Can you recover data from USB drives? The short answer is yes we can. The longer answer is well, longer. Dave’s Computers in New Jersey is a bona fide expert at data recovery. We can recover data from hard drives, SSD, memory cards, USB and removable storage and any device that stores data.
For the purposes of this post, I will use the term USB drive to include removable USB memory sticks and external hard drives. While mechanically different, they both attach via USB and both have similar uses and challenges. USB memory sticks are also referred to as flash drives, pen drives or thumb drives. All different names for the same device.
The USB flash drive is cheap, portable, works on any device with a USB port and offers ever higher storage potential. Available with multiple capacities, from 4GB up to 1TB in both USB 2.0 and USB 3.0, the humble flash drive costs from only a few dollars. Buy them from a reliable retailer or from eBay or somewhere, the quality is largely the same.
External hard drives are slightly more complicated. They can be as cheap as a standard hard drive in an external caddy or a purpose-built USB backup device featuring an SSD, 2.5” laptop drive or a hybrid drive. These are generally more expensive than flash drives but offer the same thing. Their advantage is that they are available in higher capacities. Their downside is they aren’t as portable as a flash drive and often need their own power supply.
With no moving parts and increasingly large storage capacity, the USB drive is as numerous, if not more so, than memory cards.
USB drive data recovery
Recovering data from a USB drive involves much the same process as recovering data from a standard hard drive. We use specialist tools to analyze the raw data contained on the drive to see if we can recover it and turn it back into usable media or files. However, the intricacies of the process itself is much more complex.
A typical USB flash drive is made up of the NAND chip which is where data is stored and the memory or device controller which does the physical reading and writing. The complexity comes with the fact that each manufacturer uses their own device controller, meaning we have to have the ability to work with the most common of these. Which we have.
If we can access the device controller, we unlock many troubleshooting and data recovery abilities of the drive. We can fix firmware corruption for one, which is a common fault with USB drives. If your drive reports the wrong size or won’t let you read or write from it, chances it the firmware is corrupt. This is something we can help with. It is certainly not something you can do at home!
Digital data recovery in New Jersey
The data recovery specialists here at Dave’s Computers have been serving the residents of New Jersey for many years. We provide a range of general computer and data recovery services to our neighbors and will continue to do so for many years to come.
We can help with:
Accidentally deleted files – We have all deleted something by accident only to realize the file was important. Not so long ago, we just had to deal with it and do without. The advent of advanced data recovery tools and the experts to use them has changed all that.
Accidentally formatted USB drives – Many of us have done this too. Accidentally hit format instead of something else only to see our data wiped before our eyes. Again, before data recovery tools, that was that. Now, as long as you don’t do anything else, we can recover your data from a formatted USB drive the same way we can any type of drive.
Data corruption – Data is delicate and can be damaged or rendered useless by many factors. They can include static electricity, power surges, malware, software bugs, movement during data writing and many others. We can help with all of these.
Help us help you
If you lose data, accidentally delete a file or photo or need any of our data recovery services, you need to help us out a bit. The first thing you have to do is stop using the USB drive immediately. Lost data can only be recovered if it hasn’t been overwritten.
Only specialist tools can reliably recover data and only specific tools can repair corrupt device controllers. Therefore we ask that you don’t download data recovery software from the internet and try yourself before bringing it to us. While we may be able to still rescue your data, the chances of us being able to recover all of it or any of it, reduce considerably.
Finally, we would ask that you treat your USB drive carefully. Like any electronic component, it is sensitive. Don’t move it while you are using it, try not to bang against it or nudge it while it is connected and never remove it from the port while data is being read or written. All these things will not only shorten the life of your drive, it can also cause data loss.
Dave’s Computers in New Jersey are experts in data recovery, including from USB drives. We are also your local experts in every aspect of computer repair. Whatever your issue, whatever you need help with, we will be happy to help. Call us or visit our store.
We can also help you configure a backup system if you are concerned with potential data loss. We would always recommend backing up important files to at least two different locations. Once being a USB or removable drive and one being in the cloud. There are other options available should you prefer. Contact us today to discuss your backup needs.
