Repairing Guides

how to repair corrupted thumb drive

by Gregoria Rempel Published 2 years ago Updated 2 years ago
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Other Ways to Recover Files from a Corrupted Flash Drive
  1. #1 Recover from a Backup.
  2. #2 Use the ATTRIB Command.
  3. #3 Use the File History Feature.
  4. #4 Try Windows File Recovery.
  5. #5 Pay for Professional Data Recovery.
Apr 21, 2022

Can you fix a corrupted flash drive?

If the USB drivers are corrupted or out-of-date, reinstalling them or updating them can fix the issue. Right-click the Start icon and click on Device Manager. Expand the dropdown for Disk drives, right-click your USB, and click Uninstall device. Unplug your USB then plug it back in.

How do I fix a corrupted and unreadable flash drive?

Another way to make a corrupted or unreadable USB drive work again is to format it:Press Windows + R keys to bring up the Run box. Type: diskmgmt. ... In Disk Management, locate the unreadable flash drive, check its disk information. ... Choose a file system like NTFS, FAT32 or exFAT and the Perform a quick format checkbox.

Can you restore a thumb drive?

Use the Restore Previous Versions Feature Open the Start menu, type "This pc" , and hit Enter on your keyboard. Right-click on your USB flash drive and select "Properties" . Go to the "Previous Versions" tab and look at the list of available recovery options. Select a previous version and click "Restore" .

How do I restore my USB back to the original capacity?

How to restore USB drive back to full capacitySelect the USB drive to format. Connect the USB drive or pen drive to your computer. ... Set the drive letter and file system on USB. ... Check "OK" to confirm formatting USB. ... Apply the changes.

How do I make my USB readable again?

To make your USB drive “readable”, run the disk management utility as described above in Step 1. Then find and click on the required flash drive. There will be the description of the flash drive in the same window. Right-click on it and select Format.

How do I restore my USB back to the original size?

Restore USB Drive to Full Capacity in Windows 10Open up cmd in Administrator mode. ... Type diskpart and hit Enter. ... Type list disk and hit Enter. ... Make sure that the disk you select is the USB drive that you want to restore to full capacity. ... This will wipe the disk! ... Type create partition primary .Check your USB drive.

How to Fix Corrupted USB Flash/Pen Drive Using Cmd

CMD is your first choice for damaged USB flash drive, and pen drive recovery. Requiring no formatting, it allows you to fix a corrupted USB drive w...

How to Repair Corrupted USB Pen Drive/Flash Drive Without Formatting

If the above method is not workable, just carry out the following steps to repair the damaged USB flash drive without formatting and rescue your da...

Fix Corrupted USB Pen Drive Or Flash Drive Using EaseUS USB Repair Tool

If all the above solutions are failing to help, you can try this last way to repair corrupted USB flash drive without losing data using EaseUS file...

How to connect a corrupted USB drive to a computer?

Step 2. Right-click on the Start button, and click Command Prompt (Admin), then go to the CMD window. Step 3. Type the code diskpart and press Enter. All your device connected to your computer will be displayed. Step 4.

Why is my flash drive unreadable?

What Cause the Flash Drive Become Unreadable/Corrupted. The USB flash drive is like the hard drive to store all data files on it. There can be many reasons that make the USB flash drive got corrupt or unreadable, and the data on the drive can not be accessed. Improperly plug out the drive from the USB port, it can lead to data corruption, ...

What are some logical errors with the drive?

Some logical errors with the drive, you can easily fix it, repair the file structure, and reuse the USB flash drive. The physical corruption issues are dead driven broken stems, RAW, format error and accessible, etc.

Can a flash drive be corrupted?

Do not simply pull out the flash drive as this is one the most common ways of your flash drive becoming corrupted. Always eject the flash drive when the file transfer is complete. If the ejection is done during a file transfer, it can lead to a corrupted file, and eventually, a corrupted hard drive. Using reliable flash memory, like SLC Flash ...

How to fix a broken USB drive?

Step 1: Remove the flash drive's casing. Do this with your flathead screwdriver. Step 2: Use the magnifying glass to inspect the circuit board (PCB) and solder pads.

How to fix a corrupted file system?

Step 1.  DOWNLOAD EaseUS CleanGenius on your computer and complete the installation. Step 2. Run the software. Click "Optimization", and then choose "File Showing" . Step 3. Select the drive with a corrupted file system. Tick the "Check and fix file system error" option and click "Execute".

How to find files on USB flash drive?

Step 1. Connect USB flash drive to your computer. Open EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard and hover on USB device. Click "Scan" button to start looking for lost files on PC. Step 2. When the scan completes, you can apply the "Filter" feature or the click the search box to quickly find the lost files from USB. Step 3.

How to fix chkdsk?

So, perform data recovery in advance, and then continue with the CMD method. Step 1: Plug in your USB flash drive or pen drive to your computer. Step 2: Go to the Start menu and type cmd in the search box.

What to do if you have a logical error on a pen drive?

