USB flash drive help!

[Bh167]

I recently bought a 3d printer and there was this USB drive that had some .stl files and the slicer program for the printer and some other stuff on it for the printer. Everything was going fine with the set up when someone (me!) stupidly hit the update firmware button on the printer while the memory stick was plugged into it. I cancelled the update and plugged the memory stick back into my laptop. It says I have to format the drive again and in properties the memory stick reads 0 bytes. Have I lost all the data permantly? If it's not lost would I have to go to a data recovery company or would one of the many solutions work that come up when you google this stuff? 

 

Sorry if this is not suitable for here in advance. I know I'm a plank and I'm kicking myself. Any help would be much appreciated even if it's the bad news that it's lost permanently. 

[TylerD321]

Here's an article I found from a quick google search. https://www.cleverfiles.com/howto/recover-usb-drive-windows.html

[DigitalGoat]

4 minutes ago, Bh167 said:

I recently bought a 3d printer and there was this USB drive that had some .stl files and the slicer program for the printer and some other stuff on it for the printer. Everything was going fine with the set up when someone (me!) stupidly hit the update firmware button on the printer while the memory stick was plugged into it. I cancelled the update and plugged the memory stick back into my laptop. It says I have to format the drive again and in properties the memory stick reads 0 bytes. Have I lost all the data permantly? If it's not lost would I have to go to a data recovery company or would one of the many solutions work that come up when you google this stuff? 

 

Sorry if this is not suitable for here in advance. I know I'm a plank and I'm kicking myself. Any help would be much appreciated even if it's the bad news that it's lost permanently. 

Have you not checked the printer manufacturer's site to see if you can download the software?

Other than that you could try any number of recovery apps, some paid, some free....but chances of recovering from a USB flash drive that I am assuming was interrupted in the middle of a format operation are low.

[Bh167]

1 hour ago, DigitalGoat said:

Have you not checked the printer manufacturer's site to see if you can download the software?

Other than that you could try any number of recovery apps, some paid, some free....but chances of recovering from a USB flash drive that I am assuming was interrupted in the middle of a format operation are low.

I have checked the printer manufacturer's site and the software is paid and quite expensive and I have called them and ask would they be able to send a copy on and they're being quite difficult to work with. Any recommondentation on which of these recovery apps is best? I had a bad experience a while ago with downloading software so I'm just a bit weary about which one I should download. One that seems to keep coming up for me is disk drill and someone I know said to keep away from that one. Is it any good in your experience? Thank you so much. 

[Bh167]

1 hour ago, TylerD321 said:

Here's an article I found from a quick google search. https://www.cleverfiles.com/howto/recover-usb-drive-windows.html

I tried a few of these and no luck haven't tried the disk drill, do you know if it's safe to use?

[DigitalGoat]

59 minutes ago, Bh167 said:

I tried a few of these and no luck haven't tried the disk drill, do you know if it's safe to use?

Try Testdisk from here, https://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Download , read the info before use to make sure it will do what you expect.

[LWM723]

If you send the manufacturer a copy of your bill of sale I'm sure they would provide a replacement.

[Bh167]

3 hours ago, DigitalGoat said:

Try Testdisk from here, https://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Download , read the info before use to make sure it will do what you expect.

Thank you so much, testdisk worked perfect however I think you were correct, everything that came back was corrupted in some form except for 2 pdfs that survived. 

[Bh167]

3 hours ago, LWM723 said:

If you send the manufacturer a wecopy of your bill of sale I'm sure they would provide a replacement.

I contacted that manufacturer again today over the phone as they are not local and we got a better rep and they said they will send the slicer program over again, hopefully. Thanks for everybodys help. 

[Roswell]

Yeah, flash memory is almost impossible to recover data from due to the way data is stored on it and stuff like wear leveling.

 

Glad you were able to get a solution from the manufacturer! Make sure you backup the new drive. Flash drives don’t last forever either!

[DigitalGoat]

58 minutes ago, Bh167 said:

I contacted that manufacturer again today over the phone as they are not local and we got a better rep and they said they will send the slicer program over again, hopefully. Thanks for everybodys help. 

Great result, if they keep their word. It is unusual for device manufacturers to not allow downloads of software bundled with a purchase, most times you just need to register the product via it's serial number to gain access to the downloads section.