USB flash missing files

[L. Daniel Rosa]

I just got a 16G stick and put some stuff on it. Next time I looked, some files were missing, some folders were empty. The thing claims to have the right amount of space used for them to still be there, but some are just not showing up. Is there a utility I can use to search for lost files? Is the whole thing a goner?

[MrAl]

Hi,

Can i ask what brand and model it is?
Also, what operating system are you using?

[CeaSaR]

They weren't hidden files, were they? Open up My Computer or Windows Explorer
and go your USB stick. Now go through the menus (up top) "Tools -> Folder Options"
and click on the View tab. Make sure that under "Files and Folders ->
Hidden Files and Folders" you have the "Show Hidden Files and Folders" radio button
clicked. Hit apply and exit out of that pop-up. Check your USB stick again to see
if the files reappear.

If they don't reappear, were they "system" files? Do the same steps as above, but
this time make sure that "Hide protected operating system files" is de-clicked. Hit
Apply and exit out of the pop-up and check your USB stick again.

These 2 steps usually show all files in a directory, in this case, your USB stick. Let
us know how it goes.

CeaSaR

[L. Daniel Rosa]

Unknown brand and model, cheap item from ebay (China). Same results on all OS (different computers) I've plugged into.

Not hidden files, I tried that first. Not system files, just mp3 and a few exe. Whole folders went empty while others were untouched, no onesy twosy missing files.

I figured it might be a corrupted media issue, and the files weren't that important (yet) so I'm reformatting it to see if it comes back stable. Also takes care of the possibility of an infected stick (I hope).

[CeaSaR]

Yeah, sounds like the media isn't quite the highest quality (bad "sectors"
causing corrupt files) and when the file goes bad, it effectively dissappears
from the file structure. Reformat should clear it up, but if the media is
questionable, it will most likely start to cause problems again. Unless the
problem is an infection. In this day and age, it is prudent to (re)format any
media you buy, even if from a reputable manufacturer.

CeaSaR

[Doc AI4JN]

My I suggest you try as program titled Spinrite it's a great program that is written in machine language. I have no affiliation with this company or am taking an compensation for mentioning it, I just think it's a great program. Just Google Spinrite or go to GRC.com. If there is data still on the disk that can be recovered it will do it for you and possibly fix the drive. I wish you the best of luck how ever you fix it.

73
Doc
AI4JN

[SETEC_Astronomy]

My I suggest you try as program titled Spinrite it's a great program that is written in machine language. I have no affiliation with this company or am taking an compensation for mentioning it, I just think it's a great program. Just Google Spinrite or go to GRC.com. If there is data still on the disk that can be recovered it will do it for you and possibly fix the drive. I wish you the best of luck how ever you fix it.

73
Doc
AI4JN

People have mixed feelings on Spinrite and it's usefulness but in this case it's a not a good idea to spend the money. Steve Gibson (the creator and writer of Spinrite) openly says it has no affect on flash drives. The technology used in magnetic drives and flash drives are different. You don't have absolute addressing in flash drives due to wear leveling. Wear leveling also impedes file recovery for the same reasons.

[MrAl]

Hi,


I worked with direct access to flash drives and other drives in the system and had a program that would read
the entire 1GB of that drive onto the hard disk, byte by byte. I dont know if this would help or not, as you
would still have to figure out where the files are located once this data got to hard disk because the transfer
is as one huge block of data exactly the way it is written to flash drive, with tables and all and the files
may be fragmented so you would have to figure out how to read the table whatever type it is (FAT, etc.).

If it was FAT i may be able to decode the file structure because i have worked directly with that system
in the past, but then this would assume that the entire directory structure was still there somewhere.
If there was a byte missing somewhere, that could screw up a file. If that byte was in the table,
it could screw up more than one file.

The thing that would prevent me from spending some time on something like this is that if the drive was
that bad and you already have the data stored somewhere else then i would not expect the drive to
work any better later unless a format makes it work again, in which case it should read with the operating
system anyway.

Spend a little cash, get a new drive from a retail store in your area so you can bring it back if necessary.
Data isnt something you want to play around with. I learned that the hard way in the past too. One
time i was debugging a hard disk driver and lost all the data on the hard disk.