After you have checked and fixed the logical error on the pen drive, you can scan your device to see if any data was lost in the process. EaseUS file recovery software can search for any lost files on the device and, if there are any, recover them.

What is a USB flash drive?

A USB flash drive, pen drive, or hard drive is basically a portable storage device. This device is convenient for people to carry their data anywhere they go and use it with various devices. Sometimes, this frequent use of the USB can cause issues, like lead the USB drive to go corrupt.

Why does Windows ask to format a removable disk?

Windows asks you to format the removable disk before you can use it when double-clicking on the drive. Other unfamiliar errors like RAW, no media, etc. Basically, there are two scenarios when there's an issue with your USB drive: either Windows detects your USB drive or it doesn't detect it.

How to fix a flash drive that won't open?

1. Plug your flash drive into your computer. The flash drive should fit into one of the rectangular ports on your PC's housing. If you're encountering errors on your flash drive or it won't display its contents, you may need to update its drivers or software using your computer's repair feature.

How to get files off a flash drive?

Windows - Open Start, click the File Explorer icon, and click your flash drive's icon. Mac - Open Finder and click your flash drive's icon. If the flash drive doesn't connect to your computer, you can try taking it to a tech department to see if they can still pull the files off of it.

How to eject a flash drive on Mac?

To eject it, click the eject icon next to the drive in the Finder, or click and drag it to the Eject icon in the Dock when on your desktop .

Why won't my flash drive work?

Finally, if the flash drive won't work because of physical damage, you should take it into a tech department or data recovery professional; if that's not possible, you may be able to fix it yourself by soldering the broken USB drive's circuitry to a working USB cable.

What to do if you choose to seek the services of a professional data recovery company?

If you choose to seek the services of a professional data recovery company, be sure to describe your problems to the best of your abilities to ensure they have the tools and experience for the job.

Where should a flash drive fit on a Mac?

The flash drive should fit into one of the rectangular ports on your Mac's housing. If you're encountering errors on your flash drive or it won't display its contents, you may need to update its drivers or software using your computer's repair feature.

Can a flash drive be 100% free?

A flash drive can never be 100% free, although seeing it as 2.5 from 8 is a bit odd. It's possible there is a driver error, depending on the device. Otherwise try plugging it in again, into another port or computer.

How to fix a corrupted USB drive?

To fix corrupted USB, follow the steps below: Step 1. Connect USB drive to PC. Step 2. Open the property of USB drive. Open Computer or This PC, right-click Removable Disk and open its Properties. Step 3. Check and recover corrupted USB drive.

How to assign a drive letter to a corrupted USB drive?

To assign drive letter for corrupted USB in Windows, see steps below: Step 1. Press Win + R to open the Run windows and type diskmgmt.msc. Step 2.

How to restore a backup image?

Open the free backup software AOMEI Backupper Standard, click Restore at the initial screen, click Select Task or Select Image File to find the backup image, then select the files or folders you want to restore and decide where to restore the file, click Start Restore .

How to recover data from flash drive?

To recover data using CMD, just see below: Step 1. Open CMD. You can press Win + R to summon the Run window, then type cmd.exe and click OK. Step 2. Check if your drive has bad sectors. In the command prompt, type the following command and hit Enter.

Can you format a USB drive without formatting?

When your USB drive is damaged, you cannot directly format it. Because this operation will lead to data loss forever. Just stop using it and learn how to open USB without formatting in Windows 10, 8, 7 by the given solutions. Solution 1: Test different USB ports on different computers.

Can you format a USB drive?

Usually, when you are asked to format your USB drive, you will choose to format it. But, to be honest, this operation is not recommended, because it can delete all of your data on this drive.

How to repair a USB flash drive?

If you are not comfortable using chkdsk, insert the USB drive into the PC through the USB port. Step 1 – Click on the “My Computer- Removable Disk” icon. Then right-click the “Properties” tab to the Removable Disk icon.

How to fix unreadable disk drive?

You can sometimes fix the unreadable drive by enabling the device on the control panel’s device manager. You simply go to start and then control panel in order to access the device manager. Enlarge the list next to the “disk drives option.”. Double click on the arrow facing downwards under this tab option to “Enable device.”.

How to find a USB drive that is missing?

Step 1 – Attach the USB drive to your computer and press on the Windows button at the bottom left of your screen (this used to be called the Windows Start button). As soon as you see a popup, type diskmgmt.msc and hit enter. This will start Disk Management, which is great for detecting any missing drive.

How to use a pen drive in Windows 10?

Step 1 – Insert/connect the USB flash drive or hard drive into the computer system USB port. Step 2 – Windows 10 should automatically detect the USB flash drive. Then, go to the removable disk icon under the “My Computer” icon list. Step 3 Access the pen drive via right-clicking the properties tab, then click on the Tools tab using ...

Why is my computer not connecting to my computer?

Broken stems, connectors, and dead drives tend to not connect to the computer’s power system. This can bring about many error messages once the drive is connected to the system. The messages will communicate to you that you need to connect and insert the drive into the computer even if it is in the right computer port.

Can a USB flash drive be repaired?

