In one of the previous articles we talked about how, today we will look at the 7 best free programs to recover deleted data, files from a flash drive, with which you can easily and quickly recover a formatted flash drive.
USB flash drives are one of the most popular types external media data, since they are compact in size, durable and, importantly, easy to use. However, data on a flash drive can also be easily lost, especially if the information was not backed up first. The only good thing is the existence of special free programs for recovering deleted data and files from a flash drive.
When you lose data from a portable storage device due to formatting, accidental deletion or a virus, you don’t need to panic right away; in this article we will tell you about special utilities that will help you fully or partially recover your lost data.
Free program for recovering deleted data - Recoverit Data Recovery
This program is considered one of the best for flash drives. Recoverit Data Recovery is used to recreate lost files and system folders. This software is fast, secure and can recover all files lost from a flash drive for various reasons. It can also be used with multiple file formats and types, including video, audio, saved archives, email and photographs. In order to achieve results with this utility, you will need to follow these steps:
- Launch Recoverit Data Recovery and go to Recovery Options external devices" to return data from the flash drive.
- Make sure you can connect to a flash drive that won't be recognized by your system.
- Select the location of the flash drive from the list and click the “Start” button to process it.
- You will be able to view the information detected by the flash drive recovery tool and select the data to recover it.
- The quick scanning process will be launched automatically after selecting the “recover” option. If you can't find lost data from your external drive, try Deep Search for a more comprehensive scan.
You can download this auxiliary application for restoring lost information from the website of the developer company.
Important! At the time of writing this article, the interface of the program in question was without Russian, but it should appear there very soon.
Recuva
Today this program is the most popular for recovering files from flash drives. It is completely free and offers a wide range of supporting tools. Even novice users can use the utility due to its easy-to-understand interface. Using Recuva, you can restore files in any version of Windows, and there are quite a lot of cases of its use with operating systems even earlier than XP.
The program interface is also presented in Russian, which makes it especially convenient for domestic users. Recuva is less efficient than the previous program, but it is quite sufficient for recovering regular files. The application is offered in several versions - portable (without installation on your computer) and with a standard installer.
The utility operates in the following order:
- Open the program and click on the “Next” icon.
- After that, select the folder that you would like to restore.
- If you know the probable location of the remote folder, then mark this in the program.
- Enable the in-depth data analysis function to enable the most complete data recovery.
- Then click on the “Restore” icon and determine a place to save the received information.
Important! Pay attention to the file labels. They can be yellow, green or even red. This shows the level of preservation of files and the possibility of their full or partial return.
PuranFile Recovery
This is a completely free program used to restore a database on a flash drive. If you need to recover lost or deleted files, then Puran Recovery is a really great solution as disk scanning is fast and the program is very easy to learn and use.
The view option in Puran File Recovery has convenient way navigate and search for the exact files you want to recover.
More details about Puran File Recovery:
- Puran File Recovery searches over 50 file types to find deleted data;
- the program helps you filter the results of deleted files to see only images, music, documents, videos or compressed files;
- deleted data can be formed in the form of a list and viewed before recovery;
- perhaps restore deleted files to where they were from the very beginning;
- File system scanning may be available in FAT12/16/32 or NTFS.
Besides this program to recover deleted data from a flash drive has an additional number of features, which you can learn about by installing it on your computer.
The procedure for using the utility will be as follows:
- Click on the “Select All” icon, which can be found at the bottom of the program window.
- Then specify a location to send the files after they are restored.
- Then click on the “Restore” icon and select the application operating mode.
This can be done in two ways - make a record in the specified folder or place the received data in files.
How to recover a formatted flash drive: video
Transcend RecoveRx is another program for recovering deleted data from a flash drive
The utility performs complex recovery procedures for all types of data by scanning disks and external storage devices for traces of files. RecoveRx works with digital photographs, a wide variety of documents, as well as music and video clips.
Transcend RecoveRx has a simple, accessible interface that lets you search deep inside your storage device for traces of erased files that can be recovered. The program supports almost all types of electronic devices, including a variety of memory cards, audio players, external drives and USB drives.
