How to Recover Data from Corrupted/Unreadable Pen Drive

I have a 16 GB pen drive which is working fine for almost 4 years now. However, two days back it stopped working,and my computer couldn’t access the data. My final year project is on the pen drive, and I need to submit it urgently. What can I do to recover data from corrupted pen drive?

USB drive save the data in a similar way as hard drives. Whenever you request to access this data, it is fetched by the operating system from memory.

These drives are handy and very essential as they help in transferring data from one computer to another, store a small amount of data, and other such functions.

However, when these USB drives stop working, your computer cannot fulfill your request for data access due to any logical or physical damage.  There can be various reasons for data corruption in pen drives such as broken NAND gate, driver issues, power loss, and operating system issues.

In most cases, pen drive recovery is possible, and here’s how you can do it:

1. Reinstall the drivers
2. Repair using CMD
3. Repair using windows
4. Recover with data recovery software solution
5. Utilize data recovery services

Reasons for Corrupt/unreadable USB Drive

In order to recover data from your corrupted pen drive, you must first understand the reasons why your pen drive is not letting you access data stored in it.

1.      Physical Damage

USB drives stop working when its components fail or are impacted due to any reason. Maybe while inserting the drive into your computer, you accidentally bent the us bdrive, which damaged internal circuitry. There can be other issues such as:

• Power issues
• Dead media device
• Broken or damaged connectors and stems
• Broken or damaged NAND gate
• Damaged or broken internal parts etc.

NOTE: Here it is essential to note that constantly tempering with your corrupt or unreadable USB can further cause NAND gate chipping. This can worsen the situation. And in the case of physical damage you have to contact a reliable data recovery service providers to recover your data.

2.      Logical Damage

In case of logical errors, either you get a prompt for formatting the drive,or the computer does not recognize it at all. Logical damage is mostly related to the file-system failure, and it can be various other things such as:

• Malicious or virus attack
• File system damage
• Inaccessible or unreadable drive

Methods to Fix and Recover Data from Logical Errors

1.      Reinstall the Drivers

It is possible that your USB drive is working fine and the drivers installed on the system are not working properly or corrupted. In this case, try reinstalling the drivers:

• Plug in your USB drive
• Then go to Start> Device Manager> Disk Drives
• Here, find your device, right-click, and uninstall device/drivers
• Remove the USB drive, restart your computer, and plug in a USB drive
• Windows will automatically detect drivers, and if it was corrupted drivers error, then your USB will start working.

2.      Repair Using CMD

Command prompt (CMD) lets you fix corrupt USB drive errors without losing data.

• Go to Start>CMD
• Type chkdsk e:/r in the command prompt and click Enter
• After the scan process is completed, CMD will display information about issues and repairs if there are any

3.      Repair Using Windows

Windows also let you directly to fix corrupt USB drive, and this approach is more convenient and user-friendly.

• Plug in your USB drive
• Go to Windows Explorer or My Computer>Removable Disk
• Right-click on your USB drive, and click on Properties
• From the dialogue box, click Tools
• Here click Check button or Rebuild button (Windows 7)
• A prompt will give you Repair Options, choose the feasible one and Start the process
• After scan completion, windows will display errors if there are any

NOTE: Don’t forget to check your USB port. There can be some issue with your USB port rather than your USB drive. The easiest way is to plug your USB drive in another port or another computer to check if the drive works. If it does, get your USB port fixed first.

If your USB Drive is in working condition and readable to the system then you can try:

Data Recovery Software Solution:

Sometimes it is not possible to recover data from your corrupted pen drive using DIY methods. For such situations, you can use Stellar Windows Data Recovery Software. From easy to complex, most USB data loss problems can be solved with this solution.

Let’s see how you can recover data from your corrupted pen drive:

• Download and install the software
• Plug in the corrupt USB drive
• From ‘Select Location,’ find your corrupt USB, and select it
• Turn on Deep Scan and hit Scan
• After the scan completion, your files will be recovered, and you will be able to preview them from the left panel

If none of the above methods work or else there is a Physical Damage to the USB drive (eg: broken connector, damaged usb) then you need to approach Stellar Data Recovery Service.

Data Recovery Service Solution:

Trying to fix a corrupt USB drive with physical damage can do more harm than good. Instead, try Stellar Data Recovery Services for professional help and guidance. Experts are specialized to recover data from corrupt and unresponsive USB drives, and they can assist you in recovering important data stuck on your broken drive.

 Stellar Data Recovery– a reliable data recovery services

Stellar Data Recovery is the leading data recovery services provider. They have 15 branches across India and recovering data since 1993. Stellar, have served more than 2+ Million customers worldwide and the services available for both corporates and individuals for all kind of data loss situations.Stellar is an ISO 27001 & ISO 9001 certified organization and provides 100% safe and secure data recovery services and offers ‘no recovery, no charge*’ policy.

For more details about Stellar data recovery services visit their official website or dial their toll-free number 1800-102-3232

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