Help: Data Recovery for USB Drive

[rpneid]

My no-name (KingStar) USB 1.1 drive "malfunctioned" and I am getting sky-high quotes for data recovery (i.e., $700.00 for recovering about 125 MB of data); does anyone know a reliable data recovery person/service with lower rates? Thanks!

 

[Jimbo420]

I don't thing there is such a thing because of how hard and time consuming it came be to recover lost data like that. I didn't even know it could be done from flash memory.

 

[X DarthMonkey X]

Is it Flash or Hard Disk? Just curious, cause if it's a HDD, then you might be able to remove it from its case and plug it directly into IDE. Several external USB perepherals can work this way.

The part that's malfunctioned (If it's a HDD) might actually be the USB-to-IDE adaptor, so if you can actually plug it into IDE, it might work fine.

If it doesn't work fine, then try with some recovery tools and programs to get your data back. (I believe there's a "READ" thread at the top of the Storage and Networking forum here that will help there.)

Remember: Taking apart the device will void the warranty, and there's no telling wether or not they'll charge you more if you try this. Do so at your own risk!

 

[rpneid]

It's a flash drive - and I've since realized a lot of it has been fairly well backed up so there's no way I'm going to shell out the kind of money I am being asked to. Thanks for your reply.

 

[X DarthMonkey X]

Wow, I didn't know it was possible to recover data from a Flash drive. I guess that goes to show that we learn something new every day.

Yeah, don't pay up if you've got most of it backed up.

 

[Nodsu]

You can recover files from any storage device due to the nature of filesystems and the fact that data is not overwritten when you delete a file.

No, you cannot do forensics on solid state media that could retrieve data that has been overwritten.

 

[lukeyu]

I had a similar problem, I stuffed around for a day or so trying to get my files back and realised I was only making it worse. I bit the bullet and bought EASEUS DataRecoveryWizard (http://www.easeus.com) that did the trick. It worked. Recovered almost everything.