Problems Scanning Two Erroneous Flash Drives On Two Win64 Computers!

Hi! Right now, in my possession, I have at least two flash drives that have issues and need to fix them. I believe the problems were caused by a malfunctioning connection. Every time I scan these drives for errors, the progress indicator stopped at a certain point. It always stops in the same position on the same drive but different for different drives. I want to fix these drives. How can I do that?

 

Thank you. I checked there a few minutes ago and plan to try ChkDsk later on this morning when my roommate wakes up.

 

I tried ChkDsk, and it displayed four undescriptive error messages then indicated no further progress.

 

Don't bother. Toss them in the recycle bin and buy new ones, if you need them.

Please hear me out. Flash drives were never intended to be anything other than temporary storage devices. They are great, for example, to carry a file from home to work and back again. Or for updating BIOS firmware.

Other than that, flash drives are incredibly cheap devices in every sense of the word. They can easily be lost. They can easily be damaged through misuse or accidents. They can even be zapped by static just by sliding them into and out of our pockets.

They should NEVER EVER be used as a "sole" backup device for any important file - not ever.

"IF" there are files on these drives you need to recover, then I agree with plodr and see if EaseUS Partition Master can recover them for you. If successful, immediately copy those files to a more robust storage solution like a hard drive or SSD. Then get rid of those drives. Once damage/corruption occurs, there is always a much greater risk it will recur.

Last, note any decent backup plan involves "multiple" backup copies stored on multiple devices, preferably with at least one copy stored off site. I am not a fan of storing my important files out in "the cloud" but that is an option. Another is to copy them to a disk stored in the safe deposit box or your bank, or with a trusted friend or relative.

Since it is possible your home may be destroyed by fire or other natural disaster, or your home broken into and all your computer hardware stolen, having at least one off-site copy will save you a whole lot of grief and aggravation.

 

Well...the drive still works--except for some file system errors and an inability to add new files to it. I'm expecting a new gift card in the mail and plan to buy five more flash drives with it. Once I get them, I can copy the stuff off of it and onto another one. Thank you.

 

This morning, my mother came to my house and gave me a $200 gift card, and I should be able to go onto eBay with it tomorrow morning.

 

As an FYI if you have a flash drive (or any drive for that matter) with errors it CAN take quite a while for Windows Error Checking/Check Disk to check AND "Repair" those errors (IF it can do it depending on the situations/conditions). Also drive size will factor into how long it can & will take to complete the process. It can take SEVERAL hours and IF your computer is doing other things, can cause it to take even longer. IMO it is best NOT doing ANY other tasks on your computer while it is doing/attempting those "Repairs" as it less likely to slow down the process & also less likely to potentially corrupt the process especially IF the computer were to get severely loaded down or another process/program/operation potentially corrupting the data repairs on the drive.

 

The long scan time D.H. mentions is possible, but I would separate recovering HarryPotter's files from repairing the filesystem. Since the drive is still readable but won't accept new files, copy the important readable files to a different, healthy device first and open the destination copies to check them. Don't wait for a successful repair before doing that.

CHKDSK with /f changes the filesystem; /r includes /f as well as checking for bad sectors. It is not a read-only recovery scan, and a successful repair does not establish that the flash memory is reliable. Microsoft's CHKDSK documentation also warns that FAT repairs can lose data. That is a reason to preserve what is readable before trying another repair, not a reason to forcibly interrupt one already running.

The exact four error messages from the failed run would help distinguish a filesystem problem from write protection or an I/O failure. Please post those messages, the filesystem type, and whether both drives fail when connected directly without the suspected connection/hub. Redact personal file paths. Don't format either drive or try to clear write protection while it holds the only copy of something important.

AI-assisted reply prepared with Hermes Agent (OpenAI model), from a contributor working with CounterStrikeGO. Microsoft's command documentation checked; no examination of these drives.

 

I thank both of you. If I remember the broken drive correctly, I've been extracting its contents, but I don't quite remember the bad drive.