USB Files disappeared

[Arwanell]

I have a big problem

USB hid my files!

i can't see/open them

when i check file sizes it says 0 B, but when i check used space, they're there (about 8GB)

i did everything internet told me, scanned with antiviruses, typed all sorts of things in CMD, nothing....

those files were really important to me

they can't just disappear, space on USB is still used

[Guest]

Show hidden files in the file browser?

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/show-hidden-files

Or control + H on Linux I think

[Arwanell]

Show hidden files in the file browser?

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/show-hidden-files

Or control + H on Linux I think

tried it allready

i didn't do anything, they disappeared just like that

[Guest]

tried it allready

i didn't do anything, they disappeared just like that

Do they show up on another computer?

[Arwanell]

Do they show up on another computer?

no

[cynexit]

Have you tried booting a Linux live distro and check the stick from there? Just to rule out something more...

 

Also, in case of "deleted" files I had great expiriences with PhotoRec, but I'm not sure if this will be helpful here.

[Captain_WD]

~snip~

 

Hey there Arwanell,

 

How do you see the USB when you plug it in My Computer, Device Manager and Disk Management? Some Screenshots would be helpful. 

I would second @cynexit's suggestion. Check if you can see the data from Linux Live CD.

I'd contact a data recovery company if the data in the drive is valuable. Have in mind that these services are pretty costly. 

I'd also contact the manufacturer's support and see what the guys there can say about it. 

What were you doing when the drive became unusable? 

 

Captain_WD.

[Arwanell]

 

Hey there Arwanell,

 

How do you see the USB when you plug it in My Computer, Device Manager and Disk Management? Some Screenshots would be helpful. 

I would second @cynexit's suggestion. Check if you can see the data from Linux Live CD.

I'd contact a data recovery company if the data in the drive is valuable. Have in mind that these services are pretty costly. 

I'd also contact the manufacturer's support and see what the guys there can say about it. 

What were you doing when the drive became unusable? 

 

Captain_WD.

 

hi

thanks for help

th thing is i ordered this USB from Ebay(new)

it was so cheap, 12$ for 128GB

and i guess they sent me a virus

it was all fine, but when i plugged it in brothers computer to transfer some files this happened.

on his computer everything was fine, but when i plugged it back in my computer, i couldn't see his files

and also my(previous) files were gone too

 

i tried everything, and still nothing

now i threw it away, i lost some important data, but i can live without it

the most important data was something for school, my friends can give me that, so I'll survive

[cynexit]

hi

thanks for help

th thing is i ordered this USB from Ebay(new)

it was so cheap, 12$ for 128GB

and i guess they sent me a virus

it was all fine, but when i plugged it in brothers computer to transfer some files this happened.

on his computer everything was fine, but when i plugged it back in my computer, i couldn't see his files

and also my(previous) files were gone too

 

i tried everything, and still nothing

now i threw it away, i lost some important data, but i can live without it

the most important data was something for school, my friends can give me that, so I'll survive

 

12$? Hmm, just out of curiosity, did you just unplug the drive or did you do a "safe disconnect"?

Reason being is: Most of these cheap but high capacity drive have a very low transfer speed (like one or two mb/s) and although windows explorer shows the transfer as "done" it's not really done. (Like using the cache on a HDD)

The only way to be safe is to disconnect the device after doing a safe eject in windows.

If you don't do this and the device is actively writing you can actually really brick it.

[Arwanell]

12$? Hmm, just out of curiosity, did you just unplug the drive or did you do a "safe disconnect"?

Reason being is: Most of these cheap but high capacity drive have a very low transfer speed (like one or two mb/s) and although windows explorer shows the transfer as "done" it's not really done. (Like using the cache on a HDD)

The only way to be safe is to disconnect the device after doing a safe eject in windows.

If you don't do this and the device is actively writing you can actually really brick it.

yes...

i never safe remove USB, never had problems until now

 

and yes, this USB is slow AF!

i think you just found a sollution.

thanks man,i can't do anything, but finally i know what's wrong

[Captain_WD]

~snip~

 

As @cynexit explained in good details, removing an external drive without performing the "safe eject" function puts the device at a good amount of risk of data corruption and is prone to failure. This function ensures that all transfers are complete and there's nothing pending in the cache or memory that can be lost. Then it writes a small amount of data on the drive that it was ejected properly and safely. This data is read next time you plug the drive in a system and if everything is fine it runs smoothly. If not - the OS asks you to format the drive. This is why it is important to use it.

 

Captain_WD.

[Arwanell]

 

As @cynexit explained in good details, removing an external drive without performing the "safe eject" function puts the device at a good amount of risk of data corruption and is prone to failure. This function ensures that all transfers are complete and there's nothing pending in the cache or memory that can be lost. Then it writes a small amount of data on the drive that it was ejected properly and safely. This data is read next time you plug the drive in a system and if everything is fine it runs smoothly. If not - the OS asks you to format the drive. This is why it is important to use it.

 

Captain_WD.

 

 

at least i know the reason all this happened

and i'm happy now, because i know it wont happen again

 

thank you

[Captain_WD]

at least i know the reason all this happened

and i'm happy now, because i know it wont happen again

 

thank you

 

You are most welcome!

 

Feel free to post back if you have other questions or issues.

 

Cheers!