Hello guys! Today I will tell you why the flash drive won’t open and asks to be formatted and what to do about this problem. Flash drives have long replaced floppy disks and discs as a means of transferring data between computers and other gadgets.
They are easy to manage, mobile, and have an impressive amount of information storage. However, along with this, flash drives have some disadvantages - they are not very reliable. You never know at what point the flash drive will not be able to open and instead a message will pop up asking you to format it. If for some reason your flash drive does not open, but instead asks you to format it, then this article will tell you what to do in such a situation.
Such a failure indicates damage to the file system. However, the files themselves often remain safe and sound. The main thing is not to rush, otherwise the documents will not be saved. To do this, you will have to use one of the paid programs - Active@ File Recovery 12.
The flash drive does not open and asks to format it, what should I do and how to work with the program?
To begin with, if your flash drive does not open and asks you to format it, you need to download the Active@ File Recovery 12 program and then install it. After that, read what to do next.
1) Launch Active@ File Recovery. On the left, highlight the name of the flash drive with which you are having problems.
2) Click on “Super Scan” at the top.
3) In the window that appears, specify the file system of your flash drive (for example, NTFS). If in doubt, it is better to check several options at once. Next, click “Scan”.
Thus, you have started the flash drive scanning process.
4) After scanning is completed, on the left in the “SuperScan” section, find your flash drive and select it. On the right side of the working window, the files that were stored on it will be displayed.
To recover documents, right-click and select “Recover”.
Then specify a location to save the recovered files and click on “Recover”.
This is how you started the document recovery process. The larger the document size, the longer the recovery procedure will take.
You can find the recovered file in the location where you specified the save.
In this program you can restore all documents at once. You just need to select them and select “Recover” (as described in the case of one document). To find a specific document in the menu on the left, click “Search”. So, you will start searching for a specific object.
That's all friends, now you know what to do when the flash drive does not open and asks you to format it. All programs of this type are paid. Ask all questions in the comments. I wish everyone health and goodness!
With UV. Evgeny Kryzhanovsky
An external hard drive is more vulnerable than a permanent storage device. It is constantly moved from place to place, exposed to environmental influences, risks of falling and incorrect connection. That's why it fails noticeably more often. If the next time you connect to a computer, the operating system cannot detect it, this may indicate damage to its file system. Let's look at how to restore external media without formatting.
Causes of problems with a removable disk
- The file system is damaged.
- The device has encountered a software failure.
- The removable hard drive has been exposed to a virus.
- The device was not properly disconnected from the computer.
- Careless handling of the drive, mechanical damage.
Is it possible to restore a portable hard drive yourself without formatting? In most cases, unless the device was damaged mechanically, the data on it can be recovered. To do this, we will consider 2 methods.
Recovering media using Windows
The external hard drive is checked for errors. To do this, launch the utility, which is included in Windows. To run it, you need to enter the “cmd” command on the command line. After confirming the command, a console appears on the monitor, where the line “chkdsk h: /f” is written, in which “h” is the letter of your removable drive.
If, when trying to scan, the computer displays a message stating that it is impossible to perform a scan at the moment, then you need to agree to the offer to check the selected disk the next time the system is rebooted.
You can choose another way to check the disk for errors, which is more visual and accessible. To do this, follow these steps:
In most cases, after scanning, the hard drive will completely restore its structure without formatting. After the treatment is completed, it will start on its own, and all data will be visible on the monitor.
Recovering an external drive using R-Studio
You can restore external media without formatting. This utility works with all known file systems, recovers information from deleted and damaged partitions, and works with encrypted files.
After starting the program, all drives will be displayed in its window.
All media connected to the computer will be visible on the left side. Media recovery is performed in the following order:
- By selecting an external hard drive from this list, you can look at information about this media. It will be displayed in the right window.
- When you click on the “Scan” button, the program will scan the selected media and display information in the form of colored clusters.
- When you hover over a cluster, all information about it will be displayed on the right side of the window. The duration of the scan depends on the storage capacity. In some cases it can take tens of minutes.
- At the end of the check, a window similar to the following will appear:
- We need to go to the “EXTRA FOUND FILES” subsection. A list of found files will appear.
- Now the found files can be restored. To do this, we need to put tags next to the files that we need.
- Press the “RECOVER” button. If you decide to restore all found files, you can immediately use the “RECOVER ALL” button.
- After confirming your choice, you need to decide where to save the recovered files.
Since they take up so much space, a decent capacity hard drive is required. If there is a shortage of free space on the media, only part of the information can be restored. The recovery operation begins when such a window appears.
