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USB Data lost.


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#1
waynf

waynf

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I don't know if this has anything to do with anything else that is inhibiting my pc, but lately I have been dealing with a mismatch situation with my NVDIA Display which i am receiving help with already.

 

A month ago I had my pc formated and a complete Windows XP Pro re-install done. I had quite a bit of data(pictures, music files etc) on a Gigastone 16 GB USB Flash Drive before I turned in my pc for the re-install.  The other day I was shuffling from one flash Drive to another, and when I put in my Gigastone USB and tried to open it I got this message that "Drive is not Formatted".  I have not been able to open it, or even recover information from it even using Recuva.  When I do the following: Start>My Computer>Removable Disk(E)>Properties the diagram shows that the Disk is full, which I know it never was.

 

Shall I consider this data lost for good?


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#2
jds63

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Hi again Waynf,

 

Good possibility the USB Flash Drive is corrupted, as you tried using Recuva with no luck. There is other Data Recovery software on internet, this is a good product has a free trial  http://www.easeus.co...CFQ8R7AodIAIAqw

 

Can look for other free programs, but might have to take it to a data Recovery specialist if all else fails if really want to try to get the files back.

 

Possible the way it was removed at time, ejected, power loss, something corrupted it. For sure if you format it, be harder to recover.


Edited by jds63, 05 October 2014 - 07:27 PM.

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#3
rshaffer61

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Are you still having problems with your issue?
It has been 12 days since your last response and I was wondering if the issue has been resolved?
If so can you explain how it was resolved so others may be able to fix it if they have the same issue.
If not please let us know and we can continue with helping you to resolve the issue.
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#4
waynf

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I have been under doctor's care at hospital and am finally back home and behind in all things.  However having said that I downloaded easieus recovery program, butit only recovers files on C drive.  My files were lost on E drive usb insert.

 

There are not data recovery specialists around her so everything is still as it was.


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#5
rshaffer61

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By lost do you mean the drive was formatted?
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#6
waynf

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No what i meant was that when i tried to open the USB drive I got a message that the drive should be formatted.  The day before i was able to open and look at my files.  I was merely questioning whether this E drive was beyond use and the data lost.  I never formatted it yet.


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#7
rshaffer61

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I don't think it is lost then. Lets see if we can backup the files on it using Linux. The only thing I need to let you know is make sure your USB drive is plugged in before you start the system to use Linux or it will not identify it.


Get Puppy Linux from my signature below...Get puppy-2.16-seamonkey-fulldrivers.iso download it and burn it to cd
..
if you don't have a burning program that will burn .ISO files get Burncdcc from my signature...it is a small FAST no frills iso burning program...

NOTE...do not put a blank cd in until burncdcc opens the tray for you
1. Start BurnCDCC
2. Browse to the ISO file you want to burn on cd/dvd ....in this case its puppy-2.16-seamonkey-fulldrivers.iso
3. Select the ISO file
4. click on Start

make sure in the bios the cd drive is the first boot device....

put the cd in the cd drive..boot your computer....puppy will boot and run totally in ram...if your hardware is is good working order you will know...
after you get it running and your at the desktop...you take the puppy linux cd out and then you can use the burner to copy all your data to cd/dvds
you can also use it to backup your data to a external usb harddrive..just have it hooked to the computer when you boot up with puppy...

==========================
quick guide for saving data...music..files on a system that will not boot using puppy Linux..


after you get to puppy desktop..
click on the drives icon...looks like a flash drive...top row..it will list all the drives connected to

your computer...

click on the red icon for the drive you want to mount...in this case its a flash drive ...puppy will

mount the drive..the drive icon turns green when its mounted...
minimize the drives mounter window..you will need it again in a few minutes..
drag the right edge of it sideways to shrink it to its narrowest size...about half the width of the screen...then drag the window to the right edge of the screen...

now click on the icon that looks like a filing cabinet (kind of yellow) on the main drive...it should
already be green..
you will see a list of all the folders on the main drive Usually your C: drive..shrink that window to
the narrowest you can..about half the width of the screen...drag that window to the left side of the screen...
at this point you should have 2 windows open on your desktop..the flash drive on the right side..
go back to the folders on the C: drive...click on the documents and settings folder...then your user
name or all users..find the folders that has your data..
drag and drop the folder with the data you want to make copies of to the flash drive window...

your options are to move ..copy ect...JUST COPY..if its to big you will have to open the folder and
drag and drop individual files until the flash drive is full...(I have a 120 GB external USB drive for
big data recovery jobs and a 4 GB flash drive for the smaller jobs)..after you get the files copied to
the flash drive...
Click on the drives mounter you minimized earlier
UNMOUNT THE FLASH DRIVE by clicking on the green icon..you will once in awhile get error messages when
unmouting the drive..ignore them..when the flash drive icon turns red again its safe to remove the
flash drive..trot on over (stroll if you want to look cool) to another computer and plug in the flash

drive and copy all the data files ( I drag and drop) to the other computer..
make sure the other computer can read them...

now delete the data on the flash drive...take it back to the misbehaving computer and plug it in

again..click on the drives icon again and repeat until you have all your data transferred to the working
system..

Thanks to happyrock
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