USB Flash Drive HELP!

[Kruezerman]

So I was transferring some files from my flash drive to my mothers computer, 25 gigs worth, and the damn thing wasn't transferring any of it, it shot out a gig and stopped (giving me ridiculously low transfer rates). Well two hours later I was an idiot and just removed the damn thing. Now it doesn't even show up on the drive list and when I go to Computer Management, it says there is no media. At all. I don' want to reformat it because it has all her stuff on it!

Somebody please help.

This is what CMD says about it:

Innostor NAND Flash USB Device
Disk ID: 00000000
Type : USB
Status : No Media
Path : 0
Target : 0
LUN ID : 0
Location Path : UNAVAILABLE
Current Read-only State : No
Read-only : No
Boot Disk : No
Pagefile Disk : No
Hibernation File Disk : No
Crashdump Disk : No
Clustered Disk : No

There are no volumes.

Please, if there is any way to get her pictures off, tell me.

 

[Random_Spock]

Sounds as if it got corrupted when you removed it.

A friend of mine had to do that at a library once, because the stupid librarian wouldn't help him remove it the usual way, via eject flash drive. There's a chance of corruption if it's removed without doing it that way.

Slightly OT -- I'll never understand why my local library doesn't have the normal eject flash drive option available... it would save a lot of people a lot of hassle and hair pulling.

 

[scotpens]

The OP didn't specify whether he was using Windows or Mac OS. Mac OS requires you to use the Eject command (Command-E or drag the flash drive's icon to the Trash) before physically removing the flash drive. In Windows, you don't need to do anything fancy -- just stick the thing in and pull it out.

(Yeah, I know -- that's what she said! )

 

[Metryq]

The OP didn't specify whether he was using Windows or Mac OS.

"Computer Management" sounds like Windows to me, and one should unmount a USB thumb drive from Mac OS, too. While I have never run into a case of data corruption from failing to unmount a thumb drive properly, that it is possible seems to be the conventional wisdom.

I assume data corruption is most probable if the drive is pulled while it is being written to. Since the OP pulled the drive while it was, perhaps, still reading, the drive may work again if the computer is rebooted. (It's amazing how many things will simply work again on a Windows computer after a reboot.)

If a reboot does not fix the problem, the OP might check out the volume recovery apps written specially for flash media.

 

[Kruezerman]

I'm running Windows 7. I've tried practically everything.

What apps?

 

[MadMan1701A]

I'm assuming you have tried in in another computer, right?

 

[Noname Given]

I'm running Windows 7. I've tried practically everything.

What apps?

I assume you tried sticking it back into the exact same USB port you removed it from? If not, I would try to see if it shows up there (in this situation don't expect an OS message - just check you drive list to see if the USB is there. If it is stop it in windows and then remove it.

If it's a fact that it doesn't work in any other PC - the possibility exists that the reason you saw low to know transfer rate is that it finnally failed/died; and if that's the case, reformatting won't help.

 

[Metryq]

What apps?

I couldn't recommend any by name, as I am primarily a Mac user. (I have a fair amount of experience with Windows, but haven't spent much time troubleshooting with it.) Try any app site, such as CNet's http://download.cnet.com and search for "data recovery", "flash/SD/memory card recovery", etc. Be sure to read the software descriptions carefully, as some flash recovery apps are designed specifically for camera/photo cards. Also, some hard-disk recovery apps might include flash volumes. If a given app does not have a trial version, how do you know if it will work? You don't. The data may be unrecoverable. But how much should you pay for an app depends on how desperately you want to try to rescue the "lost" data. (If you have a backup somewhere, then whether or not you ever get this particular thumb drive working again is not that critical.)

As MadMan suggested, be sure to try another computer—that includes other platforms (Mac, Linux), if any are available. Your mom's computer may have a fouled "journal" for that particular flash drive. The reason for trying a computer of another platform is because it may have a different mounting procedure. (Most flash volumes are formatted for FAT32, which can be read by any computer.)

Good luck.

 

[Storyteller]

You might try a recovery software such as PhotoRec, which claims to be able to recover 390 types of files (though I've never used it for more than 4 or 5 types when I ran into about the same problem) and can work with most types of memory devices. It works with Windows, Mac and Linux. (I'm not the owner of this software, just a happy user, if this is a concern for you.)