The recovery procedure itself consists of only a few steps that even a novice user can easily complete:
- To begin, select a storage device (USB flash drive).
- Specify the folder where the recovered files will be placed.
- Click on the recovery icon and wait for the utility to finish working.
Free data recovery app R.Saver
This program helps to recover accidentally formatted and lost user data. R.Saver works with most popular file systems, has excellent scanning speed and an easy-to-understand interface.
The application chooses itself best option scanning, depending on the detected structure of the lost file systems. The data search process can be started directly from the dashboard with the click of a button. All other properties, such as the necessary parameters for work, will be configured by the utility itself. Users can access all found data in read mode directly during the scanning process. The program is downloaded for free and without registration.
It works like this:
- First, the program itself starts.
- After that, a list of available drives appears on its left side.
- Then we right-click on the required subsection and go to “Search for lost data.”
- Here we select deep file scanning and wait for the program to finish.
As soon as the data search is completed, R.Saver will display a list of the folders and files that it was able to detect. In the future, you will only have to choose from it those that you really need.
PhotoRec
If we compare PhotoRec with the previous program, it should be noted that it is designed for more advanced and experienced users. The whole point is that this utility for a long time had only a console version and working with it required more in-depth knowledge of file systems. However, in the latest, seventh version of PhotoRec, available for download, a graphical version of the program was offered, which significantly expanded access to it for most users.
If we consider all the free programs available today for recovering deleted data from a flash drive, then this is certainly one of the most successful. It can not only restore lost information, but also carry out the necessary structuring and distribution of free space on the media. How to work with PhotoRec:
- call the program from the archive and open it;
- then double click on qphotorec win.exe;
- Next, in the main program window, specify the media that we will need to scan the data;
- after that, determine the folder to save the files;
- The last step is to click on the “Search” icon.
According to available statistics, PhotoRec does a good job, even when compared with more complex and paid utilities.
Wise Data Recovery
Another successful application is being released for Windows that recovers data from any type of flash drive. It's called Wise Data Recovery and can work in a lightweight version, without the need for installation on your computer. The program has a high-speed scanning function and shows the possible level of file recovery. How to use it:
- Open the application and wait until it is completely ready to work.
- Specify the required media.
- Select the files to be recovered and click on the “Recover” icon.
The program is absolutely free and has a Russian interface, although there is also an extended paid version with big amount opportunities.
Recovering data from a flash drive after formatting
Sometimes you may need help recovering data lost after formatting. For this, it would be nice to use the R.saver program described above. Conduct a full scan of your media and allow the utility to distribute the recovered data among the folders on the flash drive. The program will do this automatically, and you will not have to waste your time searching for appropriate places to unpack the information received.
As you can see, any program for recovering deleted data from a flash drive is ready to help with the recovery of lost data. Most of them have a Russian interface and can be used even by novice users. All that remains is to choose the most suitable one and start working on restoring your files.
Add the article “7 free programs for recovering deleted data from a flash drive. How to recover a formatted flash drive" bookmark and share with friends
How to recover an SD card or USB flash drive if the computer does not see it, does not read or write data? Problems with flash drives are rarely caused by natural wear and tear. More often, problems with them are caused by users ignoring the rules for safely removing the device, experiments with various software in which these flash drives are involved, as well as their initially lousy quality. Below we will consider a list of possible actions carried out in the Windows environment that can solve the problem, unless, of course, the cause lies in a mechanical failure. And we, friends, will go from simple to complex.
Recovering SD cards and USB flash drives in Windows
- Note: below we will only talk about restoring the functionality of flash drives, but not about saving the data stored on them. This is a separate topic, and there is something about this on the website; you can also use this program for. Most of the methods proposed below for recovering SD cards and flash drives will lead to the loss of their data.
1. Hardware lock
SD cards, MicroSD adapters and flash drives can be hardware protected from writing data or completely blocked even for reading. On such devices there is a lock switch, which must, accordingly, be set to the “Unlocked” position.
