A variety of problems with USB drives or flash drives is something that, probably, every owner of them faces. The computer does not see the flash drive, files are not deleted or written, Windows writes that the disk is write-protected, the amount of memory is displayed incorrectly - this is not a complete list of such problems. Perhaps, if the computer simply does not detect the drive, this guide will also help you: (3 ways to solve the problem). If the flash drive is detected and working, but you need to recover files from it, I recommend that you first read the material.
If a various ways to correct USB errors drive by manipulating drivers, actions in Windows Disk Management, or using command line(diskpart, format, etc.) did not result in positive result, you can try utilities and programs for repairing flash drives provided by manufacturers such as Kingston, Silicon Power and Transcend, as well as third-party developers.
On the official website of Silicon Power in the "Support" section, a program for repairing flash drives from this manufacturer is presented - USB Flash Drive Recovery. You will need to enter an address to download. Email(not tested), then the UFD_Recover_Tool ZIP archive is loaded, which contains the SP Recovery Utility (requires the .NET Framework 3.5 components to work, will be loaded automatically if necessary).
Similar to the previous program, SP Flash Drive Recovery requires an Internet connection to work and recovery takes place in several stages - determining the parameters of the USB drive, downloading and unpacking the appropriate utility for it, then - automatic execution necessary actions.
You can download Silicon Power SP Flash Drive Recovery Software for flash drives for free from the official website http://www.silicon-power.com/web/download-USBrecovery
If you are the owner of a Kingston DataTraveler HyperX 3.0 drive, then on the official website of Kingston you can find a repair utility for this line of flash drives, which will help you format the drive and bring it to the state it had when it was purchased.
You can download Kingston Format Utility for free from https://www.kingston.com/ru/support/technical/downloads/111247
ADATA USB Flash Drive Online Recovery
The manufacturer Adata also has its own utility that will help you fix flash drive errors if you cannot read the contents of the flash drive, Windows reports that the disk is not formatted, or you see other errors associated with the drive. To download the program, you will need to enter serial number flash drives (so that exactly what is required is loaded) as in the screenshot below.
After downloading - run the downloaded utility and run a few simple steps to restore the operation of the USB device.
The official page where you can download ADATA USB Flash Drive Online Recovery and read about using the program - http://www.adata.com/ru/ss/usbdiy/
Apacer Repair Utility, Apacer Flash Drive Repair Tool
Several programs are available for Apacer flash drives at once - different versions Apacer Repair Utility (which, however, cannot be found on the official website), as well as Apacer Flash Drive Repair Tool, available for download on the official pages of some of the Apacer flash drives (look for your specific USB drive model on the official website and take a look at the download section at the bottom pages).
Apparently, the program performs one of two actions - simple formatting of the drive (Format item) or low-level formatting (Restore item).
Formatter Silicon Power
Formatter Silicon Power- free utility low-level formatting of flash drives, which, according to reviews (including in the comments to the current article), works for many other drives (but use it at your own peril and risk), allowing you to restore their performance when no other methods help.
The utility is no longer available on the official SP website, so you will have to use Google to download it (I do not give links to unofficial locations within this site) and do not forget to check the downloaded file, for example, on VirusTotal before running it.
SD Memory Card Formatter for repairing and formatting SD, SDHC and SDXC memory cards (including Micro SD)
The Association of SD Memory Card Manufacturers offers its own universal utility for formatting appropriate memory cards in case of problems with them. At the same time, judging by the available information, it is compatible with almost all such drives.
The program itself is available in versions for Windows (there is support for Windows 10) and MacOS and is quite easy to use (but you will need a card reader).
You can download SD Memory Card Formatter from the official website https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter/
D-Soft Flash Doctor
Free D-Soft software Flash Doctor is not tied to any particular manufacturer and, judging by the reviews, can help fix problems with a flash drive through low-level formatting.
