Instructions for recovering flash drives. Scanning and repairing bad sectors on a removable drive How to fix bad sectors on a flash drive

How to restore an SD card or USB flash drive if the computer does not see them, does not read or write data? Problems with flash drives are rarely caused by normal wear and tear. More often, the causes of problems with them are ignoring the rules of safe removal of the device by users, experimenting with various software in which these flash drives are involved, as well as their initially lousy quality. Below we will consider a list of possible actions carried out in the Windows environment that can solve the problem, unless, of course, the cause lies in a mechanical breakdown. And we, friends, will go from simple to complex.

Recovery of SD cards and USB flash drives in Windows environment

• Note: below we will only talk about restoring the performance of flash drives, but not about saving the data stored on them. This is a separate topic, and on this account the site has, you can still use this program for. Most of the methods for recovering SD cards and flash drives suggested below will result in the loss of their data.

1. Hardware lock

SD cards, MicroSD adapters and flash drives can be hardware-protected from writing data or completely blocked even for reading. These devices have a lock switch, which must be set to the "Unlocked" position accordingly.

2. Problems not related to the drives themselves

The cause of problems with SD cards and flash drives can be a policy Windows Security. You need to find out if access to removable drives (in full or in part of writing data to them) is blocked by the computer administrator. You also need to check the card reader or ports Computer USB. If everything is in order with the latter, the card reader reads other SD cards, but there are still problems with the flash drive, no matter how you connect it to others USB ports, move on.

3. Windows Explorer

Standard formatting tools Windows Explorer can help in simple cases such as unsuccessful data writing to a USB flash drive. Or when for some reason a smartphone, tablet, camera or other device cannot handle this operation with respect to SD cards. In any of the current Windows versions in the explorer window on the drive, call the context menu, click "Format".

We leave the original file system and first try a quick format.

If it fails, we repeat the operation, but with full formatting (uncheck the quick one).

4. Windows Disk Management

You can try to format the format in disk management. To launch this tool, in the system search field, enter:

diskmgmt.msc

In the disk management window, focusing on the size of the drive, we are looking for it among the drives connected to the computer. And in context menu called on it, we start formatting.

You can immediately choose full formatting.

If your flash drive has a partition structure like a hard drive, you need to delete each of those partitions. This is done using the option in the context menu "Delete volume".

And then, in place of the resulting unallocated space, you need to create a single partition. To do this, in the context menu on this most unallocated space, run the operation “Create new volume” and follow the instructions of the step-by-step wizard.

5. Programs for low-level formatting

Regular formatting tools may not help in difficult cases, for example, when flash drives are displayed (in the same Explorer or Disk Management) as unrecognized devices with the RAW file system. The latter means either Windows environment does not understand the file system of the drive, or file system not as such in principle. Actually, this is what causes problems with a flash drive or SD card when it works on other devices, with other operating systems. In such cases, third-party Windows programs designed for the so-called low-level formatting will help restore the USB flash drive.

In fact, low-level formatting is a procedure that is carried out either in the production environment of flash device manufacturers, or in serious narrow-profile services. Various Windows software that claims this kind of operation actually performs the usual full format, but by mechanisms different from those that apply operating system. Such programs are good at dealing with flash drive problems if these problems occur at the file system level. Let's look at two of these programs.

HDD Low Level Format Tool

http://hddguru.com/software/HDD-LLF-Low-Level-Format-Tool/

Shareware portable HDD program Low Level Format Tool can format different type storage media such as SD cards and USB sticks. After unpacking the archive with the program, run it, agree to the license terms.

Choose free use.

Directly in the program window, specify the problematic drive and click "Continue".

We confirm the decision.

We are waiting for the operation to complete and check the operation of the media.

SDFormatter

http://flashboot.ru/files/file/355

The completely free little program SDFormatter is another tool for so-called low-level formatting. Works with both SD cards and USB sticks. We install SDFormatter into the system, launch it, in the "Drive" column we indicate the problematic flash drive. Click "Format".

The program wants to make sure the seriousness of our intentions, click "OK.

