Community Newsletter: Q&A: Dead flash drives? What's going on here?!
- 5/23/08 4:31 PM
Dead flash drives? What's going on here?!
by Lee Koo (ADMIN) - 5/23/08 4:31 PM
Question:
Three times--once each with three different flash drives, and
on six different PCs--I've had the experience of finding that
the computer won't recognize the drive, and the data on the
drive has become inaccessible. I see this is a common
problem. Other users ask for advice on the Web, and nobody
seems able to offer any solid information on this occurrence.
In none of my incidents has the flash drive been dropped,
heated, frozen, or dropped into a liquid or run through a
strong magnetic field. One day they work; next day they
don't. Anybody know why or what could be causing this issue?
And whether my data is permanently lost in such cases? Three
times, three different flash drives can't be a coincidence!
Please help! Thank you.
--Submitted by Paul L.
Here are some great suggestions by our members to start, but please do read through all the other great suggestion from our members below.
If you have an answer for Paul, please click the reply link below to submit it. Please be as detailed as possible in your answer. Thanks!
Not just flash...
by redking44 - 5/9/08 7:05 PM In reply to: Dead flash drives? What's going on here?! by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
No explanation, but I've had 2 MP3 players do exactly the same. So now I have 2 horribly expensive personal FM radios
My preferred reason is marketing. Manufacturers can predict almost to the day how long a device will last.. so if it fails quickly, they want it to.
Attempt to recover your MP3 players...
by ThePoke - 5/9/08 7:40 PM In reply to: Not just flash... by redking44Hey Redking... sorry to hear about the MP3 players.
One of my nieces has done this twice. I was able to recover them by going into disk manager (Right click "my computer", manage, then about half way down...)
Connect your device & wait for the device insertion confirmations sounds. In the lower right, gray pane, scroll down til you see the drive that SHOULD be your MP3 player. (It will say like Disk x Removable K: and the drive size).
When you are ABSOLUTELY SURE. No mistakes here... If you are 100% sure then right click and tell it to format. (Formatting removes all the data from whatever drive you tell it to... and it don't care if you're wrong!!!) Tell it yes and then when prompted, the file system should be FAT.
This will reset the drive and your MP3 player should be ready to accept data again.
Boy, does this post ever get a gold star!
by Van-D - 5/18/08 5:31 AM In reply to: Attempt to recover your MP3 players... by ThePokeI followed this advice and, to my surprise, the missing "Remove Safely" icon restored itself during the process. It brought up a list of ALL my USB drives and allowed me to chose the specific one I wished to remove. Hooray!
Jump Drive Empty
by thomastri - 5/19/08 9:13 AM In reply to: Attempt to recover your MP3 players... by ThePokeMake sure you are logged in as administrator when checking the drive.
Windows task bar
by noelvm - 5/16/08 6:35 PM In reply to: Not just flash... by redking44Choo says the big problem with failed flash drived is improper disconneting. Just go to the "windows task bar. . . . ."
Ok I'll bite. What and or where is the windows task bar. No I'm not running vista I'm running XP and will untill I die because I have three new boxed Dell XP computers here and I'm 63. They should last until I die. Screw you Bill!!!!!!!!!!!!!
noelvm
re Windows task bar - New!
by Dan Waldo - 5/17/08 4:51 AM In reply to: Windows task bar by noelvmnoelvm, I share your concern about Vista, but XP has a task bar as well. It's in the lower right corner of your screen, just left of the time indicator. If there's a < symbol, you may need to click on that to get a full view of the incons in the tray. Mousing over them will generate a popup balloon to tell you what they represent, and one should be for removing hardware (provided that you have hardware plugged in).
It's too common not to have the "Safely Remove" icon present
by Van-D - 5/17/08 5:39 AM In reply to: re Windows task bar - New! by Dan WaldoA quick Google will show many people, like me for example, who experienc e the loss of that "Safely Remove Hardware" icon and are looking for a way to replace it! I've tried everything I've read to recreate that icon and still have had no luck. As a matter of course, I disable the 'hide inactive icons' and a work-around suggested was to stop that and use the 'customize' option to set the "Safely Remove" to 'always show' but with typical Microsoft reliability it decides this isn't part of 'always.' Anybody with another suggestion would be my new best friend.
http://safelyremove.com/
by nzav - 5/17/08 9:29 AM In reply to: It's too common not to have the "Safely Remove" icon present by Van-Dhttp://safelyremove.com/
I have been using this replacement for Microsoft's version for quite a while and have not looked back...
Hope this will bail you out also.
Slight amendment to your definitions, Dan
by RLMuller - 5/17/08 10:10 AM In reply to: re Windows task bar - New! by Dan WaldoIMHO, the entire bottom line of a Windows screen is the Task Bar, except when the user boosts some application to "full screen". Most of the Task Bar is populated with icons which refer principally to applications the user opened through Windows Explorer. The right side of the Task Bar is devoted to the System Tray which presents icons for those applications which specifically elect representation there.
Safely Remove Hardware Icon
by JoMcCoy - 5/17/08 5:36 PM In reply to: re Windows task bar - New! by Dan WaldoOK, I am getting lost or am not reading something correctly. When I click on this icon it gives a choice for removing the hardware drive itself. I had to do a system restore to recoup my G-drive. It didn't have anything to do with allowing the SD to be removed safely. What the heck did I do wrong?
unplug and plug back in
by Olifrench - 5/18/08 2:23 AM In reply to: Safely Remove Hardware Icon by JoMcCoyIf you unplug and plug back in your USB device it should be available again. System Restore is not the way to do it. Basically with 'Safely Remove Hardware' you are preparing to remove the device so, as far as Windows is concerned, it has been removed and the only way to get it back is to plug it back in, which, of course, requires to plug it out first.
It might be an internal card reader
by dannigirl2014 - 5/19/08 1:25 PM In reply to: unplug and plug back in by OlifrenchDon't forget that if you are using an internal card reader you probably won't be able to get to its USB connection in order to have it recognized again. You'll have to re-boot!
In this case you just have to manage without using safely remove hardware. It should be fine as long as the drive is set for "optimize for safe removal" in Device Manager. Just wait until all operations are complete as far as Windows is concerned then wait until the activity lamp on the card or card reader indicates there is no more activity, then wait a couple of seconds more and pull out the card.
Safely remove....
by soinel - 5/24/08 9:56 AM In reply to: Safely Remove Hardware Icon by JoMcCoywith the icon visible in the hot corner(task BAR)as long as there isn't something on top of it that looks like a cancel sign you don't have to click on it ....just remove the thumb(Flash) drive as it will close any open files automatically. Just to be safe, close any open windows that are displaying or using any data on the flash drive. tThe problem most folks have with flash/thumb drives is that they remove them with open files still active. That is the same as removing a CD you are writing to before it is finished writing.....kiss the data goodbye
Finding Safely Removing Hardware in the Windows XP taskbar
by dcwco - 5/19/08 9:21 PM In reply to: re Windows task bar - New! by Dan WaldoI want to thank you for your information. I just couldn't find that on my windows taskbar. I am so happy to know all the stuff from this question and yours helped me know exactly where to start now.
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