In addition, the program allows you to create an image of a flash drive for subsequent work no longer on a physical drive (to avoid further malfunctions) - this can be useful if you need to get data from a Flash drive. Unfortunately, the official website of the utility could not be found, but it is available on many resources with free programs.
How to find a program to repair a flash drive
In fact, there are much more such free utilities for repairing flash drives than are listed here: I tried to take into account only relatively “universal” tools for USB drives from different manufacturers.
It is possible that none of the above utilities are suitable for restoring the health of your USB drive. In this case, you can use the following steps to find the right program.
Optional: if all the methods described are repaired USB stick didn't work, try it.
Flash drives from Kingston, due to their reliability, long service life and relative cheapness, are very popular. But, like any other technique, they are not protected from various breakdowns and failures. The drive sometimes really "dies", and it is not possible to restore it. Although the situation is more common when a flash drive can be brought back to life with the help of special utilities.
In this article, we will cover a few effective ways to recover a Kingston flash drive.
Is it possible to restore
Here are a few signs that a flash drive can be recovered:
- the system prompts you to format the removable disk;
- a notification appears when a USB flash drive is connected that a new device has been detected;
- errors occur when writing data and reading;
- the drive shows up in explorer but doesn't open.
These issues are resolved by formatting the media or flashing the controller, but if the drive has important information, then it is necessary to try to "pull out" it before starting the recovery procedures.
Controller firmware
To restore a Kingston flash drive, you will need a special utility, and in order not to make a mistake and download the correct program, you need to find out the controller model.
One way to get the information you need is Flash program Drive Information Extractor.
- on the flashboot.ru website, go to the iFlash section;
- enter the PID and VID value in the corresponding windows and click Search.
Press the get data button, a report with PID and VID lines will appear. Their value is used to search for utilities for the correct recovery of the Kingston Datatraveler flash drive.
Using the FLASH MODEL and FLASH VENDOR columns, find your flash drive and see which utility fits the drive's controller.
Programs for flash drive recovery Kingston
Of course, you can find the necessary utility without knowing the controller model. To do this, it is enough to type the query “recovery utilities” in the browser search engine. There are several applications in the results, among which the following recovery tools are sure to be.
The problem is that Kingston flash drive recovery utilities only work if they are compatible with the controller that is installed in the drive. Therefore, if you download the first utility that comes across, you can expect that it will not detect the connected USB flash drive.
When required program found and installed, you can proceed with the recovery procedure. Just be sure to first read the instructions, which are usually packaged with the utility in the archive, to find out if there is a special procedure for the recovery program.
Kingston Format Utility
This is a proprietary utility designed to format Kingston flash drives. Initially, the program was released specifically for the HyperX DTHX30/XXGB USB series. Nevertheless, it supports any drives from this manufacturer. This program compared to others standard means formatting shows faster speed.
Kingston with this utility happens by converting the media file system to NTFS and FAT32. Both of these systems have their advantages and disadvantages. We only note that FAT32 is better for storing small files, and NTFS is better for large ones. In addition, FAT32 format drives have restrictions that will not allow you to write files larger than 4 GB. This must be taken into account before starting formatting and choosing a file system.
All the necessary program controls are concentrated in one window, where the required media is selected (if there are several connected) and the source is indicated. file system. As soon as you click the Format button, formatting will begin.
The program does not need to be installed and works with drives of any size.
Key features:
- quick format drives from Kingston;
- work in portable mode;
- support for FAT32 and NTFS file systems;
- in the main window, a minimum of controls;
- high speed work compared to other formatting tools.
Recovery flash drive Kingston
Hetman Uneraser is designed to recover files deleted from various media. The application supports work with almost any storage media - USB-devices, hard drives, memory cards, cell phones.
The list of supported file systems includes VFAT, NTFS, and FAT 12/16/32. Hetman Uneraser is able to recover office documents, multimedia files, emails, photos, RAR and ZIP archives, etc.
You can also try to recover not only deleted information, but also data from damaged and already formatted media.
