Programs for treating usb verbatim flash drives. Free programs for repairing flash drives. Recovering SD cards and USB flash drives in Windows

How to recover an SD card or USB flash drive if the computer does not see it, does not read or write data? Problems with flash drives are rarely caused by natural wear and tear. More often, problems with them are caused by users ignoring the rules for safely removing the device, experiments with various software in which these flash drives are involved, as well as their initially lousy quality. Below we will consider a list of possible actions carried out in the Windows environment that can solve the problem, unless, of course, the cause lies in a mechanical failure. And we, friends, will go from simple to complex.

Recovering SD cards and USB flash drives in Windows

• Note: below we will only talk about restoring the functionality of flash drives, but not about saving the data stored on them. This is a separate topic, and there is something about this on the website; you can also use this program for. Most of the methods proposed below for recovering SD cards and flash drives will lead to the loss of their data.

1. Hardware lock

SD cards, MicroSD adapters and flash drives can be hardware protected from writing data or completely blocked even for reading. On such devices there is a lock switch, which must, accordingly, be set to the “Unlocked” position.

2. Problems not related to the drives themselves

Politics may be the cause of problems with SD cards and flash drives Windows security. You need to find out whether access to removable drives is blocked (in whole or in part of writing data to them) by the computer administrator. You also need to check the card reader or ports Computer USB. If everything is fine with the latter, the card reader reads other SD cards, but problems still arise with the flash drive, no matter how you connect it to others USB ports, go ahead.

3. Windows Explorer

Standard formatting tools Windows Explorer can help in simple cases such as unsuccessful writing of data to a flash drive. Or when for some reason a smartphone, tablet, camera or other device cannot cope with this operation regarding SD cards. In any of current versions In Windows, in the Explorer window on the drive, call up the context menu and click “Format”.

We leave the original file system and first try a quick format.

If it fails, repeat the operation, but with full formatting (uncheck the fast box).

4. Windows Disk Management

You can try to perform the formatting procedure in disk management. To launch this tool, enter in the system search field:

diskmgmt.msc

In the disk management window, focusing on the size of the drive, we look for it among the disks connected to the computer. And in context menu, called on it, we start formatting.

You can choose right away full formatting.

If the flash drive has a partition structure like a hard drive, you must delete each of those partitions. This is done using the “Delete Volume” option in the context menu.

And then, in place of the resulting unallocated space, you need to create a single partition. To do this, in the context menu on this very unallocated space, launch the “Create a new volume” operation and follow the instructions of the step-by-step wizard.

5. Programs for low-level formatting

Standard formatting tools may not help in complex cases, for example, when flash drives are displayed (in the same Explorer or Disk Management) as unrecognized devices with a file RAW system. The latter means that either the Windows environment does not understand the file system of the drive, or there is no file system as such in principle. Actually, this is what causes problems with a flash drive or SD card when it works on other devices, with other operating systems. In such cases, third-party Windows programs designed for the so-called low level formatting.

In fact, low-level formatting is a procedure that is carried out either in the production conditions of flash device manufacturers, or in serious specialized services. Various types of Windows software that claim to perform this kind of operation actually perform a regular full format, but using mechanisms that differ from those used by the operating system. Such programs cope well with flash drive problems if these problems arise at the file system level. Let's look at two of these programs.

HDD Low Level Format Tool

http://hddguru.com/software/HDD-LLF-Low-Level-Format-Tool/

Shareware portable HDD program Low Level Format Tool can format different types storage media, in particular SD cards and USB flash drives. After unpacking the archive with the program, run it and agree to the license terms.

We choose free use.

Directly in the program window we indicate the problematic drive and click “Continue”.

We confirm the decision.

We wait for the operation to complete and check the operation of the media.

SDFormatter

http://flashboot.ru/files/file/355

A completely free small program called SDFormatter is another tool for so-called low-level formatting. Works with both SD cards and USB flash drives. Install SDFormatter into the system, launch it, and indicate the problematic flash drive in the “Drive” column. Click “Format”.

The program wants to make sure that our intentions are serious, click “Ok.

He asks not to touch the drive while the operation is being performed.

Upon completion, test the flash drive or SD card. If this does not help, repeat the operation with the settings for complete overwriting of sectors (nothing more than full formatting). Press “Option”, select “Full (OverWrite)”. And also click “Format” at the bottom.

If using the above methods it was not possible to revive the flash drive, and it is still under warranty, you need to stop at this stage. And do not take any further action except contact the seller with a request to replace the device. All the actions described below should be resorted to only when, in fact, there is nothing to lose. The instructions below apply to USB flash drives, SD and MicroSD cards. However, in the case of the latter, the likelihood of recovery is extremely low.

