How to restore files on a USB flash drive?

[Paws]

Wrong forum and more information please. Like the program's name, what bullshit it did and why you didn't get it working.

 

[jasoncrew03]

You mean like getting deleted files back onto the USB?

The software for that is pretty hit or miss. If you're getting error messages, it's probably because it can't recover the information.

 

[jasoncrew03]

If you've repeatedly put new stuff on it and deleted things from it, it's almost certainly not recoverable. I don't know the exact specifics but the data gets written over every time you do either. If you haven't used it for anything else in the last month or two, it might still be possible. But if you have... good luck.

Of course, it's entirely possible I'm wrong. I'm not exactly an expert.

 

[m1thousand]

this simple program

whats the program?

 

[frankfrank]

DragonFire, I belong to a Yahoo group called THE_HELP_GROUP where computer users post problems, and almost always somebody comes up with good solutions (or at least the best possible solution - even if sometimes it's something like "Sorry, your computer is now a paperweight"). That, or other tech message boards, may be a good source for you.

Your problem is certainly above my expertise - yes I, I who doesn't even know how to set up an Excel spreadsheet...

 

[Daximus]

Hit it with a hammer.

 

[dpnice]

Try the "Tech" Forum here. Someone always comes up with a solution.

 

[Stardreamer]

That's understandable. I hear that things really don't get deleted, they just get removed and there's that available space where it once was, but who knows for sure.

That is typically correct, the drive has an index that tells the computer where to find the beginning of a file on the drive. A basic delete command just erases that index information and the actual file is still out there. But the space where the file is located is marked as available to be written to. A recovery program searches the drive to find the beginnings of files that are not marked in the index. But every time you write something to the drive there is possibility that the file will be written over with new information. Thus the longer you go before trying to recover the data the less likely you are to succeed.

 

[T-Rexx]

The program is TestDisk. It has a companion program PhotoRec.

These are free, cross-platform, and open source recovery tools.

They work on FAT, NTFS, and ext2/3/4 partitions.


There is also the commercial program SpinRite.

 

[Vitamin]

That is typically correct, the drive has an index that tells the computer where to find the beginning of a file on the drive. A basic delete command just erases that index information and the actual file is still out there. But the space where the file is located is marked as available to be written to. A recovery program searches the drive to find the beginnings of files that are not marked in the index. But every time you write something to the drive there is possibility that the file will be written over with new information. Thus the longer you go before trying to recover the data the less likely you are to succeed.

This is absolutely incorrect. Once you clicked on that "Delete" button, unless it sent your file to the Recycle Bin, it's gone forever. Delete any program you download claiming to be able to recover deleted files, as it will always, always, contain spyware.

 

[SaskGuy]

As far as I know, there's no way to recover deleted files on a thumb drive. I've tried those programs that are supposed to restore deleted files, but they didn't work for me.
If the thumb drive is corrupted and your files are gibberish, you can't do anything about it. I once lost my entire porn collection because of a corrupted thumb drive... so you really want to back everything up. Also, shut the computer down before removing the thumb drive.

 

[Stardreamer]

This is absolutely incorrect. Once you clicked on that "Delete" button, unless it sent your file to the Recycle Bin, it's gone forever. Delete any program you download claiming to be able to recover deleted files, as it will always, always, contain spyware.

Computer security is my occupation, unless you use a file shredding utility the data is still there until something else overwrites that sector and even then some really advanced utilities might be able to recover it. Our security wiping program usually overwrite the free disk space over seven times to meet total erasure requirements. I think the flash memory on a USB stick may be easier to erase than the Hard Drive platters which can hold a magnetic 'after image' if you like even when written over which is why multiple pass wipes are required to sanitize them.

 

[burke67]

This is absolutely incorrect. Once you clicked on that "Delete" button, unless it sent your file to the Recycle Bin, it's gone forever. Delete any program you download claiming to be able to recover deleted files, as it will always, always, contain spyware.

I have to pipe up, as others already have, and state that the only fact in your posting is "unless it sent your file to the Recycle Bin"

A file's allocated data area is not purged when it is flagged in the file-system's index by the operating-system as being 'deleted' in response to a user deleting the file. It is merely flagged as 'deleted' in the file-system's index and it's space is thus available for re-use. If none of the data allocation areas are overwritten... the full data for the file is fully recoverable with a data-recovery program. Data recovery programs that do not 'always, always, contain spyware". Some of those non-spyware-containing data-recovery programs can even recover partially overwritten file data areas and thus reconstitute a 'deleted' file. Even formatted media can be recovered. It may not look nice... yet, recovery is, in fact, possible.

The Piriform program Recuva is a simple, free data-recovery program that I've used many times. With great success.