Is your flash drive behaving strangely or refuses to start at all? Is there really a way out of the problem - just replace the device with a new working one? No, you can turn to special programs for recovering USB flash drives, since their choice is wide today. Really pick up both a free and a Russian-language application. However, we immediately warn that the flash drive will be "restored to life" in this way, but it is not always possible to save the data stored on it. We present to the reader the most useful and proven applications.
Symptoms of a Problem
Let's start with the most important - imagine cases where the use of a program to restore USB-flash drives is necessary. This is the following:
- The flash drive is recognized by the computer as an unidentified device.
- You see a warning that the flash drive is copy protected.
- The drive is not detected by any of the computers to which you connected it.
- You go to "My Computer" (on "Windows") and do not see your flash drive in the list of drives.
- It is not possible to read information from the device. As well as write new data to it.
- When trying to restore, format the drive through the Windows context menu, a negative result is output.
Check your device!
But it is not always the use of USB flash drive recovery programs that will help. The device may not work for the reason that the necessary drivers for it are not installed on the computer. Or when you plugged it into a non-working USB port. Therefore, if possible, look at how a USB flash drive behaves with another computer.
Hetman partition recovery
We immediately proceed to repair flash drives - restore and repair USB-flash using specialized software.
If the information on the damaged drive is valuable to you, we recommend starting with Hetman Partition Recovery. The program can restore all stored documents even if the file system or boot record "flew" from the drive. Or when exposed to a virus that encrypts information on the medium.
Another amazing opportunity: in 95% it is possible to save data from a flash drive already formatted by carelessness! Scan from Hetman Partition Recovery for free. The application at its end shows the files that can be restored.
We list the main features of this program for recovering data from a USB stick:
- Work not only with USB-devices, but also with hard drives, SD-cards, internal memory of smartphones and tablets.
- Support for file systems such as FAT, NTFS, as well as unallocated RAW zones.
- Recognition of files of all known formats.
- Search for documents based on scan results.
- The ability to both batch and selective recovery.
- Record results on hard, optical disks, other media.
JetFlash Recovery Tool
This program is great for recovering a USB 2.0 flash drive - Transcend, JetFlash, and A-DATA. Quickly and efficiently restores device performance.
An important plus: a simple and intuitive interface. The user only needs to connect the drive to the port, open the program and start its work with the "Start" button.
An important point: if you have the opportunity to make a backup copy of the information that is stored on a USB flash drive, be sure to do it! After all, restoring the device’s health using the JetFlash Recovery Tool involves deleting data.
We list the key features of the program:
- Works with both modern and obsolete versions of the Windows OS.
- If the device is too new for the program, then an online resuscitator called JetFlash Online Recovery is activated to interact with it.
- Effectively and quickly brings to a stable working state flash drives of the most common manufacturers.
- High speed, simple actions - just insert the drive into the port and run the utility.
- Both a child and an elderly person will cope with the program, because its dialog box has only two buttons - “Start” and “Close”.
- There are no strict requirements for computer specifications.
D-Soft Flash Doctor
Need to repair a Generic USB Flash Disk? We offer another very effective utility - this is D-Soft Flash Doctor. An important feature - the program is distributed absolutely free. It helps not only to "cure" a damaged drive, but also to carry out full formatting of a non-working device.
We list the main features of this program:
- Fast and efficient flash drive recovery.
- Formatting a wide variety of storage media.
- Has a Russian-language interface.
- The program does not require unpacking and installation on your computer. Also in this case, you do not need to download drivers, install add-ons.
- The application works with all versions of Windows.
- An important plus: in the process of formatting the drive does not decrease its capacity.
F-recovery
The day has come when it became necessary for you to restore the Kingston USB stick. We recommend using another good application - F-Recovery SD. Its invaluable benefit is that it helps not only flash drives, but also SD cards used on smartphones, cameras and tablets. If you have such a program on your computer, then you can, in general, practically not worry about the performance of an external drive. According to user reviews, the utility quickly copes with most common problems.
We list its features:
- Excellent performance on the recovery speed of information storage devices.
- You can recover both damaged and lost user data on flash drives.
- Important aspect: recovers accidentally deleted by the user graphic documents, photos and videos. Agree, we often erase the data we need in this way.
- Several varieties of the utility are available - for USB flash drives, SD-, MMC, and so on.
Storage format tool
We continue the conversation about restoring 10 USB-sticks. This program is great for resuscitating files on damaged drives. It works with all common types of external storage media, local hard drives.
It is important to note that before recovering information, the utility analyzes the drive for errors. After that, it is able to correct, eliminate malfunctions in certain sectors.
And now let's go through the key features of the program:
- Allows you to restore a wide range of varieties of USB-flash drives, hard drives.
- The program explores the structure of the flash drive, has a quick scan function of the system.
- It analyzes the state of the drive.
- It keeps a detailed history of recovering damaged or lost files.
- According to users, the recovery of the flash drive takes a minimum of time.
- Full cleaning of the device from the recorded information.
- Carrying out low-level formatting of the data carrier.
- Simple and intuitive program interface.
- It is possible to start scanning a flash drive for problems.
- Recover damaged partitions of a device.
Flash memory toolkit
If you need a program for a process such as recovering a Generic USB stick, we recommend that you pay attention to the Flash Memory Toolkit. This utility, by the way, is recognized as a professional tool for testing flash drives. Its functionality also contains many options aimed at optimizing the operation of the device.
Let's also look at the main features of the application:
- The program is distributed free of charge on the Internet.
- You can back up information on a flash drive.
- Module for full data cleaning from media.
- Means for restoring information, stabilizing the operation of the device, determining parameters such as VID, PID (we will disclose their significance later).
- Diagnosis of defects. Scan the device for malfunctions and errors.
- The program is capable of measuring performance indicators when writing or reading information on a medium.
- Helps to recover accidentally deleted files.
- It is supported by all versions of the Windows operating system, starting in 2000.
Recovery programs from manufacturers
On the official websites of well-known manufacturers of flash drives, you can find useful programs that help restore their devices. Here are some examples:
- Silicon Power. In the support section you can find the free SP Recovery Tool Utility.
- Adata. On the official website of the company in the public domain there is a program for recovering flash drives.
- Kingston The manufacturer does not offer a specific program, but users themselves recommend the utility MediaRECOVER 4.0 Digital Image Recovery. It helps to restore not only damaged, formatted graphic data, but also office documents.
If all else fails ...
Was the USB flash drive recovery program powerless? We offer you another way to save an external drive:
- Download and install a utility called Chip Genius on your computer.
- Launch the app. It should show you detailed information about the inactive flash drive. We need the following items: PID, VID, the name of the chipset located inside the drive.
- Go to the iFlash website. In the appropriate window, enter the two numbers received.
- A list will appear on the screen - find the model of your flash drive in it.
- Now refer to the Chip Model column (the controllers must also match). There should be a program name that will help restore your device.
- You can also download the utility on the Internet. Despite the variety presented, the principle of operation of such applications is quite similar: the emphasis is on restoration of operability, less attention is paid to data storage.
If your computer has stopped recognizing a USB flash drive, it is impossible to copy data or write information to it from the device, and formatting does not help in any way, this does not mean you need to say goodbye to the media. Its performance can be restored using the useful utilities that we presented to you. In addition, a number of such programs can save data on a seemingly inoperable flash drive - photos, videos, office documents.