I (as the goto "IT-guy" for my friends and family) was tasked with restoring files from a USB flash drive.
AFAIK the flash drive is not damaged (at least not physically) so the issue seems to be on the software side (as far as I can tell).
The USB stick does get recognized by Windows (where it was used and the error occurred originally) and the behavior after plugging it in is as follows:
USB Stick does get recognized as "UDisk" (see picture 1)
USB Stick then is a plain USB Mass Storage device (see picture 2)
After a while device manager will highlight it and it shows following events in the events tab (see picture 3)
Edit: Just realized not everybody knows German. The two messages translate to:
"device configured" and "device not started".
Next step was plugging it into my Ubuntu PC as that typically gives more insight in what's really going on and that's also where I would have created an image of it with ddrescue (if I could have).However upon plugging it into my Ubuntu PC the USB stick doesen't even show up as a block device (as in there is no /dev/sXZ assigned to it).
After digging further into it i found out that it was indeed detected as indicated by dmesg
output of dmesgit also seems to show up in the output of lsusb
output of lsusbbut as I said it is not beeing assinged a /dev/sYZ device so I'm kinda stuck at this point.
I did a bunch of googling, but mostly people who have similar behavior as I do are "just" missing the necessary module for their kernel (which I am definitely not missing as every other USB stick works just fine).I also stumbled upon some threads that seemed like it could've something to do with the port being USB 3.0 and the stick USB 2.0 (which it is btw), but I also tried plugging it into a USB 2.0 (and other 3.0) port(s) with the exact same result(s).
ATM I'm kind of at my wits end and don't know any further. Any help/pointers in the right direction are greatly appreciated.Also if the stick is really damaged to a point where I can't do anything (which as far as i can tell right now it seems it is) does anybody know what data recovery would cost and ideally also a good data recovery service in Germany?
Videos
Why can't I see my USB drive in Windows 10?
Can you recover files from a broken flash drive?
Why is my USB stick not working?
Used to work fine for the last 6 months, but now Windows doesn't recognize it at all (not even a USB recognition sound).
I looked for it in disk management/ used command prompt, but to no avail,
Other USB drives work fine on my computer.
Is there a chance to save it ? (there is no important data on it, I just want it to work again)
I've tried everything. First, I attempted to connect it to my phone (which has a USB-C), but the phone couldn't detect it either. I also removed the device from Device Manager, but that didn't help. I tried formatting it using Disk Management, but there are no partitions visible for the flash drive listed as Disk 2. I even attempted a low-level format using HDD LLF Low Level Format Tool, but the program couldn't detect it either. I understand that in this case, it might be easier to just replace it with a new one, but I still want to try to restore it somehow.
How can I make the USB stick work again?
You can't.
If no computer can "see" it, you can't use your computer to fix it.
If you had time, skills and resources, you might be able to disassemble it, identify the faults and repair or replace the faulty components. This would probably cost more than purchasing a hatfull of new USB sticks.
Update: the following advice seems to have been helpful for some people
Assuming that the drive has been properly partitioned and formatted, then this USB drive probably still needs to be enumerated for this computer. Open Control Panel. Go through Administrative Tools to Computer Management. Under Storage, click on Disk Management. Locate the USB drive and it probably needs to have a drive letter assigned to it. Do so (Right click and change drive letter - make sure it's not in use at time). Should take care of the problem.
Obviously this is only useful on those occasions when the device does show up in Disk Management (you said it sometimes did).
I had a SanDisk Cruzer Edge 8GB USB that was recognized but I couldn't use it. The steps that worked for me were to basically:
- Go to: Control panel → System and Security → Administrative tools
- Open Computer Management.
- Go to Disk management on the left, and look at your drives.
Your problem will probably be that it is not allocated on your PC.
- Right-click the drive
- Click the text at the top
- You will assign it and give it a letter (Choose one that isn't already taken, e.g. D)
It will assign it to your PC and you will be able to use it.
I have the same issue. Brand new Dell G15. Brand new 32GB flash. Formatted to FAT32. Scanned, and found no errors. Create program does not recognize it in either port. (Windows updates up-to-date).
Thoughts? (other than "Windows is ****"?)
I have the same problem with my laptop Dell XPS 15, the usb flash is recognized by it, but not when creating the recovery drive.
Hi,
1. Which troubleshooting steps have you tried?
2. Does any other Universal Serial Bus controllers (USB) device get detected in the computer?
3. What exactly happens when you connect the flash drive to the computer? Any error messages received?
4. Any changes made to the computer prior to the issue?
5. Does the device work in any other computer?
Method 1:
If you have not performed the steps mentioned in the following link then you may go ahead and do the same. Run the Hardware and Devices troubleshooter to start the automated troubleshooting services.
Refer the article provided below:
Open the Hardware and Devices troubleshooter
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Open-the-Hardware-and-Devices-troubleshooter
Method 2:
Disable and re-enable all the Universal Serial Bus controllers (USB) controllers.
The USB controllers represent the USB ports in Device Manager.
To disable and re-enable the USB controllers, follow these steps:
a) Open Device Manager.
b) **http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Open-Device-Manager**
c) Expand Universal Serial Bus controllers.
d) Note: You might have to scroll down the list to find this item.
e) Right-click the first USB controller under Universal Serial Bus controllers, and then click Uninstall to remove it.
f) Repeat the above step for each USB controller that is listed under Universal Serial Bus controllers.
g) Restart the computer. After the computer starts, Windows will automatically scan for hardware changes and
h) Reinstall all the USB controllers that you uninstalled.
Method 3:
Let’s check if the USB drive gets detected in Disk Management. Follow the steps given in the following article to do the same:
Check whether a Drive letter is assigned for USB drive, if not assign a drive letter and check if it helps.
**Change, add, or remove a drive letter**
Hope this information helps.
Found out that my USB stopped working because other USB works in the drive, but thank you so much for your help.