How to restore the file system of a flash drive? The file system of the volume is not recognized (USB flash drive). What to do, how to restore? How to restore a flash drive partition
When working with USB drives, a wide variety of problems can arise. If you have deleted a partition on your flash drive, then you must perform the volume recovery procedure before using this device.
You will need
- - Partition Manager;
- - Acronis Disk Director.
Instruction
From time to time, almost every active user of portable USB drives encounters problems with reading existing devices by a computer. Usually they are associated with damage to the file system or drive structure, much less often the problem is hardware failures. If hardware difficulties are solved in a specialized service center, then the user can fix the software himself, while preserving the data on the flash drive. Next, we want to demonstrate various embodiments of this operation.
We want to note right away that the methods below do not always work effectively, since many problems in a file system or structure are solved only by formatting at different levels, which leads to a complete loss of information. However, it is always worth trying different methods before moving on to drastic solutions.
Method 1: Standard Checker
The Windows operating system has a built-in tool to check the drive for errors. Of course, it is not the most effective, but such an analysis can be done in just a few clicks. Therefore, we suggest using this method in the first place.
This option only helps to deal with minor errors, but sometimes it can even fix the RAW file system, so we strongly recommend starting with the standard function. If it did not bring any result, proceed to the next solutions.
Method 2: chkdsk console command
"Command line" in Windows OS allows you to run various auxiliary utilities and perform other useful actions. Among the standard commands there is chkdsk, which scans and fixes errors on a drive with predefined settings. Its level of efficiency is slightly higher than the tool discussed earlier, and the analysis is launched like this:
Applied Argument /f Responsible for fixing bugs found /r activates work with bad sectors, if any.
Method 3: Change the local security policy setting
In the case when you do not have the opportunity to insert a USB flash drive into another computer, to check its reading, you should look into the menu « Local Policy security", because there is one parameter responsible for blocking the device. If the user set it on his own or the change occurred due to the action of a virus, the file system on the flash drive will become RAW, or it simply will not open. This problem is rare, but it should be checked.
When the parameter had to be changed and after that the flash drive began to work correctly, and such policy editing had not been done on its own before, it is recommended to check the computer for malicious threats. Some viruses tend to change system settings including security.
Method 4: Formatting with further file recovery
If the above methods did not bring any result, it remains only to format the USB flash drive using various programs or standard operating system tools. However, before performing this operation, it is important to make sure that the tool used does not low-level formatting, otherwise the chance for further file recovery will be minimal. Detailed Instructions on this topic you will find in our other materials at the following links.
After formatting, you need to find a program with which deleted files will be restored. Of course, there is no absolute probability that all files will be returned, but most of them will be returned, it is only important to choose the appropriate software, which is described in our separate article below.
Sometimes there are situations when the flash drive is not readable at all, or the options considered earlier turn out to be ineffective. Then there is only one option left - flashing the flash drive with further recovery. Naturally, there are no guarantees for the success of the operation, but it's definitely worth a try.
When you connect a flash drive to your computer, if the media does not open after Windows Explorer, and a notification appears on the screen about the need to format, then you are faced with file system corruption. Instead of the usual NTFS and FAT32, the flash drive now has the RAW format, in which the contents of the removable drive become inaccessible.
Bug fix
There are no intelligent converters from RAW to NTFS or FAT32 that can independently assess the degree of damage to the file system. Restoring the file system is possible only with the help of formatting, as a result of which all data recorded on the flash drive will be lost.
Don't rush to click the "Format Now" button. First you need to pull out the necessary information from the flash drive. Will help make it free program to restore R.Saver files. If you format the drive first, data recovery will be much more difficult.
File recovery
The R.Saver program can work with flash drives whose file system has crashed, so you can easily extract the necessary data from the media. But before performing a restore, make sure that the drive is recognized in the system:
RAW appears when the drive sector responsible for the correct determination of the file system is damaged. The error is corrected by formatting, so let's perform data recovery using the R.Saver program to avoid losing files:
After the copy process is completed, the data you selected will be saved in the specified folder. In addition to R.Saver, you can use programs such as GetDataBack, TestDisk, PC Inspector File Recovery, Mini Tool Power to recover information. Data Recovery. All of the listed utilities during the tests showed excellent results when working with flash drives with a damaged file system.
Drive recovery
When necessary files extracted from a USB flash drive and saved to another medium, you can begin to correct the error. You can't do without formatting: to fix a software failure, you need to completely clean the drive and format it in NTFS or FAT32.