USB Drive Antivirus Utility
Designed for all those who worry about and care about the security of their computer and its file system as a whole. There are many different spyware and viruses at the present time, which, when they enter your computer, will delete all your data or steal passwords and confidential information. Therefore, it is recommended to pay special attention to the exchange of information with partners and friends via USB drives.
All antiviruses usually slow down the system, take up a lot of space, and also spend a lot of your system resources to work. USB Drive Antivirus Portable does not require installation and runs directly from a USB drive or other removable media, consumes a minimum amount of random access memory and other resources.
The program is perfect for recovering a Kingston dtse9 flash drive, eliminating the possibility of any conflicts with anti-virus software and fully compatible with it.
This utility will detect and remove all the latest spyware and virus programs that can get onto your computer through removable devices. As soon as a USB drive is connected, the application automatically scans the device for malware, viruses and suspicious files.
Low Level Format Tool
Judging by the numerous user reviews, this program does an excellent job with damaged Kingston media. It works at a low level, so it is quite successful in its functions. This applies not only to drives from Kingston. Just note that the utility will format the flash drive and restore its functionality, but the data from it will not.
The advantages of the utility users include:
- work with all types of media (removable drives, SD cards, hard drives, flash drives);
- completely resets the information on the drive.
Flaws:
- in free version there are restrictions on formatting speed;
- after the formatting operation, it is necessary to initialize the device;
- only English interface.
Good day!
If your flash drive began to constantly fail: it is not formatted, when connected to a computer - it often freezes, when copying files to it - errors fly out, but it has not been subjected to mechanical stress - there are CHANCES to restore its performance!
It would be nice if, when connecting a flash drive, it was at least somehow determined, for example: a connection sound is emitted, the flash drive is displayed in "my computer", an LED blinks on it, etc. If the computer does not see the USB flash drive at all, then first I recommend that you read this article:
Generally, give universal instruction, how and with what program what to do to restore a USB flash drive - it's impossible! But in this short article I will try to give an algorithm that will help, even for novice users, to deal with the problem and solve it.
Recovery flash drive // step by step
Determining the controller model
It turned out, by the will of fate, I have one flash drive that Windows refused to format - an error took off "Windows cannot complete formatting". The flash drive, according to the owner, did not fall, water did not fall on it, and in general, it was handled quite carefully ...
All that was clear after looking at it was that it was 16 GB and its brand was SmartBuy. When connected to a PC, the LED lit up, the flash drive was detected and visible in the explorer, but it malfunctioned.
SmartBuy 16 GB - "experimental" non-working flash drive
To restore the normal operation of the flash drive, you need to reflash the controller chip. This is done with special utilities, and each type of controller has its own utility! If the utility is chosen incorrectly, then with a high degree of probability, you will ruin the flash drive completely ... I will say even more, one model range flash drives - there may be different controllers!
Each device have their own unique identification numbers - VID and PID , and the flash drive is no exception. To choose the correct utility for flashing, you need to determine these identification numbers (and the controller model by them).
One of the most simple ways find out the VID, PID, and model of the flash drive controller is to use special utilities. One of the best of its kind is .
Flash Drive Information Extractor
A small free utility to get the most information about a flash drive. You don't need to install it!
The program will determine the USB flash drive model, model and type of memory (all modern flash drives are supported, at least from normal manufacturers)...
The program will work even in cases where the file system of the flash drive is not detected, when the computer freezes when the media is connected.
Information received:
- controller model;
- possible options for memory chips installed in a flash drive;
- type of installed memory;
- maximum current consumption declared by the manufacturer;
- USB version;
- the total physical volume of the disk;
- disk size reported by the operating system;
- VID and PID;
- Query Vendor ID;
- Query Product ID;
- Query Product Revision;
- controller revision;
- Flash ID (not for all configurations);
- Chip F/W (for some controllers), etc.
