Fixing Broken Flash Drives?

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by HarryPotter, Oct 3, 2021.

  1. HarryPotter

    HarryPotter MajorGeek

    Hi! I have two flash drives that broke during large file copy operations. When I insert them, I don't get a complaint from Windows about a bad drive, but, when I try to open them, they're not there. Is there possibly a way to get them to appear in This PC so I can reformat them?
     
  2. Goddess Bastet

    Goddess Bastet First Sergeant

    Do they appear under diskpart? If so then you can clean them, then format them. This will remove all files from the USB drive.
    Right click start>powershell with admin & enter:
    Diskpart
    List disk
    Select disk X (where X is the number of the USB thumb drive)
    Clean

    Then open disk management & format the drive.
    Do this for both drives.
     
  3. HarryPotter

    HarryPotter MajorGeek

    When I type list disk I get:

    Disk ### Status Size Free Dyn Gpt
    -------- ------------- ------- ------- --- ---
    Disk 0 Online 953 GB 1024 KB *
    Disk 1 No Media 0 B 0 B

    Might it be Disk 1?
     
  4. HarryPotter

    HarryPotter MajorGeek

    When I type clean, I get:

    Virtual Disk Service error:
    There is no media in the device.
     
  5. Goddess Bastet

    Goddess Bastet First Sergeant

    Disk 0 is usually the Windows installation/drive.
    You should see the make of the USB, if this isn’t showing then the drive may be unrecoverable.
     
  6. HarryPotter

    HarryPotter MajorGeek

    I just came back here and tried this solution on another flash drive and found an error again. This time, the problem is that, while the drive registers in This PC, it is inaccessible: Windows asks me to enter the disk. Also, I get the same errors as stated here. I have only one flash drive that's both working and unused, and I need it to eliminate a password on a Win7 laptop I just got because another one broke. BTW, I like its GUI and remember it from a WinVista tower I had a long time ago. Can I get it on Win11/64? I think I have Home Edition but am not sure.
     
  7. HarryPotter

    HarryPotter MajorGeek

    I can soon buy some more flash drive but need to go to my mother's house first, because I really don't quite have my own finances but don't know when I will be there. I might have an empty and working flash drive still and need to check, but I may soon need an extra flash drive. Worse yet, a program to fix the administrator password on two computers at a day program--the one I had doesn't boot anymore--broke two flash drives. It was a trial-basis program, when others required money. I forgot the URL, though, and it's neither open in my browser nor in my Favorites. I'm wondering if there's another way to get them to work. I'd better continue trying....
     
  8. the mekanic

    the mekanic Major Mekanical Geek

    EaseUS Data Recovery, free version.
     
  9. HarryPotter

    HarryPotter MajorGeek

    I just tried your suggestion, but it seems to recover lost data, not lost hardware. Also, the free version recovers up to 2GB, while each broken flash drive is worth 32GB. :( Also, I don't think the flash drives have any data that needs to be recovered.
     
  10. HarryPotter

    HarryPotter MajorGeek

  11. HarryPotter

    HarryPotter MajorGeek

    Update: one of the flash drives that were corrupted won't register in diskpart at all. :( Also, DiskGenius and ThisPC don't register it either. I'll look back at the web site.
     
  12. HarryPotter

    HarryPotter MajorGeek

    Nothing worked: the drives are totally inaccessible. :(
     
  13. the mekanic

    the mekanic Major Mekanical Geek

    If none of those utilities see the drive, they're borked.
     
  14. HarryPotter

    HarryPotter MajorGeek

    Okay. :( Thank you.
     
  15. the mekanic

    the mekanic Major Mekanical Geek

  16. HarryPotter

    HarryPotter MajorGeek

    The page says it's for hard drives and SSDs. My problems are with flash drives.
     
  17. the mekanic

    the mekanic Major Mekanical Geek

    SSDs are flash memory. There are some RAM based exceptions.
     
  18. HarryPotter

    HarryPotter MajorGeek

    Good news! I recently found three flash drives I can recycle. :) I also found a missing flash drive earlier today.
     
    the mekanic likes this.
  19. the mekanic

    the mekanic Major Mekanical Geek

    Did you explore the application? Lots of useful information under the tabs.
     
  20. HarryPotter

    HarryPotter MajorGeek

    I don't understand. :(
     

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