Today, flash drives and removable memory cards have enough large capacity and are used almost everywhere. Unfortunately, they are more susceptible physical damage compared with internal storage And hard drives, but equally they can manifest software failures. So it turns out that when you try to connect the device to the computer, the system displays a message stating that the file system of the volume is damaged or not recognized. How to fix such failures will now be described.
Why is the USB flash drive not recognized? Possible reasons
The most likely reasons why the operating system cannot recognize the drive or its file system can be conditionally divided into two broad categories: physical damage and software failures.
Physical causes associated with malfunctions in the operation of microcontrollers, external and internal damage, overheating or hypothermia, and many other negative factors will not be considered. In this case, the USB flash drive will simply have to be thrown away. Even replacing the microcontroller will cost much more than a new flash drive or memory card. Sometimes there may be malfunctions in the USB ports, but here the solution is obvious: you just need to connect the flash drive to another port.
Therefore, we will focus on software failures. Among the most probable causes that the file system of the volume is not recognized when mounted, and if it is visible, then it is not possible to work with it), the following are distinguished:
- exposure to viruses;
- software failures in the microcontroller;
- incorrect or incomplete formatting;
- improper removal of the device from the port;
- power surges;
- unsupported file system;
- outdated device drivers;
- discrepancy between the standards of the USB flash drive and the port.
As for the last point, the problem is that the USB 3.0 standard stick is connected to the 2.0 port. This problem is solved by simply reconnecting to the desired port.
Signs of damage to a removable device
Determining that a removable device is in a non-working state is quite simple. When connected, the system starts to issue warnings that the location is not available, the volume's file system is not recognized, it is prompted to format the device, etc.
In passing, it is worth noting that the drive itself may or may not be visible. In the first case, fixing the problem is somewhat easier. In the second, you will have to use additional utilities.
When a warning about an inaccessible location is issued, the reason may also be that the flash drive or removable card has been assigned an incorrect volume label (drive letter), for example, X instead of F. In this situation, you just need to change it, after using the disk management section, where the right click on the device to select the appropriate command.
RAW format: what is it?
In the usual sense, such a structure is a modified format, which, with most of the known operating systems just incompatible. Therefore, a notification appears on the screen that the volume's file system is not recognized (although the RAW-format flash drive is visible, the files on it are not visible, even if you turn on the display of hidden objects).
Format change is most often associated with software failures due to incorrect formatting, improper shutdown of the device and exposure to viruses. However, it is quite easy to convert the format to readable, which will be discussed a little later.
Main directions in problem solving
If the volume file system cannot be recognized, there may be several solutions to correct the situation, depending on the cause of the failure:
- converting the format to any other compatible with the system;
- removal of viruses and threats;
- quick or full formatting;
- if you want to recover data, you need to use special utilities.
Just in case, you can make sure that the correct driver is installed for the device. This can be done in the standard "Device Manager", which can be accessed either from the "Control Panel", or called with the devmgmt.msc command from the "Run" console.
Generally, if a device is not working or not working properly, it will be marked in yellow. In this case, you should either update the driver (command from context menu) from the system's own database, or install it manually from removable media, or apply an automatic update using programs like Driver Booster (of course, with the flash drive turned on). Sometimes it may be necessary to update the driver directly for the USB controller itself.
The simplest testing and recovery
Now consider the situation when the file system of the volume is not recognized (the memory card is visible in the system) from the point of view of a regular disk. For removable drives, you can use standard commands for checking their status, which were originally intended for hard drives. It's about O
To fulfill this operation, you need to call command console(cmd) from the Run menu (Win + R), then write the line chkdsk X / f in it, where X is the letter assigned to the flash drive (most often it is F). Even if the drive is in RAW format, this procedure works in terms of restoring the file system or converting it to NTFS.
Virus check
Some viruses can change the structure of the file system of removable drives (and not only) purposefully. In this case, a message will also be displayed informing you that the volume's file system is not recognized. The SD flash drive, however, will be visible in the system. This simplifies the task.
by the most in a simple way solution to the situation that has arisen is its full check. You can use regular or portable utilities. But here, unfortunately, there is no full guarantee of "treatment" of the device. This is due to the presence on the carrier, it seems, standard file autorun autorun.inf, which in some cases may be hidden (to see it, you need to set the display of hidden objects in the view menu of the standard "Explorer").
If possible, it must be removed manually, but most often it is protected from such procedures. Here you should again use the command line.
Removing components from the command line
So, the system reports that the volume's file system is not recognized (the flash drive is detected in the system). For example, suppose that the volume label of the flash drive has the letter Z. To delete the desired file, we sequentially write the following commands, after each of them press the Enter key:
- cd F:/;
- attrib -a -s -h -r autorun.inf;
- delautorun.inf.