Important! The program only works with USB flash drives. MP3 players, phones and other devices - it does not recognize. It is advisable, before starting the program, to leave only one single USB flash drive connected to the USB ports, from which you want to get the most information.
Working with Flash Drive Information Extractor
- We disconnect everything that is connected from Usb ports (at least all drives: players, external rigid disks, etc.).
- We insert the repaired USB flash drive into the USB port;
- We start the program;
- Click the button "Get flash drive information" ;
- After some time, we get maximum information about the drive (see screenshot below).
- If the program freezes- don't do anything and don't close it. Remove the flash drive after a couple of minutes from the USB port, the program should "hang down", and you will see all the information that it managed to pull out from the flash drive...
Now we know the information about the flash drive and we can start searching for the utility.
Flash drive info:
- VID: 13FE; PID: 4200;
- Controller model (Controller): Phison 2251-68 (second line in the screenshot above);
- SmartBuy 16 GB.
Addition
You can reliably determine the controller model if you disassemble the USB flash drive. True, not every body of a flash drive is collapsible, and not every one can be put back together later.
Usually, to open the case of a flash drive, you need a knife and a screwdriver. When opening the case, be careful not to damage the inside of the flash drive. An example controller is shown in the screenshot below.
Broken flash drive. Controller model: VLI VL751-Q8
Supplement 2
You can find out the VID and PID of the flash drive using the device manager (in this case, you don’t need to install anything). True, in this case we will not recognize the controller model, and there is some risk that VID and PID it will not be possible to accurately identify the controller. And yet, all of a sudden the above utility will hang and give no information at all...
How to find a utility for flashing a flash drive
Important! After flashing the flash drive, all information on it will be deleted!
1) Knowing the controller model, you can simply use search engines (Google, Yandex for example) and find what you need.
The algorithm of work is as follows:
- We go to the site:
- We enter our VID and PID in the search bar and look for;
- In the list of results, most likely you will find dozens of lines. Among them, you need to find a line that matches: controller model, your manufacturer, VID and PID, flash drive size .
- Further in the last column - you will see the recommended utility. By the way, note that the version of the utility also matters! It remains to download the desired utility and apply it.
After you find and download the desired utility, run it and format the media - in my case, you had to press just one button - Restore (restore) .
Formatter SiliconPower v3.13.0.0 // Format and Restore. An end-user utility designed for both low-level and high-level (FAT32) formatting of flash drives on Phison PS2251-XX controllers.
After a couple of minutes of blinking the LED on the flash drive, it began to work normally, messages from Windows about the impossibility of formatting no longer appeared. Bottom line: the flash drive was restored (became 100% working), and given to the owner.
That, in fact, is all. For additions on the topic - I would be grateful. good luck!
This article is intended to help you software recovery USB Flash Drive based on Skymedi SK6211 microcontroller. This controller is found in flash drives various manufacturers, for example: Kingston, Kingmax, A-data, etc. The utility was chosen as an example. It, like many others, is designed to work in the OS environment - MS Win XP. A Kingston DT100 / 1GB flash drive was chosen as the "experimental" one.
The utility kit includes:
1) SK6211_20090828.exe - the main module itself.
2) SK6211_User_Manual.pdf - instruction for the program in English
3) SK6211BA_Skymedi Flash Support List _20090828.xls - "Flashlist" - a list of memory modules that this version of the utility supports. (Useful for determining "CodeBankVer" by date)
4) SK6211BA R-W Performance_Capacity List_20090828.xls - A summary table of speed tests of various memory modules in single-channel and dual-channel modes in Win XP sp2 & Win 2k sp4.
5) SK62XX_FAT_20090505.exe & SK62XX_FATool_UserGuideV1.pdf - an auxiliary utility for flash testing.
6) ErrorCodes.txt - list of error codes.
7) DrvSwitch.exe - factory driver.
8) Driver_Using_manual.pdf - instructions for using the driver.
