JMB Posted October 13, 2011 Posted October 13, 2011 Hi guys, we have a USB stick here with about 6 years worth of work on it. When I insert it into my PC, it asks me to format it. It shows as a drive, albeit supposedly empty, but I can't access it. I've tried GetDataBack, but this just reports no file structure. I know there are companies who you can send sticks to and they can recover things cleverly, but is there any recommended software I could try, or any approaches you fellows could recommend? I wondered - if I allow Windows to format it, could I then try recovering deleted items off it? I don't want to make matters worse though! Any advice very gratefully received! Thanks!
januttall Posted October 13, 2011 Posted October 13, 2011 down load helix and put it in a windows machine after boot and theres a utilaty on there for recovering files. hope this helps.
gl3nnym Posted October 13, 2011 Posted October 13, 2011 Can you not refuse to format then right click and Explore the drive? If not try a program called Recuva and Pandora Recovery. They are my go to tools and always work for me.
Chris_ Posted October 13, 2011 Posted October 13, 2011 Somebody came to me with a similar problem, I advised they install Recuva - Undelete, Unerase, File and Disk Recovery - Free Download , format the disk and then recover the files from the formatted disk. They got most/all of the files back
JMB Posted October 13, 2011 Author Posted October 13, 2011 Thanks guys - have tried Recuva, but that just tells me there's no disk inserted into "M" (the USB stick's driver letter of choice!). I'll give Pandora a go...
JMB Posted October 13, 2011 Author Posted October 13, 2011 #updata# Have tried Pandora - same problem. I think I'm going to have to bite the bullet and let Windows format the card.
jamesreedersmith Posted October 13, 2011 Posted October 13, 2011 Use a quick format - this only deletes the partition table and recovery will be a lot better.
LosOjos Posted October 13, 2011 Posted October 13, 2011 Before you do, try TestDisk - TestDisk - CGSecurity I used it very recently to restore the data on a CF card that had become corrupted, could work for you too (you can actually restore partitions so it shows up again in Windows Explorer)
JJonas Posted October 13, 2011 Posted October 13, 2011 Try Testdisk that has worked for me when Recuva has failed. http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/Main_Page
JMB Posted October 13, 2011 Author Posted October 13, 2011 Thanks for the Helix tip...is there a way to get it without having to subscribe and pay? I'm not trying to cadge a dodgy copy, but obviously I don't want to fork out $250 on something that might not work.
JMB Posted October 13, 2011 Author Posted October 13, 2011 Testdisk can find no partitions, and therefore won't recover anything. Nightmare.
LosOjos Posted October 13, 2011 Posted October 13, 2011 Testdisk can find no partitions, and therefore won't recover anything. Nightmare. That was incredibly quick, are you sure you performed a full/deep scan?
JMB Posted October 13, 2011 Author Posted October 13, 2011 It takes about 15 seconds for the quick search and the deep one. It scans 977 cylinders.
HaleStorm Posted October 13, 2011 Posted October 13, 2011 Do a quick format and then run Recuva/Pandora/GetDataBack FAT as it only erased the tables the data is still fairly easy to recover
siuko Posted October 13, 2011 Posted October 13, 2011 I have used PhotoRec - CGSecurity And it found lots of data on a usb stick that said it needed to be formatted too... EDIT: Oops just noticed someone already linked to cgsecurity... sorry
JMB Posted October 13, 2011 Author Posted October 13, 2011 I think I'll have to go for the quick format - PhotoRec also found nada.
JMB Posted October 13, 2011 Author Posted October 13, 2011 To my ongoing horror, formatted and still none of the programmes above will find anything :-(
HaleStorm Posted October 13, 2011 Posted October 13, 2011 Sounds like a full hardware failure...has it been kept next to a mobile/ipad/something liek that? i had a pen drive i kept in pocket with my phone, and the pendrive died first time the phone rang
theriver Posted October 13, 2011 Posted October 13, 2011 I'd noted that this app: PC Inspector - kostenlose Software fr die Datenrettung von CONVAR - Die Datenretter. (click on File Recovery 4.x) had been recommended on Edugeek for USB recovery. It's worked for me on the one time I've tried it, never compared it with anything else though.....
JMB Posted October 13, 2011 Author Posted October 13, 2011 Thanks for the suggestions everyone - alas, nothing. So, I'm waiting for some quotes for how much it will cost to send off and *God willing* be recovered forensically. Nightmare! See, there's a reason I wish the teaching staff didn't use USB sticks. :-(
HaleStorm Posted October 13, 2011 Posted October 13, 2011 Tell them its gone forever and it serves them right for not having backups 1
JMB Posted October 13, 2011 Author Posted October 13, 2011 Well, I just discovered that *I* had taken a backup of the memory stick back in June, as a precaution. I'm a bit anal like that. So she will have lost some stuff, but hopefully the backup will mean she can get back on her feet fairly quickly. As always, thanks for the tips guys and girls!
jones95 Posted October 14, 2011 Posted October 14, 2011 Hi, Try for some good memory card recovery software...
jonny753 Posted October 19, 2011 Posted October 19, 2011 Hi, I can suggest you to use good recovery software.
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