2. Problems not related to the drives themselves
The cause of problems with SD cards and flash drives may be Windows security policy. You need to find out whether access to removable drives is blocked (in whole or in part of writing data to them) by the computer administrator. You also need to check the card reader or ports Computer USB. If everything is fine with the latter, the card reader reads other SD cards, but problems still arise with the flash drive, no matter how you connect it to others USB ports, go ahead.
3. Windows Explorer
Standard formatting tools Windows Explorer can help in simple cases such as unsuccessful writing of data to a flash drive. Or when for some reason a smartphone, tablet, camera or other device cannot cope with this operation regarding SD cards. In any of the current Windows versions In the Explorer window on the drive, call up the context menu and click “Format”.
We leave the original file system and first try a quick format.
If it fails, we repeat the operation, but with full formatting (uncheck the fast box).
4. Windows Disk Management
You can try to perform the formatting procedure in disk management. To launch this tool, enter in the system search field:
diskmgmt.msc
In the disk management window, focusing on the size of the drive, we look for it among the disks connected to the computer. And in context menu, called on it, we start formatting.
You can choose right away full formatting.
If the flash drive has a partition structure like a hard drive, you must delete each of those partitions. This is done using the “Delete volume” option in the context menu.
And then, in place of the resulting unallocated space, you need to create a single partition. To do this, in the context menu on this very unallocated space, launch the “Create a new volume” operation and follow the instructions of the step-by-step wizard.
5. Programs for low-level formatting
Standard formatting tools may not help in complex cases, for example, when flash drives are displayed (in the same Explorer or Disk Management) as unrecognized devices with the RAW file system. The latter means that either Windows environment does not understand the drive’s file system, or file system no as such in principle. Actually, this is what causes problems with a flash drive or SD card when it works on other devices, with other operating systems. IN this kind In cases, they will help restore the flash drive third party Windows programs, intended for so-called low-level formatting.
In fact low level formatting- This is a procedure that is carried out either in the production conditions of flash device manufacturers, or in serious specialized services. Various types of Windows software that claim to perform this kind of operation actually perform a regular full format, but using mechanisms that differ from those used by the operating system. Such programs cope well with flash drive problems if these problems arise at the file system level. Let's look at two of these programs.
HDD Low Level Format Tool
http://hddguru.com/software/HDD-LLF-Low-Level-Format-Tool/
Shareware portable program HDD Low Level Format Tool can format different types storage media, in particular SD cards and USB flash drives. After unpacking the archive with the program, run it and agree to the license terms.
We choose free use.
Directly in the program window we indicate the problematic drive and click “Continue”.
We confirm the decision.
We wait for the operation to complete and check the operation of the media.
SDFormatter
http://flashboot.ru/files/file/355
A completely free small program called SDFormatter is another tool for so-called low-level formatting. Works with both SD cards and USB flash drives. Install SDFormatter into the system, launch it, and indicate the problematic flash drive in the “Drive” column. Click “Format”.
The program wants to make sure that our intentions are serious, click “Ok.
He asks not to touch the drive while the operation is being performed.
Upon completion, test the flash drive or SD card. If this does not help, repeat the operation with the settings for complete overwriting of sectors (nothing more than full formatting). Press “Option”, select “Full (OverWrite)”. And also click “Format” at the bottom.
If using the above methods it was not possible to revive the flash drive, and it is still under warranty, you need to stop at this stage. And do not take any further action except contact the seller with a request to replace the device. All the actions described below should be resorted to only when, in fact, there is nothing to lose. The instructions below apply to USB flash drives, SD and MicroSD cards. However, in the case of the latter, the likelihood of recovery is extremely low.
6. D-Soft Flash Doctor
D-Soft Flash Doctor performs so-called low-level formatting, and at the same time also detects damaged sectors (cells). Well, and, accordingly, knows how to block them and replace them with backup ones. The program can help when flash drives or SD cards have difficulty reading separate files that fell on damaged sectors. The program is free and portable. I did not find the official website, but it can be freely downloaded on the Internet.
