# [SOLVED] Recovery of data from undetected Memory stick



## orbzuk (Dec 31, 2012)

I own a memory stick, contained within it is over a year of work by more than one person. Recently, out of the blue, it stopped working. No USB port on any computer could manage to detect it (with and without diskmgmt).

For obvious reasons I MUST retrieve the contents of this memory stick at all costs, I care little about keeping the memory stick intact.

This is why I would like to know if anybody knows any way of retrieving this data? By an application I've not heard about maybe, or a hardware device that could read the stored data from the components.


I'm desperate, please respond if you know of anything that may help, I will try anything.


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## chauffeur2 (Feb 7, 2006)

*Re: Recovery of data from undetected Memory stick*

Greetings orbzuk, :welcome: to TSF.


Although I have not personally used this program, the research results, and the Cnet rating is fairly good.
The program is called, Paragon Backup & Recovery, and it is available for downloading from this Cnet Site.
Good Luck with the retrieval.
Please post back with the results.

Kind Regards,


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## orbzuk (Dec 31, 2012)

*Re: Recovery of data from undetected Memory stick*

I don't believe the program was intended for the recovery of lost data, it appears to be a simple backup tool.

Moreover, my memory stick cannot be detected by the computer, unless there was an especially advanced piece of software, I doubt it could do anything.

Thanks for the help anyway.


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## chauffeur2 (Feb 7, 2006)

*Re: Recovery of data from undetected Memory stick*

Hi orbzuk, :wave:

I apologise for the blooper. :uhoh:

If you can give me about 24 hours, I will contact a friend of mine that is in this type of business; the reason for this is, my Local Time is 0240 (GMT +10½ hrs) on Tuesday 1st January.
As soon as I am able I will post back the results of my enquiries.
Sorry for not being able to have an instant solution.

Happy New Year! artytime:

Kind Regards,


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## LMiller7 (Jun 21, 2010)

*Re: Recovery of data from undetected Memory stick*

Be aware that flash drives are the least reliable of modern storage media and cannot be trusted as primary storage of important files. They should be used primarily as transport media where the files are stored on some other media. These devices often fail without warning or apparent cause.

All important files, wherever they are stored, need at least one backup copy. Files of particular importance need 2 or more backup copies.

Good luck but data recovery is always hit or miss.


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## orbzuk (Dec 31, 2012)

*Re: Recovery of data from undetected Memory stick*



LMiller7 said:


> Be aware that flash drives are the least reliable of modern storage media


Quite... I was lead to believe flash storage devices (such as memory sticks and SSD) were rather robust. I do however understand that my HDD isn't being carried around on a lanyard all day and repeatedly plugged into and removed from computers.


And thank you chauffeur2, I was unaware there was a market for this sort of thing, or that it existed at all. I can't say I'm surprised, however.


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## steve32mids (Jun 27, 2012)

*Re: Recovery of data from undetected Memory stick*

Data Recovery Services - We Recover Your Data - LC Technology International they do data recovery for damaged flash devices.


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## chauffeur2 (Feb 7, 2006)

*Re: Recovery of data from undetected Memory stick*

Hello orbzuk,

I had a lengthy discussion with my friend that is in Data Recovery; he told me that there is no _free_ program available.
The main reason for this is, because it such a specialised field of work.
Furthermore, there can never be a 100% guarantee that the data can be retrieved.
A couple of questions raised were; how did the USB Drive become corrupted in the first place?
Had the unit been dropped or heavily bumped, or, was it due to not using the "Safely remove Hardware" facility; meaning that it was just removed without firstly 'shutting down' the operation of the USB Drive?
Have you tried the USB Drive in another computer to see if it works?
Have you tried plugging the USB Drive in before the computer is switched on?
Are USB Devices enabled in the _BIOS_?
Have other USB Devices been used in the USB port, and do they work properly?
If all of these methods have been tried, the only option left is to take it to a Data Recovery specialist to try to retrieve the data.
Having said that Data Recovery can be an expensive excercise, depending on the amount of data to recover.
Sorry that there is no better news for you.
Please post back with your thoughts/queries.

Kind Regards,


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## orbzuk (Dec 31, 2012)

*Re: Recovery of data from undetected Memory stick*

I'm unaware of the source of the defect. there appears to be no physical damage. I also cannot think of a time when it was dropped or hit badly.

I NEVER 'eject' the drive, I always just pull it out whenever the current operation is complete however this has never caused problem for me before. Could this cause problems with the memory stick?


After I was informed there were companies that could retrieve data from damaged memory sticks I was rather intrigued and looked into it myself.
I cannot fathom where this cost comes about. If they have the ability to open the memory stick up and fix a couple of connectors or attach a new USB to the memory stick why would it possibly cost this much?

That aside, I simply do not have the money to pay a company for this kind of service so I suppose, I am screwed.


Thanks for all of the help.


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## LMiller7 (Jun 21, 2010)

*Re: Recovery of data from undetected Memory stick*

The recovery of data from any solid state drive is a very complex (and thus expensive) procedure. And organizations involved in this receive very little aid from the device manufacturers. A great deal of research is required, a cost which must ultimately be paid by those using the recovery services.

On average the cost is considerably higher than for a conventional drive.

This article explains all this in more detail:
https://www.gillware.com/docs/SSD_whitepaper.pdf


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## chauffeur2 (Feb 7, 2006)

*Re: Recovery of data from undetected Memory stick*

_Hello orbzuk,_



orbzuk said:


> I'm unaware of the source of the defect. there appears to be no physical damage. I also cannot think of a time when it was dropped or hit badly.
> 
> I NEVER 'eject' the drive, I always just pull it out whenever the current operation is complete however this has never caused problem for me before. Could this cause problems with the memory stick?
> _Yes indeed it does cause damage to any removable media if it is not properly disconnected.
> ...


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