re-booting and re-trying, sometimes if you pull the stick out too quickly it can cause recognition issues ... may resolve it.
Click to expand...

If this does not work try reculva to try and get the data back.
 
It's hard to run any recovery software if the Flashdrive isn't recognised. :shrug:

I don't want to put a dampener on things, and if anyone can think of a solution, then great, but I've recently had a similar problem with a Sandisk 32GB Flashdrive. Put the Flashdrive into the PC it says that it needs formatting. :thinking: I tried this in two computers with the same result. :( I then pressed the option to format, having given up on the data, and then the computer said it couldn't do it. :(

I went to the Sandisk support pages to see if there was a common problem, with hopefully a solution. No luck. I got in touch with Sandisk seeing as I was on the site and spoke to someone who talked me through checking whether it was still working, and came to the conclusion that it was broken. They said I should get in touch with the people I bought it off, or send it to the Czech Republic. :eek:

I went to MyMemory, who I bought the Flashdrive off, and via a webchat, was given a Freepost label to send it back to them to test, and hopefully replace. A lot cheaper that sending something to the Czech Republic. ;)

I have of course lost some data, but I can't think of anything that was important as I backed up a week or two before if died. I have ordered a new 32GB Flashdrive, and will hopefully get a replacement for the broken one, and will keep with both with the same info, and back up more often.
 
How old is the flash drive?
How much writing to and from it have you done? My wife had a flash drive die on her. They have sadly got a certain life span and then they die.

Does it recognise a usb device has been inserted but just can't read it?

What computer operating system do you use? If you have windows, go to a newsagents and get a magazine called linux format, there should be a disc on the front and you can boot up a different operating system running purely from the cd / dvd and see if that operating system recognises the flash drive.

Just an idea and is what I'd do. But I work in IT and so am comfortable with that.
 
Thanks for the replies I've tried restarting etc still nothing. Running windows 7. The drive is about 14 months old been used about 25 times it's a pny 64gb
 
Also always remember to eject the USB stick safely, don't just pull it out of the PC. I'm an IT manager, and I've seen it happen far too often, then users wonder how their stick got corrupted.
 
Thanks I always do eject it the USB is currently with our IT support poeple but I have started to edit the photos again as I know it is enivitable that I've lost them.

Currently looking at buying a external harddirve to sort my photos on as well as the laptop harddrive
 
Had a similar problem with a memory card. Not recognised by camera or computer.
Contacted a company called DataWreck in Stoke on Trent. They managed to recover all 270 RAW files.

The problem seemed to be in my case the card had for some reason become a virtual drive with all the referenced files being in totally the wrong place.

Give DataWreck a call they operate a fixed price service and a no fix no fee charging system. My card cost me £95 to recover, and took them a couple of days. Cheaper than a re shoot ( Outdoor camping accessories fortunately.)
 
pauljs said:
Also always remember to eject the USB stick safely, don't just pull it out of the PC. I'm an IT manager, and I've seen it happen far too often, then users wonder how their stick got corrupted.
Click to expand...

Not needed under windows 7 or 8. The eject was purely to do with the write-ahead cache which is enabled by default on those versions.
 
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