1. Preparation
We connect the flash drive and find out the VID / PID, for example, using ChipGenius 3.0. Subject has VID = 0951 PID = 1607.
Run the "SK6211_20090828.exe" utility and select default in the "Configuration Selection".
We see that in the first window (DUT1) a flash drive was detected (SAMPLE - No Match), but so far it is not ready for firmware! SAMPLE = example, No Mach = No Match. This means that the current settings (default) do not match the internals of the flash drive. The utility has already determined that the flash drive is built on a controller that responds to its requests and has already read information from its firmware.
Viewing this information is done by double-clicking on SAMPLE.
Here we see the contents of the firmware:
1) SK6211 controller
2) Memory FID (AD D3 14 A5 34) and its name (HY27UT088G2A)
3) CodeBank version: C080512A_F080516A
4) Firmware version: CodeSwap-0512
5) The rest is not so important (date of manufacture / utility version / configuration name = “engraving on the USB connector” / VID & PID codes, etc.)
6) Channel: Byte Mode (Single-channel mode. May come in handy in the settings!)
Everything is good here! But what to do with the code that the firmware has flown so that most of this information is not there !?
Controller Version: SK6211BA
Flash Part No.: No matched Flash Part No.
Flash ID 01: 0x89 0x95 0x94 0x1E 0x74
Flash ID 02: 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00
Flash ID 03: 0x89 0x95 0x94 0x1E 0x74
Here, the utility read the FID from the flash drive, but was unable to select the memory from its list!
Conclusion: try another utility or check contacts. Sometimes restoring contacts on the Data Bus between the controller and the memory changes the ID-shnik and the utility, by the correct ID-shnik, finds a match in its Database.
Controller Version: SK6211BA
Flash Part No.: I29F32G08AAMD1_S
Total Flash Size: 8192 MB
4K Page, MLC
Flash ID 01: 0x89 0xD7 0x94 0x3E 0x84
Flash ID 02: 0x89 0xD7 0x94 0x3E 0x84
Flash ID 03: 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00
Flash ID 04: 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00
Flash ID 05: 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00
Flash ID 06: 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00
Flash ID 07: 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00
Flash ID 08: 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00
Here the utility found memory in its database. But the Code Bank version is unknown! We find it by searching for the date by the name of the flash chip in the file SK6211BA_Skymedi Flash Support List _20090828.xls
Now we are looking for suitable Code bank.
Opening the file:
…\SK6211_PDT_20090828\CodeBank\2806\CBVer-1.2.2.44.ini
We find the version by date 09.03.09: C090309A_F090309A
2. Settings
Let's go back to the subject. Click on the “Advaced” button to go to the advanced settings. The password is 123456.
1) prescribe VID & PID: 0951 & 1607
2) Vendor Name: Kingston
3) Product Name: DataTraveler 2.0
4) Revision: 8.2 (leave unchanged)
5) Disk Type: Removable (leave unchanged)
6) S/N: 001478544881SK8703120829 (this is the experimental serial number)
7) S / N Gen: (3) Don "t Change SN
Below you can skip to
8) Fixed Flash Size = 1024 (set the original size of the flash drive)
9) When you set the checkbox to Erase All, a message is displayed: Warning Message: System information will be eliminated after erase all!!!
(Warning: system information will be deleted after setting the "delete everything" mode !!!)
Go to the right window Flash Options
10) Select controller: SK6211BA
11) Select Code Bank Ver: C080512A_F080516A (the one that the utility issued by double-clicking on SAMPLE) Now I'm waiting for the Flash Selection section to be able to select the desired memory - HY27UT088G2A, but this does not happen. What is the reason? Perhaps in the utility version! After all, the firmware version is indicated: PDT Version: SK6211_PDT_20080616_BA, and I use SK6211_20090828! We go along the path of choosing a b/w flashlist. We find the date - 04/02/2008, but I can't find a name with such a date in the list, and Code Bank versions with the nearest date don't fit either! The assumption that the date from the flashlist matches does not work for this flash drive. Helped only full enumeration! When choosing C090828A_F090828A, the utility made it possible to select the desired memory!