If the computer no longer recognizes a USB drive (popularly a “flash drive”) and “requires” formatting, this does not necessarily mean that the data on the flash drive is lost forever.
If there is information on the drive that is important to recover, you can try successful solutions that have already been tested by users.
This may seem obvious, but the first thing to try is to insert the USB drive into a different USB port. Over time, USB ports become dirty and wear out. Therefore, there is a possibility that the problem is related to the USB port, and not to the flash drive itself.
Updating the driver on your computer
The problem of recognizing a flash drive can also be related to the system where the flash drive is connected, and not to the drive itself.
To check this option, you need to insert another, known working USB drive into the computer port and see if the other flash drive is detected correctly. If not, it may mean that your computer needs to download a new driver.
To check for a new driver, you need to:
- Open “Computer” (for example, with the keyboard shortcut “Win + E”, the “Win” key is located between the left “Ctrl” and “Alt” on the keyboard).
- Right-click on the icon of the USB drive that needs formatting and click "Properties".
- Next, you need to click on the “Hardware” tab and find “General USB Flash Disc USB Device”. Click on this device (select it) and click the “Properties” button at the bottom.
- In the next window that opens, click the “Change settings” button.
- The following pop-up window will appear where you need to click on the Driver tab and click on the Update Driver button.
- Then you need to select the first option “Automatically search for a driver for updated software.” And follow the instructions to download the new driver.
Checking errors on a flash drive via Windows
Windows can detect itself on USB drives using its built-in software tool.
If Windows can identify the problem, you must follow its further instructions.
Checking for errors using chkdsk
You can also check for errors in reading a USB drive through the operating system command line by running the “chkdsk” command.
The "chkdsk" command can also be executed by entering the "cmd" command in the Run window and clicking "OK". After launching the command interpreter window, enter in it: “chkdsk H:/F/R” and press the “Enter” key.
Reference! Instead of the letter “H”, you need to substitute the letter with which the “problem” flash drive is “signed” in “Computer”. Substituting the letter “/F” into the command starts troubleshooting file system errors, and the letter “/R” starts troubleshooting problems with bad sectors.
The “chkdsk” command will check the USB drive for errors and restore the necessary data if possible, displaying a report on the results when completed.
Recovering data from a USB drive using special utilities
There are specialized programs (utilities) designed to scan USB drives without the help of Windows.
Recuva
One of the leaders in data recovery programs is the free Recuva utility. It is easy to install on your computer and quickly and easily performs all the necessary actions.
Features of Recuva:
- user-friendly interface;
- advanced file scanning;
- recovery from damaged media;
- preview of found files;
- recovery from a recent “quick” format.
Using Recuva:
- Download the program from a reliable source.
- Run the installation file and follow the installer's instructions.
- Launch the program and click “Next”.
- Select "All files" to display. Click "Next".
- Select “In a specified location” and find the USB drive by clicking the “Browse” button. Click "Next".
- Select "Enable advanced analysis". Click "Start".
- After the list of found files appears, check the boxes next to the ones you need and click “Recover”.
- Once the necessary files have been extracted, you can format the USB drive for further work.
Handy Recovery
This utility is paid, but it has a free 30-day period of use.
Using Handy Recovery:
Reference! A convenient feature of Handy Recovery is that red crosses in the program mark files previously deleted from a USB drive, which can also be recovered.
Formatting a USB Drive
Perhaps the last step, which makes it possible to recover lost files on an “unreadable” USB drive, is formatting it.
Important! By default, Windows performs a “full” formatting of storage media. However, in this case it is necessary to perform a “quick” formatting of the drive. Unlike “full”, it does not erase lost files on the media. It only writes a new boot sector and file system table to the flash drive, restoring access to it.
Reference! After performing a quick format and opening access to the USB drive in Windows, you can try to extract files from it using the special utilities described above.
Low-level formatting
If a flash drive malfunctions, the usual, including its complete formatting, is not always feasible and does not always solve the problem that has arisen with it.
In this case, formatting at a “low logical level” can “cure” the flash drive. However, after such formatting, it will no longer be possible to recover files from the media.
HDD Low Level Format Tool
Using the program:
The operating system will recognize a formatted USB drive as an unformatted USB device with a capacity of 0 bytes.
To format a drive in Windows, you can quickly format it following the instructions described above.
On a note! Considering the serious, including financial, costs of restoring lost information, today experts recommend creating backup copies of important data located on any digital media.
Video - How to open a flash drive if it requires formatting
All computer users use flash drives from time to time. This is one of the easiest and most convenient ways to move data from one PC to another. Flash drives have become so widespread due to their speed and versatility. But they also have their serious drawbacks. Surely every user knows of cases when a flash drive does not open and asks to format it. In this regard, many people have a question about how to restore an external hard drive without formatting.