6. D-Soft Flash Doctor

D-Soft Flash Doctor performs so-called low-level formatting, and at the same time also detects damaged sectors (cells). Well, and, accordingly, knows how to block them and replace them with backup ones. The program can help when flash drives or SD cards have difficulty reading separate files that fell on damaged sectors. The program is free and portable. I did not find the official website, but it can be freely downloaded on the Internet.

In the D-Soft Flash Doctor window, the first thing you need to do is run a scan to detect errors.

In my case, there were no damaged (broken) sectors.

But if in your case, friends, the scan results are different and bad sectors are detected, we start the recovery process.

The window for performing this operation promises that the process will not last longer than 10 minutes, but in fact, reassigning bad sectors on a drive with a capacity larger than 4 GB can take quite a long time. So it is better to run the recovery operation at night.

7. Flashing the memory controller

Programs for so-called low-level formatting or their analogues, which in any other form claim to be able to resuscitate all types of SD cards and/or USB flash drives, turn out to be powerless in the event of a software failure of the controller, when it requires flashing. This problem can have different symptoms, but more often it is either the computer does not see the drive completely, or it sees it and can even read the data, but cannot format it by any means. In particular, due to write protection even though the drive is not locked by hardware.

By downloading free programs for repairing flash drives, you can restore the USB drive and regain the ability to use it for writing and reading. In this case, you will have to sacrifice data, which may not be recovered later. But the alternative to using these applications is a non-working flash drive and a lack of information.

Diagnosis of the problem

The main signs that a flash drive requires repair are:

• Issuing messages about USB media copy protection or about an unidentified device;
• The drive cannot be detected by any computer;
• Lack of disk list;
• Inability to read (and, of course, write) information;
• Negative results when attempting to restore or format.

Sometimes the problem may be a USB connector or a lack of drivers on a particular computer. But when problems occur on every device, most likely the problem is with the drive. And you can try to restore it.

Utilities for flash drives

You can try to restore the functionality of the USB drive using system utilities. But when the problem is serious, the best option will be restoration through a program specifically designed for repairs. Some manufacturers produce their own applications that are best suited for repairing these particular brands. Although with their help you can restore a USB drive of any brand.

Advice: Special programs designed for repair, not restoration. It is not recommended to extract information using them.

JetFlash Online Recovery

To restore non-functioning Transcend drives, the manufacturing company has created a special utility that can be found and downloaded for free on its official website. It's called JetFlash Online Recovery and is very growing in use. There are only 2 commands here:

• Fix the flash drive by erasing all data;
• Recover while saving data.

You should use the second method first. And, if he doesn’t help, be the first.

Silicon Power

On the company website Silicon Power There is also a recovery program in the support section, which you can get for free. It allows you to recover, first of all, flash drives of this brand and is called SP Recovery Tool Utility.

Adata

The manufacturer Adata also has a freely available program for USB recovery-carrier. If, using USB Flash Drive Online Recovery, it was not possible to read the information, the flash drive can be repaired, having lost the data.

Kingston flash drive repair

The owner of a Kingston drive will probably like the opportunity to get back an entire flash drive after running the MediaRECOVER 4.0 Digital Image Recovery program. In some cases, the application manages to save part of the data, even if the USB drive has been formatted. Unlike most such programs, recovery can be performed not only on video, audio and photo files, but also Word documents, e-books and tables.

Universal programs

In addition to specialized software that mainly repairs drives of its own brand, there are several applications that can restore the working condition of most devices. One of them is the D-Soft Flash Doctor program, which provides the following benefits:

• Menu and documentation in Russian;
• Lack of localization for individual brands;
• Creating a flash disk image for further work not over the drive, but over its virtual copy.

The following programs, not so well known, but also free and quite effective, are:

• ChipEasy, which can not only easily restore a flash drive, but also recognize the manufacturer if its name is not written on the case or has been erased over time;
• Flash Drive Information Extractor is a utility that can provide maximum amount data about the flash drive along with its recovery;
• CheckUDisk – for all its ease of use, it is a very fast working and detailed information application.

How to find a program to repair a flash drive

It is possible that, even after trying all of the above methods, it was not possible to restore the functionality of your USB flash drive. In this case, you should do the following:

1. Download the Chip Genius utility;
2. Use it to find out the VID and PID, as well as the name of the chipset located inside the flash drive;
3. Go to the iFlash website and enter the 2 numbers received;
4. Find your drive model in the list.

