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How to fix an unrecognised USB drive

Written By: Ontrack

Date Published: 03 November 2023 08:47:34 EDT

How to fix an unrecognised USB drive

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The USB key is a practical way of storing and transporting data. Unfortunately, it is sometimes not recognised, and the data it holds becomes inaccessible. Find out why this happens and how to recover your data. 

USB drive not recognised due to physical damage 

USB keys were specifically designed to withstand the stresses of transport. However, this does not mean that they are entirely unsusceptible to physical damage. 

Physical damage can prevent your USB drive from being detected by a computer. When this happens, it is best to entrust your USB drive to a data recovery expert, who will be able to recover your data in a cleanroom environment. 

USB drive not detected due to driver malfunction

If you plug your USB key in and you receive the message, “USB drive not recognised” there could be a problem with the operating system. If this is the case, try to update the device driver. After doing this, if your USB drive is still not recognised, the operating system may be failing to assign a letter to your USB drive. In this case, try to repair the malfunction via ‘Disk Management’.  If these solutions fail to work, download a data recovery software.

How to recover your data using Ontrack EasyRecovery 

If your USB key hasn’t suffered physical damage, data recovery via software is possible. As long as your device is detected by a computer, you can perform data recovery. 

Follow these three steps to recover your data: 

screencap_easyrecovery_step01

1. Download the EasyRecovery software – plug in your USB key and launch the software. You will be asked to select your storage medium from a list. Choose the USB key. Before you start the recovery, make sure you have a secure location to save the recovered files. 

 

 

screencap_easyrecovery_step02

 2. Initiate the scan – the software will scan the media to find recoverable files. 

 

 

 

 

 

screencap_easyrecovery_step03

3. Recover your data – at the end of the scan, the software will list the recoverable data. Select the files you want to recover and save them to your secure location. 

Topics:

Flash Recovery

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