I have a 4gb SanDisk cruzer flash drive on which I keep a back up GEDCOM of my family history
and all copies of photos & censuses (some of which I only have here).
Two days ago it was fine, now I get one of two messages when I try to access it,
either: This folder is empty
or: You need to format the disk in drive G before you can use it. Do you want to format it?
I have tried it in other USB ports and other computers; the message is the same.
Googling, this seems to be a rare (no consolation!) problem which offers little or no hope of retrieval of the information.
Does anyone have any possible solutions or should I start crying now?
I should add I have always treated it carefully!
Best wishes,
Meg
SanDisk Cruzer
Moderator: Global Moderators
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- Posts: 194
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- Location: Moray
Re: SanDisk Cruzer
Hi Meg
Not so rare - I've seen it a few times before with various makes, which is why I never trust a USB stick as my only backup. It is possible that another computer might still read it, I've seen that happen. I've never tried it, but DOS might still read it. Otherwise I haven't heard of anything, unless someone else has
Not so rare - I've seen it a few times before with various makes, which is why I never trust a USB stick as my only backup. It is possible that another computer might still read it, I've seen that happen. I've never tried it, but DOS might still read it. Otherwise I haven't heard of anything, unless someone else has
Maggie
Parental -
Moray, Bellie/Boharm:- Symon, Thomson, Davidson, Gordon, Laing, Dick, Thom, Geddes.
Banffshire, Rothiemay:- Lobban, Symon
Maternal -
'Finechty Flett's'
Banffshire:- Flett, Taylor, Wood, Lorimer, Falconer
Parental -
Moray, Bellie/Boharm:- Symon, Thomson, Davidson, Gordon, Laing, Dick, Thom, Geddes.
Banffshire, Rothiemay:- Lobban, Symon
Maternal -
'Finechty Flett's'
Banffshire:- Flett, Taylor, Wood, Lorimer, Falconer
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- Posts: 642
- Joined: Wed Nov 02, 2005 2:42 pm
- Location: Dorset, UK
Re: SanDisk Cruzer
Fortunately, Maggie, it's not the only back up for most of my stuff but it was the only place where it was altogether and easily accessible..........I never trust a USB stick as my only backup
You live and learn!
Meg
Re: SanDisk Cruzer
I'm not sure if it will work in this situation, but it might be worth trying a data recovery program like Recuva, which you can download free.
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- Posts: 642
- Joined: Wed Nov 02, 2005 2:42 pm
- Location: Dorset, UK
Re: SanDisk Cruzer
Thanks very much for the tip.it might be worth trying a data recovery program like Recuva
I've just tried it but unfortunately it hasn't worked
Best wishes,
Meg
Re: SanDisk Cruzer
Hello Meg,
The only USB thumb drives that have failed me did so soon after purchase and were sent back. It seems to happen more with the cheap and nasty variety although SanDisk isn’t one of those.
If you just want to get the thing working again without recovering any data you could try the format. This may work, but perhaps only for a while.
If you’re trying to recover data from it you could try something like Unstoppable Copier although I’ve no idea if that will work any better than the program already mentioned. http://www.snapfiles.com/get/uncopier.html
Or perhaps try running chkdsk.exe and see if it can repair any problems. There’s a Graphical User Interface for it here that should make things a bit easier. http://www.snapfiles.com/get/checkdiskgui.html
I haven’t tried any of the above myself. Whatever you do make sure you’re doing it to the right drive and not to something else.
Best of luck,
Alan
The only USB thumb drives that have failed me did so soon after purchase and were sent back. It seems to happen more with the cheap and nasty variety although SanDisk isn’t one of those.
If you just want to get the thing working again without recovering any data you could try the format. This may work, but perhaps only for a while.
If you’re trying to recover data from it you could try something like Unstoppable Copier although I’ve no idea if that will work any better than the program already mentioned. http://www.snapfiles.com/get/uncopier.html
Or perhaps try running chkdsk.exe and see if it can repair any problems. There’s a Graphical User Interface for it here that should make things a bit easier. http://www.snapfiles.com/get/checkdiskgui.html
I haven’t tried any of the above myself. Whatever you do make sure you’re doing it to the right drive and not to something else.
Best of luck,
Alan
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- Posts: 642
- Joined: Wed Nov 02, 2005 2:42 pm
- Location: Dorset, UK
Re: SanDisk Cruzer
Hello Alan,
Thanks for those suggestions.
I have tried both of those programmes; in fact I seem to have spent the entire morning trying to access this lost data! Sadly I have had no luck.
I'm rapidly losing the will to live........
Many thanks again for all your help.
Best wishes,
Meg
Thanks for those suggestions.
I have tried both of those programmes; in fact I seem to have spent the entire morning trying to access this lost data! Sadly I have had no luck.
I'm rapidly losing the will to live........
Many thanks again for all your help.
Best wishes,
Meg