Now all that remains is to find the corresponding program in the Chip Model column, paying attention to the match of controllers. You can find and download it for free on the Internet. The principle of operation for all of them is approximately the same - more emphasis on restoring performance, less on saving data.

Thematic video:

Good day!

If your flash drive begins to constantly fail: it cannot be formatted, when connected to a computer it often freezes, when copying files to it errors occur, but it has not been subjected to mechanical stress - there is a CHANCE for restoring its functionality!

It would be nice if, when connecting a flash drive, it was at least somehow detected, for example: a connection sound is made, the flash drive is displayed in "my computer", the LED on it blinks, etc. If the computer does not see the flash drive at all, then first I recommend reading this article:

In general, give universal instructions, how and with what program what to do to restore a flash drive - impossible! But in this short article I will try to give an algorithm that will help even novice users to understand the problem and solve it.

Restoring a flash drive // ​​step by step

Controller Model Definition

By the will of fate, it turned out that I had one flash drive, which Windows refused to format - an error occurred "Windows can't complete formatting". The flash drive, according to the owner, did not fall, no water got on it, and in general, it was handled quite carefully...

All that was clear after examining it was that it was 16 GB, and its brand was SmartBuy. When connected to a PC, the LED lit up, the flash drive was detected and visible in the explorer, but it did not work properly.

SmartBuy 16 GB - "experimental" non-working flash drive

To restore normal operation of the flash drive, you need to reflash the controller chip. This is done with special utilities, and for each type of controller there is its own utility! If the utility is chosen incorrectly, then with a high degree of probability you will completely ruin the flash drive... I’ll say even more, for one model range flash drives - there may be different controllers!

Each device have their own unique identification numbers - VID and PID , and the flash drive is no exception. To select the correct flashing utility, you need to determine these identification numbers (and the controller model based on them).

One of the most simple ways find out the VID, PID, and model of the flash drive controller - use this special utilities. One of the best of its kind is .

Flash Drive Information Extractor

Small free utility, to get maximum information about the flash drive. No need to install it!

The program will determine the model of the USB flash drive, model and type of memory (all modern flash drives are supported, at least from normal manufacturers)...

The program will work even in cases where it is not defined file system flash drives when the computer freezes when connecting the media.

Information received:

• controller model;
• possible options for memory chips installed in the flash drive;
• type of installed memory;
• maximum current consumption declared by the manufacturer;
• USB version;
• the full physical volume of the disk;
• disk space reported by the operating system;
• VID and PID;
• Query Vendor ID;
• Query Product ID;
• Query Product Revision;
• Controller Revision;
• Flash ID (not for all configurations);
• Chip F/W (for some controllers), etc.

Important! The program only works with USB flash drives. MP3 players, phones and other devices - it does not recognize. It is advisable, before starting the program, to leave only one flash drive connected to the USB ports, from which you want to get maximum information.

Working with Flash Drive Information Extractor

1. We disconnect everything that is connected from the USB ports (at least all drives: players, external hard disks etc.).
2. Insert the flash drive to be repaired into the USB port;
3. We launch the program;
4. Press the button "Get information about the flash drive" ;
5. After some time, we get maximum information about the drive (see screenshot below).
6. If the program freezes- don’t do anything and don’t close it. After a couple of minutes, remove the flash drive from the USB port, the program should “hang” and you will see all the information that it managed to pull out from the flash drive...

Now we know the information about the flash drive and we can start searching for the utility.

Information about the flash drive:

• VID: 13FE; PID: 4200;
• Controller model: Phison 2251-68 (second line in the screenshot above);
• SmartBuy 16 GB.

Addition

You can reliably determine the controller model if you disassemble the flash drive. True, not every flash drive case is collapsible, and not every one can be put back together later.

Usually, to open the casing of a flash drive, you need a knife and a screwdriver. When opening the case, be careful not to damage the inside of the flash drive. An example of a controller is shown in the screenshot below.

Disassembled flash drive. Controller model: VLI VL751-Q8

Addendum 2

You can find out the VID and PID of a flash drive using the device manager (in this case, you don’t need to install anything). True, in this case we will not recognize the controller model, and there is some risk that VID and PID it will not be possible to accurately identify the controller. And yet, suddenly the above utility freezes and does not provide any information at all...

How to find a utility for flashing a flash drive

Important! After flashing the flash drive, all information on it will be deleted!

1) Knowing the controller model, you can simply use search engines (Google, Yandex for example) and find what you need.

