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Flash drive has files, can't see them, wants to format

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Shalinar Posts 10 Registration date Thursday May 14, 2015 Status Member Last seen May 14, 2015 - May 14, 2015 at 02:32 AM
Computertech Posts 3569 Registration date Friday February 6, 2015 Status Moderator Last seen July 18, 2016 - May 15, 2015 at 03:26 AM
Hello,

I have a flash drive that has all my work data on it (about 14GB of data). I always make sure to use the Safely Eject Drive button before ejecting. Today I was working and had to move workstations, so I saved, ejected, and took my flash drive. When I plugged in my flash drive in the next workstation, it would not show up as even being plugged in. I moved around to different workstations and finally got it to show up, but it said there were no files on it, despite working perfectly fine just minutes before. Under Properties tab, the drive showed to still have about 14GB of data on it, but it still told me there were no files on the drive.

What I have done:
I have made sure to be able to view all files and folders, nothing is hidden, and still nothing shows up.
I have run a full Malwarebyte's Anti-Malware scan of the flash drive. There is no malware/virus being reported.
I have run the cmd "attrib -h -r -s /s /d g:\*.*", being sure to replace "G" with my drive. It did something, though I'm not sure what, but no files showed up.

Now when I plug in my flash drive, the computer asks me to format the drive and I can do nothing else.

Please what options do I have? I have tried running recovery programs, but they don't even see the flash drive, they only see my C drive. What can I do to recover 14GB of data?

Thanks,

~Shalinar
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2 responses

Answer 1 / 2
Computertech Posts 3569 Registration date Friday February 6, 2015 Status Moderator Last seen July 18, 2016 892
May 14, 2015 at 02:40 AM
Hello shalinar,
Did your Flash drive detected in disk management?..
Try this command (Run as admin)
Type the drive letter of your flash drive Ex. e: (enter)
chkdsk..
Also try to run this USB Show
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Shalinar Posts 10 Registration date Thursday May 14, 2015 Status Member Last seen May 14, 2015
May 14, 2015 at 02:45 AM
I just tried that and am now getting: "The volume does not contain a recognized file system. Please make sure that all required file system drivers are loaded and that the volume is not corrupted."

So my belief is that the volume IS corrupted, but I'm not sure how to confirm that. And assuming it is corrupted, is there anything I can do to recover the files?

Also, I tried running the USB Show program but when I got to my flash drive it told me to format the drive.

~Shalinar
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Computertech Posts 3569 Registration date Friday February 6, 2015 Status Moderator Last seen July 18, 2016 892
May 14, 2015 at 02:53 AM
On right clicking the flash drive at properties option what file system it shows?
Like NTFS, RAW?
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Computertech Posts 3569 Registration date Friday February 6, 2015 Status Moderator Last seen July 18, 2016 892
May 14, 2015 at 02:59 AM
Did you Try recuva?
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Shalinar Posts 10 Registration date Thursday May 14, 2015 Status Member Last seen May 14, 2015
May 14, 2015 at 03:01 AM
Now this same flash drive is showing blank for file system. I uploaded a screen shot here (http://tinypic.com/images/goodbye.jpg so you can see what I'm seeing. The computer is not even registering the drive at this point. You can see it is now saying 0 bytes free and 0 used.
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Computertech Posts 3569 Registration date Friday February 6, 2015 Status Moderator Last seen July 18, 2016 892
May 14, 2015 at 03:05 AM
Hello shalinar,
The flash drive detected is good thing..
Did you try it in any other pc?..
Did you try Recuva? I told before?
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Answer 2 / 2
Computertech Posts 3569 Registration date Friday February 6, 2015 Status Moderator Last seen July 18, 2016 892
May 14, 2015 at 03:48 AM
Hello shalinar,
Dont worry, Format it into NTFS using HP Disk storage Format Tool
After that try Recuva..
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Shalinar Posts 10 Registration date Thursday May 14, 2015 Status Member Last seen May 14, 2015
May 14, 2015 at 03:56 AM
The format tool is telling me all data on the device will be lost. http://tinypic.com/images/goodbye.jpg
Just making sure, Recuva will still be able to retrieve the files after formatting?
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Shalinar Posts 10 Registration date Thursday May 14, 2015 Status Member Last seen May 14, 2015
May 14, 2015 at 03:58 AM
Sorry for my hesitation, hopefully you can understand my paranoia and cautiousness regarding 14GB of data... And yes I'll be sure to start using cloud storage backup from now on
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Computertech Posts 3569 Registration date Friday February 6, 2015 Status Moderator Last seen July 18, 2016 892
May 14, 2015 at 04:02 AM
What about right click on the drive and select format in disk management?
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Computertech Posts 3569 Registration date Friday February 6, 2015 Status Moderator Last seen July 18, 2016 892
May 14, 2015 at 04:05 AM
Right-click on "My Computer" > "Manage" > Disk management.
Your hard disks and external storage devices are listed there.
On your flash disk you shall see a black band and above is written "Not allocated".
Right-Click and select "Create a new partition".
Follow the instructions.
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Shalinar Posts 10 Registration date Thursday May 14, 2015 Status Member Last seen May 14, 2015
May 14, 2015 at 04:15 AM
I'm seeing a blue band as the primary partition rather than a black band for unallocated
http://tinypic.com/images/goodbye.jpg
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