12) Next, select Channel Mode: Single
We don't change anything else.
Get READY status
Now the utility is “ready” to flash the flash drive.
Click Auto-LLF
3. Work on the bugs
44 -
2 -
when changing read/write test error 37 -
The jackdaw on ERASE ALL helped
45 -
(Status READY, error in LLF process)
Helped: switching to test mode by closing 31-32 feet per m / s of memory
and re-firmware
_______________________________
101 -
Need more fresh version utilities with new memory support
ps: in previous version 20090709_BA (34 - )
_______________________________
94 -
1 -
When trying to flash - (Access error)
Removed the USB extension cable, due to which there were losses.
_______________________________
In the work on the bugs, the experience of forum users was used: Vitorrio, SeeJay, E1haZ and others.
Discussion of the article and problems during recovery are discussed in this forum thread.
USB flash drives are reliable devices, but there is always a risk of breakage. The reason for this may be incorrect operation, firmware failure, unsuccessful formatting, and so on. In any case, if this is not physical damage, you can try to repair it with software tools.
The problem is that not every tool is suitable for repairing a particular flash drive, and using the wrong utility can permanently disable it. But knowing the VID and PID of the drive, you can determine the type of its controller and select the appropriate program.
VID is used to identify the manufacturer, PID is the identifier of the device itself. Accordingly, each controller removable storage labeled with these values. True, some unscrupulous manufacturers may neglect paid registration ID-numbers and assign them just at random. But mostly it concerns cheap Chinese products.
First, make sure that the flash drive is somehow detected by the computer: a characteristic sound is heard when connected, it is visible in the list of connected devices, displayed in "Task Manager"(perhaps as unknown device) And so on. Otherwise, there is little chance not only for VID definition and PID, but also on media recovery.
ID-numbers can be quickly determined using specialized programs. Alternatively, you can use "Device Manager" or just disassemble the USB flash drive and find information on its “insides”.
Please note that MMC, SD, MicroSD cards do not have VID and PID values. Applying one of the methods to them, you will get only the IDs of the card reader.
Method 1: ChipGenius
Perfectly reads the main technical information not only from flash drives, but also from many other devices. Interestingly, ChipGenius has its own database of VIDs and PIDs to give you guessed device information when it fails to poll the controller for some reason.
To use this program, do the following:
- Run her. Select the flash drive at the top of the window.
- Bottom opposite value "USB Device ID" You will see VID and PID.
Please note: older versions of the program may not work correctly - download the latest ones (you can find just such one at the link above). Also, in some cases, she refuses to work with USB ports 3.0.
Method 2: Flash Drive Information Extractor
This program provides more detailed information about the drive, of course, including VID and PID.
After you have downloaded the program, do the following:
Method 3: USBDeview
The main function of this program is to display a list of all devices ever connected to this PC. Additionally, you can get detailed information about them.
Instructions for use are as follows:
Method 4: ChipEasy
An intuitive utility that allows you to get comprehensive information about the flash drive.
After downloading, do the following:
- Run the program.
- Select the desired drive in the top field.
- Below you will see all its technical data. VID and PID are in the second line. You can select and copy them "CTRL+C").
Method 5: CheckUDisk
A simple utility that displays basic information about the drive.
Further instruction:
- Run the program.
- At the top, select the flash drive.
- Check out the data below. VID and PID are located on the second line.
Method 6: Studying the Board
When none of the methods helps, then you can take drastic measures and open the case of the flash drive, if possible. VID and PID You may not find it there, but the marking on the controller has the same value. The controller is the most important part of the USB drive, it is black and square in shape. 
What to do with these values?
Now you can start using the information received and find an effective utility for working with your flash drive. To do this, use where users themselves form a database of such programs.