Asks not to touch the drive while the operation is being carried out.

Upon completion, we test a USB flash drive or SD card. If it doesn’t help, repeat the operation with the settings for a complete rewriting of sectors (nothing more than a full format). Press "Option", select "Full (OverWrite)". And also click on "Format" at the bottom.

If using the above methods it was not possible to reanimate the flash drive, and it is still under warranty, you need to stop at this stage. And take no further action, except to contact the seller with a request to replace the device. All the actions that are described below should be resorted to only when, in fact, there is nothing to lose. The instructions below apply to USB sticks, SD cards, and MicroSD cards. However, in the case of the latter, the probability of recovery is extremely small.

6. D-Soft Flash Doctor

D-Soft Flash Doctor performs the so-called low-level formatting, and along the way it also detects bad sectors (cells). Well, and, accordingly, knows how to block them and replace them with backup ones. The program can help when flash drives or SD cards have difficulty reading individual files that fell on the damaged sectors. The program is free and portable. I did not find the official site, but it can be freely downloaded on the Internet.

In the D-Soft Flash Doctor window, the first thing to do is run a scan for errors.

In my case, there were no damaged (broken) sectors.

But if in your case, friends, the scan results are different, and bad sectors are found, we start the recovery process.

The window for this operation promises that the process will not last longer than 10 minutes, but in fact, remapping bad sectors on a drive with a capacity of more than 4 GB can take quite a long time. So it is better to run the recovery operation at night.

7. Flashing the memory controller

Programs for the so-called low-level formatting or their analogues, in any other form declaring the function of resuscitation of all types of SD cards and / or USB flash drives, turn out to be powerless in the event of a software failure of the controller when it needs to be flashed. This problem may have different symptoms, but more often it is either the computer does not completely see the drive, or it sees, it can even read data, but cannot format it by any means. In particular, due to write protection, despite the fact that the drive is not blocked by hardware.

Step by step instructions for restoration USB flash drives in which I will try in plain language answer the question How to recover a flash drive independently and without much effort.

It happens that you help a person, and then he will tell everyone that you are so good and there are already crowds of people who are thirsty for help. Something like this happened when I restored several flash drives colleagues.

Now the people carry not only their flash drives, but also flash drives their friends, acquaintances and relatives. Well, at least someone else dragged a bottle of beer or a cookie - figurines.

It's not difficult for me to help, but when I suggest that you learn how to do all this yourself, you refuse. I'll just make those next time. If you don't want to learn, move on.

With the lyrics, I end here and go directly to the topic of the post ..

If your flash drive stopped determined like a drive, doesn't want to be formatted, does not allow information to be written down or something else happened to her, BUT she does not have mechanical damage know that not all is lost. Most likely glitched controller and it will take a little fiddling with it. In time, this procedure takes approximately 5 minutes.

I must say right away that there is no universal programs for recovery all varieties flash drives. You will need to find exactly the one that can work with the controller of your flash drives.

First, we need to define VID and PID non-working flash drives.

Determine VID and PID for flash drive recovery

Plug in flash drive to the computer and run Device Manager. Start – Run - mmc devmgmt.msc.

Then go to section USB Universal Serial Bus Controllers.

Find yours in the list flash drive. Usually, everything flash drives have a name USB mass storage device.

Press the right key on the device and open Properties.

Go to tab Intelligence.

In the drop-down list, select the item Instance ID device or Equipment codes (ID).

In this window we see PID and VID.

Finding a flash drive recovery program

We go to the FlashBoot.ru website and enter the received VID and PID.

Click on the button Search.

In the results, we are looking for our manufacturer and model of the flash drive. I have it Kingston DataTraveler 2.0.

In the right column there will be the name of the program we need or a link to it.

All. Now search in Google program by name or download from the link provided. Launch and follow the instructions. Usually, in such programs for recovery there is only one button, so you should not have any questions.

That's all!

Any questions - ask in the comments.

Do you have an inoperable USB flash drive or other media and you are wondering which program to choose for recovery?