Only in this case is it guaranteed complete removal this object, because even the actions in the "Explorer" due to its tight integration with Windows viruses may set some restrictions, and the command line works using the principles of DOS systems.
Fixing the file system by formatting
Now another example, when an SD card is inserted into the card reader (the volume's file system is not recognized, but the system "sees" the device, even if it does not display formatting messages).
In principle, you can look at its format in the section, but why do this if the only problem is that information cannot be written to it? The easiest way is to format it.
Many users mistakenly believe that the easiest option is fast cleaning table of contents. Absolutely wrong! Even if you set something from the drop-down list for the preferred system (FAT32 NTFS, etc.), there is no guarantee that it will be possible to work with it. Therefore, it is better to do a full format. It will take more time, but after that the user will receive a clean drive, as they say, from scratch. And there won't be any problems with it. But this method is applicable only if the device does not have important information which cannot be destroyed.
Is it possible to recover information on a damaged device?
For many, the issue of information recovery is an unequivocal criterion in favor of choosing special utilities that are capable of not only restoring boot sectors and records on devices of any type, but also extracting information previously present on them, which for some reason has become inaccessible.
It is possible to recover data. But such advertised programs as Recuva, when the same removable media is not visible in the system, are useless. This is where professional utilities come to the rescue. Two of them will be discussed next: the TestDisk application and unique program R.Saver (both are portable).
Recovery using the TestDisk utility
Now let's look at the situation when the volume's file system is not recognized (the flash drive is not visible even in Explorer, although we must say right away that the solution below can also be used for removable memory cards of any standard.
The program is free and does not require installation. True, many may be upset by the lack of a Russian-language interface and work in DOS mode. But the utility is very powerful, because it is able to restore the file system first, and then the necessary information.
We launch the utility, in the window that appears, select the item Create (“Create”). Next, a list of all available disks will appear, including a flash drive invisible to the system. As a rule, in the list it is designated as Disk /dev/sdc with an indication of the capacity (in addition, there may be a description like Generic-Multi-Card). If there is no description, you can determine that this is the flash drive you are looking for simply by the size or by the drive letter.
Next, we activate the analysis process (Proceed), after which we select Intel Partition in the partition table. Next, go to the extended file system (Advanced item), press the enter key, and then use the Undelete command at the bottom of the window. We are waiting for the end of the scanning process, and then red lines appear in the window corresponding to all deleted files. Do not be surprised that even those files that you do not remember at all can be found here (the program finds them with ease).
Now use the arrows to move through the list, select the desired object and press the C key to restore. Next, select the directory in which the files will be saved, press "Enter". After selecting the folder, press C again. Upon completion of the restoration, you will be informed that the copy is ready.
Universal program R.Saver
Finally, one more utility that can be used if the file system is not recognized (the flash drive is visible or not visible in the system - it does not matter). It is best suited for recovering sectors and data on SD cards.
After starting the application, select the flash drive and start the scanning process (we agree with sector-by-sector scanning). Next, the procedure for restoring sectors (reconstruction of the file system) and the information they contain starts (this may take quite a long time).
In the list of detected objects, select the necessary ones, specify the destination folder on the hard drive and confirm the selection with the appropriate button. When finished, you can work with the flash drive without problems.
Instead of an afterword
As you can see, in some cases, troubleshooting processes can be quite laborious (this applies to the simultaneous restoration of the drive's file system and data on it). However, if such procedures are not required, a flash drive or removable memory card can be quite simple. Which way to prefer? It is up to everyone to decide for themselves, based on the current situation.
If a USB flash drive, memory card, or any other type of storage media is not working properly, wiping the drive and its partitions using the “Clean” command and the Diskpart tool is one way to solve problems. In this way, problems with a drive that cannot be formatted or whose capacity is displayed incorrectly can be solved.
This trick will also remove partitions that cannot be removed by the built-in ones like Disk Management. This process will completely delete the disk's partition table, allowing it to be rewritten.
Attention: This process will completely erase the entire drive, so be sure to keep your files safe. Also make sure the correct drive is selected, otherwise data may be accidentally deleted from the wrong drive.
Run Command Prompt as Administrator
To get started, run the command prompt as an administrator. In Windows 10 or 8.1, simply right-click on the Start menu and select "Command Prompt (Admin)".