In the D-Soft Flash Doctor window, the first thing you need to do is run a scan to detect errors.
In my case, there were no damaged (broken) sectors.
But if in your case, friends, the scan results are different and bad sectors are detected, we start the recovery process.
The window for performing this operation promises that the process will not last longer than 10 minutes, but in fact, reassigning bad sectors on a drive with a capacity larger than 4 GB can take quite a long time. So it is better to run the recovery operation at night.
7. Flashing the memory controller
Programs for so-called low-level formatting or their analogues, which in any other form claim to be able to resuscitate all types of SD cards and/or USB flash drives, turn out to be powerless in the event of a software failure of the controller, when it requires flashing. This problem can have different symptoms, but more often it is either the computer does not see the drive completely, or it sees it and can even read the data, but cannot format it by any means. In particular, due to write protection even though the drive is not locked by hardware.
Losing data from USB drives or flash drives is quite common. Often the owner himself is the culprit for the loss of information that is so important to him, which occurs as a result of formatting the drive. More rarely, the internal translation table of a flash drive crashes, causing the data recorded on it to become unavailable for viewing. It doesn’t matter what exactly caused the trouble, the main thing is how to recover data from a flash drive.
In what cases is it possible to restore a flash drive?
Before going on to describe the recovery process, it is important to know in what cases you can recover lost files.
After formatting the flash drive or after installing incorrect operation drive, under no circumstances should it be used for further recording. Otherwise, the information located on it cannot be restored.
Restoring a flash drive after formatting is also possible if the user has performed a quick formatting operation, which involves clearing the card headers. With deep formatting of a flash drive, the chances of data recovery tend to zero.
Users who are faced with the problem of recovering lost data from a flash drive can solve the problem using specially developed software. It is quite clear that not everyone can afford to buy expensive software, therefore generous developers provide a demo version that performs the same functions, as the main program, which is quite enough to recover files.
Recovering flash drives using Recuva
There are two versions of the Recuva program - for installation on a computer or tablet running Windows OS and portable (portable), the latter does not require installation on a computer. Both versions are absolutely equivalent. Recuva is capable of recovering files not only from a flash drive, but also from hard drive, MP3 player, camera memory card. To find out how to recover information from a flash drive, read the visual instructions for using the program.
After installing Recuva on your computer, a program window opens.
- Go to the “Settings” option, then go to “Actions”, check all the proposed search criteria, except “show files with zero size”;
- Restart the program. The Recuva wizard will open in front of you, click the “Next” button, select the type of files you want to recover. If there were recorded on the flash drive different files(pictures, videos, documents, music), in this case you should check the “Other” option;
- Next, you need to indicate the location of the lost files (select your flash drive);
- In the window, you need to check the “Enable in-depth analysis” box, after which you need to wait until the program detects lost files;
- After checking, the program displays the following window, which shows all the files it found. Often, Recuva finds data that was deleted from a flash drive long before it broke or was accidentally formatted. Green circles highlight those files that can be recovered, red circles highlight lost ones;
- Select the files marked with green circles, then click the “Recover” button at the bottom of the program, select the folder where the data will be placed after recovery;
Recuva only recovers files if the flash drive is no longer in use after formatting. Otherwise, the program will not be able to help you. Another important point: files found by the program should not be restored to the same flash card from which the operation was performed.
R-Studio program
The flash drive asks to format it, how can I restore the data later? To answer this question, install the R-Studio program, and then follow the instructions.
The program is suitable for recovering data after formatting a flash card or hard drive, but before you find the file you need, you will need a lot of time to rummage through the amount of unnecessary data that R-Studio will “pull” from your drive. Both programs show excellent results only on the condition that no other manipulations were performed with the flash drive after formatting. If for some reason you were unable to return information that is important to you, it may be due to a drive malfunction. To find out, seek help from specialists.
Situations in life can be different, and sometimes you can lose very important data. Fortunately, it is quite rare that this is irreversible and in most cases it can be easily fixed. The main thing is to own the right one software and correct information.