The operating algorithm is as follows:

1. We go to the site:
2. Enter yours VID and PID into the search bar and look for it;
3. You'll likely find dozens of lines in the results list. Among them you need to find a line that matches: controller model, your manufacturer, VID and PID, flash drive size .
4. Further in the last column you will see the recommended utility. By the way, please note that the version of the utility also matters! All that's left is to download the necessary utility and apply it.

After you find and download the required utility, run it and format the media - in my case, you only had to press one button - Restore .

Formatter SiliconPower v3.13.0.0 // Format and Restore. Utility end user, designed for both low-level and high-level (FAT32) formatting of flash drives on Phison controllers of the PS2251-XX line.

After a couple of minutes of blinking the LED on the flash drive, it began to work normally, messages from Windows about the impossibility of formatting no longer appeared. Result: the flash drive was restored (became 100% working) and given to the owner.

That's all, actually. I would be grateful for any additions on the topic. Good Luck!

There are several solutions for creating data backups:

1. Built in operating system applications. Microsoft Windows provides ways Reserve copy data that involves storing files and data on external or built-in storage media. All modern Windows versions already include the ability to create backup copy necessary files or just hard drive, if necessary. Provided Windows functions are complete and independent, and are aimed at ensuring that you do not need to use third-party services or programs.
2. Copying data manually. You can always use the old proven method of creating a data backup - manually copying the data to an external storage medium. This is a long process, but if you work with a small amount of data, this solution may be quite acceptable for you.
3. Online services. IN Lately The most modern method of data backup is becoming increasingly popular - these are numerous online services. Companies that provide backup of your files directly on the Internet. Small installed on your computer background application, creates copies of the necessary data and stores them on a remote server. However, the volumes provided by such companies for storing your files in free version do not allow their use as a comprehensive solution. Often the space offered for data backup does not exceed 10 GB, so there is no need to talk about creating a backup copy of the entire hard drive. Such services are rather aimed at reserving a separate number of files.
4. Creating a disk image. This is the most complete data backup solution used by advanced users. This method involves the use third party program to create an image of the entire disk, which can be deployed, if necessary, on another storage medium. By using this decision, you can in a short period of time gain access to all the data that was on the disk at the time of its backup: documents, programs and media files.

Qumo flash drive models for 64gb, 32gb, 16gb, 8gb, 4gb, 2 gb:

• Cosmos;
• FUNDROID;
• Hybrid;
• Speedster;
• CHARM;
• Smart;
• sticker;
• Twist;
• Tropic;
• NANODRIVE;
• Click;
• Optiva;
• Slider;
• ALUMINUM;
• SHARK;
• Q-drive;
• YIN&YAN;
• Domino;
• DATAGUARD;

Do you have an inoperative USB flash drive or other storage device and are you wondering what program to choose for recovery?

We reviewed the most popular utilities. Which of the above programs is suitable for you and will restore a flash drive with a 100% guarantee?

A one-of-a-kind program will help you extract all the data. Hetman Partition Recovery. It is loved by both beginners and professionals for its convenience, speed and advanced information recovery algorithm. Your files will be found and copied even when the media’s FS is no longer accessible or is damaged.

JetFlash Recovery Tool is a proprietary utility that has the simplest possible interface and support for working with Transcend drives, JetFlash and A-DATA. Controlled by just two buttons, you will definitely like it. Do not forget that cleared data cannot be restored, so pre-saving information from a flash drive will not be superfluous.

If you have a need to constantly have a universal program with you, which is convenient to use both on home computer, and beyond, we recommend D-Soft Flash Doctor, its platform does not require pre-installation, it launches instantly on any PC. Software Suitable for repair, unlocking,
restoring the volume of the flash drive and its performance.

If you need to recover SD cards, we recommend downloading F-Recovery SD, which has an effective set of simple options for working with damaged flash drives from digital cameras and others portable devices. From the point of view of a professional approach to Flash drives, it will be interesting to use the Flash Memory Toolkit; the application contains a whole range of additional functionality that can test flash drives; in addition, the program works with any version of the Microsoft OS.

Recognize maximum quantity various types Flash Drive flash drives, among the above utilities, and also quickly restore the drives’ performance, can be formatted and restored by the USB Disk Storage Format Tool, which has a very clear and user-friendly interface. Repair program USB flash drives Disk Storage will be able to quickly recover data from damaged hard drive partitions, even if problems with the flash drive firmware are detected.

If no flash drive recovery program has helped, we recommend checking the status of the memory controller using the ChipGenius utility. The program works with USB, micro SD, SD, SDHC and USB-MP players from Kingston, Silicon Power, Transcend, Adata, PQI. Further actions to correct errors and recover lost data are only advisable if
The flash drive is detected in Chip Genius.