Main causes of the problem
If the flash drive does not open, it says format, this is not a reason for concern. The file system is slightly damaged and the computer cannot read it, but this does not mean that the data is lost.
If you hover the cursor over the flash drive and open the properties, the system will show that it is empty. · “Busy” – 0 bytes. · “Free” – 0 bytes.
This indicates that the flash drive is not working and there are errors in it, or the data was damaged, for example, when the device was removed incorrectly.
To avoid problems with your flash drive, always use the safe disconnect method.
How to recover the necessary data?
The simplest solution to the problem is to format the external hard drive. Then it will work again.
If a flash drive asks to format it, how can I recover the data? Many convenient programs have been invented specifically for this purpose. One such program is Active@ File Recovery.
The hard drive is asking to be formatted, how can I recover data using Active@ File Recovery?
- Let's launch the utility.
- On the left we find our flash drive.
- Click “Super Scan” in the top menu.
- Next, a window with all the necessary settings should open. In this window, select the file system of our external hard drive.
If you do not know which system was used, you can mark several at once.Click “Scan”. Now wait until the utility completes scanning. This usually takes about ten minutes. Next, “Super Scan” will appear on the left, click on it. In the field on the right you can find all the data that was on the flash drive. Select what you would like to restore and click “Recover”. Select the folder to save. The data is restored.
If you had a lot of data on your external hard drive and you don't know exactly what you need, you can restore it all at once. In addition, after scanning, you can use the search based on the data found.
Flash drives have long become an indispensable attribute of a modern person. They are very compact and have impressive capacity. Quite often we write important data there and do not create a backup copy. But in vain, these devices often fail and can take away all the necessary information.
Let's look at what to do if the flash drive stops working and says that formatting is required.
What to do if the flash drive asks to format
Data recovery
First, let's restore important information from a flash drive.
Please note that self-recovery does not always end in success. If you do not want to risk important information, it is better to take the faulty device to a specialized institution.
For this we will use a special program called Handy Recovery. This is a paid program that has a trial period of 30 days. Let's download and run it. We are not formatting the flash drive yet.
Select the required drive and click "Rapid Recovery". If the program does not see the flash drive, then apply it to it "Quick Format". To do this in the window "My computer" Right-click on the device and select the desired item. After that, we'll try to restore it again.
This program recovers data from removable media, not the device itself.
After this, all the data that was found will be displayed in the left column. Regular folders are exactly the information that was on the flash drive at the time of the breakdown. Those marked with a red cross are files that you deleted from the media.
Select the desired file and click "Restore".
If everything worked out, then you are lucky. Now let’s figure out what to do with the flash drive itself, which has lost its functionality.
First, test it on other computers, preferably with different operating systems, and insert it into a different connector. If the problem is present everywhere then move on to the next point.
Virus check
Very often, the path to removable storage can be blocked by malicious objects. One of these Autorun.inf. To eliminate it we can use the program Anti-Autorun. You need to download it and run it, the rest is automatic.
If the problem persists, we will scan the computer along with the removable media with our antivirus.
Then we use additional funds. First, download and install the Malware utility; it does not interfere with the work of your defender and can be used in parallel. Let's check.
The scan must be run in the entire system area (including the flash drive).
Let's use the portable utility AVZ, which is also effective in searching for various threats.
If nothing is found, let's try using AdwCleaner.
We clear everything that we managed to find and reboot the computer.
Deleting a partition and creating a new one
Let's go to "Administration-Disk Management". Find your device in the list.
Now go to the Windows 7 command line (write cmd in the search field) and enter one by one "diskpart-listdisk", in the resulting list, select the letter of your flash drive; you can determine it by its size. If the wrong section is selected, you will lose all the information on it. Let's introduce "select disk"(Removable media no.).
Now let's go back to "Disk Management", the flash drive area has become unallocated. Right-click to create a new volume.
On the screen you will see "Wizard for creating a new volume", click everywhere "Further". Let's focus on choosing a file system. I will format in "Fat 32".
After these steps, my flash drive began to work normally. If you don't have one, you can use special programs to recover removable media. Just keep in mind that after using such software, you will not be able to return the data, so do this in advance.
Recovering a flash drive using special utilities
The choice of program depends on the brand of your device. Some manufacturers produce specialized utilities, others do not.
If such software is not available, you can use programs that are suitable for most media. For example D-Soft Flash Doctor. Let's download and run the program. It does not require installation. Select your media from the list and click "Restore".
If all else fails, then most likely there is a hardware failure in the device. Take her to a specialized center. Perhaps they can help you there.