In Windows 7, search for "Command Prompt" in the Start menu. By right-clicking on the mouse, select "Run as administrator".
diskpart
To clean up a disk, use the Diskpart command. Before proceeding, make sure that the appropriate USB drive, memory card, or other device you are about to clean is connected to the computer.
To run the diskpart tool, enter the appropriate command in the window command line and press Enter:
diskpart
Display a list of drives installed on the computer by typing the following command:
list disk
View the results of the command and determine the number of the disk that needs to be cleaned.
Be careful! If the wrong disk number is selected, it will be cleared and possibly important data will be lost.
In the screenshot below, you can see that Disk 0 has a capacity of 111 GB, and Disk 1 has 15 GB. We know that we need a 15 GB disk. So Disk 1 is the USB drive and Disk 0 is the computer's internal hard drive.
Once the disk number has been determined, enter the following command, replacing the # sign with the disk number.
Attention: Be very careful. If an incorrect disk number is specified, all data from the wrong disk will be deleted.
select disk#
The specified disk is selected with the diskpart command. Now all actions will be performed with him. To completely clear the partition table, type the following command and press Enter.
After installation, run the program and through the "Setup Wizard" select the device from which you want to recover data
Specify the desired file type (anything is possible)
The program will scan, count the found files and display them in a list with a detailed description.
Those marked with a green circle can be saved. The red ones are irretrievably lost, and the yellow ones are lucky.
Select the necessary files and click on the "Restore" button
Specify a save location on your computer.
If the required files were not found, Recuva will offer to perform an in-depth analysis. It will take longer, but is able to detect a lot of data.
Flash drive is not detected when plugged in
The way to recover is the following: we find out serial number devices, then we go to the site containing recovery programs and look for a suitable number on it.The downside is that if the program was not found, then there is nothing to be done. And second: if the program is found, then it is best to run it in Windows XP. Many utilities were released a long time ago and have not been updated, so with new versions of Windows they may have conflicts that interfere with work.
How it works:
1. Connect the flash drive to the computer.
2. Go to Control Panel → System → Device Manager.
3. Click the USB Controllers tab.
4. Select Mass Storage
5. Right-click on it and click "Properties".
Here we are interested in the “Details” tab → Device Instance Code (Or “Hardware ID”).
6. You need to remember 2 four-digit numbers: one comes after the PID, the second after the VID.
If “0000” is displayed instead of the code, this indicates that the flash drive is damaged too seriously, and this method will not work.
7. Go to the site and enter the received codes.
8. See column "UTILS". If the name of the program is written somewhere, then copy it.
9. Go to the section " Files»The same site and through the search, find and download the desired application.
Decreased storage space
In this case, simply formatting the device will not help. You can fix the situation using DiskPart Windows.To launch it in...
Windows XP
Start → Run → diskpart → OK.Windows Vista / 7
Start → In the search bar "diskpart" → Run the found applicationIn all versions, including 8/8.1
Win+CTRL → diskpart → OK
In the window that opens, do the following:
After entering the command, always press Enter, everything is written without quotes.
1. First command: "list disk". It will display a list of all connected drives, including hard drives.
2. Select the number that matches your flash drive and write "select disk (number)".
3. We write "select partition 1".
4. “delete partition”.
5. "create partition primary"
6. Get a long message. Enter "clean".
clean
7. Done. Now we go to My Computer, right-click on the flash drive (now it does not show the size and there is no file system) and select "Format".
8. Now select the desired file system (if you don’t know what it is, then put NTFS) and in the “Volume Label” enter the name of the flash drive (whatever you want, in Latin letters).
9. Click Start. After formatting is completed, the flash drive will be restored.
If you get the error “Windows cannot complete formatting”, then go to “Run” (as with diskpart and cmd), enter “diskmgmt.msc” and click OK.
In the Disk Management window that opens, find your removable drive, right-click on the column with the volume and select "Format" or, as in my case, when formatting is not available, "Create a simple volume."
A window will open, leave the settings in it by default. After that, the formatting will be done.
The actual volume of the purchased flash drive is less than the declared
If the error is a few hundred megabytes, then this is normal, as it should be. When buying any storage medium, do not expect that 100% of the declared volume will be available to you: the drive needs part of it for its needs.If the difference reaches several gigabytes, then there is one of two things:
- The previous method may help.
- You bought a fake. This is especially true for flash drives and memory cards ordered from China, but we can sell this easily. So if you have a check, go back to the store.
All of the above refers to software defects, or to a simple marriage (fakes). As for mechanical damage, it is definitely better to entrust such work to people with experience and experience in restoration. In addition, software methods are the same for both memory cards, but mechanical “injuries” are treated differently for them.