USB flash drives have become a common storage platform. However, flash drives could be limited by data read and write cycles. It won’t last forever and will be eventually rendered useless. Also, because flash drives are highly portable, they can vulnerable to virus infection. Because they are small and lightweight, USB drives can be quite fragile. It can get crushed easily. Being small in size may make flash drives convenient to carry, but it also means that you may misplace or lose it. Write-protect feature may prevent flash drives from being infected by virus, but most users ignore to use it.
For business professionals and average home users, USB flash drives have become a standard storage solution. Failures due to virus and overuse have become common, causing many people to lose their data. There are many software solutions for data recovery. Mishandling and lack of knowledge are two common causes of failures. Often, your PC simply can’t read the flash drive and when the drive icon is clicked, error message is displayed. A recovery software could force-read the flash drive, so recovery is likely to happen. For better results, data recovery should be handled professionally.
The recovery process usually starts with thorough and systematic scans of the faulty device. This is necessary to map the storage and to determine, which area that’s damaged and usable. Data from readable space can be backed up easily, but it takes more effort to accurately read the damaged area. It is a good idea to talk with experts to determine the severity of the problem and the type of data loss. Experts assistance may be needed, because even a mistake may erase the files permanently. As an example, USB flash drive could be affected by logical damage, which is caused by sudden power outages or virus attacks.
Virus attack could corrupt critical areas of the flash drive, making it unreadable to users. Power outages could also easily cause data corruption, because file transfer isn’t complete. It’s important to make sure that errors are kept under control. If data recovery can’t be performed using only software, experts may need to disassemble the flash drive and access the storage module directly. It needs to be performed in a special lab with tightly controlled temperature and humidity. In order to prevent physical damage, it is a good idea to choose USB flash drive with reinforced structure. So, even if you accidentally step on it, the rigid metal frame will protect the internal components.
Although there’s guarantee for complete data recovery, 100 percent success rate isn’t uncommon, if the problem isn’t too severe. When recovering data from physically injured flash drive, multiple techniques may be required. It will take more than simple scanning to recover data. The process can be quite complicated, especially if each bit of data must be retrieved from the storage. After retrieval, data will need to be transferred to safe platform. However, it’s better to recover just a portion of data, instead of losing everything. Data can be the most essential assets, so you need to protect them.