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Question

Thumb drive problems

by Mar 26, 2014 9:49AM PDT

Oh happy day-

Apparently my incredibly improbable CPU failure last December wasn't enough bad luck for me. Since I do a lot of computer-based work for both school and work purposes and on a lot of different computers, a lot of my important data is (was!) on a flash drive and only a flash drive (and yes, I am an idiot). It's an Ativa 4GB model -- an SM3252A Memory Bar for driver purposes.

The thing has an idiotic slide design that leaves the business end of the male USB connector totally exposed. I remember thinking when I bought it that it left a conveniently USB-connector-sized hole for pocket fuzz, moisture, etc., to get into.

Go ahead and guess what happened.

I noticed the problem earlier today, when I plugged the drive in and was greeted by an "Installing device driver software" message, which shouldn't have happened anyway, since the computer I was using it on had dealt with this particular drive plenty of times before, and already had the necessary drivers.

Then, "Device driver software was not successfully installed".

I took the drive out of the port, checked the connector for pocket fuzz, and found that my initial worry had been justified. I removed a good-sized glob of fuzz from the connector with a paper clip, took canned air to it to clear out any remaining dust, and plugged it back in.

Still no luck on any of the five computers I've tried it in. The device shows up as "USB Mass Storage Device" under Device Manager, but every time I plug it in it goes through the same process of unsuccessfully installing drivers; it never gets far enough to show up in Computer with a drive letter assigned. I get different error codes in Device Manager, too -- Code 10: The device cannot start; Code 43: Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems. And other times I get the message that "This device is working properly."

Under other circumstances, I would trash the drive and be done with it, but I have data I really need on the drive, and I'm operating under the assumption that whatever fried it hasn't made that data irretrievable. But what I'm wondering is whether that's a stupid assumption, and if I should even bother going into a repair shop and having them take a look at it. I failed to back up, mostly because in the days when I worked on only one PC I thought of a USB drive as something to back up TO, not FROM. Anyway, I'm paying the price now.

I remember buying a $20 MP3 player in the mid-2000s that went on to survive two trips through washers and dryers, plus a dunk in a toilet. Why can't everything be that damn invincible? Happy

Discussion is locked

2 Posts
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Clarification Request
At the top of this forum are titles for recovery.
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Mar 26, 2014 10:17AM PDT

But 4GB fits on a free DropBox account so no reason for any loss today. Try this stick on other PCs and if you get a good read, put that 4GB into your DropBox for safely.
Bob

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Answer
Duh!, learn from this
by Mar 30, 2014 1:10AM PDT

I use a slew of different flash drives and they all work until they finally crap-out. Yes, they work in very harsh conditions and toss and tumble in the tool bag or laptop bag. I tend NOT to carry in the pocket because its more prone to some happenstance to welcome damage. The mere act of retrieving a flash drive from pocket on your person is the point of discharge for ESD(static) as you try to mount it.

You want to retrieve data, use the "recovery s/w" available for free or demo to see if it can see the flash drive. If it can't see the drive, then it's pretty much fired. The only other way way to fetch data then is to remove the memory chip(s) and mount on some test flash drive. Guess what, that's what they do in recovery services companies. Google, keywords: data recovery software checkout, Easus s/w

FYI- The cost of flash drives should not be a a tumbling factor, if you check online vendors, many offer good deals and even provide "bundle" sales like 4-10 flash drives that amongest 1-drive(ea) is only $6+ for a 8gb drive. You just have to shop around and when you look at costs like that compared to time and effort saved, its worth it.

tada -----Willy Happy

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