Software developers try to make life as easy as possible for users. Therefore, today products have begun to appear that allow you to treat the file system. What is especially noteworthy is that you do not need to have special skills or knowledge to do this.
Possible causes of data loss
Data can be lost for various reasons:
Important! Try to use a basket to avoid problems.
- viruses. Another equally common cause is viruses and Trojans. They can independently make changes to the file structure;
- clipboard. Sometimes problems may arise when using the cut function;
- problems with the media. If a flash drive or hard drive starts to act up, some data may be lost.
In the first and third cases, there is a high probability of success. If viruses or disk problems have crept into the matter, then you should not hope for a positive outcome of the operation.
File recovery algorithm
File treatment hard systems disk, regardless of the selected software, works according to a single algorithm.
It looks like this:
Depending on the software you select, the scanning process may vary. More professional versions work with clusters, which allows you to achieve maximum results. Relatively simple samples work with temporary data.
A clear example of formatting a flash drive with subsequent data recovery
Often problems happen with flash drives and they have to be formatted. What to do if important data is located there. Fortunately, everything can be easily fixed.
Let's look at data recovery after formatting a flash drive in the most visual form:
Data Restoration
There are many different programs to perform this operation. Each of them has certain characteristics. Next, let's look at the most popular ones today.
Video: Recovering deleted files
This utility allows you to revive files even after deep formatting. However, it can only be used in cases where the disk is operating in normal mode. To do this we do the following:
As a rule, this utility is not always effective if there are problems with the media.
Recuva
Typically, the operating system does not physically destroy files. That is, information about this content is contained in a special table. It can only be erased if a recording is made in their place.
Experts advise connecting the hard drive (or similar media) to another computer before restoring data. This is true in cases where the problem is caused by viruses.
Important! Try to restore immediately after data loss.
When the program starts, it begins to scan the media for the presence of destroyed files (both FAT and NSTS systems are suitable). Those files that can be 100% recovered will be highlighted in green. Red lighting means that they are destroyed irrevocably.
The procedure for using the Recuva program is as follows:
Take note of several preventive measures to avoid such problems:
- use high-quality antiviruses. Remember to keep them updated;
- Defragment your hard drive regularly;
- use utilities to treat the file system;
How to recover data after formatting a disk in R-Studio
This program is quite powerful as it uses efficient scanning methods. However, even he is not able to give 100% results. There is always a chance that the procedure will end unsuccessfully. For example, if clusters are damaged, it will be powerless.
However, negative results are still less common than positive ones. In most cases, superficial formatting takes place, which leaves the information cells untouched. If low-level formatting was applied, then the chances of saving the data are zero.
Tip: use Victoria utility to check disks for defects. It provides maximum detailed and accurate information.
The above-mentioned R Studio utility allows you to restore:
- data erased from the recycle bin;
- destroyed as a result of bypassing the recycle bin (key combination);
- damaged (partially) media. Of course, in this case the chances of success are much less;
However, the developers assure that in any case the chances of success are high.
The process of using this program is as follows:
What could not be saved, you can try to return it using other software. If this does not bear fruit, you should take the disk to service center. Specialists, having the right equipment, will be able to bring it back to life.
As you can see, there is nothing wrong with unexpected file deletion. With a little effort and patience, you can easily return everything to the way it was. To avoid such problems in the future, try to regularly diagnose your media.
In this article I will look at popular programs for recovering deleted files from a flash drive. It often happens that you format a flash drive along with the necessary files. If you don’t know how to recover files after formatting a flash drive, read this article.
Recovering data from a flash drive- a process in which files and folders are restored after formatting a flash drive, deleting data from it, or restoring a flash drive. Often, almost all files can be recovered from a flash drive if it has not been formatted several times (we will conduct such experiments later in the article).
I formatted the flash drive with the necessary files. What to do.
Let’s imagine a typical case: we have a regular flash drive, in my case it’s a 32 GB Transcend, and we quickly formatted the flash drive or simply deleted files and we need to restore them. Be careful here, if you have done a complete “slow” formatting of your flash drive, then in this case you are unlikely to recover all the data on it.