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

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

jet flash recovery tool- then proprietary utility, which has the maximum simple interface and support for working with Transcend drives, JetFlash and A-DATA. Management of only two buttons, obviously you will like it. Do not forget that the cleared data cannot be restored, so saving information from a USB flash drive will not be superfluous.

If you have a need to always have with you universal program, which can be conveniently applied to home computer, and beyond, we recommend D-Soft Flash Doctor, its platform does not preset, the launch is made instantly on any PC. Software suitable for repair, unlock,
restore the volume of the flash drive and its performance.

If you need to recover SD cards, we advise you to download F-Recovery SD, which has an effective set of simple options for working with damaged flash drives from digital cameras and others. 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 OS from Microsoft.

Recognize the maximum number various types flash drives flash drive, among the above utilities, as well as quickly reanimate the performance of drives, the USB Disk Storage Format Tool formatting and recovery utility, which has a very clear and convenient interface, can be used. The USB Disk Storage flash drive repair program will be able to quickly recover data from damaged partitions hard drive even if flash drive firmware problems 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-Mpz players from Kingston manufacturers, Silicon power, Transcend, Adata, PQI. Further actions to correct errors, restore lost data are only advisable if
flash drive is defined in Chip Genius.

flash cure! (soft remon 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 not possible to write data to it! Using the HD Tune 3.5 utility, it was found that a decent part of the surface was marked as unreadable! Formatting attempts Windows tools 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 with Google. The format was produced and it worked.
A few days ago, when trying to copy sources from the second flash drive, a message was displayed that it was impossible to copy such and such files. And it was possible to delete these files! The first thought is that BAD blocks appeared.
Checking the flash drive with HD Tune 3.5 did not reveal BAD s!

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

The 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, the previously found HDD Low Level Format Tool was used.

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

BAD blocks have been eliminated, as well as getting rid of slow sectors, which eliminated dips in write and read speeds.

Conclusion.
Using the HD Tune utility to test the surface is not recommended, it gives incorrect results, so it is better to use other utilities, such as HDD Scan or similar.
To treat BAD blocks, you must use low-level formatting utilities. In addition to eliminating bad sectors, it allows you to eliminate clusters with a long access time, which ultimately eliminates dips in read and write speed.
Using a similar method, you can return to work like non-working flash drives, but it’s worth remembering that you shouldn’t trust such media anymore, the wear process that has begun can no longer 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 of complete failure depends on the intensity of use of the flash drive!
This technique and a 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.

Sincerely, StrateG-1.

We express our opinion

Cards Micro memory SD cards are quite popular due to their portability: you can use it in your phone, and if you put it in an adapter, you can easily put it in a computer, digital camera and any other devices. Such memory cards have a low cost, but cases of their breakdown are not uncommon. Micro SD suddenly stops responding and does not show any data. In this case, do not rush to throw out the USB flash drive and buy another one, as you can restore it with basic Windows tools or third party programs. Bring your Micro SD flash drive back to life with this article.

How to restore Micro SD flash drive without third-party programs

The surest way and the first of those that you should immediately take is to format the USB flash drive in Windows through external USB adapter. The thing is that the built-in adapters for Micro SD do not always cope with their task, it is best to buy 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 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 for the procedure to finish. 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 Micro SD flash drive using the program

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

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

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

• Immediately open the program through Start or a shortcut on the desktop. First, insert your memory card into your computer.

• Click "Next" and you will see the next step. Here you need to choose the drive letter on which the flash drive is now. 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 photos and other documents will appear.

• Click "Next" again to get started. If the program itself could not indicate the amount of memory of the device, write it down manually.

• Confirm the restoration and click "Yes".

• Wait for the scan to complete. In the process, all lost files will be found, as well as problems in the flash drive. As soon as the line is completely filled with green, the scan was successful. In the lower window you will see everything that was recovered.

• The program will tell you how many files were found in total.

• Click "Next" to view them.

• Check the boxes for the ones you want to recover. Click “Next” again. The recovery will take several minutes, depending on the capabilities of your computer.
• Now you can use the Micro SD flash drive and the files recovered from it again.