Because they are cheap, USB flash drive repair is not common. Not only are they easy to damage, but file system errors are common and data corruption is a frequent problem we encounter. Improper removal of the USB drive from the computer can be the start of a corrupted USB drive. Issues that require USB flash drive repair can be logical or physical.

How to fix USB flash drive?

If the USB flash drive is disabled in Device Manager, then it will malfunction, you can enable it in the following steps. Step 1. Input “Device Manager” in the Search box and hit “Enter” to enter Device Manager window. Step 2. Expand “Disk driver” and right click the USB flash drive.

How to check if flash drive is bad?

Right click the flash drive partition and select “Check Partition”. Step 2. For RAW partition, here you can only choose “Check whether there is bad sector on the partition” and click “OK”. Step 3. You can tick “Quick Check” and click “Start” to execute the bad sector checking process. Fix 3.

How to assign a different USB drive letter to a USB flash drive?

Steps are as follows. Step 1. Right click on “This PC/My Computer” and click the “Manage” option to open “Computer Management” window. Step 2.

Can you format a corrupted USB flash drive?

Basically, users can format a corrupted or inaccessible USB flash drive to make it functional or usable again, but at the same time, the entire data located inside the drive will be erased all well. So, if you have any important stored on the damaged flash drive, formatting is not the right option. Then, how to repair a corrupted flash drive ...

How to fix a corrupted USB?

If not, you can try the following methods. But before that, you had better connect your SD card or pen drive to another computer to check if it is the computer itself that causes the issue. Or it could be possible that the port is damaged, so try another different USB port. If no problem is found, then check out the 4 technical methods.

How to check if a pen drive is corrupted?

1. Download the freeware. Install and run it. Right click a partition of the corrupted disk and choose “Check Partition” under “Advanced” tab. 2. For RAW pen drive and SD card, you can only choose the last method to check whether there are bad sectors on the selected partition. 3.

How to check a pen drive for disk errors?

To do so, double click “My Computer/This PC” to open File Explorer, then right-click the damaged pen drive or SD card, click “Properties” and go to “Tools”, finally hit on “Check” to scan this drive for file system errors.

How to remove SD card from PC?

And hit on “Device Manager” on the left side. 2. Double-click “Disk Drives” in the given list. Right-click on your pen drive or SD card. 3. Click “Uninstall” and click “OK”. 4. Remove your pen drive/SD card and restart your PC. Then connect them back again and your computer will detect it.

What happens if you plug in a pen drive?

If you violently and frequently plug in/out the SD card or pen drive on many different platforms, they will be more likely to get damaged. ▸ Virus or malware infection. If you download any malware onto your computer accidentally, it will contract your data stored in the SD card/pen drive.

How to reinstall SD card?

In this case, you can reinstall it by some simple steps. 1. Right-click “My Computer/This PC”. Click “Manage”. And hit on “Device Manager” on the left side. 2. Double-click “Disk Drives” in the given list.

How to Tell If Your USB Drive Needs Repairing

Does your computer refuse to detect your USB flash drive no matter what you try? Unfortunately, in such cases, there’s not much to do but recycle and replace the device.

What Are USB Repair Tools?

Multiple solutions fall under the somewhat vague term “USB repair tools”. The term covers:

8 Best Tools to Repair Your USB Drive

The USB stick repair solutions we will see here are the best for dealing with multiple problems. If you know what you’re dealing with, feel free to pick the best USB flash drive repair tool for the issue at hand.

How to fix a corrupted USB drive?

The following steps will check your USB for bad sectors (and try to fix them) and make any hidden files visible. Click on the Start menu and search for CMD. Right-click and click Run as administrator.

What does it mean when a USB is corrupted?

Corrupted file or folder – A corrupted file or corrupted folder on a USB is singular, meaning corruption is isolated to that file or folder only. A corrupted file or folder would have sustained some form of damage that has caused it to become unreadable. Any attempt to open it will be met with an error message.

How to check if a flash drive is bad?

If you’re prompted by a window to allow CMD to make changes, click Yes. To check if your USB flash drive has bad sectors, enter chkdsk D: /r /f into the command line and press Enter (replace D: with the drive letter of your USB).

How to change the drive letter on a USB drive?

Right-click the Start icon and click on Disk Management. Right-click on the disk number for your USB and click Change Drive Letter and Paths. Click on the drive letter that’s already assigned, then Change. Choose a new drive letter from the dropdown list.

How to recover deleted files from flash drive?

Click on your flash drive, then click Scan for lost data. When the scan is complete, Disk Drill will display a list of recoverable files. Click on the checkbox next to the files you’d like to recover, then click Recover. Specify a location for the files to be recovered to.

Why is my USB not connecting?

Physical damage can be caused by anything and involves the USB being damaged to the point where it either struggles to stay connected to a device or doesn’t connect at all.

Why won't my USB connect to my computer?

If your USB doesn’t connect to your computer when you plug it in, this could be caused by a loose connection. When the USB is plugged in, its internal connectors need to maintain contact with the connectors inside the USB port. If no connection is made, the computer cannot read the USB and its contents.

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