Programs for recovering deleted files from a flash drive
There are many programs for recovering deleted files from a flash drive. The most popular recovery programs are Recuva, R.saver And DMDE. In this article we will look at all three programs and choose the best program to recover files from a flash drive.
Remember that you do not need to restore deleted files from a flash drive to the same flash drive. In this case, you will overwrite the data and if any data could not be recovered the first time, then you are unlikely to recover it. It is best to save the recovered files to some folder on your computer's hard drive.
Recovering deleted files from a flash drive using Recuva.
Recuva- free utility, which can recover deleted files from your disk or flash drive. The program is written in the C++ programming language, runs on Windows and is small in size.
You can download the Recuva program from the official website at:
http://www.piriform.com/recuva/download/standard
During the installation process, do not forget to uncheck the boxes for additional software, otherwise you will install unnecessary unnecessary programs:
After installation, click next, select that you want to restore all files, then indicate the location where these files are located (your flash drive), and at the last point select enable in-depth analysis. Now click the start button.
The average time to scan files on a flash drive is 15 - 20 minutes, so you will have to wait a little.
As soon as scanning of files on the flash drive is completed, you will see the following window:
Select the files that need to be restored, right-click and select the menu item - restore selected. This way your files will be restored.
Using the Recuva program, you can recover almost all deleted files from a flash drive. In my case, deleted files were restored Windows files 10. It is clear that these files are not needed by anyone and in your case you will be able to recover deleted music, videos, photos, in a word, everything that was on your flash drive.
How to recover deleted files and folders from a flash drive using the R.saver program.
R.saver is a tiny utility with a size of 932 kilobytes. Despite the fact that the program developer stated that it works on operating systems no higher than Windows 7, R.saver works perfectly on operating system Windows 10
By the way, this program, unlike Recuva, does not require installation.
To test the R.saver program, we will also use a 32 GB flash drive from Transcend, but now we will completely format it twice, then write three pictures onto it and do a quick formatting. Let's see if the R.saver program can handle data recovery from such a flash drive.
So, to recover data from a flash drive using the Recuva program, you must select your flash drive in the main window of the program or HDD, right-click on it and select Search for lost data. Then the reconstruction of the file system will begin and in the last step you will see a program window with files divided by type.
In my case, I should have seen three pictures that I wrote to the flash drive before formatting.
These files are:
All that remains is to recover files using this program. To do this, you need to right-click on the folder tree on the left and select Copy to...
In the window that appears, you select the folder where you want to save the files. Don't choose a flash drive, save files to your hard drive. As I already said, you cannot rewrite the flash drive now.
The recovered files will be copied to your computer. My files were restored without problems, but unfortunately without file names. File names have become new. But what's more important: file names or content? I think the answer is clear.
Recovering data from a flash drive using the DMDE program.
The program, like R.saver, weighs very little and does not require installation. Which is a big plus for programs of this kind. To begin with, we are asked to select the flash drive from which we would like to recover our data. Let's choose it.
Then a window with sections will appear. In the window that appears, click on the full scan button and then click on the scan button again. We wait 15-20 minutes for the result of the program scan.
As a result, you will have a window in which you will see your files by type. Now you can restore files, but free version You can only restore one file at a time, which is of course a disadvantage.
Moreover, DMDE program does not have a very user-friendly interface, and since most computer users are newbies, we do not recommend this program for such people.
Bottom line.
In this article, we looked at three programs for recovering deleted files from a flash drive after formatting. Two of these flash drive data recovery programs are free. In my opinion, R.saver and Recuva are ideal programs for you. The DMDE program is also quite good, but unfortunately it is paid.
By the way, in some cases the Recuva program will be able to recover deleted files while preserving the paths. In general, now the Recuva program can be called the most popular program for recovering data from a flash drive.
All three programs for recovering files from a flash drive worked perfectly in the operating system Windows system 10. In my opinion, the most convenient program It turned out to be the Recuva program, despite the fact that it required installation.
