[xzmattzx]

I have recently had a problem with my flash drive, a SanDisk Cruzer Micro (U3 enabled, 4 GB). It cannot be recognized byy my normal computer. I have tried it on an older computer that I have, as well as computers at my college that I have used. In all instances, it has come up as an unknown device.

A live chat with a SanDisk representative yielded nothing except that I need data recovery done. Asking for help fromsome acquantances has led me to go into Device Manager and unnistall the flash drive, then unplug and reboot, but I get the same message about being unrecognized. Someone has suggested deleting the drive and then plugging it in again, but I havn't done that yet (and it sounds like it might not work anyway since the flash drive doesn't work on other computers).

I'm ready to accept defeat and send it off for data recovery but want to see if I can get access to my stuff one more time and save it elsewhere. Are there any programs online to try? Any other methods that might work?

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With the flash drive removed from your computer remove all evidence of it, this includes checking add/remove hardware and add/remove programmes, shut down your computer for a few moments and then re-boot as normal, if you have another USB port you can try, use it to try the flash drive and if it works back the data up to your HDD, if it doesn`t work try one of the programmes at the attached links to retrieve your data, Recuva has a high success rate;
http://3d2f.com/tags...sh/disk/repair/ or http://www.snapfiles...tarecovery.HTML
Best of luck and let us know how it goes.

[phillpower2]

With the flash drive removed from your computer remove all evidence of it, this includes checking add/remove hardware and add/remove programmes, shut down your computer for a few moments and then re-boot as normal, if you have another USB port you can try, use it to try the flash drive and if it works back the data up to your HDD, if it doesn`t work try one of the programmes at the attached links to retrieve your data, Recuva has a high success rate;
http://3d2f.com/tags...sh/disk/repair/ or http://www.snapfiles...tarecovery.HTML
Best of luck and let us know how it goes.

[xzmattzx]

I didn't see anything about it under Add/Remove Programs. Woul I remove any hardware under Device Manager? It still shows up as an "Unknown Device" under the USB tab. Should I disable it? Something else?

I ran Recuva just to see what happens and it didn't even find the M: drive (where it shows up when I plug it in) at all. Nothing comes up when I try it in another port, either.

[xzmattzx]

One more thing: the light comes on (unfortunately just most of the time now), even when it's an unrecognized device.

I'm really hoping that this isn't completely dead. Is there a chance that a company could recover the data, given the iformation provided so far?

[phillpower2]

Woul I remove any hardware under Device Manager? It still shows up as an "Unknown Device" under the USB tab. Should I disable it? Something else?

Uninstall not just disable it, be sure it is not plugged in when you do this, there are a lot of data recovery services you can choose from but they are expensive, below is a link to an example; http://www.stellarin...veryservice.htm

[xzmattzx]

I'm a little confused on uninstalling the device when it's not plugged in. I've been finding an unknown device in device manager, which tips me off that this is the flash drive in question.

When the flash drive is plugged in, here's what it looks like, including options:





Here are my options when it's not plugged in. It doesn't even appear to be available.

[phillpower2]

I am sorry to say this but it would appear that your flash drive is dead or has become corrupt, this is based on the fact that whilst it is detected the data is unreadable, I could be wrong and you may want to get a second opinion, apart from trying the various recovery programmes at the provided links I don`t know of anything else to suggest, sorry

[xzmattzx]

That's what I thought, but I was holding the faintest of hopes that I could get the flash drive to work just once more.

I guess my final question is, can the pros get the data from it, or does dead mean dead for everyone?

[phillpower2]

That's what I thought, but I was holding the faintest of hopes that I could get the flash drive to work just once more.

I guess my final question is, can the pros get the data from it, or does dead mean dead for everyone?

I would try every data recovery software I could find myself first and whilst doing this attempt to find a local data recovery professional or business and discuss your best options with them.

[SpywareDr]

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